My 13 yo son gets tics with stimulant meds. Unfortunately, stimulant meds seem to be the only thing that keeps in the classroom. He has sensory issues and becomes much more disruptive in the classroom without the stimulants. He is also in the Gifted and Talented classes and his lack of control, plus his lack of insight (Asperger's) is about to get him in a host of trouble: the teachers have a hard time believing this behavior isn't willful acting out. Each year it starts anew, because of new teachers, these teachers haven't seen the difference with the med.

We restarted stimulants this week. Last run of stimulants went from annoying tics to tics that would have sudden onset and were very repetitive and painful. Like your neck jerking every half second for five hours. We stopped the stimulants ten months ago due to this, but we have had a host of serious consequences-- my son begged to have the med back so he could feel more "in control" in the classroom.

He had a PANDAS reaction about three years ago. The painful tics seem to be related to an immune response, such as withing 24 hours of getting the flu mist, or when we find out he is coming down with fever the next day after a tic. The tics completely resolved after about eight months without the stimulant. We know that if we can get him to sleep the body "reboots" and the tic stops. But it is hard to get to sleep when your neck is Jerking.

This is the third time we restarted the stimulants, each time the tics have become more severe. I am very worried what might happen next... a tic that won't stop, and he will be stuck with?

We have a pedi neurologist who specializies in ADHD monitoring this time. I hated to put him back on the drug-- but it makes such a difference. Anyone else with similar experiences?