New here - hello, and question about seasonal allergies

[taraph]

Hi there - I'm new here, but have read many of your helpful posts since we began dealing with my son's tics a couple of years ago. As quick background, when he was 4.5, he did a sniffing thing that I didn't identify as a tic when school first started. That went away, though he did a throat clear-y/squeaky thing only when eating and drinking for a little while. They subsided. Then when school started again the following year, the sniff was back, along with a throat clearing thing - it seemed bad only really when he was talking, like he'd pause to sniff and throat clear as he was telling a story. Again, I didn't really identify them as tics and they passed within a couple of months.Then like clockwork when school started this past year we had the throat clearing/sniffing thing again. He had a cold this winter and started with the throat clearing thing again, and that lasted for about 3 weeks (and his teacher noticed it and contacted me). It went away until the week before Easter this year when he started with a throat clearing/squeak that has since morphed into a sniff with an elongated nose thing and now it's both. 

I started him on magnesium and DHA, and those things do seem to help and he goes through long periods of being tic-free. I had a kind of epiphany, though, and realized that when his allergies ramp up (he has pretty bad seasonal allergies), these behaviors/tics come back. In the past it seemed to be only in the fall but his spring allergies have been awful this year for the first time and this is the first time they've appeared in the spring. 

The tics/behaviors he has seem to be directly related to his allergy symptoms - sniffing, throat clearing, that "my nose is itchy so I'm going to twitch it" thing. It's almost like he starts doing them when he has allergy symptoms and even when the symptoms are alleviated, his brain hasn't gotten the message to stop with the motions of throat clearing, sniffing, and nose twitching. He hasn't (yet) had any tics that aren't related to his or that involve other parts of his body than his face/voice. The tics also absolutely tend to also show up during times of anxiety - the start of school, or right now he is just really feeling done with the school year and anxious to be done. I have tried a few different allergy meds (Claritin, Zyrtec, and Allegra) and they all seem to make him sleepy and don't necessarily alleviate these behaviors.

I've brought this up to his pediatrician, who is completely unconcerned - she said tic syndromes are common in young kids, especially boys, and encouraged researching supplementation but advised against any medication unless they were really interfering with his life. One of her sons has had tics on and off for years and they have abated since going through puberty. My guy is an anxious kid and a few kids at school have said things to him this spring about the throat clearing (asked him to stop, or said it was annoying). He has friends and is well-liked, but I do feel like his already fragile confidence is taking a bit of a hit and contributing to his school and social anxiety and I want to help him out in any way I can.

Sorry for the ramble. I guess I'm wondering: does anyone have tics that seem to be directly related to seasonal allergy symptoms, or does it sound possible that these are more compulsions than tics? I have read about digestive enzymes - has anyone had success with these? 

Thanks for reading!