Side effects from medication | ADHD Information

My 6yr. old daughter has severe adhd she started on 5mg of adderall xr in January this year. In March they increased it to 10mg  because she was still having a hard time with focusing and behavior. Shortly after the increase I started to notice her doing some facial tics and she started having nightmares and night terrors and her behavior became worse than it ever was. My sister has tourettes and I was nervous about stimulants because they say it can unmask tics, not sure if it was the increase in meds or if the tics were always there but I just did'nt notice before. She has made so many different facial expressions and has very awkward body movement that it's hard to tell. I took her off adderall last week and they are thinking of putting her on strattera now, but I am unsure if I want to do that because of side effects the neurologist says she has a genetic tic disorder not tourettes and she definitly would still benifit from meds. My 11yr. old son also has adhd and they want to put him on concerta Because of my daughters side effects I'm not sure what to do. Does any one have any suggestions.I was on adderall for 2 weeks...and it had me up bouncing off the walls all night and dead to the world during the day.  It built up inside of me because I was on it twice a day and by the second time I took it...it made me hyper and crazy.  Ritalin did the same thing to me and I was taken off both of them after 2 weeks.  I was on Dexedrine 10 mg and Prozac 10mg (I also had OCD) and they worked great.  I was on them from middle school till I was 19 and then took myself off of them.  I think I outgrew most of ADHD and been doing fine off the medication.My grandson was taking 10 mg Ritalin LA daily without success.  The doctor increased his dosage to 20 mg.  We started this transition by giving him two 10 mg daily in the morning and when the pills ran out, filled the new RX with the 20 mg dose.  The first day on the new pill we noticed facial tics, or more precisely, moving his jaw up and down repeatedly, especially when he was involved in quiet play activies.  When distracted or stimulated by conversation or TV, the tics went away.  Also, on the two 10 mg dose, we had very little problem with sleeplessness, and now we are battling to get him to bed before midnight.  He has early Kindergarten and needs his sleep.  Can the 20mg LA dose be a different formula than the 10 mg, thus making his taking 2 tens less of a problem than one 20?  Anyone have any suggestions? His abililty to function at school and at home have improved so drastically these new problems frighten me.  It would be so sad for him to return to his adhd behaviors.  DHello-My son has a tic disorder(which I did not know about until he started meds for adhd) and did not do well on any of the medications you mentioned.  In fact some of those meds state they should not be used if there is a history of tics. One of the front line meds for tics and adhd is guanfacine(Tenex) it has helped my son dramatically with few side affects(he has had a slight appetite increase) I will forward a link so you can look into it further. Good-luck!

Guanfacine (Tenex) acts in a manner similar to Clonidine (Catapress). Because Guanfacine lasts longer than Clonidine, only one or two doses are needed each day. Recent research confirmed that it can be useful in children, especially the 30% who have difficulty tolerating stimulants. Clonidine and Tenex seem particularly useful for impulsivity and aggression. Like Clonidine, Guanfacine can reduce tics for individuals with Tourette Syndrome. Since both Clonidine and Tenex can affect blood pressure and heart rate, it is a good idea to monitor blood pressure and get an EKG to check the heart rhythm. There have been a few reports of sudden death associated with the stimulant/Clonidine combination, but some researchers have questioned whether some of those deaths were truly related to the medication. These medications can help all of the symptoms of AD/HD but often seem to help impulsivity motor hyperactivity and irritability more than attention. In some cases, Clonidine or Tenex is combined with a stimulant if the stimulant does not have enough effect on irritability and impulsivity. Shire pharmaceuticals is applying for FDA approval of a form of guanfacine for the treatment of AD/HD. It is expected to be available in 2005.

This is a specific study on children with Tics on Guanfacine

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/158/7/1067