Anxiety in 14 year old girl

[JustGetThroughTheDay]

Last week my daughter told me that she kept feeling her heart beating really fast when she was in bed at night. I said it could be related to her period being due and the thought of going back to school. Hormones and a bit of anxiety. I said we would keep an eye on it and see how she went on.
Then the next day she asked when I was going to book her an appointment at the doctors because it had been 'going on for ages' when I pushed her a little she said two weeks. I've since found out it was a couple of days tops. I knew it wouldn't be weeks because she would have said something before.
I reiterated that we would see how it went. A couple of days later she's sat in the front room with us and says it happening again. I ended up on the couch sideways with her between my legs talking her through square breathing and doing the breathing with her.
Afterwards we talked about how your body reacts to panic and how it's a vicious circle.
I've put lavender in her bedroom and given her a couple of different calming sprays and pulse point oils to use before bed.
Then she asked me yesterday if I think the doctor will put her on meds as her friend is on anxiety medication.
I said possibly but you'd also be given techniques to help like the ones we've already been doing.
She says she's no issues at school or online, other than these 'attacks' her behaviour is normal.
Has anyone had this happen to their child? What can I do? Is the doctor visit something I need to book ASAP?
Thanks

i started having panic attacks at a similar age. i tried to control them with breathing and grounding exercises and therapy but ultimately i ended up on medication. i’m still on them now and i don’t think there will be a time when i’ll ever be able to stop taking them. mine started in a similar way too, always when i was in bed but then increased over time until i was having multiple attacks a day. so maybe it’s best for her to see a doctor now before they escalate. i don’t mean this in a nasty way, but could it possible that she’s maybe exaggerating/making it up? i’ve noticed that among teenage girls it’s very common to claim to have anxiety, especially if their friends supposedly have it too.

@sunshineandshowers21

i started having panic attacks at a similar age. i tried to control them with breathing and grounding exercises and therapy but ultimately i ended up on medication. i’m still on them now and i don’t think there will be a time when i’ll ever be able to stop taking them. mine started in a similar way too, always when i was in bed but then increased over time until i was having multiple attacks a day. so maybe it’s best for her to see a doctor now before they escalate. i don’t mean this in a nasty way, but could it possible that she’s maybe exaggerating/making it up? i’ve noticed that among teenage girls it’s very common to claim to have anxiety, especially if their friends supposedly have it too.

That's exactly what I thought re the friends having it thing. It seems at the moment that everyone has to have something. I think the openness and the way we now talk about mental health is wonderful but it feels like everyone wants a label for something. I'm not wording that very well I know. I'll ring the doctors and try and get her an appointment one evening.

My ten year old developed panic attacks over lock down. She also now has stress related stomach pain.

We're avoiding the GP as don't want medical solution, trying to treat the source of the anxiety instead.

It's a long bloody road isn't it.

@Grobagsforever

My ten year old developed panic attacks over lock down. She also now has stress related stomach pain.

We're avoiding the GP as don't want medical solution, trying to treat the source of the anxiety instead.

It's a long bloody road isn't it.

We used to have the vague stomach ache before school started etc. It went on so long she went for a blood test to rule anything out. Then figured it was nerves. It's a minefield.

I'm in my early 20s, and had childhood anxiety similar to your daughter. Unfortunately I only started to realise this after it had escalated in to quite serious mental illness, which after having my life heavily disrupted I'm only just getting under control. Though its hopeful your daughter will overcome this naturally, or if there are actual things triggering this stopping them, please dont let these things escalate, as they can become incredibly difficult to get through. In my case there is nothing tangible that causes my issues, prior to symptoms my life was going as well as it could, but they still occurred. If this is the case with your daughter, please dont discount medicine out of hand, as a very small amount of medication may sort it for her, and save a huge amount of unpleasantness for her.

I would take her to the GP to rule out a medical cause, how can you know it's anxiety? She is having palpitations and that needs to be checked out.

@ChickenwingChickenwing

I would take her to the GP to rule out a medical cause, how can you know it's anxiety? She is having palpitations and that needs to be checked out.

I've said up thread that I'm going to call the doctors

Sorry I didn't notice that I just answered the Op asking if you should. Just ignore my post.

@ChickenwingChickenwing

Sorry I didn't notice that I just answered the Op asking if you should. Just ignore my post.

I get what you are saying though. I guess I just assumed that because she can breath herself out of it and the timing with being on her period and going back to school that it was more stress related.