getting my 6y.o. medicated
Question:
<<<<<I’ve known of kids with TS on medication as young as 2 years of age. Not saying they all should be, but young kids can be medicated if the symptoms warrant it. The question here is the doc’s rationale – and whether or not you agree with it. Docs CAN be wrong…or right. Vicki H.>>>>> i wish our daughter had been on meds as early as 3. (she didn’t start until age 6) her ocd was so bad that there was about a 4 mo. period during age 4 where she had the hand-washing obsession and her hands were so raw they were almost bleeding. after finding so much relief for tics/ocd/rage we regretted that we had waited so long… mary
Response:
If your son has been diagnosed with TS and you have a suspicion that your other son might have it as well; perhaps you should have them seen by a pediatric neurologist as well as a psychiatrist. TS is an organic brain disorder and therefore the viewpoint on treatment and medication will have a different perspective from a neurologist as apposed to a psychiatrist. Try both fields.
Response:
Hi. my son started clonidin when he was diagnosed with tic disorder. even the tho the neurologist said we had to see tics for 1 year she still gave him meds to help him.He showed signs as early as 3 yrs. old but ped.doc. said allergies, leave him alone. Needless to say after 1 yr. he was diagnosed with Tourettes.In my opinion I think there is nothing wrong with the child starting meds while still waiting for formal diagnois.We do know what we see and why make them suffer needlessly.Hope GMAC55 wrote in message <19990508114329.13372.00000…@ng21.aol.com>… >If your son has been diagnosed with TS and you have a suspicion that your other >son might have it as well; perhaps you should have them seen by a pediatric >neurologist as well as a psychiatrist. TS is an organic brain disorder and >therefore the viewpoint on treatment and medication will have a different >perspective from a neurologist as apposed to a psychiatrist. Try both
fields.
Response:
Our 8 yo son has been on risperdal for 9 mo. for TS/OCD/ADHD with good results. Our 6 yo son has been showing the same early signs as we saw with our first son — getting"stuck" on wanting something daily and going into rages, some mild vocal ticcing, and generally annoying others which is causing problems at school. Our psychiatrist has not been willing to medicate him, wanting to wait until the tics are there for a year, or behaviors get worse! I am a therapist myself and have tried to convince him how urgent this is to start meds, to no avail. Has anyone had luck in getting their MD to move quicker on this, perhaps using Clonidine or not an anti-psychotic? meyerd…@aol.com alt.support.tourette
Response:
Meyerdaav wrote in message <19990507142118.13044.00000…@ng-fv1.aol.com>…
I am a therapist >myself and have tried to convince him how urgent this is to start meds, to no >avail. Has anyone had luck in getting their MD to move quicker on this, >perhaps using Clonidine or not an anti-psychotic?
Did he state a reason why? I know many of them don’t like to start on the medications so young. Obviously you feel the rages and getting stuck are interferring with his psychosocial developement, Did you explain this to the doctor with stats and all? Our Doctor usually tries ST. John’s wort ( for Mood) with the young ones first and medication to help regulate sleep. That is what he started my son on( of course he is now on risperdal and other meds) and what my Daughter is currently doing. Maybe if you taped a rage episode ( darn hard to do if you are the only one there) and showed him it might have more of an impact. Just an idea. Keysmom
Response:
In article <19990507142118.13044.00000…@ng-fv1.aol.com>, meyerd…@aol.com (Meyerdaav) writes: >Our 8 yo son has been on risperdal for 9 mo. for TS/OCD/ADHD with good >results. Our 6 yo son has been showing the same early signs as we saw with our >first son — getting"stuck" on wanting something daily and going into rages, some >mild vocal ticcing, and generally annoying others which is causing problems >at school. Our psychiatrist has not been willing to medicate him, wanting to >wait until the tics are there for a year, or behaviors get worse! >I am a therapist myself and have tried to convince him how urgent this is to
start meds, to no avail. Has anyone had luck in getting their MD to move quicker on this, >perhaps using Clonidine or not an anti-psychotic?
General thoughts: Seems a little silly to me to wait the year, although your doctor might just be being extra-prudent in this case. After all, there ARE other disorders that can cause tics, and your older child having a TS diagnosis is *not* necessarily a certain indicator that this is what’s causing your younger child’s tics, too. So perhaps the doctor is just wanting to completely eliminate other causes? I would hope that he/she is going to use that year to find out if there is something ELSE going on, especially before starting medication. Of course, I’ve had problems in the past with the doctor not wanting to medicate unless she personally saw the behavior, and that might be part of the doctor’s hesitancy. If you think it is, then anything you can do to objectively document your child’s behaviors would be very helpful. I’ve read of some parents who even video-taped the behaviors, and I’ve personally used a tape-recorder to catch some of my son’s vocal tic-ing. The school could be helpful with this, too. On the other hand, you are already experienced with the medication issues, and have up-close and personal experience with your older child. I can understand some of your feelings about the urgency of starting meds, especially in light of it causing your younger son problems at school. It might also depend on the school. Is the school working with you on addressing your younger son’s behaviors? There IS a tendancy on the part of some schools to want a "pill" to fix things, when other modifications would do just as well. They might be extra-anxious about it if they have the knowledge that your older child is on meds. Saves them effort, but that’s something you DON’T want – they need to do their job, just as you do yours as the parent. But your doctor may be hesitant unless you can give him/her concrete information about measures the school is taking. There are other ways besides medication to address the "annoying others" issues, as I’m sure you know. 
And perhaps others are "annoying" him – this is something that you’d want to put a stop to IMMEDIATELY. No amount of medication will help if your son is being teased or harrassed by his classmates, and I guarrantee that he will strike out if this is happening. Another factor to consider: is this behavior troubling to your son? The doctor might not want to medicate unless it is the CHILD asking for help. True, sometimes the child’s wishes should be over-ridden, but I personally think that this should only be done in the case of a child who is a threat to himself or others, or if all other measures have been tried. So the doctor might not see meds as "urgent," if your child doesn’t. I realize that parenting two children with these behaviors is difficult (I only have one with TS/ADHD/OCD, and can’t imagine parenting TWO with my son’s behaviors. ) But, as I’m sure you know, there is more to it than medication. And that the "more" I’m referring to can be exhausting and time-consuming. Even so, it might be better to wait the year, get the school as involved as possible, and try every non-drug strategy you can. Medication will help, I’m sure, but unless there is a life-threatening crisis of some kind, it may be better to wait, after all. Just my random ramblings, wish I could be of more help. Arlene 276/258/160—-started Atkins 2/21/99 FAQ http://www.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=381302050 http://people.delphi.com/elizjack/lowcarb.txt http://www.grossweb.com/asdlc/faq.htm
Response:
On 7 May 1999 18:21:18 GMT, meyerd…@aol.com (Meyerdaav) wrote: > Our 6 yo son has been showing the same early signs as we saw with our first >son — getting"stuck" on wanting something daily and going into rages, some >mild vocal ticcing, and generally annoying others which is causing problems at >school. Our psychiatrist has not been willing to medicate him, wanting to wait >until the tics are there for a year, or behaviors get worse!
I think the first issue is WHY does the psych. not want to medicate? If the issue is that he doesn’t want to medicate a 6 year old, then you may well want to find another doctor. If the issue is that the tics are annoying to others but not causing undue problems to the child, then you may want to think about what signals should there be in making the medication decision. I’ve known of kids with TS on medication as young as 2 years of age. Not saying they all should be, but young kids can be medicated if the symptoms warrant it. The question here is the doc’s rationale – and whether or not you agree with it. Docs CAN be wrong…or right. Vicki H.
