just diagnosed with Tourettes and OCD

[Guest guest]

Hi Rose -

Welcome! My son was diagnosed with Tourette's (in third grade) about two

years prior to the diagnosis of OCD (although the tendencies were there). He's

14 now. He didn't hear voices per say, but tics were enough to cause a

decrease in the quality of his life so he did take medication for a short

while.

We used Orap for him. It worked remarkable and about six months later we

weaned him off and low and behold the tics had lessened. This apparently is

very common, yet science has yet to explain exactly why. He still has tics,

but they are manageable. Two years later he was diagnosed with OCD. He

initially started on Prozac and it worked wonderfully with his depression and

social anxiety, but when attempting to raise the dose high enough (OCD

generally

requires higher doses) to touch his OCD he had a reaction that involved

aggressive behavior, which was so out of character for him, but a known side

effect. He was then switched to Zoloft, which has given him a great amount of

relief from anxiety/depression and recently Luvox was added (this after Abilify

was discontinued due to severe weight gain). We're kind of at a stand still

now - the stickler OCD symptoms we're attempting to target won't budge (eating

with anything other than paper/plastic utensils, visit to the dentist). He

still experiences tics (mainly vocal and facial), but I think we've gotten so

used to them that they're just a part of who he is now. He is very adept at

holding them in during social situations and school, but that often

backfires because the increased anxiety can lead to other behaviors. He

usually has

a short " outburst " of them upon returning from school each day.

I guess my point is, medications will work for some and not others,

sometimes work for a period of time and then stop. It's usually a case of

trial and

error. Hopefully with your son being older his maturity will play a part in

his treatment.

You'll find tons of support and encouragement on this list as well as gain

knowledge from other's experiences.

Good luck to you and your son.

In a message dated 12/31/2005 1:16:28 PM Central Standard Time,

labattcave@... writes:

After over a year and a half of doctors and tests, we finally got the

diagnosis of Tourettes and OCD. For awhile there everyone thought it

might be Schizoprenia. My son who is 16 yrs old, hears voices but

shows no other psychotic symptoms. At the Tourettes clinic at Toronto

Western, they explained the voices as obsessive thoughts, he is acting

out thoughts and talks to himself. We were on Risperdal for his

Tourettes 3 mg a day and 525 mg of Seroquel for the voices. The

clinic thought this was strange combo. We are now weaning him off

the Seroquel and will start him on Prozac in a few weeks. Also his

Risperdal will be increased. Has any one else's children had these

symptoms and then were prescibed these drugs? Also what side effects

will be noticeable? I really appreciate any info I can get as it

seems along time in getting help for my son. I am also

reading " Freeing your child from OCD " by Tamar E Chansky.

Thanks to anyone who responds

Rose

[Guest guest]

After over a year and a half of doctors and tests, we finally got the

diagnosis of Tourettes and OCD. For awhile there everyone thought it

might be Schizoprenia. My son who is 16 yrs old, hears voices but

shows no other psychotic symptoms. At the Tourettes clinic at Toronto

Western, they explained the voices as obsessive thoughts, he is acting

out thoughts and talks to himself. We were on Risperdal for his

Tourettes 3 mg a day and 525 mg of Seroquel for the voices. The

clinic thought this was strange combo. We are now weaning him off

the Seroquel and will start him on Prozac in a few weeks. Also his

Risperdal will be increased. Has any one else's children had these

symptoms and then were prescibed these drugs? Also what side effects

will be noticeable? I really appreciate any info I can get as it

seems along time in getting help for my son. I am also

reading " Freeing your child from OCD " by Tamar E Chansky.

Thanks to anyone who responds

Rose

[Guest guest]

The Seroquel was for the voices and it was not working at all. He is

down to less than half of what he was taking and there is no

difference in his behaviour. I am just not sure of Prozac. However

reading some of the posts I did not realize that it is given to

children younger than mine. The Drs did tell me to give the drug at

least 2 to 3 months. Both the Risperdal and Seroquel are anti-

psychotic drugs true but they were being used for two different

ailments. Risperdal seems to work for his Tourettes. But we have

dealt with the voices for so long I am watching for signs of

something happening when he is completely off Seroquel. At least his

school marks have coome up since all this started last year. He has

never had to be hospitalized, but the school really wanted us to deal

with our Mental Health Unit as the Tourettes kept him moving in

class. His OCD are things like touching everything, voices, ,

opening and closing doors, leaving a room and then going back

in,being in bed by 10:00 on a school night, placing his food in a

certain spot on his plate. I don't think these are too serious,

annoying for sure, but combined with the Tourettes it is enough to be

teased at school. How do you get family members to accept it. I get

the usual " He'll grow out of it " or " He is just being a boy " I hardly

think so.

Thanks for your replies

Rose