I think I am getting closer and closer to calling about meds. DD1 is 9. When she was 5 she had a very sudden severe onset of anxiety after a incident on a vacation. Our life was hell for a year after that but I couldn't get her into to anyone that would medicate her then or else I would of be first in line. She basically spent that year curled in a ball freaking out and not sleeping, she made herself stay up for months and months on sleeping maybe 4 hours a night. It isn't that bad anymore but because we came from where she couldn't ride in a car or or the bathroom by herself in our own house, I feel like I've lost perspective on how a normal child her age is.
She is in 3rd grade, she attend school now, she is involved in several sports teams and generally does ok with those things. She carries a cell phone and maybe once a week will call crying hysterically because of something. it could be that she left her sweater at school, her book, today i sent her up to ride with her snowboard team and I forgot her gloves. Little things just send her over the edge. I can calm her down and then she will go back to her normal. If I am not around or don't answer the phone then it gets more difficult. DH can not calm her, only me. Once she gets wound up, she will throw the ultimate temper tantrum, but it all started because something was off in her world. She does not deal well with change, she is a perfectionist. She also is severely dyslexic and has milder SPD. Other then that she does very well with others, she will not break down at practice/school she can hold it together until she can call me and will break down on the phone or when I am picking her up somewhere, I can tell the minute I see her face that the second the car door closes, she is going to lose it. This is a minimal issue compared to others.
Her biggest problem is at night time. She still sleeps in my room most nights, she prefers in my bed. She has her own room and will go through phases where she can sleep in there but then something happens and it takes months to get her back in there. She has periods of insomnia and sleepwalking. Her mind just never shuts off, I feel like she is a hamster on the wheel constantly. I think part of the reason she loves sports so much is because they keep her mind focused. She can not handle down time, she starts thinking and worrying and I think that is what happens when she finally lays down at night. A normal night is her up and around the house, needing reassure on something, it can take an hour to finally get her to go to sleep. Sleep walking is normal once a week unless is is acutely worried about something then it will be nightly and could be multiple times a night.
She tried to have a friend sleep over here for her birthday 6 weeks ago (DD1 can not sleep over at other people's houses) and just the idea of having someone else in her house was too much for her. I had to drive the other girl home at 10:30pm when it become apparent that DD1 was heading towards a freak out. That has spiraled her down again and she has not set foot in her room since. A girl that we knew through dance just died. In her sleep of all things. And the dance studio told the older girls like DD1 more details like that.
So last night DD1 went to go to bed in my room, in my bed and then realized she was getting sick and then I spent the next 2 hours talking her though because she was convinced she was going to die in her sleep. I used to think that it was just an incident here and there and then for the most part she is ok, well ok for her. But now I thinking realizing that it is just incident after incident, we might have small gaps between where things might appear slightly "normal" but I don't think they really are. Now I'm wondering if meds might be worth it so she feels like a normal child. She has seen a therapist off and on since she was 5, more on then off. We've gone though several and have one that we like, we stopped weekly therapy last summer because it was never any better then this and now just go in for emergency sessions. I live in a small town in a very rural area, medical care for children is very limited unless you want to drive 8 hours. I just got the number of a doc from a friend of a friend that is supposedly new to town and is prescribing to children which is what we've never been able to do locally before. I guess I'm just curious about other people's experiences.
She is in 3rd grade, she attend school now, she is involved in several sports teams and generally does ok with those things. She carries a cell phone and maybe once a week will call crying hysterically because of something. it could be that she left her sweater at school, her book, today i sent her up to ride with her snowboard team and I forgot her gloves. Little things just send her over the edge. I can calm her down and then she will go back to her normal. If I am not around or don't answer the phone then it gets more difficult. DH can not calm her, only me. Once she gets wound up, she will throw the ultimate temper tantrum, but it all started because something was off in her world. She does not deal well with change, she is a perfectionist. She also is severely dyslexic and has milder SPD. Other then that she does very well with others, she will not break down at practice/school she can hold it together until she can call me and will break down on the phone or when I am picking her up somewhere, I can tell the minute I see her face that the second the car door closes, she is going to lose it. This is a minimal issue compared to others.
Her biggest problem is at night time. She still sleeps in my room most nights, she prefers in my bed. She has her own room and will go through phases where she can sleep in there but then something happens and it takes months to get her back in there. She has periods of insomnia and sleepwalking. Her mind just never shuts off, I feel like she is a hamster on the wheel constantly. I think part of the reason she loves sports so much is because they keep her mind focused. She can not handle down time, she starts thinking and worrying and I think that is what happens when she finally lays down at night. A normal night is her up and around the house, needing reassure on something, it can take an hour to finally get her to go to sleep. Sleep walking is normal once a week unless is is acutely worried about something then it will be nightly and could be multiple times a night.
She tried to have a friend sleep over here for her birthday 6 weeks ago (DD1 can not sleep over at other people's houses) and just the idea of having someone else in her house was too much for her. I had to drive the other girl home at 10:30pm when it become apparent that DD1 was heading towards a freak out. That has spiraled her down again and she has not set foot in her room since. A girl that we knew through dance just died. In her sleep of all things. And the dance studio told the older girls like DD1 more details like that.