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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 12 of 12. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Buggers on December 5, 2003, at 12:12:16
Hi, my 15 year old step daughter is on effexor for depression, she has been cutting herself and recently has been smoking pot and experimenting with other drugs like ritalin (putting it up her nose) She also has hereditary angioedema and she takes Danzanol for that. She is very moody all the time and was before she started taking any drugs. She has temper tantrums, she's always depressed, she won't go to school and if she does she skips class a lot of times. This all started when she was 12 after being molested along with problems with her drug addicted Mother who neglected her most of her childhood. Since then we've been to 4 or 5 different psychologists. Instead of dealing with the problems and getting better she has gotten worse. This has been going on for more than 3 years now. My question is: Could she take St. Johns wort and kava kava instead of effexor and what effect does effexor, marijuana and danzanol have when taken together?
At the next Dr. appointment next month I'm going to sujest trying the St. Johns wart and kava kava and decreasing the effexor and even getting off of it all together.Comments please?
Posted by krazybirdlady on December 5, 2003, at 20:46:36
In reply to effexor and other drugs, posted by Buggers on December 5, 2003, at 12:12:16
no real interaction between these drugs that i can find. i don't know if the DR. will go for the herb route, though, considering her problems are getting worse. how long on the effexor? perhaps something more like a mood stabilizer is in order.
Posted by Buggers on December 6, 2003, at 17:00:47
In reply to Re: effexor and other drugs, posted by krazybirdlady on December 5, 2003, at 20:46:36
Hi, she was on effexor in the spring then she went off them on her own then in mid September she started again, it's been 3 months now. We were told it could take up to 3 months for effexor to work, so I'm hopeing she won't be so moody soon. I'll mention about the mood stabilizer on our next visit. Thanks for the reply! Any other advice would be great.
Posted by krazybirdlady on December 6, 2003, at 17:11:11
In reply to Re: effexor and other drugs, posted by Buggers on December 6, 2003, at 17:00:47
yes, effexor can take up to 3 months. however given her history and current state, i would definitely ensure that she continues to see phycologist. how long has she been cutting? is there any history of mental disturbance in her family? you mentioned that her mother did drugs? has the term bi-polar ever been mentioned to you? she is young and with the right treatment (which i do not think would be herbs), she can rebound. best of luck...
Posted by Buggers on December 6, 2003, at 23:19:49
In reply to Re: effexor and other drugs, posted by krazybirdlady on December 6, 2003, at 17:11:11
Hi, She cut for the first time 3 years ago, but in the past year she has been cutting a lot, she has been hospitalized for it a few times. No doctor has diagnosed her with bi-polar yet but we have talked about it. She cuts to deal with stress and also to punish herself for failing to succefully diet and it feels good to her. She also has an eating disorder and has been bulimic just in the past year also. So there is a lot going on and hard to know what to deal with first.
Thanks
Posted by krazybirdlady on December 7, 2003, at 12:55:43
In reply to Re: effexor and other drugs, posted by Buggers on December 6, 2003, at 23:19:49
wow, i certainly sympathize with you and your step-daughter. you are both going through some very intense times. she has a host of serious problems. if you feel that her anaylist is not helping as he should, then maybe it's time to find another. also a med change may be in order. i would seriously look at a mood stabilizer...take care and stay strong...
Posted by Buggers on December 7, 2003, at 22:10:38
In reply to Re: effexor and other drugs, posted by krazybirdlady on December 7, 2003, at 12:55:43
It's especially hard for me since I'm really just Dad's girlfriend. She feels she doesn't have to listen to me because I'm not her Mother. She won't go to her councillor, she refuses to and I guess her councillor told her that she didn't have to come and that she can when ever she is ready to talk. We had a chance for her to spend 3 weeks in hospital where she would have gotten daily councilling and treatment. She was there for one day and she kept calling for Dad to get her out and she balled the whole time. She promised she would go to school, go to her councillor and she wouldn't cut anymore. She only cut once or twice since (which is good) but otherwise nothing has changed.
