Zoloft Question

[anon4now]

Hi everyone,

So DS has had a long fall/winter season. We're slowly modifying his meds and starting to see lots of great changes. He's currently on Lithium and Abilify. The rages are less frequent and less severe. Concentration is higher, and impulses are lower. Our next "issue" to tackle is depression/self esteem and obsessions.

We shared with our doctor some obsessive thoughts my son was having that included gore and harm. He wasn't compulsively acting on these thoughts, but they were upsetting him. They sound like sort of day dreams while he's walking around a store or something. And he said he couldn't shake the thoughts, that they followed him everywhere.

The dr started Zoloft on the 14th of this month. My son has still complained of the thoughts, and has even said the "urge" to act is stronger. I called the dr and he told me to reduce his dose back down to the starting dose (we started out 1/2 a pill, then up to 1 pill) and we would meet next week to either remove the pill or figure it out.

My question is what you all thought about the meds causing the issues, or do you think it would have gone this way without the med. Like maybe the med didn't work so it's still progressively getting worse. IDK. I just wanted to bounce this off of someone. Any thoughts would be appreciated. I don't know if anyone has any experience with obsessive/compulsive behavior.

Anon

[charliegirl]

I remember reading and seeing a lot on the news about people who went on zoloft doing violent things, including killing people. There was serious concern that it should be taken off the market completely.

I take zoloft and for me, it has improved my life considerably. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that well for everyone.

I would definitely ask the dr about trying something else if reducing the amount doesn't help. Did the urges get worse on the lower dose? If they did, tell the dr you don't want to continue him on it. Its too risky.

www.drugs.com/zoloft.html

Call your doctor at once if you have any new or worsening symptoms such as: mood or behavior changes, anxiety, panic attacks, trouble sleeping, or if you feel impulsive, irritable, agitated, hostile, aggressive, restless, hyperactive (mentally or physically), more depressed, or have thoughts about suicide or hurting yourself.

[misty]

I don't have any experience with kids & zoloft, but my husband takes it & I've never seen any ill effects. Matter of fact, he's happy ALL the time. Not sure if its the zoloft or the brain injury itself, but it's a godsend that he's never upset or depressed.

I do remember someone posting something once about kids on antidepressants getting suicidal thoughts. I don't remember if it was here or on another board though. I'm really not much help, am I?

[charliegirl]

I think there are black box warnings on all antidepressants now. I just read the other day that the suicide rate on them has gone up for adults and teens since they started that. Its almost like auto suggestion or something. Weird!

[anon4now]

When DS's Dr prescribed the zoloft we discussed the risks and what to look out for. I have no doubt in him as a prescribing doctor, and I'm not terribly surprised that it's not working for my son. But we had to try first.

I went to meet with DS's therapist last night. And we discussed the past few days and my son's thoughts. I'm so frustrated with her. She started getting on me about how the dr has lots of experience with this and she's sure he didn't mis-prescribe him. I didn't feel like I was going to her for med support. I'm going to her for emotional support. Like maybe look at my DS and say, Wow, that must be hard to deal with. What are you doing? How are you feeling? How hard is it to resist those thoughts? Here's a suggestion to help you be stronger.

Her suggestion, was to put something in his shoe. Then tap his foot like he's putting the breaks on his thoughts. He said (and I quote), "I can see where that might help some kids, but I think that's just stupid." And that was it, she was out of suggestions. And her ending comment to me was, "I think he's safe to go home."

Let me tell you ladies (and gentleman if John is reading), I'm so grateful that my son can talk to me and is comfortable telling me all of these horrible things. If he were just living with it, and not sharing with me the struggles, he could have been on this med for much longer, and some very bad things could have happened. I'm glad he views me as his advocate.

We have in apt next Tuesday. We'll see if the doctor replaces the zoloft with something else. I'll keep you all updated.

Anon

[charliegirl]

I'm glad you have a dr you can trust. I don't care for the psych though. She is supposed to be helping you and your son, plus offering encouragement. It doesn't sound like she does that very well.

It would be so wonderful if they put up signs telling you whether they just wanted to sit there and collect the money or whether they actually wanted and knew how to help you help your son. I love my son's psych. I hope you can find someone like her.

[sapphyre]

Hi Anon

Here's the info out there on antidepressant use in kids. Of course your doctor is well aware of it, but it helps for you to be too. And it is wonderful that your son talks to you about what is going on in his head.

mentalhealth.about.com/cs/psychopharmacology/a/kidzoloft.htm