7 year old on prozac?

My son has been on strattera for about 6 months now. He was diagnosed with adhd with anxiety. He also has a learning disability. His anxiety is geeting worse due to the school environment and the general learning disorder. This is killing me inside. The doctors(2) want to put him on prozac to calm his anxiety as he is having a hard time coping with his peers and school. If I could have him out of school you would meet the most charming, inquisitive and loving little man you would ever know.

 Has anyone else been through this? Help, this hurts.

 Concerned dad.

If your son's anxiety is getting worse, it could be the Strattera.  One of the main side effects of Strattera is mood swings.  In addition, Strattera, while used for ADHD, is actually an antidepressant in the SNRI family.  Prozac is an antidepressant in the SSRI family.  If your docs put your son on Prozac, he would be on two antidepressants.  Has Strattera helped at all?  Have you tried more traditional ADHD meds (stimulants) to see how he does?  Are you seeing a board-certfied child psychiatrist to prescribe these meds?  If not, I would certainly seek a second opinion before going ahead with Prozac.

Our son has been tired on Concerta and most recently Focalin. Both with adverse effects to nis mood. Our biggest concern is his anxiety which is leading to angry moods and temperment. When not sparked off on one of these "meltdowns" he is a caring, loving and bright spark of a child. We have a doctor locally and a pysician from the Hallowell center suggesting we try Prozac. I am more of the opinion that if we can help with the negatives due to the learning disability, we may be on the right track. When tested, he was found to have a high average IQ but is having difficulty pulling it all together, that with his perfectioist style is contributing to his anxiety. I think the school pressure is killing him and I dont want to medicate to make a little robot. Now the school is pressuring us to provide a teachers aide for him. He is in a private school and now pay more! We are at wits end. Idont really think more meds are the answer, I just want to help my boy.

I agree -- more meds are definitely not the answer, but the right meds are.

My 12-year-old son's first dx 3 years ago was ADHD and anxiety.  He did fine on stimulants (Concerta and Focalin XR), but had a rage reaction to both Prozac last spring and Zoloft this fall (prescribed for anxiety).  We just had him evaluated by a new child psychiatrist who is of the mind that his ADHD and anxiety dx is really part of a larger dx of bipolar disorder.  He has an IQ in the highly gifted range and is not holding it together in a small private school with experiential learning and lots of individual attention.  My son is like yours -- when not raging, he is an amazing kid.  This weekend, he will start Depakote, a mood stabilizer used to treat bipolar.  We sure hope it works. 

I encourage you to read the website www.bpkids.org for more information on bipolar disorder.  There is also a wonderful book, The Bipolar Child, by Demitri and Janice Papolos, which is available in public libraries, local bookstores and amazon.com.  Again, I urge you to have your son evaluated by a good child psychiatrist who has experience treating children with mood disorders.  IMHO, it is the only way you will get an accurate picture of what is going on with your son.   

In addition, here is a warning from the National Institute of Mental Health on this subject: 

A Cautionary Note

Effective treatment depends on appropriate diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children and adolescents. There is some evidence that using antidepressant medication to treat depression in a person who has bipolar disorder may induce manic symptoms if it is taken without a mood stabilizer. In addition, using stimulant medications to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or ADHD-like symptoms in a child with bipolar disorder may worsen manic symptoms. While it can be hard to determine which young patients will become manic, there is a greater likelihood among children and adolescents who have a family history of bipolar disorder. If manic symptoms develop or markedly worsen during antidepressant or stimulant use, a physician should be consulted immediately, and diagnosis and treatment for bipolar disorder should be considered.

tlew -

I agree with the above wholeheartedly!!

Stratterra would be the LAST option I'd use with a child!! It works the least well of all the ADHD meds and tends to have the most side effects.  Many MDs are so terrified to prescribe the amphetamines as people can sell them or abuse them that they rule them out without a second thought.  That's nearly criminal in my mind.

Get another opinion.  Your son on either Ritalin or Adderall could make a world of difference.  They can give the focus, energy and attention that is needed without the emotional turmoil that others can give.   There are so many varieties that a pediactric specialist in ADHD could find the right one fairly fast!

Good luck - and don't give up ever!!

My son has been on strattera for about 6 months now. He was diagnosed with adhd with anxiety. He also has a learning disability. His anxiety is geeting worse due to the school environment and the general learning disorder. This is killing me inside. The doctors(2) want to put him on prozac to calm his anxiety as he is having a hard time coping with his peers and school. If I could have him out of school you would meet the most charming, inquisitive and loving little man you would ever know.

 Has anyone else been through this? Help, this hurts.

 Concerned dad.

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Dad, listen to your instincts. You know what the problem is. Get him off the drugs, declare him normal, keep him in the drug free zone (away from psychiatrists), and if necessary get him out of public school. Then you will have the child you love all the time.

The best solution to get kids to behave the way you want them to, like obedient little zombies, is to give them heroin. It's a little harder to find, but it doesn't take much to do the job and it works every time.

Don't let any troll try to talk you out of it.