15 year old with anxiety and twitches

[DrjfiveH]

My 15 year old daughter started having panic attacks in the 7th grade.  She thought her eyes were blacking out and she thoughtshe couldn't breathe.  We took her to a  psychiatrist who put her on Zoloft and Trileptal.. She was better for a while and made 9th grade basketball and golf team.  She made nearly straight A's and has never had thoughts of hurting herself.  Then about three months into her school year she had to quit both sports because on the attacks.  We took her to St. Louis Children's hospital and after $18,000.00 worth of treatment we know it is not Turrets, Wilson,s disease, and supposedly any neourological problem.  We have checked for allergies, hormones, and tumors and have no answers yet.  She is seeing another Psychiatrist who has put her on Celexa and it seems to help more than anything else.  The problemis she still feels anxious almost all of the time and she cannot control her twitches which is bothering he social life.  Her close friends od before have kind of turned their back on her and she wants a boyfriend so bad.  We will plan on taking her to more Doctors when school is out.  She is still making straight A's.  Please help.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

The evidence is pretty strong that your daughter's panic disorder (without agoraphobia) is causing most of the symptoms, and it is entirely possible that she also has a benign tic disorder. In any case, it is not surprising that the Celexa would help her - it is a conventional treatment for both anxiety disorders and depression. She may see a dimiinshment of the tics as she feels better. If not, the neurologist may prescribe for the tic. The treatment of tics is not straightforward, in the sense that a number of medications might be useful.

[jdtm]

Both Zoloft and Celexa are SSRI medications, often used in the treatment of anxiety.  I also know that "muscle twitches" are common in some anxiety disorders.  I am wondering if your daughter might be suffering from an anxiety disorder - I might suggest that you google the term "childhood anxiety disorder" or something similar to see if any of the behaviours described are similar to those of your daughter.  Please let us know your results.