Nervous ticks in children

[Disney Doll]

My daughter has a tic too. Her's started with a little clearing throat cough that she would do often. The doctor diagnosed it as a tic and said that it could go away and have no other problems or it could stick around or it could go away and something else show up. About 4 months after it started, it stopped but now she has an eye blink tic. Nothing you can really do about it.

This is totally OT but that picture of your girls in your signature is adorable!!!!! They are just darling!

 

[JoyG]

It's been almost a year since I posted on this thread. My son still has his tics which means he's probably got Turette's. We had a neurological exam and they didn't find anything (which is good).

My son has also developed some disfluent speech...kind of like stuttering...lots of stops and starts. The speech pathologist said that often goes hand in hand with tics.

He coughs, eyeblinks and occasionally shrugs his shoulders. So far the kids at school haven't really noticed. The teacher notices b/c I tell her what to look for.

I'm hoping his case will be mild enough to grow out of, but if he doesn't it's not the end of the world.

 

[Tigger2252]

My daughter has ADHD, mild Tourette's, and can be slightly OCD. Her Tourette's manifests itself with motor movements like flexing her back, cracking her knees, and doing this flicking/rotating thing with her hands. She used to sniff quite a bit several years ago, but that seems to have gone away. You may see his tics change from time to time Joy. Her neurologists said they wax/wane. One thing I have noticed is that they seem to be less severe as she has gotten older. She is almost 16 now and I don't think they are as bad anymore. They don't effect her and most people don't even pay any attention to them. From what I have been told the symptoms lessen once they get through puberty, which seems to be the case with her. He will probably run into cruel kids because unfortunately there are some in every group. My daughter used to get upset with it, now she speaks up if someone makes a remark.

 

[marybrat]

I have not posted on this thread before, but I thought I would add our story. Our DD was diagnosed with Tourette at age 6 (she is now 12) and DS started ticcing around age 4 but wasn't diagnosed until age 7 (he is now 9). Once we learned that DD has it, then I discovered this is what I have as well. All three of us have very different tics and intensity levels. DD has it the worst, by far. She is on several meds and struggles with many tics on a daily basis, the worst being her stuttering tic, as she calls it. She also has ADHD and OCD. Our DS just started taking meds for his tics and anxiety/OCD.

I haven't read through this entire thread, but from what I have read, it looks like people are keeping good attitudes. I like that! As so many people said, it could be worse. Not that we don't have our bad days (or even weeks), but the light always comes back to the end of the tunnel.

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

I have a 6 year old wonderful son who lately has had several ticks.
A couple months ago he started doing this odd thing with his mouth/jaw-opening his mouth really wide and then closing it. He would do this a couple times minute.
I asked him if something hurt and he said no, and when I asked to stop doing it he said he couldnt.
His kindergarten teacher pulled me aside and said she noticed him doing it in class and thought it was just a nervous tick that would go away.

He did stop it, but then about 3 weeks ago he had a cold and started sniffling. Well the cold went away, but the sniffling didnt. Then he was sniffling every 15 seconds or so. Now it progressed from sniffling to a snorting sound.
Once again his teacher said something. It was the last day of school and she thought maybe he was anxious about it. School has been over for a week, and he is still snorting.
The mouth thing wasnt so bad, but now that he is snorting/sniffling instead, other kids and my family are always asking what is wrong with him. I dont want him to be teased or labeled "weird"
When I ask him to stop, he says he cant. I try to ignore it, but after hearing it over and over again sometimes you just snap and I sternly tell him to stop. He maybe stops for a minute, but then it starts up again.
I am really worried about this. I am going to call his doctor and get him appointment. Just wondering if anyone else had gone through something similar?

Thanks for any help.

Whoa! I didn't read all the responses, because this floored me!

You've just described what I'm going through with my DD8. I asked the Dr. about it because I too thought it was a nervous tick, but she assured me it was due to my DD's allergies.

She explained my DD opens her mouth really wide to open the ear ducts/tubes to relieve the pressure and the nose thing is clearly from allergies. I notice when I stay on top of her allergies with her meds, the symptoms halt, but if I forget, they come back right away!

Ok, now I'll go back and read all the replies!

 

[jodifla]

Wow. This is a a very interesting, eye-opening thread. Thanks everyone!

