Alternatives to treat anxiety? | ADHD Information

My child's anxiety is again out of control.  He was diagnosed years ago with Generalized Anxiety Disorder.  We tried cognitive-behavioral therapy, and it made minimal difference.  Psychologist recommended he start anti-anxiety meds.  We're now ready to do something.  I should add that the anxiety was there long before we started treating the ADHD, so it's not an issue of his stimulant. 

I'd like to consider all options, so I also am trying to learn about alternatives to meds.  Has anyone seen any success with alternatives to anxiety meds?  I've read a bit about passion flower, lemon balm, lavender, magnesium.  Do any of these help?  Anything else?

I TOOK LEXAPRO FOR OVER 1 YEAR, IT WAS GREAT FOR ANXIETY. I DON'T KNOW OF ANY KIDS, JUST ME.

Thanks so much for this info. and your PM (you can ignore my reply now that I see this post!).  I'll check out the Clarocet.  We've been doing omega supplements for many months now due to the ADHD. 

My 7 y/o son has some mix between adhd/anxiety, which came first we're still not sure.  What seems to have helped him 'open up' to life, has been Clarocet.  You can google it or go to the site directly and look at the Junior version, which he uses (as does his dad, but the adult version).  It's main component is St.John's wort, ancient remedy for anxiety/depression. 

And, he's been on high ratio EPA Omega which also seemed to help him be happier.

3littlekids39626.2441087963My son 10, has been on zoloft for bad anxiety issues for about 1 1/2 years now it has done wonders for his demeanor and he is much happier. then 6 months ago we started Vyvanse for the ADHD and he has been doing better since. we tried natural stuff like valerian, but he will not try anything new and actually has Adjustment disorder as well.

That's great news, spamula!  I hope he continues doing really well.

Ugh, puberty.  That's something I dread for many reasons.   My oldest child is 8.

You give me hope for the future, Diane!  I'm concerned about the normal puberty issues, and not as much about ADHD or anxiety related ones.  Glad to hear that it hasn't been so bad for you!

my daughter took Zoloft for a while a couple of years ago also and she did very well on it with no side effects.

Maybe to ease you guys worry about puberty a bit we are are on the downslope and it hasnt been anywhere near as bad as expected. I actually think now my daughters sympotms are a bit easier to figure out and manage. Of course we have the typical teen attitude going now (almost 14), but really I think  her anxiety is great! The right med combo, school environment and getting "past" early puberty things are looking up. She's sort of figuring out herself and it's nice to see.

No, so far we have not had to increace any of the meds but he is going to be going through puberty and that might change things, but for now he is doing great anxiety wise.Dr. prescribed generic Zoloft yesterday.  He also thought it might be helpful to do a magnesium supplement.  He'll start the Zoloft Thurs. night.  We're waiting until we can observe him all day on the medicine.  Spamula, glad to hear Zoloft has worked well for your ds.  Have you found that the body adjusts to doses over time and you need to keep increasing it, like happens w/ the ADHD meds?  Mom2ADHDboy39630.2706134259

My 15 year old has been on zoloft for the past 6 years.  As far as dosage goes, he started off on a 1/4 of a tablet and then went to 1/2.  We have been on this same dosage for 5 years.  We have tried to increase it however have encountered an increase in irritability.  It isn't perfect but it keeps the underlying anxiety at bay.  So during times of high stress yes his anxiety surfaces. 

We have taken him off zoloft a few times to try other meds eg prozac and respirdal.  Both have had terrible effect on him resulting in paranoia and high level of aggrivation and aggression.  o we put him back on the zoloft!!!

He also takes ritalin, concerta and advanza (not sure what you call this in the US).  The latter to calm him down at night and make him sleepy.   Without it he becomes sleep deprived and anxiety is greatly heightened. 

supplements - We also have had blood and hair analysis to see if there are natural deficits -So he is on a concoction of magnesium, manganese, zinc, calcium, vit C, vit B6, vit P5P, inositol, methionine, fish oil

Diet - off all dairy and gluten - very little artificial  preservatives/flavourings etc increased the intake of protein and decreased sugars.    This has made a huge difference.

