Do any of you have any experience with a teen with depression?
My dd is 17, and has it. She sees a therapist, but I think she needs meds. Do any of your teens take meds for this?
Which drugs are the safest?

My teen son was on lexapro for awhile. He was having some issues in college. I believe the dr. put im on lexapro because it had fewer side effects. I myself am on Effexor . I hope your dd starts to come out of the depression fog soon !

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Did the drugs help?
Any side effects?
How long did it take for the drug to make you feel better?

I was on Effexor XR for a bit. Mine was for panic attacks/anxiety. It worked great. I was mellow, the kids and dh didn't get on my nerves like they usually do. I really need to get back on it. Don't remember how long it took to feel better.

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When my mom was on Plaxil (the happy bouncing blurbs) the info said 30 days to start taking effect.

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Laura

My DS has been on 2 different meds. The first we tried was Paxil, it was horrible. He literally won't to kill himself while coming back off of it. He was then put on Zoloft and it worked great for him.

I myself have dealt with depression since, gosh probably around 15. I have been on pretty much every med out there. My doc finally tried Wellbutrin (at my insistence due to the side effects of other depression med) and it has been a lifesaver. It competely changed my life.

Laura

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I was depressed as a kid myself. I was on Prozac for awhile, then my mom decided I didnt need it anymore and took me off it. Right now I am on wellbutrin, and am happy! My depression was very severe, I spent alot of time in bed when not in school, and slept alot IN school. lol I hid my depression alot, I dont think anyone knew how bad it really was.

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I currently take Effexor SR. I have tried Lexapro--but it did not work well for me.

As a general rule anti-depressants can take up to 6 weeks to make a noticeable difference.

Side effects w/ Effexor: dry mouth (that's ok--I just drink more water that way!), weight loss/loss of appetite (again--I'm not complaining), sweating, if taken on an empty stomach it will make me sick. Other than that, not much. The side effects (for me) are minimal compared to the depression!

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DH has it, DD has it (from 16 on), DH father, grandmother, brother, nephew and niece all have/had it and all on my husband's side. 3 aunts and uncles on his side alcoholics (which I believe in this case were depressives that just self-medicated...they are all 75 and up).

With that said, I think I have had some experience in being a care-giver.

There are many types of depression. In really general terms there is a kind that is a generally well individual reacting to a terrible situation (death, abuse, trauma, divorce, etc.) This kind of person would do very well with therapy and possibly temporary meds to get them through a tough time that will hopefully get better.

There is (again in general terms and always exceptions) the other kind of depressed person. It can and usually does run in families. There is a chemical imbalance in the brain....not going into all the details here, there are many good explanatory websites. The symptoms can vary but can include many of the following: inability to concentrate, racing thoughts, feelings of deep sadness, thoughts of suicide, insomnia or too much sleep, loss of appetite or too much eating, anxiety, inexplicable fear, inability to cope or really do anything.
Both my husband and daughter had many, but not all of the symptoms.

Since my DH started his (he has had over 13 major separate episodes) way back before meds were used much, we tried everything: prayer alone, bee alive honey, vitamin drips, nutritionists, aloe, and lots of therapy. Nothing helped at all. Finally meds were prescribed....and voila!
My feeling on DH and then my DD was that they did not benefit at all from therapy. Once they were on meds they got better.....We relate this situation to like having diabetes. No one treats diabetes with therapy alone. They medicate them to balance their blood sugar. Meds for depressives balances their brain chemicals.

My DH tried many and had difficulty balancing the right dosage for him, finally found Prozac, worked great for many years but on some ppl that stops working and so he now is on Effexor and doing well. (Prozac worked almost immediately, Effexor took about 6 weeks....each person, body type/weight is different, and also dosage usually has to be started out low and increased....be patient with the time.)
DD is on Lexapro and doing very well, she has to up the dosage slightly during PMS because the symptoms come on a little stronger just during that time.
The side effects for both for them are: dry mouth, weight gain, night sweats (my DD hates that), very vivid dreams, sleepiness, loss of libido.

For them....a strictly chemical imbalance with otherwise happy productive lives...meds alone works. The meds work on the body and that controls lets say 90% of the mind. We also believe that the last 10% must be a positive attitude, trying to keep busy, having a routine, praying together, eating healthy, and
FINALLY: always speaking positive words: YOU WILL GET BETTER!" this was THE MOST IMPORTANT THING! This was paramount in their recovery (and some of my friends)...this had to be said to them over and over....YOU WILL GET BETTER...because for them it feels like it never will and they need something to hold onto.

