My daughter has been diagnosed with general anxiety disorder. I'm confused..!
Question: I'm confused about the medication. She is at college and they want her to take Celexa. I read the potential side effects and frankly, they are nasty. I am glad she is going for counseling, but I don't want her to begin taking this drug unless she is at home where I can monitor her for potential suicidal thoughts or possible bipolar episode risks that they mention as possible side effects (neither symptom she has now). Are these side effects so rare that I shouldn't be concerned? I don't want to keep from feeling less overwhelmed and getting better---but gosh, I'm scared for her. Anyone have any thoughts about this drug?
Answers: I'm confused about the medication. She is at college and they want her to take Celexa. I read the potential side effects and frankly, they are nasty. I am glad she is going for counseling, but I don't want her to begin taking this drug unless she is at home where I can monitor her for potential suicidal thoughts or possible bipolar episode risks that they mention as possible side effects (neither symptom she has now). Are these side effects so rare that I shouldn't be concerned? I don't want to keep from feeling less overwhelmed and getting better---but gosh, I'm scared for her. Anyone have any thoughts about this drug?
As someone who has had General Anxiety Disorder (GAD) for many years starting in high school, I share your concern for your daughter. The treatment options depend a lot on the severity of her condition. If she has no other diagnosed conditions, such as depression, eating disorder, OCD, etc. and her anxiety is not too extreme, counselling, exercise, proper eating and good sleeping habits have been clinically proven to be more effective than antidepressant drugs like Celexa. In my experience weekly counselling is a must and helps a lot if she has a good counselor. Exercise is almost self-explanatory. Staying away from coffee, soda and other stimulants is also very important. And quality sleep is especially important - not just the number of hours but whether your daughter cycles through the 5 stages of sleep (1 and 2 are light sleep, 3 and 4 are deep sleep, REM is rapid eye movement sleep) appropriately. If she feels refreshed after sleeping, then she is getting quality sleep but if she doesn't feel refreshed, you should have her evaluated by a sleep specialist. Poor sleep can lead to anxiety, depression, fatigue and a host of other issues.
Personally, I have tried almost every antidepressant on the market (SSRIs - selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors - such as Celexa, SNRIs such as Effexor, Wellbutrin, tricyclics, even an MAOI) over the last twenty years and have found that they had little, if any, impact on my GAD. Instead, I have found Klonopin (clonazepam) to be very helpful. Unlike Xanax and Valium which have short half-lives and can become very habit forming, Klonopin has a long half-life (approx 28 - 30 hrs) and minimal side effects. I take between 1 to 1.5mg per day, usually in 0.5mg dosages, based on my anxiety level and it helps tremendously. So I highly recommend that you and/or your daughter talk to her psychiatrist about using Klonopin as an alternative to Celexa or other antidepressants.
Regarding Celexa and other drugs in the same class (SSRIs), please keep three things in mind. First, no one, including your daughter's psychiatrist, can predict whether or not any particular drug, for example Celexa, will help your daughter. It is a matter of trying the drug, checking her reaction at each dosage level as she is ratcheted up to the level deemed appropriate by her doctor (for Celexa, usually somewhere between 10mg and 80mg) and evaluating her behavior and anxiety at each level to see if she is getting any relief. If she is not, her doctor will likely switch to another antidepressant and go through the process again and so on. This process can take months for each drug. Secondly, most SSRI antidepressants often don't show anti-anxiety results except at the higher dosage levels which can increase the possibility of some side effects. Third, most of the clinical trials on these drugs are fairly limited in number, patient population and, perhaps most importantly, long-term side effects. Neuro-scientists are still a long way from understanding the real causes of GAD, depression, bipolar, etc. and exactly how the brain is affected by all of these drugs, including Celexa and Klonopin.
With regard to the side effects you are worried about, again I share your concern. It doesn't matter that the clinical trials show a relatively small incidence of "bad" side effects. The real issue is that no one can say for sure how your daughter will react. If she happens to be one of the few, then she could have a problem and the so-called statistics don't matter much at that point. I highly agree with one of the other answerers that you need to make sure your daughter is aware of the many possible side effects if she does try Celexa, that you and she communicate as frequently as possible about how she is doing and feeling and that, finally, she be told to call her doctor at the very first sign of any bad side effects, such as suicidal thoughts, etc. If he/she is not reachable, tell her to go to the college clinic or local hospital. It's always better to be safe than sorry and she should be told that it should not be viewed as embarrassing if it turns out to be a non-issue.
