Posted by jtc on June 8, 2003, at 22:31:12
Hi, I was wondering if anyone has a child who is taking Zoloft. My daughter has just turned 9 and has tried Effexor XR and Adderall. Her pediatrician says that she has extreme anxiety and some mild depression. But her school teachers say that she is unable to concentrate and finish tasks. I took her to a psychologist and had her evaluated and he did not think she has ADHD. He said she is a very bright child and just has a mind that is always ruminating about things and that is why she is unable to concentrate. We have been seeing him off and on for about a year now. He referred us to a psychiatrist and she gave my child Effexor. This seemed to help her for the short time she was on it. But I did not feel comfortable with her being on it as I was on it also and I know what kind of side effects and withdrawal symptoms you have when trying to discontinue it. And even though a lot of kids are taking it, it has not been approved for use in children. It also made her a little too aggressive with her four year old sister. Anyway she is off of Effexor now. Her concentration became a serious problem toward the last month of school so the psychiatrist had her try Adderall along with the Effexor. To make a long story short, her pediatrician who has been our doctor since my daughter was born is not comfortable with Effexor, so she has suggested trying Zoloft. She told me she has a lot of kids on Zoloft and she thinks it would help my child. She also does not think my child has enough ADD to medicate. She thinks her main problem is anxiety. I also think this is the problem because my child always worrying about something for example she is afraid she is going to throw up if she has a stomach ache, which is about every 5 minutes. She is also afraid that something bad is going to happen to her. She is overly concerned about her health. She asked me that if she goes in the swimming pool will the chlorine get into her brain. There are so many little things like this that she is concerned about. This has been going for about 2 years now. My husband just pushes it all under the rug to deal with later however he is starting to see how it is affecting our daughter. I just don't know what to do. Now that school is out for the summer I am trying to see how she does without any medication. We are also seeing the psychologist who tested her for ADHD. I think seeing him will help her but I wonder if we should give the Zoloft a try because her constant worrying is a real problem and it is affecting her daily life and well being. She is a very bright girl. She will be in fourth grade and is reading on a seventh grade level. I just hate to see her this upset and unhappy. Please help. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. jtc
poster:jtc
thread:232501
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030604/msgs/232501.html