Tics

Have him tested for Touettes Syndrome. It's a disorder that involves various tics. There are many different levels from minor to severe.

As a child, I had tics. I would make a noise in the back of my throat, shrug my shoulders or twitch. These started around six years of age. My parents took me to a doctor and I came back with a clean bill of health. They were not permanent and would come and go. To this day I still have them and basically they are just nervous tics. I notice I will twitch a lot more when I'm anxious or worried. So maybe he is just experiencing some anxiety and that is an outlet.

H.,

My son was also six and started with throat clearing, and then to the quick eye blinking. It lasted for us only a few months and he seemed to stop. I to took him to the Dr. and she said that if things got worse that he could be tested for Terrets but she felt that it was just a tic her would grow out of. I did not change his diet but it seemed that sometimes when he was more busy that he didnt do it as much.
I noticed that he did it more when watching TV, in the car or on the computer. When he was outside playing with other kids etc it was not as frequent. I bothered me just like you but the more I made of it the worse it got. He will probably grow out of it hopefully sooner than later.

Hi H.,
my son now almost 15 had a lot of tics and it drove me insane ,too.
They did dissapear,I don't remember when.The doctor said,best not to give any attention to it.
My other son 4,has started having tics and it's just so
heartbraking to watch.You want to stop them,but you can't.
I said,I hope he doesn't get Tourette syndrom,my other son has Asperger's,so you never know.
We had seen a Therapist who was spechialized in Light therapy,
that helped a lot.
He will not have it forever,but I no how annoying it is.
Hang in there!!!

Dear H.,
I'd be worried if that happened to my son as well. My sons are adults now, and I still try to help if they have problems. Perhaps you might try this. I have been a distributor for a nutrition products company, Reliv International, for more than 3 years. I no longer sell but use the products every day. Somehow, and I don't know how, optimum nutrition seems to balance out the body and could be something that could help your son. They do have children's products. The negative part is that this is a multi level marketing company which didn't work for me but could be fine for you or anyone else, and if you can get past the hipe, I think you would find any number of people who have had children with problems that have been aided by the products. This is no medical cure and no one would say that, but do check it out at
reliv.com
or let me know off list at
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if you would like to talk with someone. Best to you and your family. It's no fun being different. I have been blind all my life, and being the only one of something isn't fun so if anything will help your son or if I can help, I wish you well.
S.

HI H.. I can so relate- my son now 7 soon to be 8. He was diagnosed with or likely to have tourettes- TSA. Looking back I think he has had this as newborn. Tics got worse as he gets older and we have had every test done and finally had him evaluated by neuro-psych and they were the ones to tell us about Tourettes. He sees a neurologist and we put him on clonidine over the summer to help. school is a challenge so he is now off of Clonidine and doing great with ORAP. Tourettes is a diagnose but there are many symptons- OCD, ADD, etc.... I take my son to a great psychologist- Dr. Bolnick she has helped my son and our family cope because these tics are very irritating. My son will soon be changing schools because the catholic school just cant accomadate him like the public school can. SO my advice is to tell your ped and see if you can start at least a neurologist- good luck and God Bless!

A friend's son has similar symptoms and he was diagnosed with Tourette's. I honestly hadn't noticed the tics, etc. until she raised the issue, but once I knew to watch, they were definitely noticeable. I can see how it could be distracting living with it, but I suspect it may not be as noticeable to others. Here's a link if you care to explore more
http://www.tourettes-disorder.com/symptoms/tics.html

Good luck!

Hi H. I had to respond as soon as I seen this. My son who is 6 had this last year. For almost 2 years he kept like what sounds like clearing his throat really loud. I had no idea what was going on. After a month i took him to the Dr and he said it was a Tic and he said it was a "nervous" habit. Well this nervous habit was driving me crazy and I was worried it was going to make his throat raw on top of it. Well finally this summer he just stopped. I mean he would keep me up all night doing this. He would do this in the middle of his sleep.He should start growing out of this. Good Luck to you

My son has some very serious food allergies (including peanuts) and I have never heard tics being associated with allergies of any kind.

I know you're looking for an alternative treatment, but I would first start with your pediatrician to rule out it being something neurological, like Terrets.

I have a friend who's son is dealing with this. He is now in 7th grade and the tics are still an issue. She was told by her doctor that there is a recognized tic syndrome in young boys and that she should ignore it. This strategy has not been entirely successful and as you can imagine the social repercussions of this problem increase with age. So I suggest you become proactive now and research this area of medicine. My experience with doctors is that they tend to have a very casual attitude about medical problems that have no easy fix.

Don't give up and good luck.

