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Zoloft and Dr. T


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I was reading somewhere on this board that Dr T says Zoloft can be bad for PANDAS kids. I have not been able to get hold of him for the last two days and I know his go to rx is Luvox. He gave us an rx for it a while back and we have never used it....now we have both.

 

Anyone know why he thinks Zoloft can be bad for our kids? I know everybody's mmv! What specifically is the difference between the two meds?

 

 

THANKS!

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I was reading somewhere on this board that Dr T says Zoloft can be bad for PANDAS kids. I have not been able to get hold of him for the last two days and I know his go to rx is Luvox. He gave us an rx for it a while back and we have never used it....now we have both.

 

Anyone know why he thinks Zoloft can be bad for our kids? I know everybody's mmv! What specifically is the difference between the two meds?

 

 

THANKS!

 

I don't know Dr. T.'s reasoning and would be interested in hearing, as well. My guess is it is based on his clinical experience but may be biased by having seen a number of kids for whom the doses of Zoloft prescribed by non-PANDAS-savvy psychs was way too high for any measure of success.

 

As evidenced by a number of families' stories here, every person (let alone kid) responds differently to these meds, so you may have a total lack of response or a negative response with one, even if dosed carefully and appropriately. The good news is the negative response usually abates pretty quickly (within 48 hours or so) of reducing or, if the original dose was low enough to begin with, removing entirely, the med.

 

I can tell you that, in discussions with Dr. Eric Storch of USF, his protocol frequently calls for Zoloft unless it has been contraindicated by other conditions or meds, and he (along with Dr. Murphy) follow the "low and slow" dosing, also.

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My oldest son took zoloft many years ago and did fine. We started at a very low dose. After a while though he had another strep infection and flared again and they tried to switch him to Luvox and he got much worse so we switched to celexa which worked well. He is now off all SSRI's. I know some kids can't tolerate them but for my oldest it was very helpful to get us through some very tough times.

 

Dedee

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Thanks so much for your input~ I am thrilled this psych believes in low and slow dosing too and hers is only 12 mg. for starters. Looks like Zoloft may have less side effects too. We are getting her off the St. John's Wort and plan on introducing the zoloft tomorrow. NEVER NEVER thought we would be here, contemplating an ssri. We are the cruchy granola type here. :-) But as other parents have said and I concur...we've tried all natural remedies and I can't let her suffer like this.

 

THANKS

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Don't feel bad about resorting to an SSRI. It's not a admission of defeat. I am actually considering starting my daughter on an SSRI as well. My oldest son took it for many years before things started to smooth out for him and we very very slowly weaned him off. He has been off for about four years I think and is doing well. Still a few bumps here and there but over all pretty good. When my youngest was diagnosed with PANS, I was determined I would jump on the treatment path quick and aggressive and avoid the psych meds all together. Well, that was nearly two years ago and things haven't gone exactly as I had planned. I gave in and started Lamictal last winter which has helped some but she still has some issues with OCD and anxiety and at times things can be really bad. The last few weeks, I have really started to think along the lines of an SSRI. She is still getting treatment for ongoing myco p infection and recently started treatment for lyme.

 

Anyway, my point is that you shouldn't be hard on yourself. The SSRI is only a temporary thing until you can get the root cause addressed. If it brings peace to your daughter and your home, I say bring it on......

 

Dedee

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