Self-esteem/anxiety

[JaneC]

Hoping I can bend people's ears for a little advice. In between my daughter's seizures returning in the spring and her neurologist appt coming through in the summer, she seemed to be displaying some symptoms of anxiety, worrying about her heart, not eating and losing weight.

The neuro put her on lamotrigine and she has seemed fine, which I believe is what she told the epilepsy nurse on Monday (I wasn't there, my husband took her).

However, in the few days since then it has emerged that not only is the anxiety back, but she has self-esteem problems too (something happened last weekend which may have triggered some of this, wont bore you with the details).

Last night, she told me quite seriously that she thought she'd had a heart attack yesterday (obviously she hadn't). She seems to have had some absences at school this morning too, her first seizure activity since her first week on the Lamictal.

I'm concerned but not sure what to do. Should I phone the E nurse or see how things go? How can I help her with the anxiety stuff and what can I do to help build her self-esteem (which is something we've always tried to do with our kids in any case). Everything looked to be going so well, now it doesn't

 

[Nakamova]

Some people report that Lamictal causes their heart to race, so that may be what made her feel she was having a heart attack. Anziety can cause heart-racing too, which makes it complicated. And anxiety can also be a Lamictal side effect, just to make it really tricky. All those things can be made worse if she isn't eating properly.

If you can, discuss with her ways she can be proactive about her health. Help her make a plan for getting back on track. It's possible that talking with a counselor might help, if she's open to that. If not, there might be other activities that can help -- sports, relaxation exercises, hobbies, etc. that make her happy and help with mood. Can her friends help? Sometimes it's the peers that can have the biggest impact.

 

[jyearta]

Can you have your daughter to reason this forum? It might helpin understanding some of the things thatis happening to her and so that she will not feel so alone.

 

[JaneC]

Thanks for your replies and sorry it's taken me so long to get back on. Naka, she has spoken of racing heart in the past but it was chest and arm pain this time. If things don't improve I will definitely look into the possibility of counselling. I try to reinforce the healthy meeting message but I'm not home much at present, which makes it difficult. I'm not sure she talks much to her friends about these things. I'm trying to get her to open up about things and I think it's working. She does have a lot going on just now and is really missing her brothers, who have now both gone off to uni. It's so hard to know what's normal teenage stuff and what isn't - is it that, or is it E or she she experiencing depression as a med side-effect? I really can't tell.

Jyearta, she has registered but has never posted. I think she thinks there aren't many people of her age around. Either that or she is too busy posting scary things on Twitter!