Our 16-year-old daughter needs to be on Antidepressants and we need advice?

Question

Our 16-year-old daughter is severely depressed she is currently seeing a therapist and this next week she finally has an appointment with a psychiatrist. (it takes weeks to get a new patient appt.) They are going to put her on an antidepressant. Before we go I would like to have as much information about these drugs and teens as possible. Which ones seem to work the best, what kind of side effects can we expect, how long before she begins to feel better and any other advice you may have to offer on this. I really appreciate all the information you may have to share with me.

Answer 1

She will probably start feeling better in 2-3 weeks.

Some people don't have a clue about depression. Most of the time, it isn't what is happening around you that is causing depression. It is probably an inherited trait that you cannot do anything about without medication. Talk therapy is probably useless.

She will be fine. For about a week, she might have a little nausea and dizziness. After that, the bad side effects are gone. The side effects are nothing to worry about.

Answer 2

Yes, it would be helpful to have some of these questions answered. This is exactly what her appointment will explore and answer. If you don't feel that you fully understand after the appointment, read the paperwork that comes with your prescription, for further explanation your pharmacist should be able to answer any other questions. That is what the job of both the psychiatrist and pharmacist are.

Your Dr will know which medications usually work the best with the least side effects in teenagers. Trust his judgment.
It can take a week or two before the body adjusts to the drug. To give it a fair trial, a number of weeks on the medication will be needed before you can expect to see much of a difference. As it was explained to me, these are not "happy pills". What they do is to support the brain chemistry, replacing temporarily what the body has stopped making (hence the depression as the telltale symptom) Most people's bodies, with the re-introduction of the needed brain chemicals, begin to produce this for themselves once again in a matter of months to a year, at which time the Dr would recommend weaning off the dosage.
Antidepressants are on a delayed time response. It will be maybe 3 weeks before you see it begin to work, and it may be 3 months before the medication's full effect is seen.
The same holds true for stopping the medication. There is a delay between the time the last pill is taken and when the depression returns full force. It is very important to continue taking the dosage prescribed every day until the Dr gives directions to take less or to stop.
As hard as this is for a Mom, do try to keep the perspective that this is your daughter's life, problems, and appointment. How lucky she is to have you there, making the appointment, driving her, acquiring the meds, listening to her. No, you can't fix her, but you can be a steady source of support and a listening ear.

Answer 3

I have taken several antidepressants in my time, and while I wouldn't say that any of them were terriffic, by any means, the best one out of all the ones I took was Wellbutrin. It seemed to have less side effects than the others and I actually did pull out of a major slump and turn my life around a bit when I was on it. I hated Prozac because it made me dizzy and moody.

Like the person above me said, the most important thing you can do is listen to your daughter's feedback. If she says the drug the Dr. prescribes isn't working, or just makes her feel bad in different ways, she's probably right. People with mental health issues will sometimes quit taking their meds without telling anyone, and just lie about it, because the drug isn't working but no one will listen or take them seriously, which just breaks down the healing process. So if the drug doesn't work or causes her to feel bad, by all means the Dr. should try something else. If he/she is not willing to do that... time to find a new doctor.

Good luck

Answer 4

I'm not a teen. I offer only advice from personal experience and maybe that can still be useful. I didn't start taking anti depressants til about 25. I'd had years of experience with drinking and depression by then so any mood swings I would experience wouldn't be like my first. I've taking paxil which I didn't like made me want to crawl out of my body. Thats my experience with that. I took another that I can't remember but it was more focused on balance rather than lifting my mood. Anyway, I'd have to say the best overall for me has been Zoloft. If a person takes as much as 100mg a day it can be a little bit over the top even for myself. About 50mg a day works fine for me and really helped me learn to live without being depressed. A person can take less than that though and still feel the effects. I'm not sure what your child will be taking but it's best to keep an eye on them maybe not keep them in lockdown in your house but just watchful. I was able to get a little excentric about things sometimes when I was taking 100mg but never really to the point of hurting myself or anybody else. Probably the most important thing is that she understands and believes there is a difference between presribed medicine and illegal drugs. If she takes a combination of the two it would most likely be an unhappy experience to say the least. I hope it goes well for you and her.

