Prozac and Your Child

Hi All,

Can anyone give me information regarding Prozac and its effectiveness.

My 16yo son has been experiencing anxiety and p/a especially when he

has to speak: he says his throat feels like it closes up,feels like he wont

be able to say a word and worrys that  he will embarass himself in front

of his friends. He also said he can get p/a out of nowhere. He allso said

his visiom becomes blurred and feels very self- conscious. Now he has

become fearful of these feelings and worrys they wil effect his grades.

He is a very good student. I took him to a psch. who said this could

potentially get worse so he recomended Prozac - starting with a very

small dose. I asked him if this was effective (does it work?) if it alleviates

these feelings can he than come off and because he is disassociated

from these feelings (hopefully) will he not experience them or is it

just a bandaid? He said maybe, but couldnt say for sure. Counselor

said CBT could be helpful and thats meds could be useful - up to me.

Anyone with similiar experiences with their children? How effective

is it, what about CBT, and side effects? Also, how long

does it take to take effect? Thank you.

16 is a tough age and to start him off on medication seems to be rushing a bit however I am not a Dr.

For teens or anyone else, anxiety is a normal reaction to stress. Things like tests, meeting new people, speaking in public, going on a date, and competing in sports can make us feel apprehensive. But some teens react much more strongly to stressful situations than others. Even thinking about the situations may cause them great distress.

Encourage your teen to start his  own relaxation Program .

To reduce normal levels of anxiety, he should set aside a period of about 20 minutes each day to devote to relaxation. Remove distractions as much as possible. Turn off the sound on your computer and the ringer on your cell phone.

If your teen has  has high levels of anxiety , it's important to seek treatment. about 13% of teenagers have high enough anxiety to need medical or psychotherapeutic treatment.

Keep us posted and remember we are here to support you.

Kindly,

Kitt

I Thought my experience would be of some help to you. I've had anxiety all my life and it peaked in middle school I actually was home schooled for two years because the anxiety and stress of being a teenager was too overwhelming! I began taking Prozac and didn't CBT along with it. I tried CBT alone and I personally didn't help me without medication. Prozac helped me to use the CBT skills I learned and go back to public school graduate go to college and work. I'm now 28 I've been on and off medication over the Years I'm currently back on Prozac. For most of us with panic and anxiety it's a life long thing we manage everyday though some it comes and goes!
If you have any questions feel free to ask! Hope this was of help!

Jess

My Mom was much like you and did her research before deciding what would help me the most and I'm glad she did! I began on a very low dose 10mg then went to 20mg after two weeks. It took a few weeks before I noticed a big difference but that was in combination with CBT. I was on Prozac for a year then tapered off and just did the CBT for several years before having to take medication again due to high life stresses I had going on. For me medicAtion was just been something I use until I'm able to use coping skills to deal with the anxiety and panic without it. Personally in can go several years without taking anything and then the anxiety becomes to much again and I use it to get back to where I need to be but for mr it's been a life long problem I have to manage the best I can! Best of luck to you and your son I hope he feels better soon! My mom has always been very understanding when it comes to my anxiety problems as you seem to be with your son and that's helped me greatly to know I have someone besides my dr that trys to understand!

I began with CBT for 6 months but made little progress so the Dr added the Prozac along with the CBT which really worked well for me. Once the medication was added I was able to use the CBT techniques I learned before the addition of the medication it was too overwhelming for me! Since CBT is supposed to cause anxiety so you can learn to manage the feelings some people according to my Dr need to begin with medication and CBT alone because CBT can create too much anxiety for some. My therapist specialized in anxiety disorders and CBT therapy and I saw her once a week and was seen by the Dr every two weeks in the beginning. After I mastered the CBT techniques I was able to get off the medication a year later! But my panic disorder is severe so I've been off and on medication over the years. I recently started taking Prozac again since I've had a huge increase in anxiety and panic!