Anxiety medication

[simplefree]

Anyone here with teens taking medication for anxiety?

Was it prescribed by CAMHS or GP?
We have been on the waiting list for ages to see the psychiatrist but DD15 needs help now.
Her therapist suggested I ask the GP since she is nearly 16 and the medication is not for more extreme MH - I spoke to her GP today but he never prescribed to such a young age and said he will need CAMHS input which I know the therapist will be happy to help with.

Any experiences and tips what I should do / expect / prepare for?

This post would be best in child mental health where I am sure you will get a response.

DD 16 takes Fluoxetine for anxiety. It was prescribed by the consultant psychiatrist at her CAMH’s/Eating disorder clinic when she was 15. They definitely don’t like prescribing antidepressants to people of this age but DD has been diagnosed with Anorexia and was not able to progress with her recovery without something to help her extremely poor mental state. The GP have now taken over the prescribing. However GP’s don’t have the authority to prescribe medication under 18. It needs to come from a psychiatrist/paediatrician. CAMH’s won’t get involved on the say so of a therapist and as far as I know they won’t prescribe without a diagnosis and the threshold for meeting a diagnosis for anxiety is extremely high. You might be better seeing a psychiatrist privately who will prescribe medication if they deem it appropriate. You will have to pay for the prescription and the meds but could then potentially get the GP to take over the prescribing after a few months.

Early in the pandemic DD was 15.5. The GP was happy to prescribe Propranolol (a beta blocker) for anxiety to her which helped a bit, they couldn't do anything 'stronger'. We were referred to CAMHS, but by the autumn she was worse and out of school and we went private to a Consultant Psychiatrist who also diagnosed depression and prescribed fluoxetine which he said also had an anxiety-reducing effect.

Two years later she has turned 18 and we have been handed back to the GP. DD never did get to the top of the CAMHS waiting list.

Second the suggestion to go to the Child Mental Health board.

Thank you all

I had good news today, the CAMHS psychatrist decided to prioritise her as her mental state and anxiety is clearly so debilitating and she has been on the waiting list since forever and tried CBT and counselling for nearly a year with not much improvement.

We are also waiting on an ARFID assessment, occupational therapy and ASD therapy. The appointment with the dietician is in Feb.

It’s been a very long journey, we started seeking help in 2019 - sometimes I wonder how life would be if everything was just ‘normal’ -

I’m a single parent with zero help a part from the professionals - lost most of my friends - have to avoid the ones who know my daughter as she does not want me to talk about her issues with the and of course they ask about her - the majority have kids the same age group who used to be her friends. Not to mention all of the suggestions and advice they give trying to help when I have tried everything and more. I know they mean well but it is not ‘that simple’.

Sorry for the rant!

It must be very hard for you.
DD's illness broke me in the pandemic and I ended up having counselling for 2 years. And that was with having a supportive DH and a few friends I could talk to sometimes. I'm not sure it is fair of your DD to say you can't talk about it, you need support to stay strong enough to support her.
Hopefully some help is now on its way.

@TeenDivided thank you

My daughter’s therapist suggests counselling for me all the time but I’m so reluctant for some reason. I see no value talking to someone who has not been through exactly the same. I know it is a twisted perception though. Maybe I’m just scared of listening the same vitriol of advice and suggestions I have been subjected to when I try to explain what DD is going through to ppl who has no experience with the topic. Normal techniques and common sense does not work for her.

DD is still coming to terms with her issues and is very embarassed - also my family is extremely judgemental and will blame my parenting so they don’t know anything (they live in a different country).
Her father has his own issues and knows a bit but creates more problems than solutions.
Paternal grandparents - supportive but also dealing with theirvown health issues.
Friends with kids - always comparisons
Friends without kids - a lot easier and the ones I connect more with but everyone is so busy and full of their own problems!

Our new social worker promised a lot of help then disapperad for Christmas and hasn’t returned since.

My romantic life is non existent and I feel like I aged 10 years in 2022.

My daughter eats only a few specific (international) foods that are very expensive and sold in only 2 shops. And sometimes even with those food available she can stop eating at any moment, quickly drop to skin and bones - already having heart issues.

But our relationship is good. Sometimes I’m relieved we both have to deal with this rather than alcohol, drugs, sex, parties etc etc etc

But it would be nice if our only problem was GSCE stress - lucky are the parents and YP who have a smooth ride - if they exist!

I had phone counselling because I started in the pandemic, but also it meant I only had to be 'away' from DD for the hour, no extra travel time.

She didn't give me advice, just listened and occasionally 'wondered'. It meant I could just unload to a neutral person. As I gained in strength we were able to talk about other things such as finding time for me and some other issues.