This product more or less exists. Nest Protect. You can silence it through your smartphone. Edit - it also warns you before going off.

Thank you - will absolutely check this out.

Thank you, this is great. We were previously homeschooling, but went back to public school this year. The long term plan remains sort of unknown at this stage to be honest as there are clear pros/cons to both. But definitely right now getting her to school is a key area of anxiety so curious to dive into this. Regarding the meds, 10 days of Prozac has given her more than a couple years of therapy and endless attempts from us. My husband still isn't thrilled with the medication and is very hopeful that she can benefit from other approaches rather than relying on it longer term...only time will tell, but for now it's clearly part of the necessary treatment plan. @WildflowerMomThank you - I am familiar with Reddit. Are there particular subreddits which you would recommend?

Hi all, my 6 year old daugther was recently diagnosed with severe anxiety. She's in therapy and we've tried different types over the last couple of years to figure out what fits best for her. We recently started medicating her with Prozac, a difficult decision for us which I wrote a bit about in a recent post. So far, this has been hugely positive even after a couple weeks. Does anyone have recommendations for books, online resources, etc that are helpful for parents? A few things came up in my previous post such as the Explosive Child and I am looking for suggestions for anything else which I should be checking out. Thanks!

@wendyroo Your thoughts and insights are so valuable as we embark on this journey and I cannot thank you enough for sharing. It is point this that you mention, the fact that as parents we seem to have a distinct influence into the psychiatric treatment that has terrified me from the start. Fortunately, our psychiatrist is quite good at synthesizing information and making a strong recommendation one way or the other. However, I am acutely aware that the information I am providing is guiding the decision making in a way that doesn't happen in other forms of healthcare. As you say, if she has a broken arm, my observations on the treatment are far less relevant. Even the framing of things is unique. At the end of our last appointment, the psychiatrist mentioned that as a next step we will decide whether to increase from 10 to 20mg. The notion that it is a collaborative decision does weigh on me. But already I am learning and understanding more about how the process is managed. The gradual step by step adjustment and observation does seem to make finding a balance achievable. But I also see the stress of tough decisions coming and realize this is part of it. My husband wants to keep her dose low and is already thinking about how/when she can come off. The psychiatrist recommends at least 1 year at a steady dosage, ideally longer before we try a taper. I just want to take it one day at a time.

Thank you so much for sharing this. From our initial results, I fully agree with everything here and ultimately our goal was to impact her development in a positive way. Framing the impact on her development in this manner is helpful and something I hope my husband can see. @wendyroo You seem to have a wealth of experience and I have a couple questions based on your posts in this thread if you don't mind me asking (if you'd prefer not to share, totally understand). You mentioned your eldest ended up on 30mg and has been able to stay on this dose for a while. Given that he responded well to the Prozac, during the original process how did you know that 30mg was the best fit? We're very much in the process of trying to figure out what dose is optimal. Our psychiatrist wants to get her to a level where meltdowns aren't happening and I think she'd rather push slightly higher with the hope that we can avoid tinkering in the future. Would you mind shooting me a PM to discuss the private support group? For some reason I cannot message you - perhaps because my account is new?

Yes, and to be honest, I need to do some self-reflection - I resisted medication for far too long due to my own uninformed thoughts and biases. It is easy now to see that I should have been listening to the suggestions of a trusted psychiatrists and I hope to continue to learn and do better. Unfortunately, despite the success we're seeing, my husband is still very lukewarm. He feels she should not be on the Prozac for very long as he is convinced it will impact her development. I am hoping he comes around and uses the evidence in front of us to get past his preconceived notions.

I must say thanks again to everyone for the support. After increasing her dose from 5mg to 10mg, there is no doubt the Prozac is helping her! We are amazed, excited, relieved and for the first time in what feels like forever, optimistic. She is much more clam and relaxed, has been actively engaged in healthy play throughout the day. She asked about visiting friends today, something she would never even previously consider. Overall, she seems happier and not on the verge of a meltdown at every moment of the day. She is definitely is more active and energized, which the psych said could happen as we increase the Prozac. But so far, I see this as mostly positive and no side effects to worry about. A couple of days ago I was crying because I thought giving her Prozac was a bad thing, but today I was crying with happiness. We'll see how things go, but for now, it does seem we are on the right track. My mind has certainly flipped on the concept of medication...I'm already feeling foolish for being so resistant to the concept. Edit - I should also mention, as some have asked - we are still doing various other kinds of therapy and will actively pursue a balanced treatment. But I do see the value of medication in a totally new way.

