Medications

Cynthia - posted on 10/27/2010

Thanks for the reply Wendy! We finally got a confirmation of my son's diagnosis of Tourette Syndrome and Generalized Anxiety Disorder, plus the neurologist believes the beginning stages of OCD. This was just last Thursday, so still pretty new. My biggest challenge is if I am going to medicate my son, I need to find a medication that works for every symptom. There aren't many that work on the ADHD and Tourette Syndrome (I think just two that I know of), and kids with TS shouldn't be on stimulants. I am seriously considering it, but kind of feel like the symptoms need to outweigh the side effects of the meds before I should start them. Then, the other side of me thinks that, since his ADHD is going to stay the same, and the TS is definitely going to get worse, now is the time to start trying meds to see what works for him. I almost feel guilty either way, without meds there are times he just struggles so much and I know that they will probably help, but with meds there will be so many side effects to deal with! I know there will be a day he will need to try meds. Tourette Syndrome almost always gets worse until puberty, then often it will get better. His neurologist says that since he's got so many things going along with the TS, it probably will not get better.

How does your son feel about the meds? Does he know he needs them, or does he just tolerate them? How does he say it makes him feel?

Wendy - posted on 10/27/2010

I have a 12 1/2 yr old son; adhd (wheel of fire:symtoms of all types!), clinical depresion (will probably be on meds for rest of life for it:chemical imbalance), has mild to moderate hearing loss (wears hearing aids in both ears) and anxity. We also think that we are dealing ocd as well but not diagnosed as of yet. Well, I feel like a "not-so-good" parent because I'm not able to do the diet thing. I've heard so many good things about it but I know that I don't have the will (or rather won't) power to stick to it. My son started w/o meds but it just didn't work (1st grade). He was getting therapy through the school system and we didn't see any difference in the behavior. Then we had him on Ritalyn and an anti- depression med. It was like night and day! We are still tweaking meds. At the moment he's on Daytrona patch (I LOVE it, the way I can decide when the meds can stop working, he eats better and sleeps better), Celexa, and Vyvanse. This week, I'm dealing w/ no Vyvanse, I can really tell the difference. He's been "working" on a test for about 40 min and has gotten just 1/2 a page done. I have to sit next to him and keep reminding him to focus. It's days like this that I pull my hair out. I need to figure out and schedule when to refill the prescriptions on a payday when we can afford all of them! I also keep the pharmasist's kids in collage so our med bills are a big part of our budget.
How do I manage his symtoms? knowing when he's "had enough" and not pushing him past that point (it's hard to do when I see ourselves getting behind in a subject!). Letting him "roam the room" while we verbally study (I'm a visual learner so that's also a toughie for me!)(it's hard to understand that he really is focusing on what we're doing when he's all the way across the room 'inspecting' a spot on the wall!) and taking lots of (short) breaks during the day. We have also just found that he is in a better mood if I wake him up earlier than he needs to and give him the oppurtunity to play some video games. Don't know why this works but if it means I don't get sassy attitude and yelled at I'm all for it!