My oldest son had tics and I would take him to the doctor and we could never find a reason for them. The doctor told me that he would eventually grow out of them and he did, he is in college now. He grew out of them by about 6th grade. They were little things like blinking his eyes over and over, or stretching his neck different ways, or clearing his throat a lot. He was one of the popular kids at school and nobody ever made fun of him for it....maybe the other kids just don't pay attention to it? Our doctor said to ignore it and don't make him self concious about the tics...it could make them worse if I drew too much attention to them. You don't want him to think something is wrong. Good luck, I think he'll be fine. I have 4 kids too, none of my other kids ever had tics.

It very well may be Tourette Syndrome. My husband and I both have had TS since we were 5 years old, and our son has been showing some signs of it as well. First off, get him tested. TS is very common, but most people think that everyone with TS barks and shouts obscenities, b/c this is what is sensationalized. Most people with TS function just like anybody else and never need meds. I never did; my husband's tics were much more severe and required medication for 10 years. He has been off meds for 10 years now, and we both manage them just fine. Stress, sickness, and drawing attention to the tics make them much worse. Also, we go through a cycle of tics like you're son is showing. One usually gets replaced with another. Living with TS is sometimes difficult, but it is entirely manageable. The two very best things you can do for your son if he is diagnosed is find a good support group and read everything you can about what sets off the tics. If you would like any more info, please feel free to pm me. This is something I have dealt with for 25 years.

H.,

I have no advise but wanted to say thank you for asking this. It has answered alot of questions I have regarding my 10yr old. He started last year doing this low throaty growl almost like he was trying to clear his throat and humming at the same time. I noticed that over the summer it went away and then he picked it up again the last few weeks. I keep telling him to stop and he says he can't. I now know to just ignore it and watch for other tics. I never even thought it was tics. Thanks to all the mamas for the info, it helped me too!

My friends son started the humming thing when he was around 7 or so. She ended up getting him checked out by a neurologist and they did and EEG to make sure he wasn't having seizures. Turns out everything was normal. He continues to hum (he's 13 now). I think it's just a soothing mechanism. It drove her crazy too! I would run the neurologist thing by your pediatrician.

My experience: On my son, we did a blood draw to test IgG reactivity to foods (due to severe gut issues and autism). He had high level IgG reactivity to milk, egg, peanut, oat, coconut, pineapple and lower reactivity to yogurt, cheese, wheat, barley, malt. We removed all these and he is also gluten-free, casein-free. I also try to avoid colors and preservatives. Even if a child does not react to gluten on a skin prick or IgG Elisa food allergy test, if they don't make enough enzymes to break it down and have intestinal issues (leaky gut), the intermediate break-down product of gluten and of casein can get through a leaky gut and these intermediates acts like opiates in the brain. Don't know anything about tics--just giving you my perspective since you talk about gluten and food allergies. Traditional food allergy tests are skin prick to detect IgE-mediated sensitivity; this type of test would miss IgG mediated sensitivity that causes digestion/absorption issues in the gut. If your son has no ADHD or OCD tendencies and has normal digestion/bowel, normal immune function, and his only thing is Tics, then I would probably just try to reduce colors, preservatives, and refined sugar as much as possible and wait for him to outgrow. Because of the peanut allergies, though, it wouldn't hurt to check out the book by Dr Bock, the 4-A's: Autism, Allergies, Asthma, and ADHD (or something like that). He has advice on nutrition, etc to address these epidimic diseases. It been a while since I read and my son doesn't have tics, but I'm sure these are covered as tics are often co-morbid with the 4A's.
HTH
B.

I have a long response for you but I hope you will read it through. My now 8 year old developed tics when he was 5. They are random (to me) and come and go, but are mostly present. He also has sensory issues and mild ADHD and I was concerned that perhaps this was Tourette's emerging (most Tourette's kids have ADHD, but not all ADHD kids have Tourette's. Tourette's typically presents itself AFTER ADHD). If your child has no other behavioral symptoms, I wouldn't jump to the conclusion he has Tourette's.

My son's tics usually only happen one at a time, but they include jaw thrusting, eye pulling, eye blinking, head twitching and his latest is a small, short, somewhat quiet little cough that come two at a time in clusters all day long. After tracking his tics and consulting with our pediatrician and psychologist, a pediatric neurologist examined him and determined that he is simply going through a tic stage. He said most kids, especially boys, exhibit tics. Some are more noticeable than others. They begin to taper as kids mature. He said don't draw any attention to it or try to suppress them. I noticed that his tics went away this summer when he was active in camp but after a week of school they came back. So I try to make sure my son decompresses as much as possible. I believe his tics are sensory related and a way for him to cope with stress - good and bad. I'm sharing a lot so that you can find comfort in knowing that talking with your doctor is a very good idea and that you should also listen to your instincts if you're not hearing exactly what you expected to hear. Doctors are trained and have great experience, but only you really know your kid. Combined, you'll find the right answer. Good luck!

