Buspar for anxiety in pandas child

[Ann280]

We started our daughter on buspar about 6weeks ago 5mg once a day for a week then slowly to 10mg. We started to notice some changes in her behavior within two weeks..she definately seemed more at ease no worrying as much not over reactings etc.. Then she has a pandas episode I felt like the buspar helped control the depression that usually comes along with her episodes in the evening but the manic "highs" we're still there. We treated her with a pulse steroid for three days and also with her usuall zith HS e seemed to take much longer for her symptoms to go away this episode...not sure if it had to to do with the buspar. I had her conference and Her teachers have been noticing a different attitude in school more of a distraction non caring attitude..not focused etc..they said when she is having a pandas episode it is very obvious this is more a subtle ongoing problem.. She does have learning differences but she has always had a very strong determination and drive to do the best she can...sometimes to much. She has lost that. She has been more irritated and doesn't seem to care about her behavior...we switched her back to 5 mg of buspar a week ago but have not noticed any changes..possibly she is starting with another episode? I didn't want to give her the buspar to begin with but I have been at a loss ...when my daughter is crying to me that she doesn't want to feel like this anymore I had to do something..at this point her attitude stinks. I don't know what to do .

[lmkmip67]

We are heading into the same kind of issue. We will be starting a low dose of Prozac in a few days. I think it is fine to try a low dose SSRI drug to help. The thing with these drugs is there are so many out there. My husband tried a few SSRIs during a very stressful period in his life. A couple of them made him feel like you describe, kind of not caring, disconnected. He did finally find one (think it was Celexa) that he still felt things, but his mood was much better. If she is feeling numb and disconnected like that, she may just be on the wrong one. Just because one isn't working well, doesn't mean it isn't a good idea, you just may need to try others. I am not pushing medication like this, just saying it is relevant to try them, and you may need to try a few to find the right one. The great thing about medications like this is that you can do it as a trail for a few months, see how it works, and stop if it isn't working for your child. There isn't anything permanent about it. It took me a while to resign myself to giving Ian an antidepressant. But he is struggling right now and we have tried so many things. So as a trial, I am fine trying it. To me it sounds like you may need to try another medication. GL!!

[LNN]

You can also look into "naturals" - inositol, 5HTP, tryptophan...I am not opposed to SSRIs, but I wanted to give naturals a chance first. My DD's diet is very restricted (very picky eater). So it's very likely she doesn't get enough "raw ingredients" to make enough seratonin. My son had good results with inositol a few years ago, but it didn't help DD much when we tried it for her this winter. So we moved to tryptophan a few weeks ago and this has helped her a great deal. What I like about the tryptophan is that there isn't the long build up to see results or the long taper off to stop. It doesn't seem to be effecting her drive and she has joy again. Here's a site someone else posted that helped me a lot:

http://www.thewayup.com/

click in the yellow image of the book "The Way Up From Down" and you can download the entire book for free.

 

Again, not dis'ing SSRIs. Just offering other options, FWIW.