Yes, we had bad times with it. My son is also 10, born in June. He too showed the signs very young as yours did, especially with the lack of sleep! I personally diagnosed him when he is 2.
My son began meds when he was 6 almost 7. We tried to go the "have a med in his system at all times" route by adding strattera to his mix.
Strattera made him depressed. He told us he wanted to kill himself. DS was 8. We stopped the med immediately. He has never said anything like this before. Depression is one of the side effects of this med and DS experienced it.
He is more of the Hyper, not the inattentive type. From what I have read, it does not help those with impulsiveness and hyperactivity. For us concerta has worked best, but I am not sure about tics - everyone is different.
I wish your son and you well!!
My son, who will be 10 in November showed he was ADHD as a toddler (restless, hyper, unable to sleep). At age two he started with vocalization tics(throat noices - no verbalization or anything like that). By age five, his attention was minimal, hyper activity was high, and tics had included mostly vocal, but had a few other minor physical tics, although very minor. At age six it was obvious that his AD was getting the better of him at school. His HD was distracting to other kids and his tics had worsened to include a variety of facial, neck and head tics. His behavior was always hyper, impulsive and somewhat lacking in empathy or thought for how he was acting.
His tics were horrendous between ages 7 and 8. Major blinking (to the point of giving him headaches, head shaking, nodding, hand shaking, mouth movements, etc. It was alway a rotation from one to the other...text book Transient Tic Disorder. His tics always seemed to get worse when he was growing. Daily his tics are worse when he is tired or has anxiety about something.
At age 6 he started on medication, some of which made his tics much worse. He tried numerous stimulants and Strattera, each seemed to have a less than desirable impact on tic frequency. Finally something worked...he was put on a mix of Chlonodine and Risperdal (spelling may be off). The Chlonodine calmed him down and helped him to focus. The Risperdal was for the tics and helped even out his behavior.
Over the last year he went through a significant growth spurt, not puberty. He grew about four to five inches and put on 25 pounds. When the growth spurt tapered off his tics went away. His tics had gone away for up to one month before, but something always arrived to ruin the hope that he was finally done with the tics. At the end of June 07 he was tic free. In July he was Tic free. In August he was tic free....it was the longest he had ever gone without tics. At the end of August his doctor recommended an end to Risperdal. If he wasn't ticking, avoid drugs if possible. He still didn't tic after he was taken off Risperdal. Risperdal is a drug that makes him tired, sluggish and physically slow. After his removal, he was significantly faster in hockey, not tired...on and on. Other than the tic control, this drug really zaps him.
Now for the problem. The Risperdal did more than realized for keeping him in tune with his behavior. Even on Risperdal he had some issues with friends, line order in hockey, etc. Without the Risperdal he became a little more hyper, more unrulely and more annoying to his friends. His impulse filter and ability to stop unwanted behavior seemed to be dimished without the med. He needed help.
Last week, after a doctor visit, he was given Strettera. In addition, it was decided that he would go to counseling focused on interpersonal relationship management and on how to deal/recognize situations where he was at risk for unwanted behavior and how he could deal with it. Seemed like a great plan.
He was started on Strattera and BAM...blinking and head lunging tics. He was on Strattera for two days. The tics are bad. He was put back on a heavy dose of Risperdal, which has in the past been able to force the tics into submission by varying the dose. No luck on the tics resulting from the Strettera. This was the second time he has tried Strattera and in hindsight and in light of what is happening right now...both times he has had a major problem with his tics. The fact that Strettera brought the tics back after a four month absence is a nightmare.
Has anyone else had bad luck with Strettera?
On another note, he had suffered a lot in school because of his tics (blinking, head nodding etc.) and the normal learning issues with ADHD. He worked at Syvan Learning during the last summer and has been able to get everything he missed over the last few years. He started fourth grade well ahead of the curve, confident and with a really great start on being a self-learner. I couldn't recommend Syvan more highly to ADHD families.
Thanks for reading....would love to hear if anyone else is in a similar position. Sometimes it would be really nice to have an ear that knows what it is like.
cambec39378.5930208333cambec my daughter did pretty well on Desipramine. Helped with attention (somewhat), really helped her tics, helped her anxiety, helped her fidgeting. I was very happy with it, but she is mainly inattentive and it wasnt enough for schoolwork. We had to stop it and she is now using Daytrana. I miss her even moods and 24 hour coverage of Desipramine, but the Daytrana IS much, much better for focus, so we're sticking to it for now...............so far............no tics........although she is 13 and didnt have quite the significant tics your son has, she did have quite a few (no vocal).my 6yo dd was on Straterra for four months. it started out great. she was in a good mood, easy going very happy. it did not do much for her attention or her hyperactivity but her mood was great. At about the 4 month mark she was getting more irritable, and would have some minor crying spells. by the end of the fourth month she would yell a lot and then cry, she even threw her toys in her room (not like her) and kicked a wall (also not like her) she said that she wanted to change schools because all the kids laugh at her. she was also seeing spiders and had a almost constant low grade fever. i never noticed any tics with my daughter but she was more ocd on the strattera. we stopped the strattera and after a couple of days she seems to be 100% better.