There is a website www.emofree.com that deals with all types of emotional and health issues. There is a free manual, a video, and also archives that have all types of issues that this technique has addressed and helped. It's like acupuncture or accupressure and it's something you can do to your child because he is to young to do it for himself. The archives have testimonies of parents doing this procedure to their child.

Look into it - it helps in many areas of our lives.

I've used it in weight control and my daughter has used it in craving cigarettes.

Good luck and God bless.

Hi, H..

I would check with your pediatrician about this and also with an amazing pediatric neurologist named Dr. Alan Rosenblatt. I know that he will be able to help you with this. His number is ###-###-####.

Feel free to email me off-list with any questions.

Good luck and don't worry!

-L.

Sounds like classic Tourretts syndrome. I am not sure of the spelling or the treatment, but you need to google it and get to the proper kind of doctor for that.

N.

H.,

I'm sorry to hear that you're son is experiencing this. I'm sure it's heartbreaking to watch. But, there may be something very simple that *could* work. Check out the Feingold website (http://feingold.org). Some people are "sensitive" (not classic allergies) to the chemical additives in our foods, drinks, and even meds (also toothpastes, etc.). Eliminating these 100% from the diet has helped some people with tics. It has to be worth a shot.

I signed up for the Feingold program a few months back to see if it would help my daughter with her mood disorder and it did! The elimination diet does for her what the meds couldn't. I have my little girl back and I'm positive I owe it to the Feingold program. I've become very passionate about it (anyone that sees my posts on here I'm sure is tired of me mentioning it). It's not a cure all, but it does work for many different things and people (adults included).

Feel free to PM me with any questions. Good luck.

Jen

H.,
If I were you I would take my son to see a Pediatric Neurologist. Tics are something you want to get checked out especially since it has gone on for a while and the nature of the tics is changing. There are neurological conditions that involve tics so he should be checked. Also I taught first grade and the kids may not be making fun of him now but that is around the corner. It is a very difficult behavior for a child to handle socially. I cannot give medical advice but urge you to have him checked out. There are medications to control tics depending on the diagnosis. Good luck and I hope all is well. A.

Hi H.- I would highly suggest a pediatric neurologist before you assume that it is type of disorder. My youngest daughter had seizures when she was 6 months (now 3) and although they were not able to tell me what was going on, the neurologist told me that he did not believe it was seizures based on the concrete tests that were done. At least you would have a little more information and ideas of what is causing this or what it is or is not. (Even though my daughter had shaking and eye rolling, I learned that seizures could be a little as staring. I believe she had febrile seizures and the 3 hospitals when went to, not one of them checked her ears.) Good Luck!

Has he been tested for anything else like Terrets?

Kids are mean so you can count on the fact that some will make fun of your son. Get to the bottom of the tics now. The new show The Doctors had a show 2 weeks ago about tics and it ended up being the onset of a serious problem (i think M.S. but don't really remember). Please go further with the testing for his sake. I don't want to alarm you, I just wanted to let you know.

My cousin had this same problem. It was mostly an "eye blinking" tic...but, he grew out of it. He was never made fun of for it. Some people won't even notice.

Is he on any meds...sometimes these tics are caused by a reaction to certain medications. That is what happened to my cousin, but he had no choice but to continue taking his.

If the docs aren't too concerned and it isn't too bothersome to your son...try to ignore it and see if it subsides over time.

Good luck!

Let me preface by saying I'm no expert in the medical field. I'm just a teacher. I'm wondering though, what you mean by the hand shaking. Like the kind you do after you wash your hands and are trying to shake them dry? If so, the symptoms you're describing sound a lot like the mannerisms of children with autism. Even kids with Asperger's Syndrome do the hand shaking. All those can be attributed to soothing mechanisms for the child. I hate to put more concern in your brain, I really hope it's not autism, but it seemed like no-one mentioned it in the previous posts. Good luck with your research.

I also was pretty worried when my then 6 year old son started exhibiting tics. We followed our pediatrician's advice to not make a big deal of them, and found that he did grow out of them and was never teased. I think we noticed them more than anyone else because we were so tuned into him, as our first born. They did seem to intensify during periods of stress, or when he was tired/sick/etc. They would change every few weeks, and the worst was the one where he would reach back to touch things....got his finger stuck in a car door once, ouch! Anyway, he's 17 now, and I can't even remember the last time I noticed a tic, very long ago. I would seek professional help only if the tics seem to be interfering in his life.

I definitely agree with the others who you say you should have this looked into. My sister started having tics when she was young (older than your son, though). It scared her, as she had no control over it. Then she had a small seizure which was related to her tics. She hasn't had any problems as a teenager or adult. So, the tics could maybe go away on their own, but with other possibilities, definitely get your son to a doctor and perhaps even get more than one opinion.