Kara's Health Update
I have been wanting to post about this for a while. Kara gave me permission, so here goes.
I'm not really sure where to start.
I may or may not have mentioned Kara has had OCD issues in the past. She still has them, but she is keeping them in check. She has ticks and habits and just deals with them. OCD is a form of anxiety, so I'm not surprised she ended up with it - between Michael's OCD, and my anxiety, it was very likely!
OCD is really what we noticed in her while she was 11 and 12.
As she is getting older, there has been something more. She sleeps at least 12-14 hours a day and always says she's tired. If she isn't sleeping, she's napping. Always asleep. More than what an average teenager needs. I know depression will show up as being tired, so I was watching for more signs. Since depression and anxiety are so closely related, I looked for those signs too.
Instead of being "shy," or having an average amount of social anxiety around new people or around crowds, Kara had been withdrawing. She wasn't wanting to join us to see family, and she was avoiding eating several meals because she didn't even want to run into Michael or I in the kitchen. She has lost weight and is officially underweight.
When all of these add up together, I know something serious is wrong. But, I wanted to wait until she was ready to get help. I didn't want to force anything.
Kara confessed she has been doing a lot of research on anxiety. It's confusing and weird to her and she wanted to know what was typical teenager stuff and what was extraordinary. I told her that she is okay, that I share loads of her symptoms, and so does Michael. (Not only does he have OCD and clausterphobia, both are forms of anxiety, but he also suffers from social anxiety.) I also told her that if she ever wanted to talk to a therapist to get help, it has really helped me and she could see the same nice lady I see. I also told her that if she is having a hard time functioning (which I believed she had - staying in her room, weight loss, and sleeping so much were the biggest parts), there is medicine out there that can help too. My entire life has been transformed because of Lexapro and therapy. These last few years she has nodded and said, "I know," but felt she could still function and wasn't ready to make any changes. So, I prayed and helped her as much as I could, all the while keeping the communication door open.
While Michael was out of town on a fishing trip with the guys, Kara and I hung out (a bit - she was still in her room a lot), and she finally admitted she is having too much trouble on her own. I told her I was proud of her and we can do whatever she is ready to do. She said she wanted to try both therapy and medicine and see if they could work for her. I definitely support that plan!
So, since I happened to have a therapy appointment planned for that Wednesday, I brought her along and let her talk. I was as quiet as I could possibly be, letting it really be her appointment. I told her she wouldn't get in trouble for saying anything in there and if she wanted to ask me to leave so she could talk alone, that would be fine too. She said she was glad I was there for the first time because she didn't really know where to start. Nothing major came out during that session, but I did learn that social situations bother her than I thought. Even just being in an airport. She said she always feels "watched and judged." Even in her room alone. The therapist diagnosed her with OCD, anxiety, and ADD. (I'm surprised about that last one! But Michael has that too, so there you go.) Anyway, Kara really enjoyed therapy, praise the Lord. I thought she wouldn't want to talk about it, just like Michael, but like me, she is desperate for help/tips. She now has her own appointments, and I have my own. She is looking forward to going alone from now on. (Her next one is March 9.)
The next day we went to our doctor for medicine. This doctor has helped me so much over the last few years, and I knew she would help Kara too. Sure enough, she prescribed her Lexapro too (the therapist said she just recommended anxiety meds for now, nothing else). Kara takes 5mg a day (compared to my 20mg a day). It is actually just to tide her over until she goes to an actual psychiatrist (a psychologist who can prescribe meds). The psychiatrist is an extra step for Kara because she is still so young. They called today to set up her appointment for March 12, which I'm thrilled about. They said she can still receive counseling from the lady here in town we already like, and the psychiatrist will work alongside her with meds. I'm super thrilled about that too!!
So, here is how Lexapro went with me - I started on 10mg a day, felt great for a while, felt like I needed more, went up to 20mg, have been a NEW WOMAN ever since. So. Much. Freedom.
Here is how Lexapro is going for Kara:
The first few days she feels a lot better and I notice a huge improvement.
More energy, not really increased appetite, even harder to focus, she's loud and goofy again for the first time in a WHILE.
The next few days she says she feels worse than she did before she even took medicine. Lots of anxiety, lots of sleeping, lots of staying in her room.
Called the doc and they said she can stay on it and see if it rebounds as Lexapro has time to build in her system, or she can stop taking it if it is making her worse. I let Kara decide since it is her body and she needs to learn to read it. She decided to stay on it another week.
A few days after that, she says she feels like she did before the medicine. She "feels" the same. But I am here to say she is so much better. I'd love for her to feel better too, but we will work that out with the psychiatrist on the 12th. For now, I am enjoying what she can't even see.
I asked her if she felt like the old Kara. She said she feels like it's the new Kara. Praise Jesus!
So, Thursday we will go back to the doctor and tell her how Lexapro is going so far. She did have her first panic attack the other day. We will be sure to bring that up.
I have been so grateful to God for doctors and medicine, but now that my daughter needs them so much, it is a new level of gratitude. Thank you, Lord Jesus.
