Does anyone have any experience with SSRIs?

My son (10) is having really serious problems with anxiety. We have a difficult decision to make. SSRIs, the meds of choice, can cause a further platelet drop and other symptoms in people with ITP (and symptoms in people who don't have it as well). Do any of you have children who are taking an SSRI? Can you tell me anything at all?

Many thanks in advance.

Hi my daughter is 14 years old and has had bad anxiety problems with all she has gone through with the IvIg treatments and the steriods and the doctor thought it might be something that she would benefit from but he referred her to a child psychologist and that doctor said he didnt think she needed it....so i just dont know.....she did better this last stay in the hospital which was last week but now i am worried she is gonna have more bouts so maybe you just need to really research with the doctor which one will give him the least side affects to his ITP treatments....tina

Hi,

Already having a child who is dealing with ITP, I really urge you to look for other methods before resorting to SSRIs.. I am seeing younger and younger children being put on these for all kinds of things, and it is disturbing to see how our children are being so overmedicated. I am by no means the only one who has these concerns. There have been many good articles written by MDs in the last few years, that voice these these concerns. There are many serious side effects, just one of which is they can lower platelets.

That said, I also know how difficult it can be if you or your child is having anxiety. (Obviously, it must be pretty bad, if you're even considering SSRIs). I am a homeopath, and anxiety and depression are two of the most common reasons people come to see me. You might want to look into it and see if it's an option that you'd be comfortable with, and if it is, find an experienced homeopath in your area. Homeopathic remedies do not interfere with other medications, as they do not work on a chemical basis, but act on the energetic plane of the body (similar to the way acupuncture acts, which is also an energetic medicine). Here is a link to a site that describes some commonly used homeopathic remedies for anxiety: www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/health/homeopathy/anxiety/intro
Go to the section on remedies and it will give short descriptions of some of the characteristics of various remedies and how they might experience anxiety. This is just to give you an idea of how a homeopath would differentiate between remedies, and is by no means a comprehensive list. If you can find a good homeopath in your area, they could talk to you and your son and find something that could help him with the anxiety, as well it could help with his ITP.

The other thing you need to consider is, has your son always been prone to anxiety? Or, is it a side effect of any of his treatments? Prednisone in particular causes very stronng anxiety in many people. Benadryl can have similar effect in some, and is commonly given as a pre- or -post treatment. There are ways that that can be reduced, too.

Good luck!
April

thats so true april...i have been doing alot of reading about homeopathic remedies....i guess what happens is we want results....and we get impatient....or i do...my daughter has had ITP since 0ctober of 2010....dont know if i would be considered a newly diagnosed child....cause it is already working onto 10 months....a yo yo...but i still feel so new at all of this.....thanks for that info.....tina

Poor guy! As much as I hate to see a child have such anxiety, I have never liked the things I read about children and antidepressants. Has he tried talking to a therapist about it?

I haven't known of many people having platelet drops from SSRI's and many adults here do take them (I did at one point). That might be the least of the things to worry about.

He was diagnosed with ITP eight years ago, and he seems to stabilize around 30 or 35k, with precipitous fluctuations. We're "watching and waiting;" his only treatments over the course of his illness have been IVIG infusions, and he hasn't had one since October of 2009. The trauma of the infusion itself (he can't abide needles anymore after so many of them) and its short duration of effectiveness have made it not worth it. We're unwilling to give him steroids, and the other treatments are, for us, either too toxic or too unpredictable. Splenectomy, as yet, is not an option either. He's too young, and, while his ITP presents as some pretty serious nosebleeds, he's generally not a bleeder.

So that's his basic history. His anxiety started at about six and a half, and he's been in therapy for three and a half years. It's getting worse as he's getting older, since he's begun to understand his ITP and that it may never go away; he also he pays attention to what's going on in the world. The anxiety definitely got worse once bin Laden was killed, since September 11 was all over the news again, and we live in New York City. We recently had him evaluated to see if meds might ease it somewhat, and while we need something to work, neither of us (my husband is an internist) is convinced SSRIs are the answer, particularly with the side effects. The psychiatrist said that she has several SSRI patients who developed nosebleeds and they don't even have ITP. This is not something we need, to say the least. She indicated that she would only prescribe them as a last resort. He seems to be feeling worse, however, and we're quite worried about him.

Homeopathy is something I'd definitely be interested in, along with cognitive behavioral therapy (once he's no longer resistant to it) to help him figure out how to deal with whatever stressful situation/s he finds himself in. We have good friends who have a close friend who is a homeopath, and I should talk to them about it. Their daughter has lupus, and she took some homeopathic remedies for a while when they thought she had ITP (she presented with low platelets for a year before her chemistry began to change). They can help us find someone here. What do homeopathic "meds" typically taste like?