Yes, we feel incredibly fortunate. She is a psychiatrist who only treats children and you can she tell is a true expert. She has been incredibly patient with us throughout the process and is always available to answer questions. We were very hesitant with the medication, but it never felt like she pushed us uncomfortably - she always acknowledged and addressed concerns in a reassuring manner. We do trust her a lot. At one point during the process I asked if Prozac was really safe and if she'd treated many children with it. She smiled and said she'd treated "thousands" of children with Prozac over the years. It was a subtle moment that did make us feel like she really knows what she is doing.

@Ottakee@MEmama - thank you both. I'm still wrapping my head around everything and it's very useful to learn more about how that balance of improvement with side effects is managed. For context, the psych did explain that right now one goal she would like to work toward is her being in almost complete remission of anxiety induced meltdowns or tantrums, which by her definition means they are occurring less than every month or so. Obviously when the anxiety overflows into outbursts that can be violent, it is dangerous. In the psychiatrist's opinion, this is an example where accepting some mild side effects in exchange for this result is worth it. Lecka, your intuition is amazing. We've been asked to keep track of things and report the frequency of attacks. For now, the tinkering plan will be increase in 5mg increments and monitor as we go keeping track of both side effects and her anxiety.

Thanks again for everyone who has taken the time to read and offer support and/or advice. One question which has been on my mind since the appointment this morning is what should we be looking for to know the dosage is appropriate? It seems we're entering the phase of tinkering to find the appropriate level of Prozac and I recognize the psychiatrist will lead this process, but what did you see in your children to know the medication levels were correct? For example, @wendyroo you mentioned your eldest ended up on 30mg and has been able to stay on this dose for a while. Given that he responded well to the Prozac, during the original process how did you know that 30mg was the best fit? Our psychiatrist does seem to have the philosophy that if we can get her to a level of Prozac that is working, hopefully we can leave it untouched and avoid constant tinkering. My read is that she'd rather push a bit higher on the dose now to alleviate as many symptoms as possible and then hope this holds over the longer term, rather than constant gradual increases. We were thinking the medication could be short term, and I'm still hopeful it will, but reading more into the stories of others and chatting with the psychiatrist, we're also realizing it may be a longer term thing.

Dear all, I'm sharing an update from what has been a very informative morning. Things got off to an interesting start today - over the last days I have been giving her liquid Prozac after breakfast and this morning, after she finished eating, she asked, "Is it time for my medicine?". I told her yes and while we've been closely monitoring her, she hadn't previously had much to say about it. I took the opportunity to ask if she had any thoughts or feelings that she wanted to share and she told me that "it makes me less upset Mama". I must admit that in that moment, much of my hesitation about the medication faded. While I'm somewhat shocked, it does seem she is actually feeling something from the Prozac and it is already starting to help her at this early stage. We then had a really excellent and thorough check-in with the psychiatrist who believes she is responding incredibly well and said it is safe for us to increase from 5mg to 10mg. She asked me numerous questions and also spoke carefully with my daughter, getting information from her in a really kind and gentle manner. She told me that there are no signs of any negative or paradoxical effects, which is the primary things she wanted to rule out with a trial dose. She said at this stage, we want to begin gradually increasing the dose to a therapeutic level. I asked a bit about what that may look like and if there was a specific target dosage in mind. She explained that we will increase slowly and gradually, monitoring along the way, with the goal of achieving a significant improvement in her symptoms. According to the psychiatrist, this could be 10mg but we could also push as high as 20-30mg if needed. I asked the psych if it was possible that her reduction in meltdowns over the last days could be from the first 5-6 days on Prozac. She said it is highly likely and that while it can take weeks to see full effects, many people, particularly children respond much more quickly. She said from the information she has and her own assessment, she is responding ideally to the Prozac and we should be very optimistic it will help her further. I was curious if the fact that she is responding well was an indication we could keep the dose low and was told it really depends. In some cases a rapid response allows us to keep the dose low, but in other cases it may mean we have the potential to push a bit higher without side effects. I was curious about her thoughts on side effects and dosage levels and she said it's really something we manage as we go, but the dream is to eliminate all issues with no side effects. If side effects appear we balance them against the gains. She said for example, if at 20mg she has no side effects but is still having some meltdowns, while at 30mg she is tantrum free with some mild side effects we have a choice to make. I also could not resist probing a bit about the longer term plan. She said that is always a consideration, but for now we need to stabilize her with an appropriate dose of Prozac and keep her on that for the next little while. Sorry for the information dump, this also turned into a good way to summarize and synthesize my thoughts. Thanks again to everyone - if you have thoughts, comments or ideas based on your experience, I am all ears. Everything you have shared has been amazingly helpful.