Behaviour Management - Very organised and predictable routine and expectations. 

Although he is 15 our son is just beginning to change and as far as we can tell, puberty has not led to a change of his zoloft dose.  Hope this helps.

Happyrock39634.2734143519Thank you for the info we too are on Zoloft and have been for 1 year or so and I was wondering about dose changes, we have been on 25mg the whole time and doing much better than before.

Hey There,

My Dd has ADD/Anxiety Disorder and it has been a roller coaster ride. When first treating the ADD she had horrible side affects from Adderall XR and Focolin, Adderall XR gave her severe headaches and weight loss, Focolin cause her to hallucinate, so you can guess at that point we stopped all meds. and tried to adjust diet, etc. etc. etc. She had a horrible first Kindergarten year and that was due to a very harsh teacher and teaching environment, we also thought maybe she just had some behavior problems and now when I look back at it I feel so guilty for being hard on her. We just did not know the extent in which the teacher was misleading us and really being down right borderline abusive and cruel to our Dd, shunning her from the other students, knocking down her self esteem...you can bet it was addressed. So we went to private school, and they found she was not first grade ready, so she repeated Kindergarten and had a wonderful year that she got to do over and not be totally frustrated and we kept her med. free that year. Our problems resurfaced in a HUGE way when she hit first grade and went into a more structured classroom environment...note after note...she would have to go to the bathroom alot, which several occasions I would be called to have her checked for a bladder infection and than they checked her for diabetes which neither were positive. Than came the nervous twitch of constantly rubbing the top of her head, than came the obsessiveness of being poisoned by things, like if the bleach were on the counter top she was desperately afraid she had poisoned herself, but she would not have even touched the bottle, or the mushrooms growing in the yard, she was scared she had poisened herself by even walking by them, no amount of reassurance would help, I purposely did not tell the school that this had started because I did not want them looking for it..if it were to happen outside of the house than I wanted it to naturally happen and I did not want them shunning her for having these episodes. Sure enough I got a call from a shook up teacher a few weeks into these starting and she was hysterical at school. I was in touch with the ped. all through this, but I started crying feeling helpless in knowing how to help her and called him right after the teacher called shook up. He immediatly started her on Abilify and Straterra, it was a huge help...she came out of the anxiety and started to blossom and make friends and do better at school. Now we have relocated back home and finding anyone to take her or understand the need to keep her stable has been like facing another brick wall. She needs a medication adjustment soon as I see the signs of the anxiety and the inability to concentrate coming back, also she has been very oppositional to me lately, speaking very disrespectfully, being mean to her Siblings, never happy about anything, nothing is ever enough. I feel the exasperation building up, and it is harder and harder to find joy in even being around her, when she is so difficult to please or deal with, before she was not this way towards us, now I am scared a new phase is surfacing with her condition.

Does anyone know anything about Lexapro?  My dr prescribed in for Will today for his anxiety.  Just a little nervous, as always about stating anything new..

He is already taking Conerta and Depakote.

Lexapro is one of the newer anti-depressants.  I too take a benzodiazepine med for anxiety--Lorazepam.  Take it on an as needed basis--it works fast and well for me. 

I have been reading everyone discussing anxiety problems with thier children and the med's they are on. I though I would jump in. My dd has been on a  benzodiazepines style med. clonazepam since last Oct. and doing very will. She has not had a panic attack since starting this med. When she does start to panic the med. allows her to control it. She has post traumatic stress. She is 8 and on concerta for adhd, 27mg  plus strattera 40mg; with just concerta alone we noticed a drop in grades with strattera her grade are back to normal. She also takes clonidine at night to help her sleep along with the clonazepam 1mg (then .05 mg of clonazepam in the morning with her adhd meds.)

Why was this thread moved to ADHD Meds board?  It's about anxiety disorders.  I think it should be moved back to ADHD & Coexisting Disorders.I AGREE!