Daughter with depression - need help

My 11 year old daughter was diagnosed a few years ago with depression and anxiety. We have a strong family history of bipolar disorder and depression.
She has been on Abilify for a while now. At first it worked great. Then it didn't work so well and the dr. increased the dosage. There wasn't much improvement, so they increased the dosage again. She seemed to get worse, so we have recently started Resperidone 1 mg. We will see if there is an improvement.
My problem is she always says she doesn't feel good (tummy or head usually) when she is having a bad day. I know that depression can cause physical pains or illness, but she usually doesn't want to go to school when she feels this way. This last week, she had a really bad morning and claimed to not be feeling well. I told her she had to go to school (btw, I was going out of town for the day and she knew this, which I believe added to it all). When I pulled up to the school to drop her off, she just completely broke down in tears. I gave in (again) and let her stay home. She stayed with my mom and kept calling or texting me, asking when I would be home.
So what do I do when she has mornings like this? Do I just make her get out, tears and all? Do I walk her in to the counselor, or do I let her stay home? She is in danger of being held back because of missing so many days.  She also has Celiac disease, so tummy aches are pretty common.

Any help would be great!
Thanks!

[adgal]

I also agree that a good therapist is a good idea.  I also suffer from anxiety and not all medications work well for everyone.  So yes, the anxiety could be causing the physical illness.  Also, side effects from different drugs affect different people, so it could be that as well.  It can take quite some time to find the right medication, and I suspect that for young people it is even trickier.  Keep talking to her Dr. and make sure they are aware of what's going on.  And keep that line of communication open with your daughter to try to find out if it's anxiety or something going on at school.  Good luck to you.

[Sandman2]

   There are various reasons for depression.  A common one is not achieving in school.  You are judged there every day - and if you are always being criticized, it is very depressing.  So the question is how is she doing in school?    And do her grades reflect her intelligence?  

[ku111]

Does your daughter also see a therapist?  Sometimes finding a good therapist that they connect with makes a huge difference.  Someone to talk to of their very own.  Wishing you the best.

[adgal]

I also agree that a good therapist is a good idea.  I also suffer from anxiety and not all medications work well for everyone.  So yes, the anxiety could be causing the physical illness.  Also, side effects from different drugs affect different people, so it could be that as well.  It can take quite some time to find the right medication, and I suspect that for young people it is even trickier.  Keep talking to her Dr. and make sure they are aware of what's going on.  And keep that line of communication open with your daughter to try to find out if it's anxiety or something going on at school.  Good luck to you.

[skepticalpeach]

Celiac disease is a hard one to deal with, especially when you are so young. I would not downplay how she feels because it is an invisible disease. I have endometriosis and no one can see it. I look perfectly healthy, but I'm really not. If she's not feeling good, then she's not feeling good.

I would focus on getting the disease under control first and then the depression. The disease could be causing depression. I would also consider taking her off the antidepressants. Try replacing it with fish oil tablets.