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Post by zachsmom on Dec 28, 2005 10:35:22 GMT -5
My son was having lots of facial tics when taking any stimulants or strattera. We recently switched to Wellbutrin (Bupropion) and when increasing the med the tics began again. After reading on this site about magnesium supplements helping some people, we tried it. Low and behold the tics are pretty much gone. I would definitely suggest to anyone who has tics to try the supplements. I started him on 400 mgs. 2x/day and then tappered to 400 mgs. once per day at night. I am curious to see if we could try a low dose of stims now.
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Post by Mayleng on Dec 28, 2005 15:39:41 GMT -5
That is great news. I am sure Catatonic would be interested to hear that. Which type of Magnesium did you use? Magnesium Taurate is supposed to be the one that helps tics.
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Post by zachsmom on Dec 29, 2005 14:18:49 GMT -5
I used magnesium aspartate just because that is one I already had. I'll have to try the one you mentioned.
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Post by zachsmom on Jan 17, 2006 9:05:47 GMT -5
Well the magnesium just stopped working all of a sudden. The tics came back with a vengeance. I tried adding taurine to the magnesium with no luck. We had to stop the Wellbutrin and upped the Abilify to 5mg twice daily. That has really helped with the mood and hyperactivity, but not the perseverence he needs to perform difficult sustained tasks.
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Post by catatonic on Jan 17, 2006 11:40:42 GMT -5
Maybe you need to continue at the higher amount of magnesium? Have you tried bumping the dose back up to see what happens?
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Post by Mayleng on Jan 17, 2006 16:36:45 GMT -5
 so sorry to hear that. If you try the higher dose again, let us know if it works.
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Post by momika on Jan 24, 2006 16:02:39 GMT -5
is it possible that your son has Tourette syndrome and that the tics are not related to meds? The normal course of tics in TS is that they come and go, just as you describe.
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Post by zachsmom on Jan 24, 2006 16:10:57 GMT -5
I did try bumping the magnesium back up, but it did not do any good. We are trying 100 mgs. of Provigil this week to see if that helps. He seems to have more energy without being hyper on the Provigil. He is not moody when coming off either. He does seem to be less attentive though when it is wearing off. The Abilify sort of zaps the energy required to do a good job on his schoolwork. There is just no magic pill that seems to cover all of the sypmptoms is there?!
No, I do not think he has TS as I never noticed any strange movements before stimulants. When he was 5 was when I really started to notice extreme hyperactivity and he started making a lot of yelling and whooping noises when he got excited. It was almost like he was trying to stimulate himself. Could that be TS? I always thought it very strange how suddenly his personality changed.
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Post by momika on Jan 24, 2006 16:27:12 GMT -5
you mentioned facial tics in your first post ... that would qualify as a motor tic. You don't have to necessarily see "Strange movements". So many motor tics can seem like very "normal" movements. MOtor tics can be blinking, lip licking, nose scrunching, twisting fingers, eye rolling, walking on toes, the list goes on ...
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Post by Mayleng on Jan 24, 2006 16:46:29 GMT -5
Couldn't the whooping noises etc be a form of tics too?
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Post by momika on Jan 24, 2006 16:50:12 GMT -5
Couldn't the whooping noises etc be a form of tics too? Absolutely! It's a classic tic. |
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Post by zachsmom on Jan 24, 2006 16:57:42 GMT -5
The facial tics were lip licking and rubbing his mouth with his forearm repeatedly. He also would pull up the neck of his shirt and wipe his mouth and constantly open and close his mouth. That is what I meant about strange movements.
I have wondered about the jumping around on the furniture and noises if that was TS or ADHD combined.
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Post by momika on Jan 24, 2006 17:05:38 GMT -5
HUGS zachsmom, but those sound like typical TS tics. I don't mean to try to diagnose your child in a matter of a few minutes on the internet, but it might be something for you to look into and consider. TS does typically emerge around that age. My favorite TS sites are pub23.ezboard.com/btourettesyndromenowwhat and www.tourettesyndrome.net/THe key would be to determine if he's got tics when he's not on meds or tic inducing meds. But that's tricky as the nature of the tics is to come and go. I don't think that tics are a common side effect of Wellbutrin. You're welcome to email me if you'd like to talk about this more. just click the email icon under my dancing penguin. ETA: my son also had a jumping around like a frog tic for a while ... |
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Post by zachsmom on Jan 24, 2006 17:15:40 GMT -5
Well, he still jumps around and is loud when not on meds, but he does not have any facial/mouth tics when off meds. My research did reveal that Wellbutrin can cause tics or exacerbate them - perhaps because it acts as a stimulant to some extent. The tics stopped when we discontinued the Wellbutrin. The jumping around and noises was worse when he would have friends over - he would just get very excited. I did ask the dr. whether he thought the jumping/yelling/whooping noises could be TS. He did not know for sure. He does not get to hung up on diagnoses and just tries to treat the symptoms. Clonidine makes my son very moody and weird feeling so we were not able to go that route.
