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uncontrolable motor and vocal tics ruining life - please help!

My son is 17 and was diagnosed with Tourettes and OCD at the age of 13. We had to wait 4 months of hell to be seen by a pyschiatrist and then had to wait about another 3 months to see some benefits from meds - clonidine and sulpiride. The tablets made him very tired and down and didnt go to school very often as he couldnt concentrate and fell asleep in class. He is very good at keeping in his vocal and motor tics when in public and with his friends but now he cannot do that. His motor and vocal tics are worse than ever. He has lost his voice completely because of the loud vocal tics day and night and his whole body lifts off the ground/bed from his motor tics which occur every 4 or 5 seconds. He is exhusted and so am i as i have to hold him at night and reassure him that he will get better. I cant leave him as he says quite understanably that he cant put up with it anymore. We arelucky if he gets 2 hours sleep a day. He has jus started a college course that he really enjoys and now he cant attend that as these tics are so powerful that he cannot keep them in. It looks like clonidine and sulpiride have lost their effect. We are going to see pyschiatrist tomorrow to talk about new meds. Ive heard mixed stories about ORAP, HALDOL and RISPERIDONE. can anyone advise us on which one would work best for such severe motor and vocal tics. I would really like to hear from anyone who is suffering the same as a parent or sufferer.
Thanks
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Avatar universal
My son is extremely sensitive to medications and the only side effect he got from the xenazine was tiredness, but as you know everyone reacts differently. At the moment though his tics get so bad only clonex helps.
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Avatar universal
Thank you for your comments. My son was given HALDOL but when he read all the possible side effects, one of which said there have been cases of sudden death! neither of us wanted to take the chance so his Dr said try Risperidone, but like i said he had a allergic reaction to that.
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Avatar universal
Hi, My son has TS & has had very good results with Haldol with slight negative effects.  When U say that ".... on the internet. All of them have awful side effects." Each patient reacts differently & won't have ALL those side effects or any. The percentages for each side effect are listed. Neurologists usually treat TS instead of Psychs.  Also, Xenazine is for adults & was used in Canada & Europe before it was approved in the US about 2+ yrs ago. Plz read my posts & try & stay positive.
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Avatar universal
Thank you for taking the time to answer.
I have looked both of the drugs you mentioned up on the internet. All of them have awful side effects My son is very reluctant to try other meds as when he tried Risperidone just over a week ago he had an allergic reaction and we ended up in a&e!
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Avatar universal
Have you tried xenazine ( chemical name is tetrabenazine)? We've also found clonex gives some relief.
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