DD's Homeopathic Anxiety Treatments

[MissB]

DD went to a doctor who prefers to use homeopathic medications first, manufactured medications second.  The doctor had studied in Europe and was familiar with Waldorf schools. The office was great and they agreed with the diet I had put DD on (rich in vitamins, fish oils and amino acids). It was a pleasure to talk to someone who got the idea of treating the child on the whole (mind and body).  They could understand the music, knitting, movement, home schooling curriculum, and other therapies we were doing.

When we went through DD simptoms, the biggest one she had was anxiety. You all know the usual: picks and bites her nails, picks her skin, yada yada yada.....

They gave her some medication frequently used for anxiety. Hyposcyamus niger.  Before you look it up, the common name is henbane.  I’m familiar with herbs, I’ve studied their properties since I’ve been for almost 20 years.  It has been used for hundreds of years, is not a long term treatment, and - as with a lot of medications - too much of the medication it becomes poisonous.  

It was to be given in a tincture form over a 4-6 hour period for 2 days. I was waiting for a day so that we could be home before giving it to her; Sunday proved to be the day. I gave her small sips every 15-20 minutes and it took almost 6 hours to complete.  They had said that it would “push the anxiety out” and not to be surprised if she became more anxious during the treatment.  About an hour after the last dose, DD was so anxious she was almost needing to be peeled off the ceiling.  Her appetite was fine that evening.


The next morning she did not have an appetite, but she DID eat. This time, she took 1 sip every hour (how they recommended we do it) and was finished in 4 hours. DD calls me multiple times during the day because of me homeschooling her.  Her last call was right after she finished the draught and her speech was rapid.  She told me she couldn’t concentrate and had several other physical anxiety type symptoms. I emailed hubby and sent him home right away (he is only 3 miles from her, I am 30 miles).  Her pulse rate was rapid, she was flushed, and (later I would find out – she did not mention it to dad) her feet and hands were blue.   I wanted to keep her calm and under a watchful eye. DH took her back to work.

I flew as fast as I could to get there. The only thing that past me was a police officer with his lights and sirens on (I had that split second freak that he was after me). A little over 30 minutes later, I arrived to find DD still flushed and feeling anxious, but OK.  I kept her with me for the rest of the afternoon and she was feeling much better, but by the time dinner came around, she had a small appetite and was only wanting comfort food (noodles and sauce). By 9:30, she was still feeling anxious and while her mind no longer was a “gerbil going round and round on a wheel”, it was still racing.  I quickly had to teach her some mind quieting techniques I had learned while studying yoga.

She slept well, but is still tired. I explained that heart rate was increased yesterday and that it was the equivalent of running a marathon, without rest of the body feeling like it. She feels more anxious than she had when we started the treatment on Sunday. We will see what the next couple of days will bring.

She is due to go back to the doctors in a month.  If this medicine was to “push the anxiety out”, then I don’t think the Doctor has come across a child with this level of anxiety before; she was over the top.  Depending on the results over the next couple of days and IF they want to try the treatment again, I am going to talk to them about using a much lower dosage

[MissB]

Just in case any one is interested, after the first couple of days of treatment, DD12 said her anxiety was much lower.  

Using a scale of 1-10:

Before treatment- on a typical day her usual anxiety level would be from a 4-6. If anything bothered her, she would go to a level 7-9.  

2 weeks after the treatment- on a typical day her usual anxiety level is at a 1-3, when things bother her she goes to 4-6.  

Now, considering I have a kid who is homeschooled, we have already removed as much anxiety was we can on a daily basis.  I am not sure she could (at this point) handle the anxiety of going to school and/or dealing with the social issues there.

I would say decreasing her normal anxiety by 3 points I say is a "win".  She is able to concentrate on her tasks and is much happier overall (and so is Mom and Dad!).  We go back into the doctor on November 1st for re-evaluation.

I am going to recommend that if they have anyone else with DD's problems and do this treatment, they start off with a lower dose and either do a few days longer or if it can not be done for more than 2 days, then suggest they do the treatments every couple of weeks to once a month.   I'd also like to see DD do this treatment one more time to see if her normal anxiety level drops down.

 

[MissB]

Here is an update.

After reporting DD's experience with the henbane, the response was "she had an extreme reaction"......Ya think?        

Dr. admitted that even though we told her she was picking at her skin, chewing nails and toe nails, that she didn't understand exactly how anxious DD really was.  Well, lets face it, these kids do a wonderful job of hiding exactly how close to the edge they really are and only us parents see it. 

DD was given a script for 2 supplements, she is 12 years old, 91 lbs and 5ft tall:

L-Theanine 200 mg 2 X a day for Stress relief, which is suppose to help her with stress by leveling out her Alpha waves by putting her in a more calm mood the same way that massage and other therapies would. It is extracted from green tea

HTP-5 50 MG 1 X per day for depression and increasing her seratonin levels.  It is suppose to work better than St. John's Wort

I got them immediately filled for a 60 day supply (as we are suppose to go back and see the Dr. in 8 weeks) at the local pharmacy that carries herbs and alternative meds.  Cost was over $78 and that was at a 20% discount!  I'm seeing lower prices on the web.

These are available over the counter, I just had them do a prescription so our benefits card would cover them. 

[Cher]

I buy HTP-5 over the counter at Walmart.  I pay about $7 for 100 tablets.

They make it sound so expensive and contreversary, but it's just Hydrotriptaphan, the ingrediant in turkey that makes men fall asleep in front of the TV during football on Thanksgiving day at our house. 