Once again, thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read through and has shared their story, answered questions or provided useful information. You are all wonderful. We have a meeting with the psychiatrist tomorrow and for those interested, I will share an update. This was intended to be a check-in for her first 10 days on the Prozac - we hesitated to start so it will be just shy of a week since she started. Nevertheless, I confirmed with the psych that she does want to chat to see how things are going, check for any issues and assess the dosage. -- Do you think she'll be on the medication indefinitely or are there any plans to see how she does without it? This is encouraging to hear! Do you mind me asking if they have similar responses to the Prozac and required similar dosages or was each situation unique? How did you know when it was time to add another medication? Again, thank you! This is very helpful perspective. She's currently starting on 5mg but the psych does want to get her up to 10mg I believe and did mention that we could go as high as 20-30mg if needed. The dosage tinkering makes me a bit nervous, but it seems for many that once they find something that works it can hold for quite a while. Thank you! The psychiatrist did explain the half-life in the context of the time it takes to build up for her, but I didn't realize this also had implications for transitioning on and off, although it does make complete sense. For context, she's been in various forms of therapy for about 2 years, primarily "play" therapy, but also breathing exercises, meditation, various anxiety reduction methods. Honestly it felt like we tried everything. SSRIs were originally suggested when she was 4 but we wanted to do everything possible before the medication route. The psychiatrist was pretty adamant that medication was worth trying as she was concerned about the effects of the chronic anxiety on her brain. She felt the risks of non trying something far outweighed the risks of the medication. Like you, my natural inclination was to avoid the medication, but it did really feel necessary.

Thank you so much. Obviously right now, we are just focusing on one day at a time, but I am curious about the potential directions things could go over the long term and this is helpful. When you took her off for a month at eleven do you mind me asking what happened? How was it so clear that she needed them? Also, if she is late taking them, how does she feel? Indeed, I must say our daughter is not functional right now. I do hope we can get to the point you have!

We did do food allergy testing which revealed nothing. I can honestly say that we did everything we could possibly think of before going the medication route. After hearing the stories here, I do feel that listening to the medical experts and trialing the Prozac was the right decision. I was very distraught about it when I made my post this morning - I still have so many questions and concerns. But we needed to implement something fast and doing months of food restrictions while she has daily breakdowns was frankly just not viable.

@MEmama Very interesting! She's been tantrum free now for close to 48 hours which is remarkable for her. This morning it was much easier getting her out the door for school, but I did honestly think it was just a coincidence since she's so early into the Prozac. But based on what you and others are saying here, I must admit I cannot help but feel somewhat optimistic. If these are really the preliminary effects of the Prozac and we continue to improve with no issues, I'll be utterly amazed. But, it's still very early.... I've started jotting down notes just to keep track of things.

Thank you so much for this. This sounds like an incredible success story and I'm very curious to learn more if you are willing to share. Have you noticed any long term side effects from the use of the SSRIs over such long periods of her development? Have her dosages been adjusted as she grew? Are there any plans for her to stop or do you consider this a medication she is likely to utilize indefinitely, akin to someone with diabetes using insulin as another person mentioned. When we first sought help for our daughter when she was 4, they did suggest trying an SSRI but we did not proceed ahead with it. She is actually currently taking the liquid Prozac but the psych does want to eventually transition to pills to make it easier to give her more Prozac if needed. I did not realize that people could actually respond so quickly. Today she had no tantrum for the first time in what feels like months and I just got back from picking her up at school - the teacher said she had a good day, which is strange. Do you think it is possible these could be early effects of the Prozac after 5 days?

Thank you - this is interesting to read and contemplate. I have previously always thought negatively that I am "medicating" her potentially against her choice. I'd hate to for her to grow up and be upset with this decision. But the other angle is maybe more relevant - it would be worse for her to struggle and not excel only to find out there was treatment available which we didn't pursue. Thank you! We are working through Explosive Child now and finding it great. Lots of helpful information. Our hope now is that with more knowledge, some therapy and the Prozac we can get things under control.

A deep and sincere thank you to everyone for the information, questions and stories. This has been extremely helpful for me and I am looking forward to continuing to learn more. It is reassuring to hear that for most people, starting their children on medication offered great benefit - most of the feedback thus far seems to indicate that the most common regret was not starting early enough. I feel much more confident that trying the Prozac is the correct decision. To answer some of the questions that have come up: We have been giving her the 5mg of Prozac daily in the morning at roughly the same time and will continue to do so. She is not on any other medications and all physical issues (vision, allergies, diet, etc. ) have been thoroughly investigated over the last couple of years. We only went in the direction of the psychiatrist after pretty much everything else had been ruled out. She has been evaluated for ASD twice now and both times we have got a resounding no on this. We will for sure continue to regularly check back as needed - we do want her to get the best support possible. However, right now we do feel fairly confident in the anxiety diagnosis. The psychiatrist, who is a child specialist did deep evaluations and basically said she is classic GAD with no symptoms of ASD. I double-checked and can confirm that today is her fifth day on the 5mg of Prozac. We have been monitoring closely and so far have not seen any negative changes - if anything she has seemed less likely to meltdown over the last couple of days, but this is likely just us being optimistic as the psychiatrist did explain it will take time to see the effects. Some outstanding questions for everyone - how quickly did you see results? How did you know when the dosages were right? The psychiatrist really wants to go low and slow but explained to us that she feels she will likely need 10mg of Prozac. We will be checking in with her soon and I'm not sure if the jump from 5mg to 10mg could happen at this time. Also, did you find Prozac or other SSRIs were good for reducing the meltdowns. We're really hopeful the Prozac can make her less likely to have tantrums and less angry.

