My son, now 15, is also on Concerta 36 mg, and 2.5 mg of Risperdal. It must be a normal sort of treatment combination.

Aggression, anger, irritability, mood swings, depression...all can be caused by stimulant drugs. Risperdal is a major tranquilizer and tranquilizers are nervous system depressants. Could be that all his symptoms are actually drug-induced...

i dont know about concerta...never been on it. im on adderall. but i am on risperdal, although it's for anxiety. they use it on austistic children (because they have bad tempers) and shitzophrenics (mood swings). i take 1.5 mgs a day and it helps my mood stabilise more than just the adderall and antidepressant itself. we had to up the dose but after that it works just fine. it also only has a half life of three hours....so that could be a problem? if the dose is divided up during the day, it's more likely to keep the temper in check.

Extrapyramidal movements, although well known, are a rare side effect of the antipsychotic medications. Doyle624, if you are concerned that your son's twitches are caused by the Risperdal, do this. Have him open his mouth and observe his tongue. Usually, the first extrapyramidal movement to appear is an involuntary "snakelike" movement of the tongue.

Tics are common in kids. Tics can be brought on or worsened by stimulants like Concerta, though. If that's the case, they normally disappear when the stimulant is stopped. Unfortunately, they don't always.

Yes, I agree with index, it could also simply be Concerta induced tics, but since it started since the Risperdal, I wondered if it was that drug instead.

That's the problem when on several drugs, to figure out the culprit. However, the repeating of the same movements does sound tic like...best to discuss this with the doc, although his explanation seemed inaccurate since the behavior wasn't present before, so do let him know that you believe it might be drug induced.