Zoloft + Focalin for our 8 year old?

[GrandmaHubbard]

Our 8 year old son has a diagnosis of severe adhd (combined type) and generalized anxiety disorder. We started Focalin for the adhd a couple months ago and it saved us from having to find another school for him, but he’s still dealing with a ton of anxiety, some mild ocd challenges, and sadness (we hear “why am I sad for no reason several times/week”). His doctor has prescribed Zoloft (12.5mg) but we are a bit afraid to give it to him. Anyone with a child taking Zoloft and Focalin (or other stimulant)? Would love to hear the experiences of others, if possible. Thanks!

[Crazyboymomma]

Hi. My son takes Focalin and Zoloft. He started taking the Zoloft about 2 ish years ago, he’s 11 now. He would have meltdowns and cry when things didn’t go his way, mostly during sports or playing games. His pediatrician is amazing and actually consulted with a child psychiatrist Friend of his before prescribing. It has helped a ton!! He started at 25, moved up to 50, and now is at 100 mg. I would definitely recommend giving it a try!

[GrandmaHubbard in reply to Crazyboymomma]

This is so helpful! Sounds a lot like my son, who is also very teary and anxious. His highs and lows make after school activities and anything social (bday parties, play dates, camps) extremely challenging.

Was your son on the Focalin first or vice versa? How were the side effects for him? The idea of combining two things is freaking me out a little, but my son’s pediatrician says she’s done this before.

It’s so hard to convince myself that it’s okay to make adjustments during the school year when things have finally improved a fair amount at school. With that said, he’s just so very sensitive regarding everything and everyone around him. It would be great if social situations could be a little easier for him, and if tears could be fewer and farther in between.

[Crazyboymomma in reply to GrandmaHubbard]

He was on the adhd med first, since first grade. He’s been on a few actually, trying to find the right one. The problem in the beginning, and the reason we’d switch, was that I had expectations that it should help with his emotions and it never did. Now he’s on Focalin and it’s been great and we just rely on the Zoloft for the emotional part. I was worried too but had gotten to the point where he wasn’t even going to be able to play baseball any more, which he loves! My dr said (and this was funny but it really struck me because it was so true!) “he needs to just not give a shit”. 😂 And believe it or not, the zoloft was able to do that. It takes a couple weeks of course, and keeps improving, but you’ll see a difference. I wish I’d known about it when my son was 8! So many social situations and baseball games and play dates that he could’ve been saved the embarrassment! If your dr is in favor and believes it’s safe, I would definitely recommend it. It could really be life changing for you. ❤️ Best of luck and please update me!

[Crazyboymomma in reply to GrandmaHubbard]

Oh, regarding school, we added the Zoloft during the school year and it made a huge improvement! He was in 4th grade at the time and he really turned a corner in terms of breakdowns at recess, etc. Believe me, there is no time like the present when it comes to your child being “labeled” as a cryer and a baby. 😔 I feel for you, as we went through the same thing. I really hope it works for you! Be patient, give it a couple of weeks, and don’t be afraid to increase the dosage.

[Mamamichl in reply to Crazyboymomma]

What you’re describing sounds like my daughter. She’s 9and locked herself away 3 times by 11 on Christmas Day. She’s also micro managing friends and having meltdowns over small things like counting “right”.

[GrandmaHubbard in reply to Mamamichl]

I feel for you Mamamichl. It’s really heavy and often confusing to go through these things—never knowing for sure when the next upset will happen. Wishing you both peace and calm as soon and as often as possible.

[Mamamichl in reply to GrandmaHubbard]

Her counselor said that we are doing good, and gave us a few tips.

[GrandmaHubbard]

Ooh, your comment “there’s no time like the present when it comes to your child being “labeled” as a cryer and a baby” hits hard. I appreciate that. I’m really grateful for the perspective you’ve offered. It’s massively helpful to hear a success story—and to contemplate the possibility that my son will be able to return to his favorite activities as your son has done. I’ll definitely keep you posted!

[WoollyMammoth123]

Zoloft can be really great (it really worked for me), but it made my daughter suicidal. So do be watchful. I'm sure you would be anyway without me saying it. I just felt duty bound to mention it.

[GrandmaHubbard in reply to WoollyMammoth123]

Really appreciate this. How old was she?

[WoollyMammoth123 in reply to GrandmaHubbard]

a senior in high school

[GrandmaHubbard in reply to WoollyMammoth123]

Hope she's doing better.

[Mamamichl in reply to WoollyMammoth123]

Yeah. It’s interesting how medications work based off our genetics, but the kid has similar but different than our own. Prozac is usually a go to for anxiety/depression and that made me suicidal within a month. My partner got me in to change it. Citalopram worked for me for 10 years. Now I’m on trintellix. Downside to trintellix is insurance companies try not to accept it (without a doctors note saying we’ve tried several other things first). Without insurance, my trintellix is like 500 bucks a month!

[GhostOrchid in reply to WoollyMammoth123]

This is my biggest fear around giving my kids ADHD & anxiety meds. A lot of these medications have suicidal thoughts listed as a possible side effect. My niece (22) had a similar response to a medication. Was your daughter on a high dose? When I questioned our pharmacist he said that side effect usually doesn't occur with low dosages like my son was prescribed.

