Severe Anxiety

[pandakid11]

Hi

What if anything have you found helps anxiety? He cannot stop anxiety no matter how hard he tries. Thanks

[MomWithOCDSon]

Hi

What if anything have you found helps anxiety? He cannot stop anxiety no matter how hard he tries. Thanks

 

What, if anything, is your child currently taking to help with anxiety? Is he in therapy?

 

Almost any substance . . . be it prescription (SSRIs) or "natural" (supplements) have to be titered up slowly with respect to dosage and can take 4 to 6 weeks to reach full efficacy. Many of us use a combination of meds and/or supplements to help abate anxiety, but it is rarely an "instant" fix. Supplements like NAC, tryptophan, and/or inositol help some but, again, they take time.

 

If your DS is highly anxious right now and needs immediate help, there are three non-prescription things you might try that, for our DS, seemed to have a more immediate impact: ibuprofen, an H2 (histamine receptor) blocker like Pepcid, and/or Valerian root. Ibuprofen will assist in setting aside any inflammation that might be driving his fight/flight responses, the histamine blocker will help lower his uptake of histamine which, as a neurotransmitter in the brain can drive anxiety when present in too high levels, and Valerian is a "natural" calming agent, though for our DS it just "took the edge" off for brief periods at a time.

 

If your DS's anxiety is severely impacting his functionality, you might want to talk to your doctor about some temporary but more immediate interventions; some folks here have used meds like valium, Seroquel or Risperadol when their kids were so anxious it was either that or a padded room.

 

Sorry your DS is going through this.

[PowPow]

I would strongly recommend ERP.

go to a professional or get a what to do when you worry too much by dawn huebner

 

meds are great- but they do not help the kid learn to change their reaction to the anxiety provoking exposure.

 

is he on any psych meds now?

 

will you/he consider acupuncture?

[sosudden]

So sorry to hear your kiddo is in this spot right now We have given Valerian root as well - the elixir. Hydroxyzine is RX but helped a bit. Passion flower. Totally Calm kid. We have started CBT/ERP a cew weeks ago and it is amazing the results!!! But I have to say -it there is NO WAY she could have participated any sooner. And at her most anxious really not much helped. That is PANDAS/PANS I think Hugs to you all and hope this flare can get under control soon!

[pandakid11]

He has tried ativan and lorazepam, both didn't help. He is catastrophising everything. Worries about everything including his illness. Vicious loop. It is awful.

 

 

 

So sorry to hear your kiddo is in this spot right now We have given Valerian root as well - the elixir. Hydroxyzine is RX but helped a bit. Passion flower. Totally Calm kid. We have started CBT/ERP a cew weeks ago and it is amazing the results!!! But I have to say -it there is NO WAY she could have participated any sooner. And at her most anxious really not much helped. That is PANDAS/PANS I think Hugs to you all and hope this flare can get under control soon!

[Missmom]

We use vistaril for anxiety. It is a antihistamine that has to be prescribed, but it is non-addictive, and has been proven over time to reduce anxiety.

[StillHopeful]

Something that we have tried and have been successful with during an anxiety "episode" is Bach's Rescue Remedy. It homeopathic with no side effects. We use the drops and you can drop it directly on the tongue or in water. It works for my older son (DS14). They make a "candy" too but we didn't get the same results. Just FYI, this son has not benn diag w/PANS/PANDAS. He has not been tested but I suspect his has it.

 

I have found that Celexa and Zoloft make that same son very irritable, very hyper/impulsive and a bit "foggy". We did not recognize these symptoms as being from the medication until I read something on this forum. Thought it was the ADHD and that he wasn't getting better and/or the med was not working. We did go up slowly in dosage, I just did not know what to look for. When I brought his behavior issues to the doctor's attention he dismissed it. We are now lowering the dosage on the SSRIs for both my boys and I see a clear imprv on my DS14. Not saying not to try it. Just look for the behavior issues. I also read that they can get very warm and it is hard for them to cool down (my DS12 had this problem). He is always hot but he was more uncomfortable than usual.