Tourette's Syndrome Disorder

There are several medications that are mostly used to control Tourette's syndrome.

Treatment Summary: The medications guanfacine and clonidine are two alpha2 adrenergic agents that were originally developed to lower blood pressure in adults. The main side effects of these two drugs are sedation, sometimes accompanied by irritability and unwanted effects may need dose reduction or a change of the drug. Several typical and atypical neuroleptics are frequently used for treatment of Tourette's. Pimozide, haloperidol, sulpiride and tiapride are the most frequently used typical neuroleptics and risperidone and ziprasidone are atypical neuroleptics. Sulphide is a substituted benzamide and a dopamine-2 antagonist, which has been widely used in Europe. According to research, neuroleptics drugs rarely show additional improvement in tics and very often produce bothersome side effects. The side effects include sedation, dysphoria, weight gain, separation anxiety and refusing to attend school. The medication olanzapine has been proven to also be helpful in treating Tourette's syndrome. Olanzapine administration was associated with noticeable improvement by reducing total tic frequency, intensity, interference impairment and severity. In addition, it decrease disruptive behavior and reduced frequency of aggressive outburst.

• Reference: Leckman, J. F. (2002). Tourette's syndrome. The Lancet, 360(9345), 1577-1587. McCracken, J. T., Suddath, R., Chang, S., Thakur, S., & Piacentini, J. (2008). Effectiveness and tolerability of open label olanzapine in children and adolescents with Tourette syndrome.Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, 18(5), 501-508.
• Submitter: Valerie Parker