I apologize in advance if this is not the right venue to post my questions so feel free to let me know if so.
My daughter is 16 and was just prescribed Zoloft. She has had a sudden onset of severe anxiety that started around May of this year. Prior to that, she had been depressed on and off.
Can anyone tell me about this drug and side effects? I just started looking it up today as it just got prescribed to her at an appointment that I was not in attendance at.
I really was looking for a parent support group online or live but I am coming up short. This is why I'm not sure this group is the right one as the answers I seek are not for me, but for my daughter.
Anyway, any help I can get would be appreciated and a step in the right direction for us.
Thank you.
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dacs
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I have personal experience with the medication. I haven’t had any bad side effects. I have provided a link that may help you find a support group for care takers of those with mental illness. Best of luck.
I wish I knew more about your specific concerns but I have no history with Zoloft nor do I know anyone who has. I do know you must be at those doc appts. You are her advocate. You can seek an advocate of your own maybe. Call “crisis response” a nurse line Preferably connected to mental health. I don’t mean to alarm you but these drugs are serious business and every brain is different. She may do better on another med? Maybe someone else in her can help too. Look the drug up and check side affects and remember less meds, if you can, is always better. Good luck! Hug
Thank you. Yes I know I need to be there. My husband went this time as I had to work and believe me, he is huge in the dog house right now. We talked about it and agreed to do what it took before considering meds, although he wasn't on the same page with me. Not a happy camper this evening.
I’m here because of my teenaged son, I also found it difficult to find support for parents elsewhere.
I’ve found the group so helpful as a way to understand more about mental illness thanks to all of the brave and honest and generous people who share here.
We felt the same as you about medication after my son attempted suicide and was admitted to a tier 4 hospital on a voluntary basis (we’re in the uk).
We discussed with him that it would be best to avoid antidepressants if possible in favour of talking therapies and other ways of treating his depression and anxiety. The side effects for most of them are so scary when you read them, and often lot include a higher risk of suicide in teens.
he came out of hospital after about a week, he found it very difficult to talk about what happened and didn’t / couldn’t engage in any therapy or counselling.
Within 4 months he had made another plan and begun acting on it although he thankfully didn’t complete.
He was prescribed an antidepressant and started to improve almost immediately.
It’s 10 months since he started the antidepressants now. He still doesn’t wish to engage in counselling or talking therapies or talk about how he’s feeling (yet) but we can see the positive changes in him.
And he’s still here.
We hope to engage him in some other kind of support in the future as and when it’s appropriate for him.
I’m hope this dispels some of the fear you may have. Medication isn’t for everyone, and you’re right to consider it very carefully indeed, and I’ve learned from others here it can take a while to find the right one. But I have learned it can also save lives. Don’t discount it entirely.
I hope your daughter finds a way of coping with her anxiety soon.
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