Published on 12, July, 2020
My daughter has started a low dosage of Setraline. She is only in the early stages and on a low dose. She is 15 and is Neurodiverse. She struggles at school with social interaction and is very unhappy a majority of the time. We are not entirely comfortable with her taking medication but it’s got to the point where we have to do something to help her start to feel better. I have been reading about the possible benefits of CBD oil and would like to know if this is an alternative worth considering. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.
NAS88650 I'm sure you'll work out together what helps. I personally have severe sensitivity to antidepressants so have always sought a different route. My brother is helped by medical cannabis and when I was on here a long time ago under another name, there were many folks being helped by medical cannabis but again it's a trying to see what works scenario as you'll know. I've put a list below of how I cope so perhaps something on it may be helpful and hopefully not everything you've already researched:
1. I had allergy testing done and so have cut out many foods that were making me feel ill in mind and body. I am feeling less anxious more often than not.
2. I've develop an exercise routine that I do every day to help me feel less painful as I have fibromyalgia. It's helping dampen down the pain. It takes huge motivation but once I get going, I feel achievement when it's done.
3. I avoid processed foods which again has helped me painwise and psychologically.
4. I've cut out processed sugar completely but eat whole fruits. This has been huge in helping my pain and anxiety.
5. I stopped drinking, smoking and experimenting with drugs in my 20s which really made a huge difference in my mood.
6. I cut out caffeine in my 20s too. This was a game changer as it really fuelled my Anxiety.
7. I had bad PMDD and had tried many different antidepressants which only made things worse or stopped me feeling anything at all so at the age of 30 I had my ovaries removed which improved my mood fluctuations to be more manageable. The doctors at the time saw this as a last resort after antidepressant treatment.
8. I have found out my sensory profile and so my home is my sanctuary.
9. I now only wear clothes to suit my sensory needs which has helped a great deal. I make my own bras and tshirts.
10. I try to accept what I am unable to do (work) which is tough but I know there is a lot I can do (make my own clothes and crafts and be a great mother to my Autistic daughter).
I know it's a long road when dealing with depression and painful when it's someone you love deeply but you are both trying your best. I wish you well with everything.
Thank you so much for your insightful and helpful response. It sounds like you have been extremely proactive in finding out what works well for you. I do try to ensure my daughter has a healthy varied diet as that is one aspect that I can have some control over. Unfortunately she has very low motivation and exercise although suggested on many occasions, has been successful. I am hoping that if she can have increased motivation other aspects that she struggles with may become easier. Her home is also her sanctuary. She rarely goes out and has no real friends where we live. School is a living nightmare for her she doesn’t really talk to anyone there. When she does go,she comes home exhausted. She has one pair of shorts that she lives in and a bra top - we only found out last year that there is a high possibility that she could be autistic ( we are in the process of waiting* for an assessment) but at least now we can have a greater understanding of why these things are happening. She is a thoughtful mature kind and intelligent person and it breaks my heart not being able to help her.
Thank you again for taking the time to respond. It really has helped. I wish you every happiness x
Thank you these look great x
NAS88650
I noticed from the other posts that your daughter is called Isla. Mine too! I thought these sites might be helpful for the clothing you mentioned your daughter wears:
https://molke.co.uk/ (comfy bras and knickers)
She sounds wonderful just like my wee beauty who is 13 so entering teenage years.
I wish you all the best too. :-)
Thank you Ian - we are very lucky in that we have been paired up with a GP who has been really helpful and is checking in with Isla regularly to see how she is getting on. After speaking with her yesterday we have decided that we will go with this for a couple of months and see how she gets on. She has been really struggling the last few days but I think this is the initial response to the medication.
thanks again for taking the time to respond and I wish you well.
It's so hard and painful to navigate these things. I know from experience there are no easy fixes. I have found GPs to be SO helpful in the past, even more so since I've been realised that I am (very likely) autistic, so that they make allowances for that in consultations. Specialists, on the other hand, in my experience tend to focus very narrowly on the condition that they are interested in.I say this because I hope you will be able to cultivate a relationship with a GP who can get to know the situation and hope to find an approach that works for your daughter. I know it can be hard to see the same GP, but it's important for me - and probably helpful for you in the circumstances.I can't comment on the use of medical cannabis, but I should have thought that, having started on Sertraline, it would probably make sense to give that a good go before adding anything to the mix. As I'm sure you're aware it can take a while for any effect to build, all the more so as you have to start with a low dose.