I hope your daughter is doing better.

[Blueeyeview]

Yes. Our 8 yo AuADHD and high anxiety takes both. She was diagnosed with ADHD combined and high anxiety when she was 6. The doctor prescribed Fluoxetine (Zoloft) to start and then added Abilify at night. I think we started at 10 mg if Fluoxentine. It was increased to 20 this past summer. She is now also on 25 mg of Focalin. I don’t believe there have been any problems combining these meds. The hard part has been finding the right doses. I’m learning that it is a long journey, but being a part of this group helps.

[Blueeyeview in reply to Blueeyeview]

I left out an important part. Our daughter does still say she is sad and mad and frustrated. And she is in therapy too. It does seem to be better than it was when she was 6 and 7 though.

[GrandmaHubbard in reply to Blueeyeview]

Thank you! Our son is also in therapy, which, like your daughter, is helping him to have more language to discuss what’s going on. Much obliged!

[ADHDMOMNJ]

my son is 13 and has been on both stimulant and non-stimulant. With the non-stimulant he said he felt depressed. Because their brains are not fully formed. It is very scary giving them some of these drugs. I personally think the stimulants are less scary because they go in and out of their system more quickly, but each drug you need to read up on and watch your child closely

[SurvivorFan]

Yes my son is also 8, combined type adhd with significant anxiety. He also is on Focalin and recently switched to Zoloft for his mood medication. It has helped a ton. We have found through trial and error that his behavior is much worse when the anxiety is not under control. Emotional, irritable, trys to flee from school, increased dysregulation. It appears to the outside person that it's the Focalin that is not working for him because of the high dysregulation but for us 9 out of 10 times it has been the mood med that is out of tune again.

We started with fluxoteine (prozac) which worked for about a year then was ineffective and he could not tolerate a higher dose. Switched to Celexa for almost a year and again this stopped working. He is now on 50mg Zoloft and this is working well for him. It truly is night and day behavior wise for him. He needs both stimulant and mood medication to be successful right now.

[GrandmaHubbard in reply to SurvivorFan]

Hi—I really appreciated your reply. I think the most challenging things for his dad and I have been a) making all sorts of hard decisions while parenting a child who is brilliant but also talks nonstop and has major meltdowns multiple times/day and b) not being able to find anyone else, locally, who is experiencing the same thing. His dad talks much less about this, but I suspect he, like me, deals with feelings of fear, disappointment, isolation and self-doubt. And then on top of all that, we’re in uncharted territory with the world of meds. Finding this space a few days ago has been a huge relief. Can’t thank you enough.

[SurvivorFan in reply to GrandmaHubbard]

Of course! This place is a great way to get your thoughts and questions out. It is important to remember that everyone's experiences will be different. You could try the Zoloft and it may not be a good fit or it could work great. It is great to hear everyone's experiences but they are just that..their experiences Many of us have had to do lots of trial and error to find the right combination. When you find what works its such a relief for your entire family. Keep advocating for your kiddo. School IEP, medication and parent training are so important.

Something that I have never regretted doing is keeping a journal/calendar each year to track any new med changes/symptoms or if behavior challenges arise. It is helpful for you so you don't forget the small details and the prescribing doctor.

[MarchMommy]

Do it. My daughter is on Zoloft 25 and it's helped her so much. She is just shy of 8. She used to be on Focalin and it helped the ADHD a ton but we switched her to a newer med, Azstarys, just due to her getting an after taste with Focalin that eventually led to her refusing to take it.

But she is doing great with both meds.

If he is going to be on the liquid sertraline keep in mind it is concentrated so you need to look up how to dilute it properly, it needs a specific amount and type of liquid. It's incredibly bitter! We used to do that and made a mocktail with sugar and agave nectar mixed in to cover the taste.

[GrandmaHubbard in reply to MarchMommy]

Thanks so much for sharing your experience!!! The Zoloft mocktail😅. Appreciate your humor, MarchMommy! And really glad to hear that your daughter is doing well on these meds!

[Klmamma]

Personally, I'd try guanfacine first paired with the focalin. If that didn't work, then I'd use the zoloft.

Guanfacine helped my sons symptoms that were like that and a few other friends as well.

[Crazyboymomma]

my son tried the Guanfacine as well. It only helped a bit, sadly. The Zoloft was huge. I volunteer a lot at school for lunch and recess supervision and the kids used to come up to me all the time and ask me why my son always cried. 😔 It would break my heart and I could see he was on the way to having no friends. The same was happening when he played sports. By the time I started researching and finding that many kids needed something BEYOND the stimulant for emotions, I was on a face time with his doctor in tears, begging for help. I was so lucky that he isn’t an Uber traditional ped and that he was willing to consult with his psych friend! It sounds like you are SUPER lucky in that your dr is on top of all the research and was able to come up with the Zoloft for your son as a solution!! Please consider it. One thing that really hit me, and maybe my son couldn’t articulate it at the time, was when he recently told me how happy and relieved he was that he doesn’t “have meltdowns” anymore. ❤️