Have any of these meds caused bad effects in Tourettes??

[TSOW]

DsMom,

The Psy my son sees is not a specialist at all in Tourettes.

And that is pretty much to be expected; most phsysicans do not receive training and therefore have little or no clinical experience with Tourette Syndrome.

You are wise to look at options such as exploring the availability of a specialized clinic, perhaps in Los Angeles.

You may wish to call the Tourette Syndrome Association at their Information and Referral resource

I don't know if these two resources can be of any use, but you may want to check them out:

Nelson Freimer, M.D.
Professor and Director
Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA 90095

Carol Mathews, M.D.
Associate Professor
University of California, San Francisco
Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute
San Francisco, CA 94143-0984

These physicians appear on a list of investigators interested in Tourette Syndrome. They or their office may be able to point you in the right direction in California.

Does anyone know if the Risperidone could be not working as well after a few years?

You are referring to the phenomenon known as drug tolerance, where the effectiveness of a medication tends to decrease after a prolonged period of use, and/or requires increased dosage to maintain the same effect.

The research I have done does not reveal any literature indicating Resperidone can lead to drug tolerance. Others may have more to offer on this subject.

[NicNak]

Does anyone know if the Risperidone could be not working as well after a few years?

The research I have done does not reveal any literature indicating Resperidone can lead to drug tolerance. Others may have more to offer on this subject.

Hi DsMom.

I checked before replying, but if I am wrong, please correct. Thank you.

I was on Risperidal and from what I read it is name brand of Risperidone it seems.

Four years ago I was taking .5mg of Risperidal as add on for helping me with OCD related racing and intrusive thoughts. I never did during that time have the symtoms return, although when I went off the Risperidal the symptoms still were away. It doesn't appear I had any tolorance build up as I never had to increase the dosage either.

I found the side effects of Risperidal to be a lot less than I had expected, considering it is an anti psychotic. I was able to adapt to it quite easily after a few months.

I say this strictly from a patient prospective as I am not a doctor/psychologist etc.

Again, if I have the wrong medication I apologize.

I hope that the sources that TSOW gave you are helpful.

Also wanting to say how wonderful of a Mom you sound to be. Your son I am sure is very greatful to have your support and help through this.

[David Baxter]

I was on Risperidal and from what I read it is name brand of Risperidone it seems.

That's correct, NN.

[DsMom]

Just un update.

I found three specialist in and around our area. Of course being it's the Thanksgiving holiday it will be the first thing i do on Monday morning. Is make some calls. No one was open today.

My son is also having brain zaps! Anyone have those? I read it is from SSRI withdrawls. That would totally make sense. The Dr took him off prozac after almost 2 years. Then put him on Lexapro for a month and was taken off all together in a week. Possible?? Any one have an opinion??

Have a Good weekend everyone.
Dsmom

[David Baxter]

The brain zaps could be a discontinuation effect from the Lexapro, although that would be unusual given how briefly he was taking lexapro. It's unlikely from the Prozac, since it has a very long half-life.

But it's best not to speculate. Talk to the doctors about this and the other issues. They'll be in a better position to judge.

[NicNak]

Hi DsMom. I am so happy you found some specialists in your area, that is a great start.

An idea I just had is maybe to write a point form journal for the appointment to let the doctors know of all of what your son has experienced. As well as all the different medications and the side effects he experienced.

During appointments I have done this because during the time, I can be forgetful. I gave the lists to the doctors.

I do this when I see new doctors so I do not forget things.

Please keep us posted on how your sons appointment goes on Friday.

[DsMom]

Thank you David and NicNak.
I do keep a record of everything that happens everyday.
Along with the meds and side effects. But i will make a special list for the new Dr. I hope we can get into see a specialist before Friday.

He has a good hour then a spell, i want to call it.
It is the strangest thing. His full body stiffins and shakes, his arms, hands, legs and feet. And he mumbles at the same time.

Almost like a seizure type thing. And his heart rate goes up and I can feel his heart pounding threw his chest.
Does anyone think i need to worry about this before he sees a Dr. Or does it sound like a tourett symptom??? I still keep wondering if it is just his brain all messed up from all the different meds he has been on in a one month time.
Thanks you all for being around. it does help to know theres others out there.
Dsmom

[Xelebes]

Hi DsMom.

I checked before replying, but if I am wrong, please correct. Thank you.

I was on Risperidal and from what I read it is name brand of Risperidone it seems.

Four years ago I was taking .5mg of Risperidal as add on for helping me with OCD related racing and intrusive thoughts. I never did during that time have the symtoms return, although when I went off the Risperidal the symptoms still were away. It doesn't appear I had any tolorance build up as I never had to increase the dosage either.

I found the side effects of Risperidal to be a lot less than I had expected, considering it is an anti psychotic. I was able to adapt to it quite easily after a few months.

I say this strictly from a patient prospective as I am not a doctor/psychologist etc.

Again, if I have the wrong medication I apologize.

I hope that the sources that TSOW gave you are helpful.

Also wanting to say how wonderful of a Mom you sound to be. Your son I am sure is very greatful to have your support and help through this.

I find Risperdal doesn't create the side effects like others do in low doses. It's when you get into the mid to high level doses that the side effects become more of a problem. I'm on a low dose of Risperidal myself but I only have 8 or so months of exposure to the drug. There is a bit of tolerance effect with the drug, I find, but it still works. Just not as powerful as when I took it the first few weeks.

[STP]

almost like a seizure type thing. And his heart rate goes up and I can feel his heart pounding threw his chest.

I haven't been reading the full thread as I cannot concentrate very long so forgive me it this is repetitive.
I was just wondering if you had made sure that he was not actually having seizures. In my opinion which is not medical but I have seen many people have seizures, that's what it sounds like to me. I know medications can cause some people to have seizures. If you haven't checked that out, I don't think it would be a bad idea so he doesn't have any damage.

Just my uneducated two cents. I hope you can figure out what's going on with your son

[DsMom]

Thank you stp. They do seam a bit like seizures. I need to research that.
Sometimes when he does it it seams more like a touretts thing but others it seams a little weird to me. More like a seizure. And is totally fine in between.
I am so frustrated with the long holiday weekend.
Thanks again