@Katy Thanks so much for this perspective - I appreciate it and agree with the way you are thinking about things, which is why despite our terror, we went ahead with the medication. I do hate to see her struggle and you are right, the cost of her not building friendships and being riddled with anxiety could have really dangerous long term consequences. The psychiatrist did mention that the risk for Prozac is about as low as it comes for medication. She said she's treated countless children with it, some as young as 4, and concerning side effects are very rare. The psychiatrist said the worst case scenario is likely that we don't see improvement and would need to try something else. Again, thanks and good luck with your evaluation! @historically accurate Thanks for sharing - this is reassuring to hear. Did Prozac help your child? Do you mind me asking how long they've been on it? Are you happy with the results? Also, the psych is starting our daughter at 5mg and will monitor with the potential to increase to 10mg. Does this make sense? What dosages was your child on? Also, she's only been on it for 4-5 days and the psych said it will take a few weeks, but today was the first day in months she didn't have a tantrum getting out the door for school. Just a coincidence I am sure, but I guess it makes me somewhat hopeful overall.

Thank you all - the psychiatrist did explain the well known risks and wants to monitor very closely to ensure there are no dangerous effects as the medication is introduced. I feel confident and comfortable with the quality of care, but am still very uncertain if we are doing the right thing. It bothers me that she doesn't have the mental awareness to fully understand exactly what is going on and has no agency over the decision. The psychiatrist said that in her opinion, this is a case where the potential benefits far outweigh the risks. I don't know enough to know if it's true. The psychiatrist says long term anxiety at this level can impact the developing brain, that she could hurt herself or others in an anxiety attack and that she may struggle socially longer term if the anxiety prevents proper integration with peers and school. They've been wanting her to try Prozac for a while and we've resisted. Last week she had a horrible tantrum trying to get her out the door to school. She cried, she was aggressive, she wouldn't get dressed...it's like this every morning but it broke me and I did give her the medication. I felt so guilty after and cried. I felt like a terrible parent and failure. She has now been on it for 5 days and every day when I give it to her I feel sick.

Thank you - these are very good questions which we have done our best trying to answer. She is not adopted and to the very best of our knowledge there has been no significant abuse or trauma. The psychiatrist and therapist have worked hard to identify the root cause and do not believe there is anything nefarious here. We were hoping therapy would work and frankly do not want to medicate so young. It terrifies me. We talked to the psychiatrist about other forms of therapy, although not specifically EMDR. The psychiatrist believe that if we don't medicate she will fall into deeper troubles and that we must get her under control while we figure out the longer term therapeutic plan.

Hello, all my 6 year old daughter was recently diagnosed with severe anxiety and prescribed 5mg of Prozac. We feel completely lost right now and are looking for any support, advice or guidance from those who have children on Prozac or any other similar medication. Was medicating the right choice? How did your child respond? Anything you wish you knew in advance? Background Our daughter started showing troubling behavior as a toddler and as she grew, the issues escalated. From a young age she has been terrified of everything, afraid to try new activities, scared to interact with new people and generally petrified to participate in developmentally normal things. As a result, she has struggled to integrate with her peers. Perhaps most concerning, unlike most children who adjust as they grow, each year her meltdowns got worse. Lately, she throws tantrums nearly daily that can turn violent to the point where she was a threat to herself or others. She performs very well academically in school but getting her there and through the day is a near impossibility at this point. We've been trying to get her help for a couple of years. She's been doing "play" therapy for a while but to be honest we have seen little to positive impact from this. Her pediatrician referred us to a child psychiatrist who monitored her for a couple of months and got to know the situation carefully. They did extensive testing and ruled out ASD or any other sensory processing issue. The child psychiatrist diagnosed her with severe GAD and said medication was the way to, starting with Prozac since, according to her, it is safe and effective for young kids. We hesitated for a few weeks - I am concerned about giving her this medication. However, we're also at our breaking point. We cannot carry on like this. A couple days ago I gave her the first dose. Are we doing the right thing?