# New here seeking help for teen son



## kjs (Sep 14, 2010)

Please help. Going on two years. My heart breaks for him. I am so sad, so worried for him. He is 15. No idea what happened, why it happened. I watched a funny, out going kid slowly revert to staying in his room and being withdrawn.

I am scared for him. Others don't understand. It is hard to understand when he looks fine. Others don't believe him. I know he is scared. Please help.

He has tried therapy, not consistant though. He hates it and it turned into a fight to get him there. He is currently taking small dose of abilify, Lamictal for anger issues. And now that school has started again he just started taking vyvanse for ADHD.

I don't believe he has ADHD but he says he cannot concentrate. He says this helps. He also suffers from headaches, almost daily. Takes Excedrin or Advil on a daily basis. Sometimes Tylenol #3. Drinks a lot of caffinated drinks.

Does it go away. What helps lessen the feelings? His anxiety is through the roof and often keeps him from doing things he use to enjoy. He does have xanax for the times when anxiety is uncontrolling.

I would lay down my life for him. And I don't know what to do to help. Please...any suggestions.


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## Nihil Dexter (Sep 9, 2010)

I'm not a specialist but I try to figure out the condition of your son:

1)He is 15, and going trough his adolescence. That could be the first reason for his DP.
I read that young people are going trough phases of DP in this age, which is considered normal.

2)You mentioned ADHD, which is also known to cause symptoms of DP. Look for a specialist to verify and treat this condition.

3)Anxiety: I'm not a doc ,but the combination of xanax and abilify is not a very good one in my opinion. Abilify can cause anxiety and agitation. XanaX is a very short lasting benzodiazepine.
As your son is 15 years old, I don't know if benzodiazepines are the best choise. I would try an anti-depressant before taking benzodiazepines. If that's not enough, I would give clonazepam a shot, as it is long lasting, and dependency set's in slower.

Last but not least, I would do a blood-check for his thyroid-hormones. Not only TSH , but ft3, ft4. Look for a specialist, as GP's often aren't very well educated about thyroid problems.
Thyroid malfunction can cause both depression and anxiety ( and thus DP/DR) .

Just my 2 cents
hope your son will get better

best wishes


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## EverDream (Dec 15, 2006)

danxiety said:


> I'm not a specialist but I try to figure out the condition of your son:
> 
> 1)He is 15, and going trough his adolescence. That could be the first reason for his DP.
> I read that young people are going trough phases of DP in this age, which is considered normal.
> ...


I agree.

He is still very young so you can't really know. Maybe it's just a phase of DP and it will pass. Anxiety and depression are great factors in DP so I think that's what you have to fight against in the moment...


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## voidvoid (Sep 5, 2008)

I counted 7 medications in your post. That can never be good. Especially for a young person.

I disagree about going for an antidepressant over a benzo, A low dosage of Klonopin (Clonazepam) would most likely help. Skip the Xanax and go for Klonopin. One drug is better than SEVEN.

This post wasnt the most informative or most helpful but I am short on time right now.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.


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## kjs (Sep 14, 2010)

He has taken Two medications for the past few months. Added one for ADHD this morning.

He was dx'd with Bipolar NOS, and has had anger issues for many, many years. Thus the Lamictal - mood stabalizer.
Abilify was added to help him when he feels out of control. A small dose of 5mg's a day.
Today Vyvanse was added for ADHD.

Other than that, he suffers from headaches DAILY. Depending on the intensity of his headache he takes Excedrin or Advil.
Really bad days when he can't move his head he takes Tylenol #3.

Xanax is there for extreme anxiety issues. He doesn't take it regularly, but when he cannot breathe and is real scared he will.
The prescription he has is over two years old. It is actually expired for the past 6 months. He rarely takes this medication. Maybe ten pills in the past 2.5 years.

He has an upcoming appointment with his psychiatrist. Hasn't been there for 6 months. 
Please advise me of questions or medications to discuss.

This DP hit him very sudden. It was December 19 of 2008. He was at a friends house and all of a sudden did not know where he was or what he was doing. From there it has gotten worse. At the time he was ONLY taking medication to try to prevent headaches. He immediately stopped taking it. Things never got better. He tried Zoloft. That was a disaster. He tried Lexapro - No luck.
Lamictal works wonderful for anger / mood problems. He was also on this years before this DP set in. Stopped taking in about a year before this DP set in.

I know my thoughts right now are all over the place. My son had a long talk with me last night. He is so scared. I did not know it was so bad. he rarely talks about it. I just did not realize until last night how bad things are.

Psychiatrist appointment is next week. Again, please advise me what med's or help to discuss.

I work out of town three days/nights a week.


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## kjs (Sep 14, 2010)

kjs said:


> He has taken Two medications for the past few months. Added one for ADHD this morning.
> 
> He was dx'd with Bipolar NOS, and has had anger issues for many, many years. Thus the Lamictal - mood stabalizer.
> Abilify was added to help him when he feels out of control. A small dose of 5mg's a day.
> ...


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## kjs (Sep 14, 2010)

Do you think by treating his General Anxiety Disorder and PTSD will help? that is NOT currently being treated. We opted to treat the anger issues first. But his Anxiety has reached an unlivable limit. It consumes him. In his words, posted on Facebook...Anxiety controls his life.


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## NewBrainPleeze (Aug 31, 2010)

klonopin is the only thing that has helped my DP and severe panic and anxiety. Take it every day


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## kate7 (Jul 25, 2010)

i am on zoloft too almaost 3 weeks. and dr gave me klonopin too , i am taking klonopil it helps my anxiety, i wake up very scared , try not to take medicine manage my self anxiety, but its not working most of the time without klonopil, i am taking .25mg


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## Kpanic (Sep 12, 2010)

kjs said:


> Please help. Going on two years. My heart breaks for him. I am so sad, so worried for him. He is 15. No idea what happened, why it happened. I watched a funny, out going kid slowly revert to staying in his room and being withdrawn.
> 
> I am scared for him. Others don't understand. It is hard to understand when he looks fine. Others don't believe him. I know he is scared. Please help.
> 
> ...


I understand about seeing a loved one go thru this, it is as tough on you as it is on him. As far as the meds go, it sounds like the Abilify might be making it worse. If the pdoc is going to RX him an AAP, I would suggest Seroquel XR for anxiety or Zyprexa. It sounds like the anxiety is the biggest issue. The aforementioned meds have shown to help anxiety problems and other issues as well. I would try the AAP's only after treatment with SSRI, SNRI or mood stabilizers has not worked. He could be a paradoxical responder which means he might have a good reaction to a med that is not usually meant to treat anxiety. You need to get him with a pdoc who has experience in treating youth anxiety. For example, most people do not respond to Lamictal for anxiety, I do. It actually helps mine. There is really no other way to treat the issues without riding the horsies on the med go round. I do agree with Dan about making sure the thyroid is not a problem.

If you or a loved one is in an emotional crisis, the best med out there to calm you the hell down RIGHT NOW is Zyprexa hands down. It is a good one to have in the cabinet for emergencies, the pdoc will most likely have some samples of it to try or keep on hand. I would also highly suggest therapy with a professional counselor. One that teaches CBT and EMDR. The EMDR could help him with anxiety, it did with me. Bottom line is this: I would try SSRI, or SNRI first, then a mood stabilizer and lastly an AAP. Or, maybe a cocktail of all three could help. Also, it might be good to switch him to a long term benzo like Klonopin or Valium. Xanax also has an XR version which I take and love it. The XR slowly releases thru the day to help all day long. Good luck and I hope you and him both will find peace and this be resolved.


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