Answer 5

Get her in school....that would help establish some normalcy for her because that is what your other teen is doing. Put the puppy in a kennel (edit: a home kennel/cage sort of thing) until it is trained, talk with the girls about the cat that is going ng to die. Can the 'new" teen room with your other teen so you don't have to sleep on the couch?? Girls are territorial and there will be some attitude and some adjustments that will come about. Just hang in there. Counseling is a PLUS.....that will also help work through the emotions and the rivalry and will give you some insight too. College?? Do you live in the States?? See if your state has a tuition program for families who fall at or below a certain income. If you have not actually adopted this girl, then you are not financially responsible for her and you can go ask social services for some assistance for her...won't be much but it will help. If you do that, ask them about college programs for teens. To do that though, she will need to be in school. I will tell you this. Girls are tough to raise. I have a couple myself and would not trade them now but had I been able to choose for simplicities sake I would have chosen ten boys....they are just easier. So, you now have two who are going to go through a lot of the same things together, with the exception of the "new" teen and she is experiencing a great deal of loss right now......very sad and very "weird" for her. EDIT: If a counselor says she is not "ready" for school then see if the school will let her do "homebound" schooling. That is what it is called in the Mid West part of the States. That way she is keeping up on her own merit and a teacher has to come check on her and her progress. If they will not do that then a class that will pace her but at a slower rate may be a good option. I really would get the school stuff going as soon as you can and under whatever advice the counselor is giving. Another thing is to establish boundaries now....otherwise the boundaries are blurred and harder to enforce later on. That would be no fighting, we sit and talk like a family when we disagree.....that kind of thing. Also, I am serious about you not being financially responsible for her just becasue you have custody.....you can get services for her. Call your social service office in your county. Take advnatage of whatever assistance they will/can offer.... Again, take care and good luck to you.

Answer 6

Hi. I`m 14. I have depression and anxiety. I take zoloft for it. There really are no side effects for me and it worked in a metter of maybe a week. I`ve had this for 4 yeard and it helps me so much. I mean i still get anxious and depressed but it`s NOTHiNG like what it was... i was in 4th grade and wanted to commit suicide. I had it planned and everything so it was bad. People say that teens shouldn`t have these medications but without them there would be a lot more suicide i'm sure. Without medication her life will be hell. Believe me. Your doing the right thing.

Answer 7

sooooo dangerous. There are so many people on meds these days .. and sooo very few who actually need them .. or who are even on the right ones (If they do need them) .. please please .. be very careful and know that there have been people who have suicided ON these psychotropic drugs. Zoloft, Prozac .. run like the wind! Please get more information .. don't just trust a psychiatrist - it is an IMPERFECT science. Listen to your daughter - she may not be doing very well .. but she does know what is or isn't working for her.
I am NOT a doctor. I have had depression(s) most of my life. Have tried "some" meds .. they make me worse. The ONLY thing that I've taken and gotten positive results from was a short term on "St.John's Wort" << NATURAL.. easy on the system, doesn't "numb" a person out .. can still have emotions but they don't control me .. its not a "high" .. they are not addictive (like many mind altering drugs are) .. They do not inhibit the Natural production of endorphins .. like many chemical / pharmaceuticals do. I took st.john's wort for about 2 months .. just long enough to get my own brain chemistry back on track .. endorphins ..seratonine balanced .. I had NO side effects on the st.john's wort, nor did i have any problem coming off it - the pills that are prescribed like zoloft, prozac and many other Non-natural chemical pills have been known to cause more problems than they help, have been known to make otherwise clear minded people into walking zombies .. have been known to produce suicidal tendencies .. and are often not only hard but dangerous to come off of ..

I hope your daughter is ok .. and i hope you get her hormone levels checked as well as her B12 levels and anything else that may be causing her depression ... It is dangerous to mess with the mind / brain chemicals without being pretty sure you know what you're doing.

All the best.

Answer 8

Honey, this will vary from patient to patient as far as which one they will put her on and what side effects might be present. Docs usually have a "favorite' to start a patient on. Personal experience with Paxil CR and found it to be very effective without side effects. However, sometimes after you take one for say a year, you might have to change to get the same effect.

Sounds to me like you're a little anxious about her going to the doctor. Look, you are doing the right thing for her. You can't be "ahead" of a thing like depression. Just trust the doctor and go with your child. It's going to be ok. Godloveya.

Answer 9

Wow, a 16 year old with depression? What could she be depressed about? I say she she should enjoy her youth and not worry so much about life and her teenaged problems. Plus, being so young, it's not a good idea for someone that young to be on medication, she's still growing and also her mind is still growing, and she's still going through puberty. and that doesn't stop till at least 21 or 23. I'm not sure. But being on medication is kinda bad if it has side effects and it's addictive.

Answer 10

I took antidepressants. If she says that they are not doing anything or making her feel worse, listen to her! Even if she is behaving differently, it's all about how she feels. I've known people who were literally forced to take these meds and wanted to kill themselves because of this. Just listen to her experiences. Mine? Well, I was 19 or 20 and I felt like absolute hell on them and quit them 'cold turkey'. It wasn't worth it.