[LCC Catie D]

My ten year old son recently was diagnosed with Tic's. He started with a mild eye twitch about 2 years ago and eventually outgrew it. It wasn't very noticeable and looked like eye strain. Fast forward 2 years and he developed what we thought was a sore neck. He spent 2 weeks constantly adjusting his neck. Maybe 10 15 times in a 2 minute period of time. I took him to the pediatrician and he told me it was defintely tic's. He started him on .5 of Clonidine for one week and 1 mg of clonidine after the first week. This was a month ago. The tics immediately subsided. It has however morphed and is now a very constant raise of his eyebrows and lowering of his head. He has had a huge problem with Ticks as in bugs. So I requested he be tested for Lyme disease. Pediatrician said he truly doesn't believe it is Lyme disease because we are in the midwest and have very low incidence of Lyme disease in our area. He instead raised the clonidine to 1mg at night and .5 in the morning. I have now created a zombie with the meds. My kind, sweet, scholarly child can't pay attention to save his life. He is tired from the meds. We are proceeding with this course for 2 weeks and then he will intitiate a med change if the tics haven't subsided.

I am at a loss. He is being teased at school. I offered to talk to the students and he said NO, that will embarrass me more. I know this is scattered. I run a support group for families with Progressive Infantile Scoliosis. I have educated myself and help others traverse diagnosis and treatment. This I am at a total loss with.

[mrsD]

Welcome to NeuroTalk!

We have a Tourette's forum here with many stickied threads (the ones on the main index page with green arrows), to help you get going.

Not many members there but we do have two experienced members who may contact you, so please be patient if you post questions there.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum25.html

[Chemar]

Hi
so sorry your son is being teased, and I do hope he lets you try to explain tics to the other students.

My son was diagnosed with tics due to genetic Tourette Syndrome at age 10 and is now 22 and doing just fine! We did try medications in the beginning but stopped due to adverse side effects, including that awful zombie reaction! He saw much success from a more natural treatment protocol that I have documented on our TS forum here http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread1145.html

I would also like to recommend an excellent book by Sheila Rogers "Natural Treatments for Tics and Tourette's" http://www.latitudes.org/book.html

I do think your pediatrician is a bit hasty to just dismiss your concern about Lyme as I know of numerous cases of Lyme induced tics. If your child has a history of strep infections, you may also want to look into a condition knows as PANDAS http://www.pandasnetwork.org

hope that helps a bit

[mrsD]

I also wonder in rereading your post.... the doses you are relating seem odd to me for clonidine.

Clonidine oral starts at .1mg, .2, and .3.

When my son was on his ADHD Ritalin he took clonidine for a while, at 1/2 the .1mg dose, which was .05mg. At age 11 he was very sedated by it. I finally gave up with RX drugs for him and
went the natural route, as Chemar did also, and both of us found more improvement, that way.

The main thing that helped my son was essential fatty acids.
Eye twitches respond to fish oil, for many people, as well. Not all twitches in the eyelids are tics, some are just nerves that are irritated. The blinking types are more tic like, and the fast twitch that flutters is not likely to be a tic but a muscle fasiculation.

This is my EFA thread. Today it is so much easier to supply EFAs in the diet, and the dreaded toxic transfats have been removed in many foods. But back then a decade ago, we did not have these luxuries.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/showthread.php?t=6092

Kids with Tourette's respond in different ways to EFAs, so do read the book Chemar suggests.
My son is now 30 and made it thru college and has a good job. All resulted when I took him OFF the Ritalin! (and clonidine).

[LCC Catie D]

I was wrong about dosage. It is .05 in morning and .1 in the evening. I am going to order the book and start using the natural. He is an amazing, sweet, vibrant boy and the sedation is just the most heartbreaking part of the process for me. I am also pushing for the Lyme disease blood test. He has had so many adverse reactions to tick bites in the past 4 years that we have hospitalized him twice. Thank you all for your advice.

[Lara]

My son had a lot of problems with Clonidine. It made him very sleepy and he perspired all the time. It's actually a blood pressure medication so no matter what happens in the next couple of weeks, be sure that when he goes off it, that it is tapered slowly. Going off Clonidine fast can cause a rebound effect with blood pressure.

Clonidine is usually a first choice in medication to treat tics, if indeed a medication is needed. If the medication is to be changed by his doctor, then it's going to be one that's even more heavy duty unfortunately. Tics do wax and wane naturally as well, so sometimes if there appears to be an improvement when a medication is started, it can in realitity be a natural waning.

His school should have a no-bullying campaign in place for all students. My son used to suppress his tics in front of his class mates as best he could, only to have them explode during recess or after school. It's a very tiring process to suppress tics all day. In an ideal world this should not have to happen at all.

There are many practical tips that can make a day in school more comfortable for your son. One of them you mentioned is the education of his peers, but it's difficult if he doesn't yet want that to occur. Seating position in class can help him feel less 'observed'. Talk with his teacher/s as there are accommodations which can be put in place to allow your son a safe place to learn and grow.

http://www.tourettesyndrome.net/diso...ttes-syndrome/
Overview of Tourette's Syndrome - Leslie Packer TS 'plus'

all the best to you both...

[Lara]

I had a couple of other thoughts... You mentioned the doctor had diagnosed your son with "tics". I wonder about the doctor prescribing a medication for "tics" so fast. There are a number of so-called Tic Disorders and also tics can be secondary to other conditions and illnesses as you are obviously aware with your concerns regarding Lyme.

You didn't mention if your son had any vocal/phonic tics. Vocal/phonic tics can include things like throat clearing etc..

Here is a list of Common Tics of Tourette Syndrome.
http://www.tourettesyndrome.net/wp-c...CommonTics.pdf

Here is the DSM-IV TR criteria for two of the Tic Disorders.

Tourette's Syndrome
http://www.behavenet.com/capsules/di...touretteTR.htm

Chronic Motor or Vocal Tic Disorder
http://www.behavenet.com/capsules/di...s/chrontic.htm

There are also transient tics, which are extremely common in young children but don't last longer than 12 months so that's not really applicable for your son.

As the old saying goes... "not all that tics is Tourette's" ~

Secondary tics and tourettism
Nicte I Mejia, Joseph Jankovic
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rbp/v27n1/23707.pdf

[Darlene]

LCC Catie D,

Nice to see you have come to be with us. There are great number and caring fellow members here, just let us know how we can assist, you will see we are are supportive and relaxing place. Our shoulders are here for support in a number of ways.

Again welcome, looking forward to seeing you around. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Darlene