My pre teen daughter is having anxity attacks for no reason. She is very smart and does well in school. Is there anyone out there have the same problem? Please email me and let me know.
Worried
I want to thank everyone for the advise I received. I am glad that I found this web site I guess knowing that my child is going to be ok and we are not the onlys going thru this is helpful. We talked about everything and she went to school all day yesterday. I think she puts to much pressure on herself. Thanks again.
Dehydration is a trigger of anxiety attacks. I get panic attacks a lot and was told by my Dr. to drink two glasses of water immediately. It works
They are triggered by bio-chemical unbalances in our brain, some people are more prone to them than others. You can have them for a while and then never anymore, there's no telling. They are tricky to understand and generate the fear for them, so the person is afraid to experience it again. I had them for a while when i was in college and it was awful...no apparent reason for them as usual. After that, maybe a couple of times (in over 10 years) very mild, then nothing. Doctors don't know what causes them nor how to avoid them, but I suggest your daughter takes one day at the time and does what makes her feel safe (sleep with open door, always be with somebody...whatever really) for a while until she gains confidence again. They'll stop all of a sudden and she'll hane time to catch her breath. Just tell her she may not have them anymore, it's entirely possible.
My daughter went through similar issues and it turned out she was sleep deprived. The Dr we went to didn't do much but wanted to put her on meds - we declined and sought a counselor. After a couple of sessions we figured out she was having big issues sleeping (tried melatonin - hormone to help regulate sleep) a few times is all that was needed and now she's back to herself.
My advice is seek the help of a Dr or counselor (one that specializes in Girls and Teens). And talk to her; you may find there are underlying issues that are affecting her that she did not even realize! Good luck!
What do you term anxiety attacks? And have you ask her? If you feel it's for no reason at all, that doesn't mean that she feels that it's for no reason at all. Talk to her. You might want to get her into a doctor to see what the issue might be. Especially if she doesn't even know why this is happening.
Good Luck
My son recently had anxiety attacks. I was very concerned because he is only 7. I took him to our pediatrician first, then a therapist who she had recommended. The cause turned out to be a medication he had recently started taking for allergies. We pulled away the med and the anxiety has stopped. My little boy is back to normal (with a runny nose). I hope it is this simple for your daughter. A good therapist knows all the right questions to get to the source of the anxiety.
I'm so glad you have reconized that she is having panic attacks. I believe mine were triggered by a combination of hormones and a mild case of hypoglycemia. These two things together made it easy for my senses to get overstimulated and that's what I'm guessing is happening to your daughter. Limit her intake of caffine and watch her if she takes Sudafed. Shallow breathing is sometimes responsible, make sure she takes a minute to breathe deep from the diaphram. Flourescent lights can trigger me too, especially if they're flickering. Lots of certain kinds of noise will also set me off, it doesn't have to be loud just constant. Take a look at her diet and see if you can replace some of the faster burning carbs with slower burning ones. It can be managed without drugs you just have to figure out what is setting off her panic attacks. I hope you find this helpful. Feel free to keep in touch with me if you have more questions.
K.
My granddaugher has them and they can get very serious. She began seeing Dr. Loev on Blanco Road and he has done wonders for her. No attacks in a very long time.
Like the sleep deprived answer, too. My 16 year old son has been very anxious for about 2 yrs.
He had a seizure -- out of the blue--- before Christmas. Neurologist said to track his sleep for 1 week. On average, he was getting 6 or 6 1/2 hours sleep. Doc said teens must get at least 8 hours almost every night of the week for their brains to function!
We have also removed all colored foods from his diet: all the fake blues, reds, purples---GONE! And take out the high fructose corn syrup from the whole house--that can have effects on kids, especially when they are growing rapidly.
Good luck.
When my very smart, type A daughter was in fourth grade, she had a tremendous amount of anxiety about the state-mandated testing--I think it was the TAAS back then--because there was so much pressure to do well on the test. Even in the G/T class, a disproportionate amount of time was spent practicing "bubbling" in the answers...we moved her to a private school. At least testing wasn't the be-all and end-all anymore! It is test season...it might be worth checking out. Good luck!
