My 6 years old son was recently diagnosed with adhd. He started showing signs since he was 4 1/2; at that time I tried to do my best job in helping him with school work but I was unsuccessful. After a long process of medical and psychological evaluations his neurologist came to the conclusion that my kid had ADHD. He Suggested phsycological therapy plus private help to deal with school and social issues. He also prescribed Strattera, and told us that this would be the best choice of a madication since my son has tic periods. I have read that most of the other medications (I don't know if all of them) can't be taken if the patient has tics. As I have been reading these forums I am starting to feel a little anxious and discouraged.Apparently there are many peolple for whom Strattera does not work as desired. My son has been on it for only 5 weeks on a very low dose. The neurologist told us that in about two months he would adjust the dose to the one that is supposed to give satisfactory results. Up to now I really haven't seen much change in my child's symptoms. Ican't really talk about school because here in Venezuela we are still in vacation period. What really scares me is that this medication doesn't work and that there isn't another option.
Somebody with an opinion?
First you will need to give the strattera a chance, it takes 6-8 weeks to see the full effect of a dose change (so takes time). The stimulants may be tried if the strattera does not work. They are not completely out of the picture. Just because they may worsen tics in some patients, does not mean that they cannot be used in anyone with a tic disorder. Clonidine is sometimes added to help with the tic issue. Please check out the following article:
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/news_and_events/news_articles/news_ article_adhd.htm
vickie38960.7458680556Thanks for the article information. It seems I just need to be patient with the strattera and see what happens. On the other hand, I shoul say I am lucky to be treating my child with one of the heads of neurology here in my country, this gives me more confidence.