Thanks, everyone, for your input.

Susan Sonz, the director of the New York School of Homeopathy. She comes highly recommended by some of my colleagues. I am sure she could help your son or refer you to someone who could.

Homeopathic remedies are like Mary Poppin's medicine--tiny, sweet sugar pills are the carrier, so are dissolved under the tongue to be quickly absorbed sublingually or dissolved in water, which tastes...well, like water! Never had a kid who didn't like them.

Your son will likely respond very quickly to the right remedy since he's had no Prednisone, which is so suppressive. And the more unique symptoms one has, the easier to find the right remedy quickly. Once I found my daughter's correct remedy, she was like a different person in 12 hours and her platelets went from 11k to 411k in 4 days. Prior, she had no response (except nearly fatal reactions to WinRho and IVIG), so it was fairly dramatic. She has been ITP-free for almost seven years now.

April

I'm going to start doing some research on homeopathy. We want SSRIs to be a last resort, if we use them at all. Thank you so much for your help!

Hi Dots,

You're welcome!
You can start your search by reading through some of the threads here in the Natural Treatments section.
There is also an Original Forum that you may want to read a thread on there called "Homeopathic Doctor". It has my daughter's story of healing with homeopathy, and I also explain quite a bit about it in the ensuing posts. Here is the link, as sometimes people find the old section difficult to find:
discuss.pdsa.org/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=23985

Read all you can, and ask a lot of questions.
Good luck in your search!
April

Wow. Now that I'm on the verge of tears...

Your daughter's story is remarkable. Thank you so much for sharing the whole thing. (I'm also astounded that you and she had to deal with all this while having five other kids. Astonishing. I have three and I feel like I'm losing my mind much of the time.)

The rest of the thread is quite interesting too! (How's that for understatement?) I'm going to print it so my husband can read it. He's an allopath (he's an internist), but has always been interested in "alternative" medicine, and is quite willing to explore homeopathy.

So off we go. If homeopathy works for either his anxiety or his ITP, or -- dare I say it? both -- you'll find me on your doorstep waiting to give you the biggest hug ever. Thank you so much. I'm at the point, after eight years of ITP and four years of increasing levels of anxiety, where I'd lost any sense of some remedy working for either. Thank you for giving me more options.

So now -- off we go!

(((((April)))))

April -- we have our appointment tomorrow with the homeopath. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thank you for sharing so much of your knowledge with us here.

Wish us luck!

dots

Hi Dots!

Yes, do let me know how everything goes--glad you were able to find a homeopath. I'm excited for you!
I think you will find it may change your life on many different levels, and not only for your son.
Just try and BE with the process, and know that all that needs to come forward and be heard will present itself.
Wishing you love and light and platelet perfection

Warmly,
April

P.S. Last month we celebrated Hannah's 20th birthday, which is always extra special, as it marks the date when she was born 20 years ago, but was also the 7th anniversary of when we almost lost her to an anaphalactic shock reaction to IVIG (which had NEVER made more than a short-lived, pathetic little blip to her counts). I gave her one more dose of her homeopathic remedy afterwards, and a couple days later her platelets were up to 411k (from 11k). But, better than that, we had our daughter back to her previous Happy Girl self.

We went yesterday, and my son was able to relax and talk to her after I set the stage a bit (he's only 10). I'd dropped off the intake form a day earlier so she had a chance to familiarize herself with his case -- both the ITP and the anxiety. It was seven pages long, since he (like everyone) is a complicated person.

Rachel's not only trained in homeopathy, but she's also a certified acupuncturist. We talked about nutritional changes to help with his blood sugar spikes, including protein supplements (we're vegetarians and he's not the most careful eater) and ways to help boost his immune system and build his blood vessels. She checked his pulse points and did Chinese Moxa, which is a way of applying gentle heat to the same points addressed by acupuncture, and he'll have another of those treatments on Saturday, and every few weeks thereafter. You should have sen how calm he was. He loved the Moxa so much he wanted to bring the Moxa stickers home so I could do it!

She'll call in a couple of days with her thoughts about appropriate remedies for him, since she wanted to sit with his case for a little while. In the meantime, she told me to pick up some Bach Flower Remedies: Mimulus for anxiety and Larch to help build his confidence, which I'll pick up tomorrow, along with the protein powder.

He went to the first birthday party in his class in his new school today, and he had a terrific time, even though he doesn't know the kids that well yet. He does seem to be feeling a bit better now that he's in a new school and is beginning to get used to it, but only a bit better. We take it a day at a time, and I'm eager to hear what remedies she's going to prescribe so we can get started!

Another son gets migraines, and his appointment is Saturday as well.

I'll keep you updated.

With newfound hope,

dots