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Teenage depression triggered by periods?
I identify myself as M4D which stands for mother 4 daughter. I have a 13 yr old daughter- honors student who has never given us a moments trouble. Just this past Oct. our world became rocked by what is apparently teenage depression. Literally our lives have seemed to change overnight as there were little to no signs.
When school started this year around Sept. she began to complain of stomach pain, headaches, trouble sleeping & a good bit of weight loss. We had many medical exams & test run that came up non-conclusive.
Shortly thereafter out of the blue she eluded to thoughts of harming herself to the school counselors which landed us in heart wrenching treatment at a facility. She had to be away from us for a few days that seemed like an eternity & then she went to out patient treatment with support groups with other teens etc. She has missed at least a month of school at this point undergoing this treatment which now seems to be just more of the same menagerie of coping skills, etc. She keeps relapsing however. There was seemingly an attempt. A mild one - probably a cry for attention more than anything else but anything in that realm in to be taken seriously and is SO scary for a parent.
She is such a good girl, smart, etc. Even with the missed school etc. she has maintained honor roll in advanced content classes. She is extremely hard on herself.
She comes from a stable/supportive Christian home-no history of any kind of abuse, etc. There is no significant family hx. of depression other than a great grandfather who had situational (seasonal) depression due to the loss of his life partner (my grandmother).
My daughter has had seemingly some PMS this last year - weepy around the start of her periods - easily irritated by her brothers etc. When this depression began we noticed the pattern of relapses exactly right at a few days prior to her cycle & thru her cycle. They put her on Lexapro for the depression & then Lamictal they said to control the mood swinging she was doing around her periods.
Once we would get in a happier place after a bout of depression the period would be on it's way & seemed to wreck everything & we'd be in the abiss again. It seems the hormone change with cycles also seems to significantly lower the Seratonin level. I would love to know if anyone knows if this is medically possible or has had similiar situation. If so, what has helped you? I am drained at the vague doctors, etc. toying around with meds (vague results with side affects) that seem to be such a trade off. It feels like a **** shoot with my daughter. They are now talking of putting her on birth control pills as this calms down the hormone drops etc. I hear & read of bad ramifications of a young woman being on birth control for long periods of time. She is a 13 yr old never been kissed girl. Of course she only needs it for med. reasons but I want to know this is safe to take with those other meds etc. Does anyone know?
Of course the Dr.s say yes but they have even been vague with diagnosis. We've never fully been told she has BiPolar condition. They've told us the dx. is clinical depression & GAD but one Dr. confides in me that Lamictal would only be added in case of BiPolar. What's a mother to do or think?-Please help. Thx.
When school started this year around Sept. she began to complain of stomach pain, headaches, trouble sleeping & a good bit of weight loss. We had many medical exams & test run that came up non-conclusive.
Shortly thereafter out of the blue she eluded to thoughts of harming herself to the school counselors which landed us in heart wrenching treatment at a facility. She had to be away from us for a few days that seemed like an eternity & then she went to out patient treatment with support groups with other teens etc. She has missed at least a month of school at this point undergoing this treatment which now seems to be just more of the same menagerie of coping skills, etc. She keeps relapsing however. There was seemingly an attempt. A mild one - probably a cry for attention more than anything else but anything in that realm in to be taken seriously and is SO scary for a parent.
She is such a good girl, smart, etc. Even with the missed school etc. she has maintained honor roll in advanced content classes. She is extremely hard on herself.
She comes from a stable/supportive Christian home-no history of any kind of abuse, etc. There is no significant family hx. of depression other than a great grandfather who had situational (seasonal) depression due to the loss of his life partner (my grandmother).
My daughter has had seemingly some PMS this last year - weepy around the start of her periods - easily irritated by her brothers etc. When this depression began we noticed the pattern of relapses exactly right at a few days prior to her cycle & thru her cycle. They put her on Lexapro for the depression & then Lamictal they said to control the mood swinging she was doing around her periods.
Once we would get in a happier place after a bout of depression the period would be on it's way & seemed to wreck everything & we'd be in the abiss again. It seems the hormone change with cycles also seems to significantly lower the Seratonin level. I would love to know if anyone knows if this is medically possible or has had similiar situation. If so, what has helped you? I am drained at the vague doctors, etc. toying around with meds (vague results with side affects) that seem to be such a trade off. It feels like a **** shoot with my daughter. They are now talking of putting her on birth control pills as this calms down the hormone drops etc. I hear & read of bad ramifications of a young woman being on birth control for long periods of time. She is a 13 yr old never been kissed girl. Of course she only needs it for med. reasons but I want to know this is safe to take with those other meds etc. Does anyone know?
Of course the Dr.s say yes but they have even been vague with diagnosis. We've never fully been told she has BiPolar condition. They've told us the dx. is clinical depression & GAD but one Dr. confides in me that Lamictal would only be added in case of BiPolar. What's a mother to do or think?-Please help. Thx.
I know it's been 8 years, but I am going through a very similar situation with my daughter. How did things end up working out? What did you do? Any advise or help would be appreciated.
i had the same problem as her when i was her age. had it till i was almost 16 and they never could fig it out. tried me on b/c and i got beter. your body is full of hormones , diffrent times they have diffrent shifts in them. some times very big changes taht can cause mood changes, depression, ex... what the pills does it pretty much keeps her hormones the same all the time. if i was you i would try it. good luck!!
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