When would you be concerned with tics? My son is taking Focalin (short acting) and in the last day or two is blinking excessively. Of course his psychiatrist today wanted to increase his dosage, and she said to just keep an eye on the eye blinking thing. It seems like the eye blinking today is almost constant. She said that it might go away on its own once his body adjusts. I'm wondering how long I should wait?
He's been on the Focalin about a month and is now taking 7.5 mg in the morning and at noon. Any thoughts? Thanks.
2 weeks is a general rule of thumb. Unless it's making him crazy, then I wouldnt make him wiat two weeks if it were me/Hi,
My son got tics with 50 mg of Vyvanse. It was a blinking/eye rolling type and it drove him crazy (not literally, thank goodness). But, think about yourself? If you were blinking your eyes constantly wouldn't you be very uncomfortable if not miserable? I was worried about him being made fun of at school. We stopped Vyvanse went back to Ritalin LA and the tics stopped. It's a tough call but my ds doc was always very cautious with tics.
Anyone know if the tics can become semi-permanent??
my daughters have always gone away once we stopped the med that was increasing them. Her doc told me the first time she devloped tham and we were freaking out, "it's not permanent". That said, I watched a documentary on meds and there were kids on there that supposedly developed tics that never went away. Whether they would've developed tics anyway no one will ever know. Tic disorderes come about around the same age that kids with ADHD tend to begin meds so it's sort of all around the same age. We've just done so many meds and for us the first sign of tics came within days of a med change and as soon as we stopped the meds, the tic stopped and we went on and on like that for years. Off stims, no tics, on them, tics. She is currently on her first stim without tics, but it is a very low dose and in combination with Strattera. She was on the Strattera for over 3 months before we added the low dose generic stim. It's a biog guessing game. Our doc is also cautious with tics...........we've always switched meds if tics were apparent.If it were my kid, I would not increase the dose while tics are present. And if they didn't go away during the two week period, I'd insist on switching and trying some other medication.
Every published word (not blogs or message boards) I have read, written by those with some authority (e.g. doctors), advises to stop and switch the medication if tics develop. Not to wait awhile, not to increase the dose and wait awhile, but to stop and switch.
That said, I expect these published articles and books must be on the conservative side. But that's warranted when the possibility of triggering life-long ticing is involved, I guess.
My doctor didn't tell me to stop my medication when I started having tics at bedtime (back, shoulders, legs, etc..). But, I was told, if I experienced tics at other times--like during the middle of the day--that would be cause for concern.
John D39673.2479513889When our 10yr od son started concerta once he got to the 36mg dose he started this eye thing- We stopped that and started him on addrall and no tics but he seemed more moody. So we tryed a lower dose-18mg0 of concerta. 2 months into it he developed this neck tic- it came on overnight and was horrible. We knew it was from the concerta so we stopped the concerta right away and it went away within a few weeks. Now our dr. soesn't want hem on any stimulants because he said that it could become permanent if we keep him on them. It's a bummer because the 36 mb dose really helped him. We jsut started strattera but not seeing great things. He is a bit more moody. Cries more often over things. He is on 40mgs of strattera and weighs 72LBS.
I'd stay away from all stimulants if they develop tics.