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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Can’t SSRIs make children suicidal and have lasting effects on their sex drives and heights? And then be really hard to wean off of? This is OP. I am not trying to be obnoxious- this is my genuine fear and I would love to be reassured. I have never taken anti depressants and don’t know anyone in my family who has done so. I am just anxious about giving them to my elementary aged kids. Sincere thanks again to everyone who has responded. I’m very very thankful to be able to ask you all.[/quote]

Op, I have two kids, both with multiple diagnoses, including ADHD and anxiety. Both medicated for ADHd and things were better (like so much better) but still pretty bad.

I stuck with therapy and would not try SSRIs for my (young - 8 and 10) kids because I was worried about potentially adverse side effects. We had some bad experiences when trialing stimulants, and I dreaded doing it again. I also had a sibling who had a side effect from an SSRI that required hospitalization, so I worried about that happening to my kids.

Things got really bad at home (kids mostly held it together at school) - one child couldn’t move through most rooms of our home, daily meltdowns, paralyzing intrusive thoughts. Other child would talk about how they didn’t want to live when dealing with with grades or daily homework. I realized that this really wasn’t normal and things were going to get worse unless I tried something else. There were no other therapies to try (we have done OT, family therapy, social skills, and they do individual therapy) and kids are in a small nurturing private school. We are lucky in that we have the financial resources to try any therapy we thought would help, and yet it felt like my kids were struggling no matter what we did, and I didn’t know what else to do, but the situation was not sustainable.

I think I hear that in your OP - something needs to change because your kids aren’t happy, and you probably aren’t either. Unless you really have a desire to homeschool your kids, I would try meds to treat anxiety before you move.

SSRIs for my kids have changed their lives. They are both so much less unhappy. My daughter can go into all the rooms in our house. My other one stops talking about dying. They also seem happier, but it’s amazing to see that they were truly suffering and now it’s much less.

Things at home are better, too. I used to scream (I know I am not supposed to scream but nothing would break through with my kids) daily. Now I maybe yell once a month? Enough that I finally understand how other parents might be able to parent without screaming. I am able to be a better parent and partner.

Sorry for the long post - just wanted to show that there are parents on here who have also struggled with the decision to medicate.[/quote]

So it sounds like your kids had anxiety/OCD like behaviors for which SSRIs are tremendously helpful. But they do not have the kind of behavioral dysregulation OP describes her kids as having. So OP needs to be looking at meds differently than you because there is a bigger component of potentially modifying the environment to be less triggering for them. [/quote]

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