Article: The primary medications prescribed for tics are antipsychotics, including haloperidol, pimozide, and aripiprazole. In fact, these drugs are the only ones approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of tics.  Talk to your doctor to determine if these drugs are right for you. Discuss using these medications as short-term options while working on behavioral changes. These drugs may make you constipated, give you dry mouth, cause vision blurriness, and make you gain weight. Even though only antipsychotics are approved to treat tics, many doctors turn to other medications to help with tics. Ask your doctor if one of these medications would be right for you. Once your tics are under control, speak to your doctor about reducing the dosage then fully stopping the medication.  Two options are clonidine or guanfacine. These drugs are typically prescribed for high blood pressure, but they can help with both tics and ADHD.  Another option is clonazepam, which is also used to treat anxiety. Tetrabenazine may help if you have a disease like Huntington's, though it can cause depression.  Some people respond to topiramate, an epilepsy medication. With these injections, the doctor will inject botulinum (Botox) into the muscle. Sometimes, the botulinum will help relax the muscle, reducing the tic. However, this only targets small, specific areas, so it should be used a s a last resort. In very few cases, deep brain stimulation surgery may be an option. With this surgery, small electrodes are placed in your brain. The electrodes are then connected to a pulse generator in your chest. The generator sends out small electrical currents to help regulate your tics.
What is a summary of what this article is about?
Ask about antipsychotics. Talk about other medications. Discuss botulinum injections. Consider deep brain stimulation surgery.