Focalin ER/ Dexmethylphenidate induced tics

[Firstrayofthesun]

Hello everyone and Happy New year,

This post is regarding my six year old son who was prescribed Focalin ER generic brand for his ADHD. I was unaware at that time what tics looks like until it became severe. His severity extended to hitting himself to relieve his tics.

I am worried as it’s been two months now that he has stopped his medication and is in Guanfacine for last two months for his tics.

Do we have parents here in similar situation who are waiting out for medication induced tics to get better? Does it get better? Or does it stay? I know everybody is different as reacts differently to medications. His daily struggles breaks my heart and this mommy heart wants to hear some positive stories.

Thanks for reading.

[Kkoelle]

yes my son has tics (pre-medication) though worsened by Focalin ER. His guanfacine helped control the tics for awhile then they didn’t. In my experience, when I boost the magnesium and iron in my sons diet, the tics get much better. My son is vegetarian ;(his choice not mine) and he is a picky eater, so his diet was lacking. He won’t take a multivitamin because he gets overwhelmed with the pill burden, so I started giving him pumpkin seeds (rich in Magnesium) and iron fortified cereal. You can also try a magnesium roll on (place a small amount between the shoulder blades before bed). After 1 week the tics lessen. We try not to point them out to my son when they get bad because it really lowers his already poor self esteem. Good luck!

[Elijah1]

Tics can be associated with stressors and excitement and frequently co-exist with anxiety. If the latter is present, anxiety reduction can help. There are behavioral treatments for tics (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Tics or CBIT) and, if not helpful. medications if the tics cause physical or social disruption.

[SurvivorFan]

Sorry your kiddo is going through this. My son (7) does not have medication induced tics but they did start this past year. He has been on stimulants for years, Focalin currently. Agree with other response in that it is best to not address them frequently. If it seems to bother him then I just sit by him and rub his back and try to talk about something else. We have also done some brainstorming together about trying some "quiet tics" that wont be so distracting but can still make his brain feel good. I told him if someone at school asks him about it he should just be up front and say it just feels good in my brain to do it sometimes, so I do. My son has gone through several different ones. First it was a very quiet nose clearing then became a loud throat clearing. They stopped for a bit and now he does one where he wipes his face with his hand. They come and go. I have noticed he does them when he is completely relaxed/no stressors and also when he is nervous. When they first started to happen I made the mistake of talking to much about it and definitely saw an increase. He also takes guanfacine but not for tic purposes (for adhd) He is on 2 mg twice daily.

[GoDukes]

I'm sorry to hear your son is struggling. My son went on Foculin around 7 as well and there were some minor tics. Mainly scrunching up his nose, but nothing severe. It helped his focus but over time we sensed it made his anxiety worse. We tried adding Guanfacine at night and it seemed to help but over time the anxiety got worse, especially as we increased the Foculin dosage as he grew. We ended up trying other stimulant ADHD meds but they had an even worse result with his anxiety. We ended up switching to Straterra which is a non-stimulant ADHD med and the anxiety is much better. He is 13 now so it's hard to say how much of the changes are a result of the meds and how much is just him maturing but we seem to be in a good place now. Hopefully this information helps somehow. You have to take in everything you can to learn as much as you can and try different things. I think it is an ongoing thing too because what is working now may not work in a year. It requires a lot of work and patience from us parents. I wish you and your boy the best!

[Hidden]

From my experience with my son - tics will eventually go away.

My son has had periods when he had tics before he was diagnosed with ADHD and medicated with Methylpenidate. Hence I am even more cross that psychiatrist completely ignored it and prescribed Methylphenidate which does make tics worse! Before my son was medicated I was told by neurologist that in young children normally tics resolve and that many children have periods when they have some tics.

What I can say, and fingers cross, since we swapped my son’s medication to Atomoxetine- he has no tics at all so far and it has been nearly a year.

I agree about the balanced diet and making sure that your child is not deficient. I try to give 2 bananas per day to my children (for natural magnesium) and also every couple of years do full blood count to check the iron status, vitamin D etc. If your child is fed up with pills, chewy vitamins etc, my kids love gummy bears (there are such with magnesium and with iron), I am not sure how well absorbed this is though! When my son was mildly iron deficient I was giving him iron water (natural) Spatone. The apple flavour has vitamin C for better absorption and I mixed it for him with his favourite apple juice so he couldn’t taste that it’s something else.

However - all the vitamins and all, nothing worked for tics whilst my son was on Methylpenidate- he did have the tics then, the whole range of tics. Yet now I am not too fussed about vitamins etc and he doesn’t have tics. So I am assuming that Methylpenidate was playing the major role in inducing severe, persistent tics.