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I have the same questions as the other parents, and the same fears. My son is 24, and was blessed with a genius level IQ. Life was perfect until midway through his junior year of high school, when he began having anxiety issues and panic attacks. There were no external factors at that time that would have triggered these changes, but they were real and caused physical symptoms. The headaches and stomach issues were thoroughly tested, and while both real and debilitating, had no physical cause that could be addressed. He has seen numerous doctors since, both for mental health and physical health. He has been prescribed a whole slew of medications over the years, most rather ineffective, all having side effects that were as bad, or worse than the issues he was trying to resolve. He is 24 now, and 3 classes away from an engineering degree, but in spite of his intellect, he feels that he can only operator on 25-30% of his capability, and college has been a challenge. He has been seeing a new doctor who has prescribed him Venlafaxine and has an appointment with a new Psychiatrist in the coming weeks. He and I are not giving up, but the number of medications he has taken over the years is quite large, and knowing their success/failure is far from immediate. I understand that there is a genetic test that may identify the drug, or family of drugs that may be most helpful to a given person, and am looking for information so that we are armed with some facts. I pray for my son, and for yours. I never thought we would be faced with this, and never considered the pain for all involved. I am sympathetic, if not helpful.
