Zoloft, my 12 year old daughter

[TS2]

My 12 year old daughter was put on Zoloft about a year ago at age 11.  Her pediatrician initially prescribed it for her then she started seeing a Psychiatrist and a counselor for her depression.  At least that was the diagnosis.  Since she started seeing the psychiatrist, he has continually increased her dosage.  She is on 200mg daily.  At 12 years old.  I think this is extreme and cannot get in to see the Dr. myself to ask if this is even the right medication for her.  In my opinion she exhibits more of the traits of a Bipolar disorder rather than just depression.  She acts very manic at times and that will last several days to several weeks.  The Zoloft keeps the lows from being so low.  But as I said, I have not seen the Dr. to ask about any testing that was done, if any to confirm his diagnosis.  She does not live with me and anytime there is an appointment for me to take her to, the Dr. magically has to cancel.

[Anxiety2020]

My 15 yr old daughter was put on fluoxetin 20mg as she is 15, she is limited on what she can take( says her doctor). She said that was not working, so he put her on sertraline 50mg daily and now she is saying these are not working and refuses to take them. She has depression, Anxiety, bipolar, she has some voices in her head telling her to die(although the voices have not occurred for a while now, She also sys her therapist is not working, as she keeps saying to go to her happy place, but if she is having a seizure, she can't think about a happy place as it never happens she says, What do i do? I am 45 and had a **** teenage life myself, and been off work as a T.A in our local school  to support her, and the more anxiety she has the more i get them because i am worried about her.

[Hensley258]

Zoloft was my first Antidepressant medication. I took it for about 4 years before switching to another AD med. I had to switch because after so many years taking it the drug slowly became non-effective for me and a switch was nessasary.

I took 150Mgs a day of Zoloft. Any less did not control my severe depression.

The typical dosage range for Zoloft is between 50 to 200 Mgs a day. The dosage depends on the person. Each of us has different levels at which any given AD medication may be effective. The maximum effective dosage for Zoloft is 200Mgs a day. That simply means that regardless of the patient that any more than 200 Mgs a day will not produce a response if less than 200 day has failed to produce a response.

I can understand your concern and it is VERY justified. I do agree that 200Mgs for a 12 year old child seems too high to me also.

I have to question this Psychiatrists judgement on that dosage. I look at it this way, if 200Mgs of Zoloft is needed just to control your daughters depression, then perhaps it's not an effective drug for her. There are many other AD medications that could control her depression at a much lower dosage that would probably be more effective for her.

If it were me I would get a second opinion from another Psychiatrist.

I have a great P-doc now that really knows his stuff, but it took me several years to find him. In between that time I had two other P-docs that desperatly lacked the skills and experience to treat severe depression.

Just because they have a fancy degree doesn't mean they all know what they are doing.

I am actually kind of suprised that you even found a Psychiatrist (or any kind of doctor) that agreed to prescribe your 12 year old daughter an SSRI or any type of AD medication. Most doctors will almost never prescribe these to children under 18 (even with a parents consent) because of the liability issues.

[Jikan]

Namaste,

This may sound rather simplistic, however, this doctor works for you and if he can't spend time with you to discuss your daughters' care or even make a telephone call, I feel it's time to find a doctor who is more compassionate to your needs and concerns.

This is your daughters' future you are dealing with and if this doctor will not prepare a detailed treatment plan specifically stating what his course of action is going to be, then he is not worth the money your spending on him.

As far as the dosage of 50 mg. daily, that is not out of line, but is the maximum recommended for an individual with major depression or OCD.

Regardless as to what you do, I sincerely hope you the best possible outcome.

Michael(Jikan)