Re: Medication and menstruation

[Guest guest]

I definitely think menstruation can affect it/them. This is just

from observation, reading stuff over the years, etc.

I know with clients where I work (in the developmental disability

section at our local mental health center; I'm just an office

assistant there) that some of the females have had more problems

around their period each month. They've tracked it to see if that's

when the " behaviors/moods " seem to get worse and it has for some (I

emphasize " some " ).

I can tell with me and my own moods or how I physically feel

what " time of month " it is, before my period starts.

Just my 2 cents!

> My daughter as been out of the hospital for a week after a 5week

stay.

> She was put on 50mg Zoloft and .5 Risperdal at night. She seem to

be

> doing fine for three four days but the last couple of nights her

> taught seem to be getting worse. Last month when she was at the

> hospital just before her period she seemed to get worse (was just

on

> Risperdal at that time). The doctor also gave me some anxiety

meds .5

> if she got anxious and I have had to give her some. Do you think

it

> is because of her period coming up or is the treatment not working.

> She had come home the previous weekends and had done better at

night.

>

> It is so difficult because we are extremely exhausted.

>

> Thanks for the help!

[Guest guest]

Hi there, I bet you all are very exhausted. It must be nice to have your

daughter home now though.

I tried to find some info about menstruation and how this might affect OCD

symptom levels but came up empty. All I know is that generally, judging

from posts to the list over time, that puberty can cause symptoms to go

haywire after a period of stability. Also the general idea of pms and etc.

which may increase irritability and so on, which I guess could easily make

OCD worse temporarily--just my opinion, I couldn't find anything to back

that up.

I hope by now that your daughter has settled in and things are looking a bit

more hopeful. I did want to mention that if she has only been on the Zoloft

a short while, it is really too early to assess whether it is working or

not. This class of drugs does not work immediately but instead you will

notice improvements over 2 months or so. You may find she needs the

anti-anx. meds more often now but later, once the Zoloft has taken full

effect, less or not at all.

The other thing I wanted to mention is that 50mg. Zoloft is a pretty low

dose to treat OCD, which typically requires higher daily doses even in

children. Zoloft is one of the less potent SSRIs meaning you take more to

get the effect needed. My child, 10 now, has taken 150mg. Zoloft daily for

several years. Perhaps your daughter is in the process of being titered up

on her Zoloft dose? There are of course some people who are highly

sensitive to the meds and so get full effect from smaller doses. I'm not a

doc, just another mom with an OCD child, my 2 cents.

Take care,

Kathy R. in Indiana

----- Original Message -----

> My daughter as been out of the hospital for a week after a 5week stay.

> She was put on 50mg Zoloft and .5 Risperdal at night. She seem to be

> doing fine for three four days but the last couple of nights her

> taught seem to be getting worse. Last month when she was at the

> hospital just before her period she seemed to get worse (was just on

> Risperdal at that time). The doctor also gave me some anxiety meds .5

> if she got anxious and I have had to give her some. Do you think it

> is because of her period coming up or is the treatment not working.

> She had come home the previous weekends and had done better at night.

>

> It is so difficult because we are extremely exhausted.

>

> Thanks for the help!

[Guest guest]

My 12 year old daughter also seems a little bit " worse " with her OCD

around the time of her period. Maybe she'd be that way w/o OCD(?) It

is true that SSRI's like Zoloft take a while to be fully effective (2

months or so) and that the recommended dose is somewhat higher than

50 mg. My daughter worked her way up gradually and is now on 200

mg./day. She is also doing her ERP homework...things are getting

better!

Laurie K

> My daughter as been out of the hospital for a week after a 5week

stay.

> She was put on 50mg Zoloft and .5 Risperdal at night. She seem to

be

> doing fine for three four days but the last couple of nights her

> taught seem to be getting worse. Last month when she was at the

> hospital just before her period she seemed to get worse (was just

on

> Risperdal at that time). The doctor also gave me some anxiety

meds .5

> if she got anxious and I have had to give her some. Do you think

it

> is because of her period coming up or is the treatment not working.

> She had come home the previous weekends and had done better at

night.

>

> It is so difficult because we are extremely exhausted.

>

> Thanks for the help!

[Guest guest]

I think that the Zoloft dose really depends on the child. My daughter

was on just 50 mg. for a year and a half. Before meds she had OCD

symptoms many times per day. With 50 mg. and ERP her symptoms almost

disappeared. She was one of the very lucky ones who started to see a

decrease in symptoms pretty quickly on a low dose. As others have

said, if often takes 2-3 months for the SSRIs to work. About a year

ago, just as she was turning 12 and puberty hit, Billie had a major

increase in anxiety symptoms and her Zoloft was increased to 75 mg. per

day. That was good for about 6 months when we had to bump it up to 100

mg. At almost 13 and about 95 lbs, that dose seems to be right for

her. Many children need a much higher dose in order for it to work for

them. Hope your daughter sees improvement soon.

Kathy

> My 12 year old daughter also seems a little bit " worse " with her OCD

> around the time of her period. Maybe she'd be that way w/o OCD(?) It

> is true that SSRI's like Zoloft take a while to be fully effective (2

> months or so) and that the recommended dose is somewhat higher than

> 50 mg. My daughter worked her way up gradually and is now on 200

> mg./day. She is also doing her ERP homework...things are getting

> better!

>

> Laurie K

>

>

>

>

>> My daughter as been out of the hospital for a week after a 5week

> stay.

>> She was put on 50mg Zoloft and .5 Risperdal at night. She seem to

> be

>> doing fine for three four days but the last couple of nights her

>> taught seem to be getting worse. Last month when she was at the

>> hospital just before her period she seemed to get worse (was just

> on

>> Risperdal at that time). The doctor also gave me some anxiety

> meds .5

>> if she got anxious and I have had to give her some. Do you think

> it

>> is because of her period coming up or is the treatment not working.

>> She had come home the previous weekends and had done better at

> night.

>>

>> It is so difficult because we are extremely exhausted.

>>

>> Thanks for the help!

>

>

>

>

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