How do you deal with ADHD and Tourettes

Cathie - posted on 09/07/2012

I feel you,I have a 12 year old granddaughter that I am raising that does the same thing and now is gettin violent with hurting herself when sheets mad .she is also is hurting her brother and sister now too. there has to be help out there for them and us.

Suzanna - posted on 08/02/2009

My daughter is 8 and 1/2 and has a diagnosis of ADHD, Tourette's and an anxiety disorder. We have tried several different meds and nothing is really making the tics subside completely. Right now, she takes Concerta for ADHD, Prozac for anxiety, Clonidine to help sleep last night and slow the tics and most recently, Risperidal for tics also. I was very hesitant about the Risperidal, because my daughter has been on it in the past and gained 15 pounds in 3 months and it tends to make her tired all the time. I asked which she would rather have, the tics or not feel good and she said not feel good. She has vocal tics, such as a hiccup noise, yelp/scream, repeating words, eye tics, head jerks, arm jerks and recently has started jumping one to three times in a row. When they first started, the hiccup noise drove us insane, but after a while, I learned to ture it out. Her tics seems to worsen during the school year and lessen during the summer months when we can relax a little in our schedule. She is beginning to worry more knowing school is right around the corner...she worries mostly about being accepted by her teacher and the other kids in the class. We have been told that treating the ADHD is important and does not increase the tics...this is newer research and many doctors still think stimulant medicine can increase tics. Our doctors have told us it is better to treat with medicines than to let things go, because of the self esteem issues than can arise from letting her be self conscious about the tics and her school work surffer from ADHD. They said anxiety also makes the tics worse. Our developmental pediatrician advised us to have our daughter see a counselor so that she could work out how she felt about the Tourette's and other things that bother...she tends to bottle everything inside.

Mary - posted on 08/01/2009

Hi,

My son 12 has same Dx along with OCD . The summer is very rough without the school structure,( I here you.) We just try our best to limit the video games/T.V.(2-3 toal screen time.) and increase his exercise. Luckily our son has a few friends some with ADHD and one with ADHD and Tourettes too. Perhaps try a local support group to hook him up with some new friends. Our tics are transit, pending his stress level. So no med for that. Bring that up with his doctor they do have a med for those. We also see a very child psychologist for Cognative behavior therapy. This has really helped us and our son learn to cope. Hang in there.
Good luck. =)

Heather - posted on 07/31/2009

Thanks we are due to see his consultand in a couple of weeks so we will suggest this if it is avaliable for him. We tried an anti-psychotic drug a while a go but to no effect. He is so bad at the monent and I know it will only get worse as he gets anxious about the new school term.

Fiona - posted on 07/30/2009

My daughter has very similar problems, although she is only 6. She sees a developmental pediatrician because she also has Asperger's Disorder. She has vocal tics, throat clearing, coughing loudly for hours, and head shaking. Her doctor suggested guanfacine. I was so scared to put her on meds, but this med is used for high blood pressure and given to these children in very low doses. It has been used a lot with children who have ADHD and tics. My daughter's tics have disappeared on the meds! It's been amazing. The staff at school noticed an improvement in her ability to focus and a decrease in her anxiety. When she started taking it, she became a bit emotional, crying when she wouldn't normally, but after a couple of weeks that stopped. Other than that, there have been no side effects. Good luck!