help | ADHD Information

my son who is 9 is on medadate cd, 30mg.  he recently started showing signs of motor tics.  i have a phone call in to the psychiatrist.  im wondering do the tics go away after the meds are stopped, or will she reduce the meds, or will he have to go off meds all together.  Yesterday i didn't give him anything and there were 3 e-mails from his teachers saying how he had a horrible day, was out of control, etc... HELP!!!

sjbmom,

Tics can come and go during developement. They were thought to be made worse by stimulant meds, but studies have shown this is not the case (although the statistics for studies do not give a definitive result, but a tendency). Tics do not automatically mean you stop stimulant meds. It may mean a med change or addition of guanfacine (Tenex) to help control the tics and keep the stim dose down to a minumum. There are some good threads on tics:

http://www.adhdnews.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=25554& PN=1

http://www.adhdnews.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=25462& PN=3