It's a struggle every day. Thanks for talking to me.
Posted by krazybirdlady on December 8, 2003, at 12:49:24
In reply to Re: effexor and other drugs, posted by Buggers on December 7, 2003, at 22:10:38
no problem, but tell me, just how involved is Dad? does he admit that his daughter needs help? all the efforts to help and understand should come from him...just wondering..
Posted by Buggers on December 9, 2003, at 13:29:04
In reply to Re: effexor and other drugs, posted by krazybirdlady on December 8, 2003, at 12:49:24
Hi, Dad is very involved but the girl doesn't listen and when she doesn't get her way she has a tantrum. Next month we have a Dr. appointment to see the specialist and I really want to see her put in the hospital and Dad does too but he has a hard time dealing with leaving her there. Last time we left her just for a day and she was hyserical when we left. She just came to live with us when she was 12 and before that Dad only seen her a few times a year and phone calls every week. Then I met Dad and 6 months later we have a troubled teenager to raise...
It's been rough eversince.
Thanks
Posted by krazybirdlady on December 10, 2003, at 16:10:39
In reply to Re: effexor and other drugs, posted by Buggers on December 9, 2003, at 13:29:04
i understand how difficult this type of situation can be. have you thought of family councelling? in addition to her regular councelling, of course..seems like everyone could benefit as well as see the other person's point of view. just a thought..
Posted by Buggers on December 10, 2003, at 22:43:53
In reply to Re: effexor and other drugs, posted by krazybirdlady on December 10, 2003, at 16:10:39
Hi, we've already done the family coucilling and it helped us adults but not the child. In fact it made our relationship with the girl more strained because now she can't play us as badly as before and she hates that I think.
Thanks
Posted by asha on December 18, 2003, at 22:09:01
In reply to Re: effexor and other drugs, posted by Buggers on December 10, 2003, at 22:43:53
Hi, I just read this post and had to reply to it.
I'm 25 years old and have been struggling with depression for as long as I can remember. I was officially diagnosed when I was thirteen after a failed suicide attempt.
Your descriptions of your step-daughter sounds just like me at that age. I was deeply depressed, bulimic, doing drugs, skipping school, cutting, basically just wallowing in suffering and chaos.
I was only hospitalized the one time - for the attempted suicide. Your step-daughter is very lucky to have someone so concerned about her. Unfortunately I didn't have that. I probably should have been hospitalized for the bulimia at the very least. Luckily, I worked through that on my own.
I don't really have any great advice or insights for you. But I wanted to at least share that I went through things very similar to what you described, and I pulled through. I still struggle with depression, but it's manageable now. I've suffered from it, it has affected my life. I've returned to college and dropped out again several times because the depression kept me from being able to succeed. But I keep plugging away.
Your step-daughter has a lifetime of hard work ahead of her. The damage has already been done to her. Whatever happened to cause her suffering is now in the past and the only thing left to do is to try and survive the future.
Two things really come to mind. Finding the right therapist is probably the number one most important - and most difficult - part of the process. The right therapist will eventually be able to draw her out and get her to talk. There has to be someone out there that can reach this poor girl. It's just so hard to find them sometimes. I had a great psychiatrist when I was thirteen. But for the first several visits I didn't say a word! He was patient, though, and eventually I started to trust him and talk a little. Within a few months I really started to open up. But I hated going, I really did. I took me quite a while to warm up to the idea. So don't get too discouraged! I know counseling can help her, it just takes the right counselor and a ton of patience.
The second thing that comes to mind is medication. Getting to the root of the problem through counseling is of utmost importance, but that can take years! In the meantime, we all have to get on with life, and the Right medication makes that possible. But finding the right medication is almost as hard as finding the right therapist.
I wish I had some magical solution. I know what I went through and it breaks my heart to hear about kids going through the same thing. Best wishes to you and your step-daughter.
-Asha
This is the end of the thread.
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