Is this Tics? | ADHD Information
flamom02, hi! My son also has Tourettes Syndrome and ADHD and sensitivity issues. My other son, so far, only has ADHD. Are we allowed to talk about TS on this board as well as ADHD? It would be nice to share with another mom in Florida who's child has Tourettes. My son will be 9 in a couple of weeks. He takes Clonodine and Ritalin. Does quite well. Hope to hear back from you...My son was originally diagnosed with ADHD & ODD. He was diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome in December 2005. A tic is a very complicated thing to pick up. Now, looking back, some of the things he did were tics & not impulsive behavior as we once thought. There are motor & vocal tics in the simple or complex form. In order for TS to be diagnosed, the person must have both multiple motor & one or more vocal tics.That's very interesting. I'm watching him closely. He seems to have stopped for the most part, but maybe not completely. I think taking him off the Risperdal has helped, however I find myself having to get on him more due to the lack of medication. I hate having to constantly be on his case, but they just go and go! I've forgotten what it's like, even though he's still taking his concerta, the Risperdal definitely mellowed him out! If you don't mind me asking, is your son on meds? If so, which one's are working for him? What seems to help with the ODD? OMG, I get tired of arguing with this child! Even if he knows he's wrong, he'll still argue just to oppose. 
I don't know if the question was for me, but My son is on Tenex for ADHD & Risperdol for T.S. T.S. is a little bit of everything rolled into one. The last time I went to a T.S. meeting, a psychiatrist who specializes in T.S. was a speaker & it was surprising to find that these kids are also obsessive & compulsive, but not OCD. My son is very neat, organized, everything has to have it's place, if he gets dirty, he has to change, etc.. It's amazing how complex these disorders are.
My 10yo son has ADHD/Tourettes/OCD.
He has several tics, none he can stop or even knows he is doing them.
His Dr. said that tics only occur while awake, so if they happen in their sleep it is not a tic. With that said, we started watching him while he slept (let him fall asleep on the couch while watching tv on the wekend) and as soon as he was asleep all his tics stopped.
My son is just coming off Strettera and Risperdal. He had reactions to both although I feel the reactions to Strettera were because his dose was wrong and his dr was too cautious to raise it.
My son isn't OCD, organized or neat. He's gotten pretty bad since I've removed the Risperdal. I caught him being mean to the dog, he's been very defiant with me, causing me alot of stress, more hyper, etc. I put him back on a low dose of Risperdal last night because I still noticed a slight eye tic, nothing like it was, and I'm going to take him to the psychiatrist this week. His cousin has a form of autism, I'm thinking I should read more about that as well.I think that in order to be considered a tic it has to be present for a specified period of time. You might want to check. I've wondered if my son had tics a few times, but I thought, is this just a bad habit? For example he kept making a sound in his throat. The school psyche kept referring to it in her report (implying tic, I figured). So for two days I told him to stop, and he did. It turned out that he was burping with his mouth closed because I had insisted that his burping was terribly rude and he needed to stop. He used to make a particular facial expression which is hard to describe, but I asked him for a week, "why are you doing that??" And again, he stopped. The whole tic thing seems like a gray area to me. Tic or bad habit?Help! My son has been on 54 mg of Concerta for about 3 years, 2 MG of Risperdal about the same. He's been on both meds at different doses for 5 or 6 yrs. Suddenly, he's developed something that looks like a tic. He's unvoluntarily raising his eyes, and kind of lowering his head slightly. Has anyone seen this type of problem before? My son is 11.
ADHD W/ODD
suzy - I'd get that checked out with your doctor. Sometimes that kind of behavior - the dropping of the head and raising of the eyes can be an early sign or petit mal epileptic seizures. Momentary gaps in consciousness may not even be noticed (even by the child) but that could be a hint at what is going on.
Have you noticed him "phasing out" where he seems to go off somewhere - and when you ask he hasn't to his recollection gone anywhere in his mind? Does he sometimes stop in the middle of doing something and seem momentarily distracted only to carry on with it when a short time has elapsed?
Probably it's not that. It doesn't sound like tics all that much either. A tic is usually an involuntary movement (squeezing eyes shut, winking, wincing, etc.) that is repeated. Usually it's noticed while the child is under stress more often.
There have been studies recently that show that stimulants don't actually exacerbate tics. The doctor can tell you more.
Here's the kicker: Risperdal is used to treat tics so if you are seeing these movements while your son is taking Risperdal, it is most likely due to a dystonic reaction to Risperdal. Back in November my son had a major dystonic reaction to Risperdal that led to a serious staph infection around his mouth (from incessant lip licking). Please have the movements checked out by a doctor -- either a psychiatrist or neurologist is your best bet in this situation. And seriously consider Risperdal as the culprit. Good luck.On top of checking for seizures, Risperdal can cause those sorts of strange involuntary movements. It can be a serious side effect. My son had them. In some instances, even after drug removal, the tics remain so it's best to call pdoc ASAP. Good luck.Hello, thank you all for your information. We haven't been to the doctor yet, however I did cut him way back on his Risperdal when I first posted, and have tried to keep the stress under control. He's on year round school, and he just got out, so he won't be under any stress, in fact maybe I can just remove him from the Risperdal and see how that goes. I did notice that these movements have pretty much gone away. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!! 