Any telehealth that prescribes anti-anxiety meds?

[Anonymous]

Title has my question; wondering because 12yo refusing school multiple times per month due to panic attacks and severe anxiety. New issue for us. Need help for my child as soon as possible and there are long waits to be seen by anyone. At my wit’s end, and I don’t know what to do. Please help me.

[Anonymous]

Do you mean SSRIs or benzos? Very different.

[Anonymous]

Go to pediatrician. While they generally will refer out, if it’s a dire circumstance like yours, they will often do something immediately.

[Anonymous]

When my then 16-year-old was exhibiting clear signs of depression and refusing school a few days a week, we went to the pediatrician first, and they recommended psychiatrists who all had long waiting lists. We ended up connecting with a psychiatric nurse practitioner who takes our insurance, and does telehealth visits although she is actually based very close to our home. She prescribed an antidepressant and something to help with sleep and anxiety, and my child turned the corner within a few weeks. Three years later, she is thriving and still on the same medication and still seeing that NP periodically by telehealth (from college) for medication renewals.

[Anonymous]

I've found Lifestance to be the best mental health services provider in terms of taking most insurance and having some availability. In my case I was trying to get care for my mom so different age group, but I was coming up with zero availability everywhere else I checked. They have therapists, psychiatric nurse practitioners and psychiatrists. We're in Anne Arundel County and there's one in Annapolis and one in Severna Park. It looks like Crofton, Columbia and Silver Spring are the DC area options and they're also in the Baltimore/Baltimore County area. You can have your appointments either in person or by telehealth. My mom sees a psychiatrist and a therapist and her medicare insurance covers both (that's pretty much a miracle in the mental health space). Their website lists the age groups seen for each practitioner.

We had very little luck getting recommendations of providers from her primary care physician but it's definitely worth asking - you may have better luck.

[Anonymous]

Doctors on Demand has online psychiatrists adn they take some insurance. https://doctorondemand.com/online-psychiatry/

[Anonymous]

Talkiatry will prescribe online, including controlled substances if indicated. We had a fantastic experience with them for ADHD--my child saw a psychiatrist monthly for about 2 years before transitioning to the student health center after going to college. Like any reputable doctor, they will start with a pretty long intake appointment and some parent, kid and teacher (if indicated) questionnaires, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Title has my question; wondering because 12yo refusing school multiple times per month due to panic attacks and severe anxiety. New issue for us. Need help for my child as soon as possible and there are long waits to be seen by anyone. At my wit’s end, and I don’t know what to do. Please help me.

Ok, here is where you are doing wrong. Instead of throwing drugs at an already bad situation, you should find out WHY they are having these anxiety attacks and solve the root cause, not mask the symptoms and create a lifelong drug addict and mess up a growing child's brain with toxic drugs that are proven to damage neuralogical growth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you mean SSRIs or benzos? Very different.

This. There are no good “just anxiety” drugs. Benzos are habit forming and not intended for long term use. SSRI’s treat depression. Also not ideal.

It stinks. There is no magic “just make me slightly less anxious” pill.

[Anonymous]

That describes the start of my son’s mental health journey. I took him to the ER. They had mental health counselors to evaluate and were able to refer us to a psychiatrist who saw my son immediately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Title has my question; wondering because 12yo refusing school multiple times per month due to panic attacks and severe anxiety. New issue for us. Need help for my child as soon as possible and there are long waits to be seen by anyone. At my wit’s end, and I don’t know what to do. Please help me.

Ok, here is where you are doing wrong. Instead of throwing drugs at an already bad situation, you should find out WHY they are having these anxiety attacks and solve the root cause, not mask the symptoms and create a lifelong drug addict and mess up a growing child's brain with toxic drugs that are proven to damage neuralogical growth.

+1
Sorry but this is the truth.
Psychiatric pharmaceuticals are far from settled science and often do more harm than good, and come with their own set of side effects, even for adults.

Your child’s symptoms are likely a very natural and normal response to their environment or things that have happened to them. Please consider other options before putting them on what is very likely a lifetime track of being medicated but never well.

[Anonymous]

We dealt with the same stuff at 13. Good luck to you. Within a week on Zoloft, we noticed a difference. Therapy was useless at the time. Had nothing to do with social media.

[Anonymous]

Go to the ER. Go wherever there’s likely to be a child psychiatrist on call. I’m pretty sure Childrens Hospital has one — if you’re in the DC area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Talkiatry will prescribe online, including controlled substances if indicated. We had a fantastic experience with them for ADHD--my child saw a psychiatrist monthly for about 2 years before transitioning to the student health center after going to college. Like any reputable doctor, they will start with a pretty long intake appointment and some parent, kid and teacher (if indicated) questionnaires, etc.

We also have had a good experience with Talkiatry. That said, our situation was less complex and our kid was a bit older.

[Anonymous]

One Medical prescribes SSRIs in virtual appointments, and while there is an annual fee it might be worth it to get a quick appointment. Magnesium supplements (“Calm”) helped our teen a lot too, but I know they don’t work for everyone. Good luck.