Posted by Sulpicia on June 24, 2001, at 22:59:08
In reply to Re: Zoloft to Paxil - Tics - HELP!!!, posted by Dale on June 24, 2001, at 11:06:48
> Dale--
It's funny you should wonder about having Tourettes [TS, please -- long day typing!] -- I spend a good deal of time attempting to bring sanity to an ADHD forum and since TS is often comorbid with ADHD, I've communicated with a fair number of moms who discover they have TS when their kids are diagnosed with it. Many recall relatives who had quirky movements that they now recognize as tics.
And since TS is most often mild it's not totally strange that you didn't pay much attention to it.First, have a look at the Tourettes Society of America web site -- try TSA.org
and see if SSRI meds have been known to exacerbate tics. Also see if you can find a referral to an experienced neurologist near you or a TS clinic. Not all neuros have a good understanding of TS.
I would strongly suggest that you see a neurologist or a movement disorder specialist to find out what precisely is happening to you. You should rule out the remote possibility of tardive dyskinesia since you're moving to another SSRI med.Not having read the book in question I leaped to the conclusion because of the title and my own personal experience with what seems to be a growing cottage industry of sorts -- several forums I read have been inundated with post about tardive D. by trolls within the last month or so. Their info is totally wrong and laughably enough, they keep getting their horror stories wrong, or in one case, their gender. TD is extremely REMOTE in SSRIs. As for the Harvard Med pedigree, it's impressive indeed until you stop to think that on the University of Pennsylvania med school faculty [child neuro] is a doc who writes frequently that ADHD doesn't exist and children < 18 don't get depressed. Go figure.
The symptoms you describe may indeed be waxing TS but I'm not an expert and you clearly must have a diagnosis. I don't know if SSRIs cause an increase in tics but stress certainly does -- switching off the zoloft more than qualifies as a whopping dose of stress, not to mention treatment for depression, and depression itself.
I also might insist on an urgent appt. with the neuro or movement specialist: presumably you're not taking AD meds on a whim but rather need them to be effective -- it sounds like the last thing you need is to be waffling around sans meds. An experienced clinician should be able to put your mind at ease and if necessary suggest meds that don't increase tics.
Do be careful of your sources of information -- tardive D. seems to be a hot bottom for a veritable army of anti-med folks.
I hope you're a bit more comfortable now?
what does your pdoc say about all this?
S.
>
poster:Sulpicia
thread:67499
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010618/msgs/67755.html