OCD/Anxiety medication for children

[ariel817]

I have a 13 yo son diagnosed with general anxiety disorder, depression, and OCD.  He was put on prozac 1 1/2 years ago, starting at 10 mg.  It helped a little, so eventually it was increased to 20 mg.  In January, it was increased to 30 mg, but it seemed like the anxiety fears were more on the upswing, and the OCD wasn't as much under control.

He also had a lot of health issues going on that same year, and we believe the prozac was tangled up and at least increasing his stomach pain.  He missed three weeks of school in February, because it was so intense he could barely sit up.  After stopping the prozac, he's doing better, although he does have other health issues so he does still have some on-and-off stomach pain.

Anyway - our psychiatrist has left it in our hands -- do we want to:
1) go back to a lower dose of the prozac, and see if he tolerates it
2) try a similar medication to prozac, but that will probably have a similar side-effect profile
3) try a medicine like welbutrin that may help depression, but won't help OCD/anxiety
4) go without medicine

Has anyone else had that kind of issue with prozac?  If so, was there a different medication that worked for you?

[ariel817]

Thanks for your comment.

He's got so many health issues, it's hard to untangle -- for example, he still has stomach problems without being on prozac, but they aren't as unrelenting -- I think.

Trying a similar-to-prozac makes sense, altho psychiatrist's opinion was that it would probably have similar side effects.

At least summer is almost here, altho he is taking one class over the summer.

[jdtm]

sorry - I meant to say point (2)

[jdtm]

Our child was on Prozac for a year when she was six years old - she sufferd from severe anxiety and depression.  We had major issues with the Prozac.  Her doctor placed her on Effexor for two-three years with moderate success but some side effects as sweating and poor sleep issues.  She now takes a very low dose of Celexa and is doing well.   If it were me, I think I might choose point (3) with one of the newer SSRI's (they tend to have fewer side effects).  Nonetheless, there is no correct answer.  Hope this helps ....