My DH will be on meds the rest of his life. His dad was also. The niece and nephew took wellbutrin and plaxil respectively and they are off meds now after 3 years or so. Not sure about my DD....she has been on it for almost 2 years. She even took her meds with her on a mission trip to Kenya, trip to Japan and now off at college. She is an active, happy, very productive young girl with a chemical imbalance...there is NO SHAME in medication. For my family it is strictly a medical condition.


**Check out the following websites....see where your dd fits....you would be the best to determine just what kind of depression/anxiety she has. I found it was essential to do my research.


Welcome to depression.com
NIMH · Depression · Complete Publication

Oh and IMHO, I was with my DH and DD whenever they saw the doctors, I was their advocate. I felt it was in their best interests if I was with them (to tell their symptoms...they were always in a daze, or to hear treatment options). When their episodes were at the worst, I was the one who doled out the medicine to make sure they took them (and to make sure they didn't take too much).
Yes it was scary as a caregiver when my DH had his episodes....but it did break my heart to have my DD ill. I hope I didn't write too much, but if you need any more besides the websites and want to contact me: xmyirisheyesx@yahoo.com.

:hugs:

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I have also been on many meds through my life. I started with Paxil and after gaining 50 pounds the first year I was on it and my doctor NOT listening to me that it was the med, kept me on it for several years. I had a HORRIBLE time getting off the Paxil to change to something else. I literally had a complete break down and locked myself in the bathroom at work and was crying so hard I was hyperventilating. I tried Prozac and that gave me horrible nightmares. Tried Wellbutrin, did nothing for me. I have mostly found success with Celexa. I've been on it for years and it seems to work well for me. I also tried Lexapro last year and after being let go from my job after 3 months was told by a therapist that Lexapro can tend to bring out mania in some people. So I switched back to my Celexa.

If you read down further to the post about "end of my rope with 19 yo son" I am also dealing with a teenager with depression. Only thing is mostly my son is very happy. I'm going to wait until he gets out of high school as I believe that is causing alot of his anxiety and depression. But I am keeping an eye on it and removed the locks from the doors in the house. Luckily it is only 5 more weeks until graduation!!!

I also come from a family with an alcoholic father. He quit drining when I was 13, however the effects are still there. I was depressed severely as a teenager as well. It wasn't until after I had my son and his father was killed while I was pregnant, that I finally sought help. Depression and PTSD. It was hard and there was NO UNDERSTANDING from my family as to why I needed these meds. But many years later and much happier, my family finally does understand.

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Just my thoughts... for what they are worth -- and I hope not off-topic since this wasn't your question?! but I did suffer from from depression for a few years when my children were small. I took antidepressants (not sure of what they were called but they made me so sick!) for a few months combined with counselling. Was able to cope after about 6 months and went off of the meds and stopped the counselling sessions a few months later.

I believe that counselling is an integral part of overcoming depression along with the antidepressants... the meds help take the edge off and the counselling teaches coping skills.

When my brother was a teen, he was on meds for depression among other things, she said it was always this time of year and she thinks it was seasonal affective disorder.

My husband is bipolar and his new psych doesn't like Effexor which he was on for quite a while - things were awful around here when he first started coming off it, and he said he had "brain shocks" but now he's on another med to help out with that... just a warning for those taking it! Not sure how common that effect is (and I guess it can last up to the rest of your life) but there was plenty to read online about it. Everything seemed fine while he was on it.

That's awful...so sorry to hear that...I hope you are doing well....

hugs,
cj/

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Counseling can help--but for some people, no amount of counsel will ever be enough to "control" the depression. It is an imbalance of chemicals, and talking can't cure an imbalance.

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I understand what you are saying but maybe worth a try? As a teen he's young. If it does turn out to be a chemical imbalance, then at least he'll have a few tools to use while he lives out his life on antidepressants.

Every situation might need a different combination and/or duration of treatment.

I agree that counseling could be beneficial--if for no other reason than to solidify the cause of the depression/anxiety.

Mental illness is a disease--much like diabetes, cancer, etc. I guess my perspective is different having worked w/ mentally ill teenagers. I saw far too many of them that had only received counseling prior to their admittance in to our facility. I always said that had some of them received medication earlier they would not have had the problems they did. We had several that within 4 weeks of being admitted, diagnosed and started on medication were completely different children! This was after months, sometimes years of therapy/counseling.