I wish I could offer a sure fire solution based on my many years of trying to deal with my general anxiety condition but I can't. One thing I have learned though is that there are few panaceas in life. It is the rare person who finds great relief from a pill. I have found that doing the basics, like exercise, beginning a practice of quiet meditation and counselling have been the most helpful to me, using the Klonopin to "take the edge off".
I wish your daughter well on her journey and hope that some of my experiences are helpful to you both.
In my opinion, all psychotropic drugs have these same possible side effects. If she's smart enough to keep getting help, and it sounds like she is if she's continuing in counseling, she'll know if she starts having an adverse reaction.
I was prescribed Lexapro and had a really bad reaction to it, I am now on Celexa and LOVE IT. It has totally changed my life. I would however make sure she has someone to monitor her for a few days at least. I think the side affects they list are rare, I had a reaction to the Lexapro because of another medication I was on for my stomach. The antidepressants are tricky with other meds so I would be careful there. I am sure the Dr. started her on a low dose and she should be fine.
Hey you sound like my mom :-), I'm a sophomore in college, a girl, and I also took Celexa (citalopram) for depression and anxiety for almost 6 months. I did stop taking it abruptly (I actually quit cold turkey) after I told my parents that I was becoming increasingly paranoid (of them) and feeling out of control with my emotions and that I had started cutting. (all of these were things that normally I would not have done, nor would I have felt nearly as overwhelmed by them as I did when I was on the medication). The pills DID help me for about the first 3 months, they helped me function, get out of bed, go to school, they almost gave me a "burst" of motivation if you will, but as time went on, they pretty much clouded my judgement, making me more prone to emotional outbursts and feelings of helplessness.
That's my story, and it's really a judgement call for you and your daughter, but you are wise to question due to the fact that she will be away at college. If you trust her enough to tell you if she is feeling any of these signs, then all should be well.
(I don't have that great a relationship with my parents, fyi, and I was just returning to live at home from a first semester at college when I started taking the pills, which also fueled a bout of depression. But if youre really close with your daughter, it may be a different experience)
Good luck :-)
commend your daughter to taking responsibility for herself and getting the help she needs.so many young people will not take any medication.i am trying to get help for my daughter and she said there was nothing wrong with her.so just keep in touch regular with her don't smother her.just ask how is she doing/please don't let her see your anxiety she may stop taking the medication which could be worse.so let her heel go on the intranet an look up the side effects and be careful about letting her know you FEARS.
Your concern is very natural and commendable, but this may allay your worry. I have that same anxiety disorder and have taken Celexa. Speak frankly with your daughter without dwelling on the side effects. Open communication will help both of you. Let her know she can speak with you about how she really feels. Then if she has suicidal thoughts she will tell you about them.
I don't mean to scare you but i am on Anxiety medication and have had a few suicidal thoughts, but how i manage to do nothing about it is that i KNOW it's just the side effects.
Explain to her that you're there for her to talk to if she feels like that, even if she thinks you don't understand her anxiety disorder (as i feel with my parents)
Medication isn't the best path, but hypnotherapy can be VERY effective for people, aswel as therapy like CBT (cognative behavioural therapy)
Im an on Citalopram and quite frankly it's aweful (for me), the side effects are horrible so just try to comfort her with them, make sure she eats enough aswel and i found that increased my side effects (not eating..)
I hope all goes well for her, it's aweful to have anxiety at such a young age
Wish you the best of luck for her recovery x
It is really good that she has you looking out for her. You are right. There are some terrible side effects for these drugs and she could make matters much worse. Trust your instincts on this and get her some information so she can make an informed decision.
There is some really good info on psychiatric drugs on the website for the Citizen's Commission on Human Rights. They also fight psychiatric abuses.
The website is www.cchr.org.
Also, keep in mind that psychiatrists are often quick to put labels on people that are not determined by any scientific or clinical tests at all. The "disorders" are voted into existence rather than using science with labs and all that.
Here is a link to a video that shows psychiatrists being interviewed at their convention admitting that they don't have scientific tests and that they can't actually cure anyone in their own words. It is pretty interesting. There are also comments from other doctors about psychiatric drugs. Check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDVvOn7Yy...