Well, first, I have to say that if my child developed tics while taking stimulants, I would promptly discontinue them (after discussing with our doc). If your child had tics before he started medication, though, that's a different story.

My son developed tics years before we tried stimulants. Yes, Clonidine was very helpful. It greatly diminished his tics, decreased his hyperactivity, and helped him sleep.

One thing to know about Clonidine is that the pills are very short-acting so you get alot of peaks and valleys in their effectiveness. There is a clonidine patch that worked wonderfully for us. The patch is advertised as being effective for a week; we got 5 days out of it. Some children can't tolerate the patch because of skin irritation, but we didn't have that problem.

Oh, one other thing about Clonidine. Keep an eye out for constipation. It constipated my son so badly that we thought he had Irritable Bowel Syndrome when all along it was the medication.

Good luck!

hmxsgt,

Yes, tics *can* be caused stimulant medication. And, if they are caused by meds, they *usually* go away when the meds are discontinued. Unfortunately, they don't always. The tics may persist. It is for this reason that, if your son were mine, I would want to stop the stimulants asap. You do want to consult your doctor first - it's generally best to taper off rather than abruptly discontinue.

Some doctors will prescribe Clonidine and a stimulant together. This is usually done if the tics were present prior to the stimulant being given or if the child is so severely ADHD that he can't function without meds (very few have ADHD to that extent). I would be uncomfortable with a doctor who wanted your child to continue on a stimulant unless under those circumstances.

Clonidine is also prescribed alone to treat tics and ADHD. It can be very useful in reducing hyperactivity. It is not effective, however, at helping concentration.

The behaviors you describe do sound very much like tics to me. I wouldn't delay in consulting your md. And yes, "dexa-something" is a stimulant.

Hope that helps.

[QUOTE=index.html]hmxsgt,

Yes, tics *can* be caused stimulant medication. And, if they are caused by meds, they *usually* go away when the meds are discontinued. Unfortunately, they don't always. The tics may persist. It is for this reason that, if your son were mine, I would want to stop the stimulants asap. You do want to consult your doctor first - it's generally best to taper off rather than abruptly discontinue.

Some doctors will prescribe Clonidine and a stimulant together. This is usually done if the tics were present prior to the stimulant being given or if the child is so severely ADHD that he can't function without meds (very few have ADHD to that extent). I would be uncomfortable with a doctor who wanted your child to continue on a stimulant unless under those circumstances.

Clonidine is also prescribed alone to treat tics and ADHD. It can be very useful in reducing hyperactivity. It is not effective, however, at helping concentration.

The behaviors you describe do sound very much like tics to me. I wouldn't delay in consulting your md. And yes, "dexa-something" is a stimulant.

Hope that helps.


Hahaha I believe it dexadrine, I couldn't remember. But ya I also read that the mixture of the clonidine and the dexadrine could be a deadly mixture, and yes we have the plan to take him asap

Helpd alot, Thanks

Quote from hmxsgt:

. But ya I also read that the mixture of the clonidine and the dexadrine could be a deadly mixture,

I don't know if you'll be checking back or not, but here goes. There were reports some time ago about there being fatalities with the combination. It turned out that there were deaths in 5 cases, but in each case, there were extenuating circumstances (ie congenital defects, etc).

Personally, I'm not as afraid of combining Dexedrine and Clonidine as I am about giving Dexedrine to a kid who has developed tics while on Dexedrine.