8th January 2008
One of my friend's son had the vocal tics when he was younger, but they are gone now that he's 20-years-old. It's possible his were a side-effect of ADD medication, so I don't really know.
I've heard that puberty is a key time where they get worse. I'm hoping that it will get better after that.
The medication he is on is called tenex (generic is guanfacine). The pills are small, about the size of a tic-tac, so it's easy to swallow. They started him on 1/2 a pill a day and worked up to 2 pills a day. At first (and whenever we upped it), he was very tired and fell asleep in the middle of the day. After a few days he seemed to tolorate it better and the tiredness went away. You can't just stop taking it because it lowers the blood pressure and if you stop, the BP may spike suddenly. We have forgotten it a few times and he didn't seem to have any trouble.
We have found that we can control the tics by controlling his excitement level. It's not always possible (like at Christmas time), but if we find he's getting wound up about something, we try to make him relax. The neurologist we see also recommends activities that require concentration and discipline. The martial arts are very good. My son takes guitar lessons and that helps, too.
An important thing to remember is that he isn't doing it on purpose. It can get annoying, but fussing at him about it will only make it worse. If he is diagnosed with this, you might aslo want to discuss it with his teacher. The friend I mentioned above had trouble with some of her son's teachers because it was aggravating to them. Luckily, all my son's teachers have been supportive.
Again, good luck.
I've heard that puberty is a key time where they get worse. I'm hoping that it will get better after that.
The medication he is on is called tenex (generic is guanfacine). The pills are small, about the size of a tic-tac, so it's easy to swallow. They started him on 1/2 a pill a day and worked up to 2 pills a day. At first (and whenever we upped it), he was very tired and fell asleep in the middle of the day. After a few days he seemed to tolorate it better and the tiredness went away. You can't just stop taking it because it lowers the blood pressure and if you stop, the BP may spike suddenly. We have forgotten it a few times and he didn't seem to have any trouble.
We have found that we can control the tics by controlling his excitement level. It's not always possible (like at Christmas time), but if we find he's getting wound up about something, we try to make him relax. The neurologist we see also recommends activities that require concentration and discipline. The martial arts are very good. My son takes guitar lessons and that helps, too.
An important thing to remember is that he isn't doing it on purpose. It can get annoying, but fussing at him about it will only make it worse. If he is diagnosed with this, you might aslo want to discuss it with his teacher. The friend I mentioned above had trouble with some of her son's teachers because it was aggravating to them. Luckily, all my son's teachers have been supportive.
Again, good luck.