Prozac for 9yr old w/ ADHD

[Willowbee37]

anyone’s kid take Prozac? I’ve fought anxiety meds for 2yrs and now that my son is a bit older his anxiety has fueled depression and it’s a whole mess. He’s such a wonderful and funny kid watching him loose himself to this is heartbreaking. He’s on a low dose fast acting concerta twice daily that will eventually get switched to long acting but we want to give the Prozac time to work. Hes done therapy in the past and we will try it again now that he’s older but just wanna hear from other parents who have had to make the medication vs no medication for anxiety.

[Onthemove1971]

Have you tried Guanfacine? For us adding this was life changing. It helps with mood and in addition with focus. It is a non-stimulant. Please remember if you give a medication a try and it doesn't work you just stop it. Our son doesn't remember any of the previous ones we tried.

We were told that medication should stop 60% of symptoms relates to ADHD.

Good luck

[Willowbee37 in reply to Onthemove1971]

We haven’t tried that. I will look into that one. The next ADHD med we were gonna try was Jornay.

[Onthemove1971 in reply to Willowbee37]

Let us know how it goes.. thanks

[Speckled_frog]

Hi

We have started Zoloft, so a different SSRI for anxiety 2 weeks ago for my 7 year old. This is in addition to a long acting stimulant. So far it’s been making a big difference and we are having success in him attending social & recreational activities that he was having meltdowns prior to & disengaging from. We also had almost nightly meltdowns when the stimulant wore off prior to commencing the SSRI, and this has improved heaps.

We previously tried guanfacine to assist with emotional regulation and that went really badly for us.

I’m really glad we are trying the anxiety medication. I think it’s making more difference to his quality of life, even when only 2 weeks in, than the stimulants have made.

[SurvivorFan]

Also have 9 y/o with adhd and anxiety (generalized and social) For him, right now his brain needs to have a stimulant, guanfacine and an anti depressant on board. We tried Prozac in the past and it was good but for my kiddo Zoloft is working wonderfully. He is happy, laughing, more outgoing, and just overall feels better on it. He was clearly suffering before.

[Willowbee37 in reply to SurvivorFan]

That’s great to hear, that’s my son’s diagnosis as well. We had his doc appt and we are starting Jornay and in a few weeks going to slowly add in Zoloft. Hoping for the best! How long did it take for the Zoloft to work?

[SurvivorFan]

We started to notice some improvement within the 1st week of him being on an anti depressant then full effect within a few weeks. Hopefully with the new combo, your son can get some relief. It can take time to find what all works together. It took us quite a long time. My son really needs all 3. He also metabolizes so quickly that he needs 2 long acting stimulants and a booster dose just to get him to 6:30pm! Every kid is different. Start a med journal to track every time med is added/adjusted and anything something pops up behavior wise

[Mamamichl]

Anxiety meds are amazing sometimes. My whole family is on different ones. My partner and I have both taken gene sight tests to find the right ones. I tried Prozac, but had horrible side effects of the opposite than what it should have been. Prozac was ok for the rest of the family, but we have found better fits for us in our genetic makeups. Anxiety meds really can help you control your emotions better and weigh your options before making bad decisions.

[Willowbee37 in reply to Mamamichl]

Do they do genesight on kids? I had it done and the pediatrician said we could follow mine for his cause med metabolism can be hereditary.

[Mamamichl in reply to Willowbee37]

In a way it is hereditary, but not always. I can’t do Prozac, my partner does well with vyvanse and neither of us are allergic to penicillin, but our daughter is. She has side effects from an afhd med that I don’t, and my partner follows hers in that way. You gotta think about both parents.

I haven’t looked into one for her, but I don’t see why they couldn’t. I mean, your genetics don’t change as you age, and it would be beneficial for her to know what meds work or not just as much as it is for us.

[Klmamma]

Honestly, I think it's the Concerta causing it. My kid changed for the worst and we added prozac. It seemed to help a little but a few months in and things got even worse. It was the Concerta. We switched him to Focalin and added Guanfacine and he's been his happy go lucky self.

[Willowbee37 in reply to Klmamma]

So the last 2 nights we didn’t give him his short acting concerta before baseball and he didn’t melt down. He certainly wasn’t as zoned in on the game but I’ll take that over randomly crying on third base for no reason! I think for him it’s the short arriving that just has to big of an up and down. We are changing to Jornay which is same active ingredient but long acting and you take it at night so it starts working right at wake up.

[Klmamma in reply to Willowbee37]

I'd still try focalin first if you haven't yet. Jornay is hit or miss bc it depends in the food you eat, etc as to how it breaks down.

Concerta is the worst medication we tried.

[CHADDMOM in reply to Klmamma]

My son has been on it since he was 7. 23 years. Not bad for him. For him, Focalin was the worst. Lol

[CHADDMOM]

Hi Willowbee37,

I’m sorry you’re going through this. Is hard to have to make these kinds of decisions for our babies, but taking care of their mental health is a good thing. Getting him on a long acting meds will help the variability of the short acting medication.

Stimulant meds can make anxiety worse. With that being said, getting something to treat the anxiety is prudent and follows treatment guidelines. Prozac is the only medication that is approved by the FDA for kids under 18 used for anxiety and depression. These are caused by having ADHD. Children with ADHD, experience so many more corrections and negative comments than their typically developing peers.

Like with all antidepressants, watch for black box warnings of suicidal ideation, ect. Also make sure they titrate his meds on and off very carefully. This can avoid any on boarding/off boarding problems.

My son used Prozac with no problems for years. One of the main goals with kids with ADHD, is to secure an environment that allows your son to show what he knows. Alleviating this disability, is job #1 of the adults in his life.

[Lillianmcmcl]

my 8 year old takes Prozac after Guanfacine and Ritalin helped but huge blow-ups and meltdowns didn't improve. It has been really, really helpful. She is still herself and needs to learn/practice managing her emotions and dealing with the frustrations of life, but it now seems so much more possible than before. I am not sure she would be doing this week without all 3 medications.