ADHD and Anxiety in 11 Year Old

[gizmo1]

My daughter was diagnosed with ADHD Inattentive type about 18 months ago. Our son (four years older) has ADHD (emphasis on the hyperactivity) and was diagnosed at age 9. It was difficult for us to see the similarities between our children, as the son is the wildly impulsive child and my daughter is the kind, quiet child. But we had her tested by a child psychologist after the school suggested that maybe the reason her grades were slipping to D's and F's was due to a lack of focus ability.

She's doing very well in school now, about to enter middle school. But she suffers from an overwhelming amount of anxiety. She feels like she can't breathe, and then she can't think of anything else. This frequently happens at night when she's trying to sleep. She's on clonidine to try and help relax her. She also is in grave mourning over the 21 year old cat that we had to put to sleep in January. She says she talks to him every day and misses him. Two nights ago, she was in the playroom crying hysterically on the couch the cat used to lay on because she missed him so much.

The child psychologist we were taking her to for several months didn't seem to help her at all. In fact, daughter hates to go there. We saw a pediatric psychiatrist, and he recommended switching the adderall xr for zoloft, but after researching it, I declined because I don't want my daughter to lose the support that the adderall gives her, especially now that she's entering the more difficult middle school. The zoloft was supposed to help in a slight way with her ADD, but mostly with anxiety.

I called the doctor up this week, and he won't give her anything at this time for the anxiety. So I guess now I will have to try and find a new therapist, maybe that way she will feel comfortable in opening up and dealing with these issues.

Has anyone had ADHD kids with extreme anxiety? How did you deal with it? My heart is breaking for her right now.

[LynneC]

I'm sorry to read about your daughter's anxiety. I don't have any experience with anxiety, but I'm wondering if you have considered adopting another cat or kitten?

Do you feel the clonidine is helping her? Is she taking the Adderall now, during summer?

[sarahsweets]

sometimes the anxiety is helped by stimulants, sometimes by SSRI's.

[Lunacie]

I have extreme anxiety, what you describe in your daughter sounds more like panic disorder. That definately should be treated.

I'm sure I've seen posters here say that they take Adderall or another stimulant and an antidepressant as well.

I don't take a stimulant but I do take Zoloft - it's been very helpful with my anxiety.

My oldest granddaughter (age 14 w/ADHD) was taking both Adderall and Strattera for over a year and it seemed to help with her moods as well as focus.

My youngest granddaughter (age 10 w/Autism and extreme Anxiety) takes an anti-psychotic and an anti-depressant, Lexapro.

I hope you can find a psychiatrist who is willing to treat the anxiety or panic as well as the ADHD.

[JenE]

Why won't the dr give her anything for the anxiety? It seems extreme to me and possibly even depression.

My son takes a stimulant along with Strattera (which was originally marketed as an anti-depressent/anti-anxiety med) and Lexapro. Stims can actually cause or increase anxiety so its not uncommon to give an anti-anxiety med with a stim.

[FlusteredCognition]

My 12 yr old son is ADHD, inattentive and also Generalized Anxiety Disorder. He is on both Focalin for ADHD and Celexa for the GAD. I don't see why they couldn't prescribe a med for both conditions. That seems silly... Sorry to hear about your cat. =(

[Lisa_Mac]

Hi Gizmo1

I was a child with adhd and severe anxiety. My parents didn't do anything at all for me because in those days (I'm in my early 50's) adhd wasn't known about and my parents were the sort of people to just lived with whatever was, and saw things as character flaws and personality traits.

Looking back, I see that a lot of the anxiety I felt as a child was due to the fear of going to school without having done my homework or finished a project, etc. I also seem to have Central Auditory Processing problems, which made things hard for me. Low self esteem contributes to feelings of anxiety if one is prone to it.

So, you need to give her loads of support, so that she can feel confident within her surroundings. A happy child who has done her homework and is on top of things is less likely to feel anxiety. Maybe Concerta will work better than Adderall.(maybe not). I found Ritalin eases my inate anxiety and Inderal, a betablocka with no side effects to talk of helped for my anxiety related tremor. But I was very much an adult when I was diagnosed so as a child I had no medication and no self esteem. It was horrible.

Someone suggested replacing her cat. That sounds like a good idea. If it's possible let her chose a new kitten/cat.

Lx

[happytexas]

I agree that it seems more like she's having panic attacks than "just" anxiety. Don't hesitate to move on to another doctor if you don't feel this one is listening to your concerns or otherwise isn't helpful.

It is important for her to be comfortable with the therapist so you may go through a few until you find the right one. There needs to be both a skill match and a personality match. Anxiety is frequently co-morbid with ADHD and can be treated. My ds and I take Vyvanse which has dealt well with ADHD related anxiety, but if anxiety is a larger issue stimulants can make it worse. Non-stimulant ADHD medication is also an option.

I would also consider a more comprehensive evaluation; you can do this through the school (they will likely require their own for services anyway) and privately (it's a good move to get a private eval if you can). We had ds evaluated at a children's hospital clinic that evaluates children with developmental/educational/behavioral issues, by a team of a developmental-behavioral pediatrician, a speech-language pathologist, a psychologist, and a social worker. We followed the DP into private practice and plan to check in with her 1-2 times a year to make sure we are on the right track.

About Neuropsychological Evaluations | Special Education & IEP ...

Neuropsychological and Educational Assessment | Child Mind Institute

For dealing with the school I highly recommend you pick up "Wrightslaw: From Education to Advocacy" and "Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 2nd Edition; "All About IEPs" is also a good one to read early on as you can learn from a range of parent experiences.

If you decide to request the school do an evaluation, you need to "start the clock" in your letter of request; the school has 60 days from the date they received parental consent for evaluation to do the evaluation and 30 days from the evaluation to present it at an IEP meeting (your state may have stricter requirements); your written request should note that this letter is the consent for evaluation. (And, if you did not do it in writing, it never happened!).

Determining Eligibility: How Many Days is 60 Days? - Wrightslaw

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