my 14 year old son has been on concerta and ritalin in one form or another for over 7 years. Five weeks ago he developed a twitch in his bicep that goes from his shoulder blade in his back to his fingers. It is more obvious and night time. These occur with intervals of 1-5 sec. It even does it in his sleep. Three specialist and 2 GP's all have a different opinion. We have recently been on a very strict diet - dairy and gluten free and have started on a very particular vit/mineral supplements.
Is it possible for a tic to develop due to the concerta/ritalin after all this time?
If so do we have to take him off all stimulants or will decreasing it work?
Being off meds is not an option as he is just out of conrol without it.
Look forward to reading the replies!
I wouldnt think it is a tic if it's happening in his sleep, but obviously I am not a doctor. It is possible decreasing the dose will lessen the tic if thats what it is. For us, that did not work we had to stop altogether, but as you well know, everyone is different.
What are some of the other opinions?
Hi Happyrock...bummer about the twitch development. I developed twitching about 9 months after starting on Adderall. Similar to your son, my twitches occur when my body is transitioning from alert to relaxed, primarily going to sleep (rarely during the day while sitting and I transition from tense to relaxed).
My twitches** have changed since starting about a year ago--first here, then there-lower back, legs, shoulders, arms, you name it! I have my fingers crossed that these twitches will run their course and go away...we'll see! Neither my regular doctor nor psychiatrist seemed concerned when it first started...seems that as long as it happens when I'm in bed it's not considered an issue demanding attention, just monitoring. My wife hasn't complained, but I'm sure she'd be happy if I didn't twitch every time I turn over in bed!
**I don't know the technical difference, but I think of "tics" as involving much smaller muscle groups (like eyelids) and twitches involving much bigger ones--like arms and legs. I'd be way more concerned if I developed tics, only because what I've read about their persisting after medication is stopped.
[QUOTE=Happyrock]
my 14 year old son has been on concerta and ritalin in one form or another for over 7 years. Five weeks ago he developed a twitch in his bicep that goes from his shoulder blade in his back to his fingers. It is more obvious and night time. These occur with intervals of 1-5 sec. It even does it in his sleep. Three specialist and 2 GP's all have a different opinion. We have recently been on a very strict diet - dairy and gluten free and have started on a very particular vit/mineral supplements.
If your son started twitching after starting on this diet..... well, I'm sure you've pondered the possible link...
Is it possible for a tic to develop due to the concerta/ritalin after all this time?
It did for me on Adderall!
If so do we have to take him off all stimulants or will decreasing it work?
I've experimented a bit reducing my dosage over the course of a week and it seemed to help (diminish the twitching). Since experiencing the twitching I haven't had a med holiday so I haven't found out yet how that might change things.
update:
Decreased the dose of morning concerta from 72mg to 63mg - bingo -tic reduced. Also a lot less stress as all his school assignments have been done and he's on holidays in 1 week. I have this theory that his absorption of the meds have increased greatly due to the diet and supplements and therefore the 72 was far too much. We are going to decrease the dose in the next few days from 63 to 54 and see how he goes. Many have argued that if it was a toxicity problem the muscles would be twitching in other places. If decreasing meds work than that works for me!!
Thanks Jon for your reply. Our son's twitch occurs all day and even when he sleeps. The intervals range from less than 1 second appart to 15 seconds apart when he sleeps. They seem less prominent now and he is not complaining!!
Tics can be worse with anxiety. Is he going through extra stress at this time?Lots of stress but where every other time he has just lost the plot, he appears to be coping better. We have helped him tremendously with the assignment work because if the teachers won't help we feel that we have to! (My solar oven experiment got an A!!!!!!!) So we felt we had absorbed alot of the potentila stress. But this is my theory about why it is worse at night. We are on his case to do work and it just got off!! He is now finished all work and then finishes school in 1 week. This weekend we are dropping meds down and hoping that the symptoms will decrease. We can't survive without his meds!
The doctor wants an MRI scan and we have a specialist neurologist appointment in march (the earliest available).
Options -
1. Strattara - caused horrific side effects so cannot be used
2. Mother running away from home - He is just not able to function in a family without meds. No other meds have been discussed apart from strattara. He is very hyper and needs the stimulants to bring him down.
I am not even prepared to take him off for a day because it is just too awful! Maybe Iam a selfish person, but I just am not strong enough to go through with it.
The doctor who is the supplement man believes he can have him off meds within another 6 months. So if he is right, reducing the meds as the supplements take hold might be the solution. However we have had lots of promises before!!!!