6 year old and Lexapro

[luvhavinbgtwins03]

My daughter will be 7 on oct 7.  She has been on lexapro for a while now.  It seemed to do good at first but she was put on it during kindergarten so I dont know how much was just her ajusting to school.  she is a strong willed child.  She has tons of friends, she is doing good in school, she was a premie born 2 months early.  she excles in some thing and not in others just like any child.  Her doc advised she might have border line adhd which I see some thing but not others so I did not medicate for that and dont plan on it.  She does whine a lot and in school she does pout and when she doesnt want to do something she doesnt and wont....she does great on her work at home etc. like I said she is a strong willed child very loveing but she is a GIRL and girls can be handfuls.  I would like to take her off her meds she has a week left of them.  her doc doesnt seem to listen he just writes out a RX and sends us on on way all the time..
I would like to get her school involved to see if they can help her to see if she really needs help or if its her just being her and wanting to start something I know only time she will stop the whining and fits.
what do you think???  Can I just take her off, she was off of it one weekend I worked alot and we just happened to forget and she was sucking on her clothes and said her head felt funny.....She has been a handful since before birth :-) and I am thinking that is just her.  I dont want to put her on meds if that is her and she really doesnt need them.  Thanks so much for your time.

[margypops]

sorry about the typos hope you understood imy post ..

[margypops]

Tell the prescribing doctor you want your child to stop taking it and how to do it, he has to tell you how, or go to another Doctor I do not think any child of any age should be prescribed thses powerful drugs ..rather than every other day I beleive it is best to cut them inot pices he will tell you whether its a half or a third..if you want information about children and drugs for ADD and ADHD google there is a lot of info out there , we also had some about it on our side bar here at Med help take a look .good luck to you

[jdtm]

Lexapro is one of the SSRI medications used to treat anxiety (often GAD - generalized anxiety disorder).  As far as I know, it is not used to treat ADHD.  But, from what you wrote, it appears your daughter does suffer from anxiety and not ADHD.  Lexapro has not been approved for use with children; however, I do know of several who have used this medication for the treatment of anxiety and seemed to do well on it.  Taking your daughter off the medication "cold turkey" is not - repeat not - a good idea.  Nonetheless, it seems to me that you really need to see a specialist re the diagnosis and the treatment. A specialist as a child psychiatrist or child neurologist would be a prudent decision.  All the best ....

[mammo]

I wouldn't try this on your own.  You can call her doctor and ask him what is the best way, she needn't see the doctor for this.  You can also ask for generic Leaxpro which is so much cheaper, because it's going to take longer that 9 pills to wean her off. It's bad enough for an adult, and I wouldn't mess around with my child.

[luvhavinbgtwins03]

Thanks so much, yes she seen a child psychiatry for this.. she has 9 pills left and she is only on 5mg so its a low dose, and we cant get in to see the doc for 2 weeks even that, w/my insurance really I cant afford...so I was going maybe try and do it slowly myself every other day to every 3 so on till gone. maybe cut the pills smaller even what do you think...

[margypops]

I was going to ask Why a child of this age would be on Lexapro ...if you want her off it, you have to do it very slowly as it can have nasty withdrawal tell the Doctor you want her off it, and he should advise how to do it bit by bit.You may want to try a goodfood supplement that has been shown by experts to help children Vitc and VIt B complex some parents have found fish oil useful . I also think you should seek help from another Doctor .Good luck

[mammo]

I don't read anything that would warrant a child this young to be on a drug like Lexapro!
Did a child psychiatrist do this? It sounds like much of her behavior has been normal. Most importantly you cannot just abruptly stop this kind of medication, she will have horrendous withdrawl from it.  Weening off this medication needs strict guidance of the doctor, and I'm not so sure her current doctor is the one to do it.  I would seek a second opinion, as normally after this long on an antidepressant, chances are her body has built up a tolerance for it anyway and it's not doing anything for her, but only a doctor would know for sure. She may have just been an active child, but at the very most I think if she needed anything it would have been therapy, not a drug.  Make an appt. with a child psychiatrist and go from there, I think you are correct in questioning all this.
Again, don't stop the medication without doctors assisyance.  I wish you all the best and good luck!

[luvhavinbgtwins03]

another thing I forgot was for a while there she wouldnt use bathroom by her self scared of it, scared of being in the room alone, goin in her room to play by herself etc. and she does all them things now...so I dont know if its the meds or she just outgrew..she has really grown over the summer from no imagnation to a huge one and playing like crazy..I heard sometimes between the k-and 1st grade some kids just mature to that big kid sort of thing.