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Neurology (Expert Forum)
My 4 year old.....
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My 4 year old.....
by beverly, Aug 30, 1999 12:00AM
My son is 4 years old and has just been diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome. I understand that the onset of TS is around 7 years old... What would cause my son's to show up at such a young age? His tics started around his 3rd birthday...
Right now his TS is SEVERE (6 motor tics, 5 vocal tics) and he has the co-morbid conditions of OCD and ADHD. Can I expect the TS to become worse over time?
He is on Tenex, .5 MG at night, .75 MG in the morning... he is 45 inches and 40 pounds. His tics are still very bad (especially the snorting and grunting and mouth twitching) on this dose, but, his hyperactivity has diminished significantly. What is the typical dosage for a tall 4 year old? Is there another medication that may work better?
Thank you for your time. I know this is a long question.
Beverly Terry
Right now his TS is SEVERE (6 motor tics, 5 vocal tics) and he has the co-morbid conditions of OCD and ADHD. Can I expect the TS to become worse over time?
He is on Tenex, .5 MG at night, .75 MG in the morning... he is 45 inches and 40 pounds. His tics are still very bad (especially the snorting and grunting and mouth twitching) on this dose, but, his hyperactivity has diminished significantly. What is the typical dosage for a tall 4 year old? Is there another medication that may work better?
Thank you for your time. I know this is a long question.
Beverly Terry
Doctor's Answer
by CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS, Aug 30, 1999 12:00AM
Dear Beverly:
The usual time span when most children present with TS is between 5 and 10. We have several patients who started out with their TS before. Our first line medication is not Tenex, but either Orap or Haldol. We have not found tenex that helpful in our patient population and it is a third line medication at the Cleveland Clinic. It is very common to have OCD and ADHD with TS. We use Zoloft for the OCD and it all depends for ADHD. We think that Ritalin works fine and we do not see increased Tics with this medication.
Some children have Tics that are very hard to control and in these children it is a challenge.
I hope that this helps.
CCF Neuro MD
The usual time span when most children present with TS is between 5 and 10. We have several patients who started out with their TS before. Our first line medication is not Tenex, but either Orap or Haldol. We have not found tenex that helpful in our patient population and it is a third line medication at the Cleveland Clinic. It is very common to have OCD and ADHD with TS. We use Zoloft for the OCD and it all depends for ADHD. We think that Ritalin works fine and we do not see increased Tics with this medication.
Some children have Tics that are very hard to control and in these children it is a challenge.
I hope that this helps.
CCF Neuro MD
Hope all goes well with your son in time.
I was told that Sean's TS is quite severe. I am curious what I can expect about the severity over time. I am hoping that it will not worsen.
Beverly
I was also wondering if they did an EEG or a MRI on Sean, not as a diagnostic tool for Tourettes, but just to rule out other possibilities.
Thanks for your reply.
Dee
CCF Neuro MD
CCF Neuro MD
CCF Neuro MD