Personally, I have used it and St. John's Wort for me, not DD 16.  I Have had little to no luck on either one with my insomnia.  The Melatonin has given me better results.  The best results I've had has been with Tylenol PM.

Hope it helps her!

[mominashoe]

I've used melatonin before and I haven't had much success with it.  I'm wondering what I could give to DD4 though for her anxiety.  Probably not much since she's so young...

[MissB]

The kid doesn't have insomnia; she sleeps very well and no longer has nightmares nor does she wake up seeing "shadow people" anymore. 

She was able to get past those phases because of her level of healing.  I managed to break through those problems by using a dream catcher over her bed, letting animals sleep in her room (Your mileage may very - this kid has never been known to physically harm an animal.  Any reference to her harming has been due to her not taking care of an animal, i.e. not feeding, watering, etc.), allowing her to have flashlights under her pillow, and her sleeping with a security blanket - yes at age 12 going on 13 - I'm not fighting that issue.

They are using the HTP-5 for depression. When someone has long term depression their serotonin levels are low; the body can not make enough.  The St. John's Wort and HTP-5 is being used to increase he serotonin levels. Both supplements enable her to make serotonin naturally, but the HTP-5 works better. 

The doctor is trying the herbals instead of using a Selective Serotonin Reutake Ihibitor (SSRI) because of the long term effects of SSRI’s and possible side effects from using them with children.

Serotonin is made from tryptophan.   Yes, turkey has a lot of tryptophan (an amino acid) in it – so does other poultry (chicken, duck, goose, quail, etc.) and vegetables.

Carbohydrates are a great “quick fix” serotonin booster, but it is not long lasting.  I think that’s why we find a lot of these kids binging on macaroni and cheese and other carbohydrates. 

Serotonin is not melatonin; serotonin is used by the body to make melatonin.  Please go here for a wonderful outline for how this all works.

http://completehealthdallas.com/Anti-DepressantsNaturalAlternativeDallas.html

Frankly, our whole family is going to try it. Once I told DH about the HTP-5, he said he thought he should try it and I wanted to as well. I know my weight gain is directly related to my depression and he is having problems sleeping due to his. 

Melatonin would be a temporary fix to the sleep problem, but we see as the HTP-5 and other diet supplements (Omega-3’s, Vitamin B complex, etc.) as being more of a long term fix at the top of the problem rather than fixing just the symptom (bottom of problem) resulting in sleep disturbance.

Regarding melatonin. We’ve read that long term use of melatonin supplements will cause problems as the body will cease to make it on its on, relying on the supplement instead. 

Cher, thanks for the heads up on the price at Walmart.  That’s definitely a savings. After looking around even for the other L-Theamine on the web, I definitely feel ripped off by the pharmacy. The silver lining I’m going to look at right now is that I was helping out a small local business.

[MissB]

We had our follow up with the Dr.

Before we left the house, I inquired with DD how SHE felt the medication was doing. She admitted that she had only been taking them as prescribed the past week. - Sigh.... I pointed out the obvious - going for a visit to see how the meds worked for the past 30+ days and now the Dr. doesn't have the data they need.

So, when the Dr. asked me if the meds helped any, I turned to DD. Her faced turned red, she turned to me, I shook my head and said, tell her. AND.....she did!       The Dr. told us that during the days when DD was not taking the meds, her mood would swing low -very low.   I reported DD had several meltdowns due to stressful situations these past 4 months, but she was on an upswing these past couple of weeks - even when she had a stressful situation occur that normally sends her over the top for several days before and after the event.  The Dr. decided (and I had told DD I was requesting anyway) that DD take the 50 mg HTP 2 times a day instead of just one.

By the way, DH and I have been taking 100mg - me 1 X daily and him 2x daily.  I've been doing better and I'm not craving sweets so much.

[rapunzel44]

Another mum who had a very young daughter with RAD used the Bach Flowers and had very good success with it. Just throwing that in.

My dd refused to take ANYTHING, even St Johns Wort. Sigh. Now she parties and is into drinking. I think the St Johns Wort would have been better

[MissB]

Rupunzel, while no parent wants their child to do anything that is illegal or potentially unhealthy, it doesn't surprise me she'd turn to marijuana. I was looking up the term anxiolytic and found it listed as one of the herbs with anti-anxiety properties.  California is indeed on to something with making it available for medicinal use. 

Many cultures have, for literally thousands of years prior to our own age of so-called 'enlightenment', have found numerous beneficial medicinal uses for the much maligned marijuana plant.  There are even those who are presently curing <gasp> certain forms of cancer and other "incurable" diseases, but of course, you won't hear about this on Fox or CNN. Unlike cocaine and opiates there is no risk of physiological addiction with THC; however, psychological addiction is possible. Persons with addictive personality disorders can make a mess out of themselves with any medicinal substance. And no, you don't have to smoke it, and many of the treatments won't even get you 'high.' 

As for the alcohol, its a known depressant and is also physiologically addictive (ironic that its legal). Unfortunately, what she is doing is bringing herself up only to come crashing further down than what she was before.  It must be very hard to watch. 

I've been studying herbs for 30 years and both DH and I have study alternative treatments for over 20. DH especially focuses on alternative treatments that are curing diseases, but not allowed for use in the US; he used to specialize in, for lack of a better phrase, "archeo-pharmacology".

I've used the Bach before on the cats and dogs when we've introduced more critters into the home. It worked well.  I'm also using a new one on my cat who has an allergic skin reaction.  I readily keep chamomile tea around; it works well for DD when I'm want to calm her down quick.  I even grow some a while back, but its highly invasive and grows like a weed.