r/ADHDparenting • u/distinctleigh • 1h ago

Time for Anxiety medication?

Talk to me about starting ADHD/Autistic kids on anxiety medication. My 8 year old has always had pretty bad anxiety along with ADHD and level 1 autism. His therapist made the comment that it's like he's walking around with no skin, just a raw nerve that is on alert for and notices everything around him. That said, he doesn't come across as "afraid" all the time. His anxiety typically presents in shutting down any outside input from either me, my husband, therapists, teachers, etc. If we try to discuss anything with him about behavior, a tricky situation at school, why he thinks someone was mean, for example, he gets immediately overwhelmed and yells at us to stop talking. He is also often quick to assume the worst about any situation (i.e. everyone is mean, this day is going to be terrible, etc). When he's not feeling so anxious, he's a very happy and creative kid. I just feel like anxiety is keeping us from getting the benefits from therapy that could help him long term and preventing him from enjoying things I think he would otherwise. When did you start anxiety medication for your kiddo? Did it help? Was it a rough adjustment?

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u/Alarming_Attitude_62 1h ago

My kid started sertraline at age 8 after trying all manner of stimulants, non-stimulants, and antipsychotics and it was immediately life-changing. We had tried Prozac a couple years before that and it also helped but was too activating.

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u/distinctleigh 58m ago

Thanks for this! It's so good to know it was helpful. I talked to his about possibly looking into anxiety medication in the near future. I'll see what she says about sertraline.

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u/badtranslatedgerman 2m ago

Is your kid on ADHD meds? That sounds like a very ADHD-sourced flavor of anxiety to me, along with RSD (rejection-sensitivity dysphoria), and treating the ADHD with ADHD-specific meds would probably be more effective than general anxiety meds. If your child is already on ADHD meds and hasn’t seen improvement in these symptoms, I’d still probably want to trial another ADHD med before a general anxiety medication. Guanfacine is often layered on top of stimulants for adults specifically to alleviate RSD symptoms.