Effects - Tourette's syndrome and drugs

[Joe-(5-HTP)]

Swim has mild Tourette's syndrome. For those of you who have only seen misleading documentaries about Tourette's, you might be interested that only a minority of Tourette's sufferers have the version where people shout out swear words.

I do not have this: I have a few Tics which occur roughly 30 times each day. Anyway, I couldn't find any information about whether taking drugs affected Tourette's syndrome.

When on MDMA, amphetamine or cannabis, Swim feels like it is made worse. Of course as other sufferers will know, just thinking about it makes it worse so it is difficult to tell whether it is actually the drugs or just the thought that it might be which makes it worse. Swim felt no increase when using LSD, ketamine or codeine.

Are there any swimmers who have any similar experiences?

[Potter]

Oh weird. Nobody finds LSD and other psychedelics make their tics worse, often to the point where someone else has to help them deal with it. Luckily nobody's friends understand that is part of the ordeal for nobody and will clear the area, snag their glasses, give some contact/massage when it's done.

Cannabis is actually showing quite a bit of promise for treatment
NORML's Abstract
Fuller text from Nature
It's the only thing nobody has found helps that doesn't turn them into a droolie.

Opiates - no effects.

Nobody was a life long ritalin user, after the tics started at the age of 18, they ceased stimulant use for a few years. Once things had settled down they tried ritalin again and ended up with their chest and stomach muscles contracting and holding for until the breathing reflex kicked in, this would occur a few times a night for almost six months, since then it has cycled in and out, but to no where near the excruciating severity as the initial cycle. Nobody currently uses adderall to no ill effects.

Dissociative anesthetics like DXM don't cause sudden tics, but nobody can't help but dance on them, a recent experiment with K produced similar results.

Nobody learned to control the worst of their tics through Tai Chi. You know how you can sense a tic building up, tai chi will teach you how to take that energy and vent it through other, more controlled movements. For the most part people don't know nobody has TS, unless they are around late at night when control breaks down. They sometimes notice the odd gesture or two, but as an animated talker, it's hardly much at all.

Nicotene never seemed to effect nobody's tics, though it has more backing as a treatment in the US then THC

Bloody hell! Been trying to get the Dr. to prescribe marinol, brought in the studies, explained concern over being a criminal, problems with cost, difficulty in reliable dosing. and all they can say is "can't prescribe off label." It's only a schedule III, dr's prescribe off label all the time. Thinking of offering the justification of "chemotherapy induced anorexia", Adderall is a chemical nobody takes therapeutically and it does cause loss of apatite....

[Joe-(5-HTP)]

Interesting articles. When swim does cannabis, he usually (these days anyway) does huge amounts with very little tolerance as he enjoys the CEVs brought on by whitying. Swim will try using a small amount soon to see if it has any reductive effects on tics.

Swim has never been officially diagnosed with tourettes, but it runs very strongly in his family and the tics follow the classic tourettes "morphing"; changing every now and again to a different type of tick, so he is pretty sure. Swim's tics are either facial movements or muscle clenching in his wrists, elbows or ankles so they do not really interfere in his life much. especially as they seem to go away totally when he is absorbed or interested in something. Unless he is stressed, in which case they intensify.

Swim can control and repress his tics and doing so doesn't cause an "explosion" of tics when he can't repress them any more. It does feel very annoying when he does so, though.

Having thought about his LSD experiences more, swim still feels that acid causes no obvious increase in tics.

Are they any abusable tourette's drugs swim's doctor might prescribe? If so, he might consider getting himself checked out =)

[Potter]

They use anti-psychotics, along with things like Clonadine and Orap. Clonadine makes nobody recall something, maybe THC potentiation or something, but most of the stuff the use to "treat" TS can cause Tardative Dyskinesis, that is grimacing, stalled movements, "thorazine shuffles" BAD SHIT!!!

[Jasim]

Originally Posted by Potter

They use anti-psychotics, along with things like Clonadine[sic] and Orap. Clonadine makes nobody recall something, maybe THC potentiation or something, but most of the stuff the use to "treat" TS can cause Tardative Dyskinesis, that is grimacing, stalled movements, "thorazine shuffles" BAD SHIT!!!

Clonidine is sometimes used by opiate addicts to decrease some effects of withdrawal.
I totally agree with the antipsychotics. They can do some serious damage.

Many drugs, including most stimulants, affect the motor-control areas of the brain. Therefore those types of drugs may make the tics worse.

[Potter]

bump!

[staples]

Hi,

I don't know if SWIJoe-(5-HTP)'s tourrette's syndrome was late onset like Potter's, but out of interest I looked through some research and I found one on Adult Onset Tic Disorders. I've attached it to this reply.

It seems to me that, despite the odds, the developed Tourrete's syndrome and increased sensitivity to methylphenidate is not likely attributed to having taken methylphenidate for so long; it seems most late onset cases are idiopathic. But who knows..

I hope things are going better lately

[Potter]

Is there any way to differentiate?

I guess it's hard to believe, given the links between stimulants and TS, that 12 years of nearly constant stimulants use might not be the cause.

God, I haven't had a head CT in years, what if this was the result from what was some sort of pinpoint tumor... No, I'm not actually worried about that, but still...

[staples]

Originally Posted by Potter

Is there any way to differentiate?

I guess it's hard to believe, given the links between stimulants and TS, that 12 years of nearly constant stimulants use might not be the cause.

It is my understanding that stimulant medication isn't known to cause Tourette Syndrome, but stimulants are known to exacerbate it. Unless I am wrong in that understanding, then idiopathic late onset Tourette's would certainly be exacerbated by the methylphenidate that you were already taking. In fact, in the article, patients who experienced late onset Tourette's were 21 or older, so perhaps you could say that you would not have experienced the symptoms until later had it not been for methylphenidate?

[sasafrass]

Any amine is going to increase available dopamine. The substituted amines, mda, mdma, etc. make more serotonin available and one would bet, (but never seen in print) its making acetylcholine more available too. Ach. helps contract our muscles, and it just seems a good place to look along with dopamine as possible factors effecting T.S. Since lsd is a pure serotonin agonist I'd be surprise if it made tics worse per sey, but the power of suggestion alone, under the influence of lsd, might do it.