 

[TaraPA]

Hi Joy! I had posted about a year back on this thread too a few times. DS12 is still ticcing. He has a small bald spot on his head from where he pulled it all out last year. We keep his head shaved but that one darn spot just won't grow back! He's also cracking his knuckles & hitting his palm on his jaw. We've all gotten so used to it, it truly doesn't bother us at all. His close friends joke about his "twitches" but never in a mean way. Good luck to all of you out there suffering through this!

 

[MDell]

Janice - I just read your original post back in June and then read all the subsequent feedback from others. I felt like I was reading about my 8 year old son!!! Same exact thing happened with him at the end of the school year (June) where he kept opening his mouth really wide. When we would ask him about it he said it made his lips feel better...this lasted for about a month and then he began grimacing/smiling and raising his eyebrows while making a little vocal noise (sort of like a giggled). This lasted until about 3 days ago where he now has a repeated tic of his head! He has stopped the other 2 "habits" which made my husband I think that it was just a "habit" and would go away but now that he's doing the head ticking we are really concerned and it's getting worse daily. He does not do it while sleeping. He is at the pediatrician's right now with my husband. I was just wondering what your status was on this issue. I REALLY loved the feedback from Juicyliscious (sp). We have tried to ignore it and don't want him to feel weird but he is aware that he does it and is now not wanting to go back to school because he doesn't want kids to make fun of him. So, the non-chalant response of "It's just a tic, my muscles make me do it" is great! Any feedback would be great. Thanks!

 

[boomersmom]

I don't want to alarm you or jump to conclusions, but one symptom of Tourette Syndrome is that tics sometimes last for awhile and then disappear, only to be replaced by another tic. This doesn't mean that your son has TS. There are other criteria needed for a diagnosis. It is good that you are seeing your pediatrician, but my advice would be to ask to be referred to a pediatric neurologist or other specialist.

 

[WriteDisney]

Wow. This is a a very interesting, eye-opening thread. Thanks everyone!

Yes it really is!

 

[Jerseylicious]

Janice - I just read your original post back in June and then read all the subsequent feedback from others. I felt like I was reading about my 8 year old son!!! Same exact thing happened with him at the end of the school year (June) where he kept opening his mouth really wide. When we would ask him about it he said it made his lips feel better...this lasted for about a month and then he began grimacing/smiling and raising his eyebrows while making a little vocal noise (sort of like a giggled). This lasted until about 3 days ago where he now has a repeated tic of his head! He has stopped the other 2 "habits" which made my husband I think that it was just a "habit" and would go away but now that he's doing the head ticking we are really concerned and it's getting worse daily. He does not do it while sleeping. He is at the pediatrician's right now with my husband. I was just wondering what your status was on this issue. I REALLY loved the feedback from Juicyliscious (sp). We have tried to ignore it and don't want him to feel weird but he is aware that he does it and is now not wanting to go back to school because he doesn't want kids to make fun of him. So, the non-chalant response of "It's just a tic, my muscles make me do it" is great! Any feedback would be great. Thanks!

Hi MDell! I'm glad you are getting some good info from this thread. I don't know what it is, but husbands can seem to minimize/somewhat deny our children's tics. Like the other night my daughter was doing her coughing tic and he was getting frustrated with her. Which I could have slugged him for!

But whatever. Keep us up to date on him!

I find when my daughter is overtired or overextended, the tics are worse. It's been 8 years since we first noticed her tics, and they have neither improved nor gotten worse. Just consistent. She is 10 now and everything is still the same.

I don't want to alarm you or jump to conclusions, but one symptom of Tourette Syndrome is that tics sometimes last for awhile and then disappear, only to be replaced by another tic. This doesn't mean that your son has TS. There are other criteria needed for a diagnosis. It is good that you are seeing your pediatrician, but my advice would be to ask to be referred to a pediatric neurologist or other specialist.

Right, Tourette's usually has a comorbidity associated with it....ADD, ADHD, OCD, learning disabilities, behavoiral issues, etc. And I too would definitely recommend going to a pediatric neurologist. Let him evaluate and test your son and keep records. Then he can monitor your son's progress.

 

[CathrynRose]

Just an FYI to everyone.

My son is now 14 - he had Tic's for several years. A few different ones, if I remember right (I swear..... I have the memory of a chipmunk!)

That being said - he out grew them. He is fine now, with no Tics.

It's very common in boys to get these, too. So hang tight, parents.... they might very well just go away.

 

[redrosesix]

Wow, I'm feeling so much better now. My DD9 recently developed a tic, which has come and gone for a few months now -- the neurologist diagnosed it as a tic.

