ADHD and ticks?

[Faith2007]

I have read that the 2 disorders/syndromes can occur together. Are there any out there that have both? Or have children with both? And are there any foods/drinks that trigger the ticks?

[Pennywink]

My 6 year old has both. He was first diagnosed ADHD. We had seen tics though off & on already, just not severe enough to get a TS diagnosis until a few months after the ADHD diagnosis.

According to our pediatric neurologist, they have a very high rate of co-occurance. When she diagnosed him with TS, she pretty much said we’d be dealing with ADHD, anxiety & depression at some point. OCD is pretty common too. It’s not unusual for the comorbid conditions to be a bigger problem for kids than the tics themselves.

I also have two adult cousins who have Tourette. Both also have OCD and ADHD. Though, like the TS, everything has mellowed out a bit / become more controllable with age.

Hope that helps!

[Hidden]

Hi Faith2007. Up to 85% of people with Tourette Syndrome experience other co-occurring conditions - the most common being ADHD - about two thirds of children with tic disorders will meet the criteria for ADHD. Treatment of ADHD in children with tic disorders is based on a detailed understanding of the impact of symptoms on the child. There are very specific and well researched treatments for children with ADHD: nice.org.uk/guidance/ng87 With regards to foods/drinks that may trigger tics - there is no research based evidence supporting specific diets for the management of tics, however it is widely reported in the Tourettes community that foods/drinks containing caffeine and high sugar levels can make tics worse. Tourettes Action has an information sheet on diet and nutrition which you can read here: tourettes-action.org.uk/sto...

[Faith2007 in reply to Hidden]

Thank u

[sonnymum]

Hi

My 12year old son has TS, ADHD, OCD, anxiety and depression.

He is going through a very tough time at the moment and it affects everything incl family life, school , friendship and it is very hard to differentiate what is what. tic or ocd.

It’s crucial to get the exact diagnosis for the better treatment. All the best.

[Faith2007 in reply to sonnymum]

Thank you! How would I go about getting her diagnosed for TS? She has already been diagnosed with ADHD.

[Pennywink in reply to Faith2007]

We were referred to a pediatric neurologist by our pediatrician. The neurologist did the diagnosing.

[sonnymum]

I believe she has symptoms of TS, that’s enough for a neurologist to diagnose.

Go to see a neurologist/ TS specialist.

The meds for ADHD sometimes interact badly with meds for TS, it’s very difficult to get a balance between the two meds.

Hope her symptoms are not severe enough for the meds. I know many people go without meds as their symptoms are only mild and manageable. Good luck.

[Lt57]

My Daughter was diagnosed first with, ASD ADHD, OCD and Tourette's aged 12. She is now 20, and heavily medicated, at 14 she was diagnosed with Bipolor Disorder and Multiple Anxiety Disorder.

She has vocal and physical ticks.

She has completed CBT and DBT therapies but this has not helped with the ticks.

She has no quality of life, due to her issues.

[Faith2007 in reply to Lt57]

I'm so sorry. Does it get better as they get older?

[Lt57 in reply to Faith2007]

I think all individuals are different, my daughter's vocal ticks have worsened as she has got older, the swearing ones didn't start until she was 16 years old.

Medication masked her ADHD so much that they took her off it, when this happened her TS went into over drive. She went back on the same medication and at a higher does, however her TS has not gone back to how it was. Anxiety and sensory issues are major triggers.

[sonnymum]

Same with my Son.

It is painful to go through every day to him and us, parents.

Too much sadness and despair at the moment.

[Faith2007 in reply to sonnymum]

Is it something that gets worse as a child then better as adults?

[Keidans_mom]

My Son has both along with High Functioning Autism. It’s very common for them all to co-occur. We have to be very careful when medicating the adhdbecause of the tics. For the last 8 months we have strictly been medicating the tics as they became very complex.

Food dyes and sugar are major triggers. I’ve read a lot about gluten free and casein free diets but have not tried that yet.

[Faith2007]

So weird thing is her fits, which could be ADHD hyperactive symptoms or possibly ts, happened again this weekend. Fridays lasted over 2 hours and Saturday was earlier than the others. We are tryig to eliminate all dyes to see if they are triggers but last night she had red (which we though was the problem) and had no issues at all. So back to square one. I don't know what is causing her body to jerk so horribly and uncontrollably. She says it hurts to try and not move and it feels like she has ants under her skin. Does this sound like ts? Could it be changes in her hormones?

[Mumofboy]

We have just visited our doctor regarding our son who has had ongoing ticks (blinking, nose scrunching and now chin to chest) for the past year. We have been referred to see a more specialised doctor. I’m in the situation of feeling upset at what I see but not knowing how bad he is in the grand scheme of things.

Any help would be appreciated,