Anonymous wrote:My DD got her period a few months ago and things have been very hard since. She’s a good student and athlete and has many friends, but she has been increasingly rude and having what seem like melt downs. She is unable to stop, self injuries, screams expletives and throws things at people. She slams etc. tonight was a very bad one. I need to get her help immediately. What do I do? Who do I call tomorrow?

Menstruation can trigger low iron--- get an iron saturation test at the same time of the month as the melt downstairs. It can also trigger histimine intolerance. Cant remember the test for this.

To do an immediate evaluation for anxiety, all you have to do is call a child psychiatrist, and make an appointment.

PANS/PANDAS

100% hormones.

Skin picking can be an OCD related disorder. OCD often flairs at the time of puberty and can have tremendous behavioral effects. The symptoms are not always obvious but I thought I would mention in case anything resonates. If so, you need a therapist who specializes in OCD.

Outside of OCD, I also recommend DBT therapy.

I’d also schedule with a neurologist.

In the meantime get yourself one of those daily calendars that go by :15 increments and track every single episode with as much detail as possible. Also keep track of what she eats and when, when her period is, how much she sleeps, etc. All info you can get. If you can record a couple episodes that can be helpful as well.

Thanks, all. I made an appt with an endorcrinologist and she has a neuropsych scheduled. If I want to do an immediate eval for anxiety can I do that? How?

It sounds like your kid would benefit from seeing a psychiatrist with experience in treating adolescents. Get names from your pediatrician. Call *all* of them. Because I found it was not necessarily easy to find a psychiatrist who was taking new patients. A couple of the people my pediatrician recommended simply did not call back.

For this age there is Dr David Driver’s Heartwood program, Capital youth Services..…The Ross Center. Compass Health Center can take 11 year olds.

Pursue multiple options at once! Because there is great demand for adolescent psych services, which means waiting lists, etc

It may be that your kid needs an SSRI and a therapist to help with the emotional overwhelm. Things like anxiety can exist in a milder form in childhood, and then with the pressures/hormones of adolescence get much worse.

If it gets to the point where there is an emergency, and you feel your child needs emergency care, you can go to an ER. I have only found three places in the area that do inpatient for 11-year-olds: Shepherd Pratt, Children’s, and Dominion. You can basically show up at any of them and they will do an evaluation. Most adolescent programs are geared more to 12 and above. Good luck, and I am rooting for you and your kid, you are not alone in this and I know how distressing it can be.

These all sound like good suggestions. She’s also been skin picking and has when I think about it similar behaviors before. Extreme intolerance for even minor issues.

Pediatrician for sure.
There are also programs to help adolescents tolerate extreme feelings. DBT programs like Capital Youth Services for example had one for adolescents
Adolescence is a hard time. We’ve got similar meltdowns, self harm going on with our 11 year old

Look into the severe form of PMS. I’ve struggled with this my whole life- like suicidal every month during that hormone surge. I now take xanax during those 2 days.

Call the pediatrician. There may be a hormonal thing going on and you may need an endocrinologist.

Her pediatrician, asap.

My DD got her period a few months ago and things have been very hard since. She’s a good student and athlete and has many friends, but she has been increasingly rude and having what seem like melt downs. She is unable to stop, self injuries, screams expletives and throws things at people. She slams etc. tonight was a very bad one. I need to get her help immediately. What do I do? Who do I call tomorrow?