I swear, I just don't want anything else for her to get teased about in school. She's small and cute (the gymnast type), an overachiever in sports and has been the target of both boys and girls for those reasons (IMO, 9 yo girls are nasty).

I'm hoping that like the kids of many other posters, this will go away. It has been particularly bad in the past week -- maybe because she was getting nervous about going back to school?, even though I hadn't seen it for about a month. But as of today, it seems to be gone again.

 

[Titus]

My 9 year old DS has recently started neck shrugging - which pretty much disappeared after a few of days - but was replaced by nose twitching; and then a little more neck shrugging again. Only now have my wife and I really realised that these tics have come and gone since the age of about 6/7......

The other one's I can remember are hand-smelling, eye-rolling and throat-clearing but I am sure there have been others along the way.

They do seem to come about with change in circumstances; most notably the start of a new school year/new teacher etc. I would be interested to hear whether this is the experience of other posters.

Previous posters are sooo right that not drawing negative attention to it and being able to keep your own mouth shut when you see them ticcing is vital to reducing the severity and regularity of the tics.....even when it seems that every ounce of your self seems to want to blurt out "For goodness sake, just stop it! Pleeeaase!" His honest answer to that would be that he can't stop and it would only make him feel low about himself.

Reading these posts also makes you look at whether you have your own tics too - which I really do have but have never really realised it! My dad definitely has tics too so perhaps my DS (poor fella') didn't really have much choice in the matter! would still love to somehow help him out of it if this was possible....all previous posts taken into consideration.

 

[Jerseylicious]

The other one's I can remember are hand-smelling, eye-rolling and throat-clearing but I am sure there have been others along the way.

My daughter currently smells everything...including magic markers, and other potent-smelling items that make me worry! Now THAT I definitely say something to her about, because that can be dangerous. I told her I'm not going to let her use markers while her smelling tic is bad because it is dangerous. Some of those markers stink from across the room! And then the other day she was using nail polish remover and kept smelling it. YUCK! lol

 

[Hillbeans]

Just when I think one thing is over....*Sigh*. My DS now developed a breathing tic, where he takes loud, short breaths in with air when he's reading or doing his homework and it gets worse when he's nervous or excited. It sort of grew from there where he is now doing it all the time, and it's been going on for a few weeks. I am not sure whether I should take him to the doctor. He does seem to replace one tic with a new one so i'm not overly concerned, but I do worry because the tics he's had in the past have been less, how do I say this, obvious than this one?

 

[boomersmom]

My son's tics always get worse around holidays, birthdays, tests, etc. It may ease up a bit after the excitement of Christmas is over.

 

[TaraPA]

My son's tics always get worse around holidays, birthdays, tests, etc. It may ease up a bit after the excitement of Christmas is over.

Ditto - the start of the school year & the Christmas holidays have always been huge triggers for my son too!

 

[Jerseylicious]

Just when I think one thing is over....*Sigh*. My DS now developed a breathing tic, where he takes loud, short breaths in with air when he's reading or doing his homework and it gets worse when he's nervous or excited. It sort of grew from there where he is now doing it all the time, and it's been going on for a few weeks. I am not sure whether I should take him to the doctor. He does seem to replace one tic with a new one so i'm not overly concerned, but I do worry because the tics he's had in the past have been less, how do I say this, obvious than this one?

My DD also has a breathing tic. She takes in a big breath and then strains, almost like she's real short of breath and can't get enough air. She's even said she can't get enough air. Of course in the beginning I thought something was wrong, so I took her to the pediatric pulmonary doctor, who diagnosed her with asthma, but my mother (asthma expert) and I aren't too sure about that one. Then we took her back to the neurologist, and he agreed it is a tic. That tic comes and goes. It does make me nervous, but then it goes away.

I personally would take your son to get that breathing checked out, JUST to be sure it's not something heart or lung related. I'm sure it's not, and maybe it's just me, but I didn't want to mess with breathing. It's better to be safe than sorry. HTH

 

[running-girl]

Hi all. Just joined this site today. I found this discussion by researching tics becasue my 6 year old daughter just started doing this thing with her neck and jaw where she extends it out and opens her eyes real wide. She has been doing it so much lately that her neck pops when she does it. She has never had anything like this and has always been "normal." I know that she is still "normal" but it pains me to see her do this. Do I take her to the doctor??