Depression in Children Support Group

My post is late, as I just joined. Themis, do not always take a first opinion. I was hospitalized, and never diagnosed, and went through 9 years of horrors, before diagnosis of Bipolar was made. Always get at least two other opinions. When I was on Effexor, it did nothing for me. Few meds did help, but lithium, specifically for manias and lows of Bipolar. AS the girls mom, follow your own instinct, and read about bipolar. Bring the book into the docs, and show them the proof of what you suspect. That is the best approach. Do not waste money and time to watch your daughter be hospitalized over and over . Get that diagnosis that you need to help her. God Bless you and your little girl.

My post is late, as I just joined. Themis, do not always take a first opinion. I was hospitalized, and never diagnosed, and went through 9 years of horrors, before diagnosis of Bipolar was made. Always get at least two other opinions. When I was on Effexor, it did nothing for me. Few meds did help, but lithium, specifically for manias and lows of Bipolar. AS the girls mom, follow your own instinct, and read about bipolar. Bring the book into the docs, and show them the proof of what you suspect. That is the best approach. Do not waste money and time to watch your daughter be hospitalized over and over . Get that diagnosis that you need to help her. God Bless you and your little girl.

I agree. Thanks. Once I get her on free public insurance I will seek a second and third opinion on her behalf. Just like you, I first received a diagnosis of depression and was actually bipolar. I feel my daughter is following in my footsteps as I see so much of me in her. Antidepressants alone do nothing for bipolar people. You need to have a mood stabalizer in addition to that.

Oh-As far as risk of suicide for children taking antidepressants-I've come across Numerous websites and books that have said their is in increased risk for some children. Not all-but SOME. My daughter has been on antidepressants for 3 weeks now and is doing pretty good. With any medication you have to be careful just as a general rule of thumb.

Unfortunately in my experience the key to the medication is finding the right one or combination of many. My 12 year old daughter was hospitalized for major depression last spring and put on Lexapro, and Seroquel. This seemed to work pretty well but unfortunately my insurance company wouldn't cover the Lexapro regardless of the many phone calls from her Dr. We then started her on Wellbutrin SR with the intention of weaning her from the Lexapro. However, when trying to wean her from the Lexapro she immediately started going downhill. We then tried switching the Lexapro with Celexa this seemed to work for a couple of weeks and then she ended up hospitalized again in August. Now she is back on Lexapro which works great for the depression but she was also diagnosed with anxiety disorder during this past hospitalization. Now we are trying to find the right medication to address this problem. The medications they are giving her for the anxiety seem to be increasing the depression and I fear we are headed for another hospitalization very soon.

We are starting our 14 y.o. son on Wellbutrin and I am nervous about this same thing. We are going to monitor him. In his case, he does not show signs of bipolar; only depression. He has not had suicidal ideations so I am hopeful he won't. What do you do? I am just going to watch him and tell him to alert us at any sign. He is not much of a talker and not good at reaching out for help though. I'm a little scared.

my daughter has been on zoloft since 2nd grade.she is now going into 7th,. she started out on 25mg. but is now up too 150mg, they are finally listeningto me because it has never helped,we have a different docter helping us now and he is getting ready to try somethingdifferent, we havea n app. the 22nd, I too asked about a mood stablizer, he told me that was the same as a antidepressant, she get.s mad and says she wants to die or threatens us. but it is usaully when she is mad and not getting what she wants, so far thankfully they have been empty threats, but I too worry about her actually trying it one of these days, she has never been hospitlized, hopefully we will not have to be, they have in fact told me that could do more damage then good, it is such a stressful thing tryingto help them and not really knowing for sure how, so many people telling you what to do and docters not agreeing, hang in there get a another opinion, and do not give up,