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Post by Mayleng on Jan 24, 2006 17:35:42 GMT -5
Is that a regular Peds who said he didn't know if the jumping/yelling/whooping noises were tics or a Ped Neurologist? If you haven't, I suggest you have your son checked by a Ped Neuro who is familiar with TS and other neurological disorders.
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Post by Brenda on Jan 24, 2006 19:03:58 GMT -5
Wellbutrin caused tics for my dd.A blinking tic that stopped after she discontinued the Wellbutrin.Good Luck.
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Post by 2pearl on Jan 24, 2006 22:45:17 GMT -5
zachsmom I've been wondering about you! So your son is up to 10mg of abilify? My son can't seem to go past 7mg without tremors. Have you experienced this? Also, he has some weird gag reflex thing that I believe is also caused by the abilify. Other than that it's going pretty well for us. I split a 15mg tablet, he is still on depakote 1000mg and 18mg of concerta. The concerta is doing nothing for focus but he absolutely must take it to counteract the appetite issues and low energy from the abilify. Anyway, glad to see you back.
2pearl
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Post by angel on Jan 25, 2006 18:40:40 GMT -5
I just wanted to send you a hug. I am with you!! Morgan had a cartwheel tic for a while. rofl! I have to laugh. It is better than crying. She still had tics on the provigil when we tried it. It was better, but still there. The magnesium does seem to be helping. We are maintaining at 10mg of focalin. It is not enough, but it is better than nothing or constant tics.
angel
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Post by zachsmom on Jan 27, 2006 15:19:47 GMT -5
Mayleng, it was his psychiatrist that said he did not know whether it was tourette's - he said it could be. He can contol it and it mostly happens when he gets with his friends and plays video games. It does not happen now that he is on Abilify so it would be hard to diagnose since I can't stop and start the Abilify. Maybe that is why is gets tics so badly on stims - maybe he does have TS.
2Pearl, He was on 10 mgs of Abilify, but I just decreased it by 2.5 mgs. in the a.m. and still 5 mgs. at night. I am also giving him the 100 mgs. of provigil. I think there is a possibility he could tic on this also if I were to up it any. I saw his teacher today and she said he is much better this week. I guess the Provigil is helping. She said he had been extremely hyper which is weird because he is not hyper at home at all when on just the 10 mgs. Abilify. She also said his work was very sloppy. The Abilify just makes him not want to do anything tedious, but his mood is great. He is more "energetic" with the Provigil and lower dose of Abilify. I started giving him the magnesium again. I was able to find the mag. taurate at The Vitamin Shoppe under the brand of Cardiovascular Research, Ltd. Thanks for the hugs Angel!
Oh 2pearl, no my son does not have any tremors on the Abilify. The first day we gave him the additional 5 mgs. during the day he did do some weird contortions with his mouth, but then nothing else since that one day. He has been on Abilify for about a year now - maybe his body was more used to it. We built up very slowly.
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Post by justme on Jan 27, 2006 16:54:02 GMT -5
How weird is that that you say it is usually while playing video gaes, I just realized that when my son is watching tv his tics are the worst (of course I do not see him at school).
I just found KAL Magnesium Taurate and just gave it to him for the first time. Hope it helps.
Anyone know anything about tics and video stimulation??
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Post by Mayleng on Jan 27, 2006 17:03:11 GMT -5
I've heard of seizures from watching tv and video games but not tics. Anything is possible, I guess.
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Post by justme on Jan 27, 2006 17:06:58 GMT -5
I'm thinking for my son maybe is so absorbed in what he is watching he isn't thinking about stopping the tics and so they "make there way out" easier. Although, I ask him about tics at school and he says he doesn't have any. Got me!
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so sorry to hear that.
