Vocal Tic in 11 Year Old Daughter

The first thing that came to my mind is that many antihistamines are drying - they can make your throat or mouth feel dry. Your daughter might be dealing with a dry throat, esophagus or mouth, and the cough might be a natural response to the dryness.

Secondly, take advantage of your pharmacist. Hopefully since your daughter has been on meds for so long you have a good relationship with a pharmacy. Ask the pharmacist to review your daughter's medications, including the changes and the new addition. Ask if any of those have dryness or throat irritation or a cough as a side effect. It could be as simple as giving your daughter a soothing throat spray (a non-medicated one, intended to lubricate or soothe a dry mouth), or perhaps a dry mouth rinse, etc. But if it's a side effect, the pharmacist can be your best source of reliable information.

Also, some medications can cause a slight heartburn that makes you want to clear your throat. It might not even be discernible as far as pain goes, but it might be enough to prompt an involuntary response, such as a little throat clearing or cough. Again, a pharmacist can help you there.

Good luck.

Docs really don't know much about meds. They prescribe what the pharmaceutical companies give them for samples. If they see good results they prescribe it more.

Talk to your pharmacist.

I definitely agree to follow up with both the prescribing doctor and the pharmacist. I had a coworker who had an unconscious throat clearing tic and it drove me crazy so I can sympathize! Finally after about a year he mentioned that his wife finally got fed up with it, took him to the doctor and it was due to some kind of sinus thing. He got his sinus issues treated and the throat clearing went away. What a relief! So it may take some investigation, but keep talking to your daughter's medical team.

I would think it's a side effect of one of the new meds, particularly the antihistamine. If the prescribing doc OKs it, I would stop that and see if it clears it up. If that doesn't clear it, try to go back to the original Intuniv and see if it goes away. Tics of any type and stimulant medication are closely linked, so you should get to the root cause and stop this now if it can be stopped. One of my sons has a history of facial tics and that alone was cause enough for his doctor to hold off on prescribing a stimulant (his diagnosis is not at all clear cut though - his was one of those rare cases where "let's see how he does on this" carried a risk of a pretty serious side effect that wasn't worth the risk).

Hopefully it's just a dry throat sensation from the antihistamine and not an actual vocal tic. Honestly, I wouldn't be comfortable with long-term use of an antihistamine for appetite and sleep. For sleep, has she tried melatonin? I don't have any suggestions for appetite, but melatonin has been helpful for my kids.

I suggest you enter her medication in a website I like to use for side effects. www.askapatient.com. Check to see what the side affects are that people express, rather than just the notes from the RX, but read those too. You will be amazed.

Go to the doctor visit prepared. If she says it's not the meds, let her know 75 people reported it was and kindly ask her to change it. Maybe she will suggest it is and change it on her own, but be prepared and aware.

my dad does that, it's tourette's-related. he can control it if he focuses on it, but who can spend 24/7 thinking only about controlling a tic?
khairete
S.