Please pray for Kara in the mean time. She is going through a lot!
I'm not really sure where to start.
I may or may not have mentioned Kara has had OCD issues in the past. She still has them, but she is keeping them in check. She has ticks and habits and just deals with them. OCD is a form of anxiety, so I'm not surprised she ended up with it - between Michael's OCD, and my anxiety, it was very likely!
OCD is really what we noticed in her while she was 11 and 12.
As she is getting older, there has been something more. She sleeps at least 12-14 hours a day and always says she's tired. If she isn't sleeping, she's napping. Always asleep. More than what an average teenager needs. I know depression will show up as being tired, so I was watching for more signs. Since depression and anxiety are so closely related, I looked for those signs too.
Instead of being "shy," or having an average amount of social anxiety around new people or around crowds, Kara had been withdrawing. She wasn't wanting to join us to see family, and she was avoiding eating several meals because she didn't even want to run into Michael or I in the kitchen. She has lost weight and is officially underweight.
When all of these add up together, I know something serious is wrong. But, I wanted to wait until she was ready to get help. I didn't want to force anything.
Kara confessed she has been doing a lot of research on anxiety. It's confusing and weird to her and she wanted to know what was typical teenager stuff and what was extraordinary. I told her that she is okay, that I share loads of her symptoms, and so does Michael. (Not only does he have OCD and clausterphobia, both are forms of anxiety, but he also suffers from social anxiety.) I also told her that if she ever wanted to talk to a therapist to get help, it has really helped me and she could see the same nice lady I see. I also told her that if she is having a hard time functioning (which I believed she had - staying in her room, weight loss, and sleeping so much were the biggest parts), there is medicine out there that can help too. My entire life has been transformed because of Lexapro and therapy. These last few years she has nodded and said, "I know," but felt she could still function and wasn't ready to make any changes. So, I prayed and helped her as much as I could, all the while keeping the communication door open.
While Michael was out of town on a fishing trip with the guys, Kara and I hung out (a bit - she was still in her room a lot), and she finally admitted she is having too much trouble on her own. I told her I was proud of her and we can do whatever she is ready to do. She said she wanted to try both therapy and medicine and see if they could work for her. I definitely support that plan!
So, since I happened to have a therapy appointment planned for that Wednesday, I brought her along and let her talk. I was as quiet as I could possibly be, letting it really be her appointment. I told her she wouldn't get in trouble for saying anything in there and if she wanted to ask me to leave so she could talk alone, that would be fine too. She said she was glad I was there for the first time because she didn't really know where to start. Nothing major came out during that session, but I did learn that social situations bother her than I thought. Even just being in an airport. She said she always feels "watched and judged." Even in her room alone. The therapist diagnosed her with OCD, anxiety, and ADD. (I'm surprised about that last one! But Michael has that too, so there you go.) Anyway, Kara really enjoyed therapy, praise the Lord. I thought she wouldn't want to talk about it, just like Michael, but like me, she is desperate for help/tips. She now has her own appointments, and I have my own. She is looking forward to going alone from now on. (Her next one is March 9.)
The next day we went to our doctor for medicine. This doctor has helped me so much over the last few years, and I knew she would help Kara too. Sure enough, she prescribed her Lexapro too (the therapist said she just recommended anxiety meds for now, nothing else). Kara takes 5mg a day (compared to my 20mg a day). It is actually just to tide her over until she goes to an actual psychiatrist (a psychologist who can prescribe meds). The psychiatrist is an extra step for Kara because she is still so young. They called today to set up her appointment for March 12, which I'm thrilled about. They said she can still receive counseling from the lady here in town we already like, and the psychiatrist will work alongside her with meds. I'm super thrilled about that too!!
So, here is how Lexapro went with me - I started on 10mg a day, felt great for a while, felt like I needed more, went up to 20mg, have been a NEW WOMAN ever since. So. Much. Freedom.
Here is how Lexapro is going for Kara:
The first few days she feels a lot better and I notice a huge improvement.
More energy, not really increased appetite, even harder to focus, she's loud and goofy again for the first time in a WHILE.
The next few days she says she feels worse than she did before she even took medicine. Lots of anxiety, lots of sleeping, lots of staying in her room.
Called the doc and they said she can stay on it and see if it rebounds as Lexapro has time to build in her system, or she can stop taking it if it is making her worse. I let Kara decide since it is her body and she needs to learn to read it. She decided to stay on it another week.
A few days after that, she says she feels like she did before the medicine. She "feels" the same. But I am here to say she is so much better. I'd love for her to feel better too, but we will work that out with the psychiatrist on the 12th. For now, I am enjoying what she can't even see.
I asked her if she felt like the old Kara. She said she feels like it's the new Kara. Praise Jesus!
So, Thursday we will go back to the doctor and tell her how Lexapro is going so far. She did have her first panic attack the other day. We will be sure to bring that up.
I have been so grateful to God for doctors and medicine, but now that my daughter needs them so much, it is a new level of gratitude. Thank you, Lord Jesus.
Please pray for Kara in the mean time. She is going through a lot!
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