Anxiety Attacks?
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Anxiety Attacks?
| Wed, 01-02-2008 - 7:05pm |
My 15-year-old daughter has been having "episodes" occasionally for about the last year. Usually these happen when she is trying to go to sleep -- usually at sleepovers but sometimes at home. She becomes nauseous and shakes. She rarely vomits, but does run to the bathroom gagging. Once the episode starts, she is unable to go to sleep. The episodes range from 6-24 hours.
Could these be anxiety attacks? or panic attacks? Does anyone else's teen experience this? What do you do? I'm taking her to the doctor tomorrow but expect that they either won't do anything because the most recent episode is over or they'll try to put her on some kind of anti-anxiety medication.
Any advice????
Karen

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I have had anxiety/panic attacks since I was 15.
My DD has had a couple of events in the past couple of months where her heart is beating hard, she has a hard time breathing, and she feels dizzy/shaky. Once was severe enough that my DH took her to the emergency room. Since then we've followed up with the pediatrician and a cardiologist (because of the heart symptoms). Anyway, so far everything's "normal" which is great news.
The cardiologist actually came up with a interesting diagnosis - somewhat related to my DD's low blood pressure. What was interesting to me though was when I said "could it be stress or an anxiety attack?" her answer was "maybe" but we don't want to assume that if were something more serious. So, we're going down two roads - medical to address the low blood pressure related issues, and emotional - helping DD identify when she's feeling stress/anxiety and dealing with it. She also is more likely to get mild symptoms at bedtime - she's wound up and can't sleep, then gets worried she'll never fall asleep, then her breathing gets shallow which can cause shakiness/dizzyness, then her heart starts to pound....well you get the picture. The doctor advised her to focus on breathing deeply - when we're stressed we tend to breathe too shallowly.
I am not, in any way, saying that a real anxiety disorder can be cured by breathing. And I'm not totally ruling out that other treatments might be in order down the road for my DD or for yours. But, I am interested in helping my DD learn strategies now for managing the stress associated with being a Junior in HS.
Sue, mom to Leah and Seth
Smothering sensation (i.e catching your breath), racing heart, rush of adrenailine, feeling shaky all sound like panic disorder symptoms.
"or they'll try to put her on some kind of anti-anxiety medication."
If she's having anxiety attacks (which it sounds like she is), why wouldn't you want her to have anti-anxiety medication?
Thank you for your advice Elizabeth. The reason I don't want her on anti-anxiety meds is because this only happens occasionally, maybe every 6-8 weeks. She doesn't have the attacks during the day. I think the relaxation CDs are definitely worth a try. Thanks for the recommendation.
Her dr. appt is today so we'll see what happens.
Karen
When I get home tonight, I'll check out the name of the instrumental CD (the spoken one is specifically designed for young children).
Hi there. My 13 yro was diagnosed with severe panic disorder last year. On October 18, 2006 she was on the bus headed to school when a friend vomited on her. By the time she got to school she was in a full blown panic attack. I had to go to the school. She was hyperventilating, shaking, crying, and sweating. I had to take her to the Dr because I couldn't get her under control. Her blood pressure and pulse rate were through the roof. The Dr. had to give her meds to calm her down. This was just the beginning of a living nightmare for our entire family. She was having almost constant panic. I had to sleep with her, she was terrified that she was dying due to her heart pounding out of her chest and the not being able to breathe sensation. We got her started in therapy almost immediately. And, got her in to see a Psychiatrist.She was so bad we couldn't even take her in to a store with out her panicking and running out. She missed 3 months of school due to the constant panic and fear. The school counselor and principal worked with us to make sure her work was getting done. They allowed her to come to the school once daily during her teacher's planning times and pick up the days work and do it at home. We would return that work the next day and get that day's work. After having every blood test imaginable, as well as tests on her heart to rule out any health problems that might cause the same symptoms, she was started on a low dose of zoloft. That was the best thing we ever could have done for her. It did take 8-12 weeks for the meds to get in her system and do what they were supposed to do.After the winter break and her meds were in her system she returned to school on a normal schedule. She continues in therapy and sees the Psychiatrist every 3 months for a med check. We found out after a few therapy visits that this has been something she has had almost her whole life. we just didn't know it. When we started to think back over times that we thought she was just being difficult or having an asthma attack we realized that those were really panic attacks. And almost always the most severe ones were brought on by someone vomiting near her. She has a GREAT fear of vomit.
I wish you the best of luck with this.
Lisa
http://www.paintedthoughts.us
We did check out anemia - I was worried because she's a vegetarian - but all her bloodwork is normal.
Thanks
Thanks for your feedback.
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