I think that parents who have a child diagnosed w/ a mental illness would benefit just as much from counseling as the child.

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"In life it is so hard to know which bridges to cross and which bridges to burn....."

I''m glad I searched for this. I believe my DD(15) is depressed and don't know where to start.

Please, please, please make sure they do a full battery of tests for other physical problems also, don't just accept depresion as a diagnosis if you have a "gut feeling" it might be something else. I will tell you what happened with my now almost 23 year old (she will turn 23 this week). When she was 19, her first semester in college which is around the time alot of times is the fisrt onset of mental illness for alot of women, she all of a sudden became very depressed, suicidal and had to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital, she could barely get out of bed. There were no previous signs of depression. This was a previously very outgoing, loved to perform in public (played guitar in a band, was in pageants, preached in church, etc) kind of kid with lots of friends, worked part time, was a volunteer fire firefighter (took a year long course at vo-tech to do this) very physically active. Didn't drink, didn't use drugs, basically a really good kid, never even gave us trouble as a teenager. They were telling us she had depression. We kept telling the psychiatrist soemthing else has to be wrong, we told him about her life (my husband works in mental health, I also used to wrk in mental health) and he agreed there had to be something causing this. They got her on some meds and stabalized and released her after 10 days and he requested her regular doctor to to a battery of tests, MRI, CTscan, among and bunch of other things like blood work etc.. Well it turned out she had a BRAIN TUMOR a type called a pituitary microadenoma which produces the chemical that causes depression. Because is was NOT cancerous they decided to just keep testing it and watching it, if it got bigger they would do surgery, but there was a possibility it could get smaller on it's own. So she/we lived with this brain tumor for a year when it was at it's worst we dealt with the depression it produced, it also caused moments of blindness which she had to stop driving and we had to drive her to classes, but it was never permanet. After about a year, the brain tumor, the depression, everything went away on it's own. She had to stop working and stop the firefighting during that time, but she was still living at home. She insisted on staying in college and had scholarships which she was able to keep up her grades and kept those. She is now happily married to someone in the Navy, still has other health problems (but nothing from this) and still has one more year of school from losing credits from re-locating because of the military. But I am very proud of her and how she has has the strength and courage to get through the past 5 years of her life. I was a member on this board when we were going through all this, but I could never bring myself to post about it. It is just recently that I can talk about it here. I had alot of support from friends and family and church back then. It was a rough time. Anyway, point being, please make sure they run any tests if you think it could be ANY other physical type of problem. Because if I had not been insistant with my gut feeling, they might not have ever found my DD's brain tumor.

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DO NOT use Paxil. That one is nasty and extremely hard to get off. It took me almost 8 weeks of slowly cutting back and I had "brain zaps" the whole time. I would suggest counseling and possible medication of some sort. I know there are lots of advisories out there for children/teens using SSRI's and the link to suidical tendencies. A competent therapist should be able to tell if meds are also needed. Good luck, nothing worse than seeing your child in pain.

For my son it was a combination of medication and counseling. He was on Prozac and we entered him into a program called AIOP- Adolescent intensive outpatient program. He was in the program for 2 months and now 2 yrs later at 17 he is drug free and entering college in the fall. From our experience i would keep a watchful eye when starting a new drug, my son was given a dosage that was too high to start and he was a wreck until they lowered it.

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'Depression' is becoming a catch all diagnosis so they're no way for me (or anyone else here) to know if your daughter needs medication. Teenagers are often moody and it's partially due to all the hormone changes. Most teens grow out of it when their hormone levels stabilize and they don't need medications.

Chemical depression is different from being depressed because of tragic events. The result may be the same but the root cause isn't. Chemical depression can't be handled just by talking to a therapist. It may be helpful to speak to a psychiatrist but it won't fix their chemical imbalance any more than talking to a therapist will cure cancer. If the body isn't making a chemical or not making enough, all the talking in the world isn't going to fix the problem. Depression caused by a chemical imbalance won't go away unless the body begins making the chemicals in the proper ratio or medication corrects the problem.

Your daughter needs a complete physical. Whether her depression is mental or physical, a chemical imbalance needs to be addressed or ruled out. If it is a chemical imbalance and the doctors can determine which chemicals aren't being produced in the proper quanities, then medicine will make a remarkable difference. It might make such a difference that it's all she needs.

See, and my niece at 16 was on Paxil and did fine....psychotropic medications do not react the same w/ all people. So, to paint one drug w/such a broad stroke is unfair and potentially dangerous....
I'm just saying!

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