tourette syndrome

[tattoogirl]

Anyone out there have a child with tourette syndrome? Need to discuss/ask advice and questions.
Bella

[calgarygirl]

Hi, I have a 15 year old son with Tourette's, he was diagnosed as having "tics" when he was 9 and has been on medication since then. I will try my best to help you out with any questions you may have, ask away.

[tattoogirl]

My son is 5 and is having "tics". I have been noticing it for awhile now and need to make an appointment with his doctor. He will blink constantly and kinda crook his neck, clear his throat constantly and make a grunting sort of sound. It started with just the blinking and head thing, the sounds just started in the last couple of weeks. Any reccomendations on the type of doctor he should go to? I was going to start with his peditrician and go from there.

How does your son cope? What medication is he on? Any advice?
Thanks!
Bella

[mitpatsmom]

My son also has tics (he's 11-y-o). Our pediatrician referred us to a neurologist, and he put my son on Tenex (also called guanfacine). This has taken the edge off the tics for the most part. They still show up when he is excited about something.

The medication was a little scary at first. It knocked him out a lot in the beginning, but he grew a tolerance for it. Also, he's always done fairly well in school, but after putting him on the medication, he's been getting straight A's on his report card. The doctor thinks it's probably helping with concentration.

[calgarygirl]

My son was referred to a neurologist from our family doctor-she is also a pediatrician. He was put on Clonidine when he was almost 10 and the only side effects he has had from this medication is sleepiness and occassional dizzyness. It has helped alot with his vocal tics and helped calm down his motor tics. His tics become more noticable when he is stressed or excited. He hasn't had too many problems in school, there was one year when the kids would ask him why he would jerk a certain way and that same year some kids poked fun of him but for the most part I've had a harder time with him having tics then he has. It has not affected him academically at all-he is very smart and does well in school. He tends to supress his tics while at school as much as he can and then releases the tics when he gets home-where he feels more comfortable to do so. They are the worst when he just gets home from school. I have heard that the earlier tics show up in a child that there is a greater chance that they outgrow them in their mid-late teens. As I said, my son is 15 and they haven't changed much since they started when he was 9. Be supportive and don't treat him any differently and he will not feel any different himself and use the medication if you feel it will be helpful in your situation. Good Luck.