Zoloft for tics/OCD/anxiety for 8 year old?

[dmccaff]

Hi there. Wonderful 8-year-old son has been doing very well in managing his sensory issues (loud sounds like clapping) and OCD/anxiety. Schoolwork and organization abilties very good. Under circumstances, he does quite well socially; he has good friends. Does well with swim team. He's done a great job, but he's just a little boy, and now has verbal tics too. Kids at school starting to get irritated with this and, because they know it bothers him, are clapping in his ears on purpose. This bothers him obviously. Hurts our hearts. He's overall very happy, although he will carry resentment for current and past perceived slights. Because of tics (we've been told likely Tourette's), doctor is recommending low dose of Zoloft. Been reading about this and it's a bit unnerving. Also: We are getting him neuro-feedback too (at least 30 sessions). My wife and I have never medicated him ever. We've worked out his issues via in-person therapy, The Listening Program audio-therapy sessions, organic food, most recently a gluten-free diet that he's taken to quite well. (We're all doing it.) His attitude is so good. He wants to get better too. He told us 'Please give me medicine to make this go away." Breaks our hearts to not consider doing it to help him. We've done all the non-medication options we can think of.  At first, we were inquiring about Tenex. But doctor is recommending small dose of Zoloft. Your advise appreciated.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

There is a high correlation between Tourette's and anxiety disorders, and it is certainly not unusual to include pharmacological treatment as part of the plan. Medication for children with symptoms such as your son's often includes one of the SSRI's (the family of medicines to which Zoloft belongs), and it might benefit your son, particularly to allay his anxiety. You might find that it is a very useful tool, and you certainly can't be faulted for rushing into medication. As you have discovered in your research, antihypertensive medications such as guanfacine are also used in the treatment of Tourette's, mostly to target the tics, not the anxiety. If you agree to a trial on Zoloft, and if it is helpful, it would only indirectly influence the tics. That is, the frequency of tics can be influenced by anxiety and, if the anxiety is diminished, the frequency of the tics might be less. But it is the anxiety, not so much the tics, that the Zoloft would address.