Seattlegirl

Mrs. Rogers, Thank you for your reply. Here is a little update. Two days after my husband came home he was doing MUCH better! Unfortunately though, last friday we were leaving for a 5 day trip and as soon as we left, it started all over again. His vocal tics were so bad the whole time. It's a short, but loud yell. Sometimes he only does it once, but often two or three times in a row. When it's really, really bad, he does it a couple hundred times within less than 10 minutes. Interestingly, it doesn't bother him at all. And it doesn't affect his personality at all. He is still funny, talkative, and very good at school. But now it starts to interrupt the classroom and I feel so lost. I don't know what to do. I rarely use any chemicals at home. I've been using the same laundry detergent ever since he is born but no fabric softener. I also stopped using scented candles. I am almost positive it has to do with anxiety or him being excited about certain things. When he sits down and eats or does homework he doesn't do it as often as when he runs around outside or plays. So how do I go about that? I give him epson salt baths, use lavender oils, fish oil, probiotics and sometimes rescue remedy for kids. I also tried tic tamer. Nothing helps! Back when he had motor tics I could control it with that and the change of diet. But now I am completely lost!!! I tried to make an appointment with a psychiatrist but they either don't see a 8 year old because he is too young or they can't give me an appointment until April! We are moving to Germany in December and I am afraid what the next few months will be like. I am open to any new ideas. Thanks so much!!! Sandra

My 8 y/o started with his tics about 1.5 years ago. They started with him opening his mouth wide, then throat clearing, head jerking, then shoulder shrugging. It was, for the most time, manageable, especially after I found out what to leave out of his diet, which is gluten, dairy, food coloring. But lately he started these tics where he yells out LOUD. It's this short, but very loud sound. Sometimes he yells out a word he is saying. Now before, he didn't have tics very often, maybe just a few throughout the day, sometimes a little more frequent. Now he is yelling several times each minute. Also, my 2 year old starts to copy him with it. Needless to say my head hurts and I am trying to stay calm. Again, this just started about 2 weeks ago but keeping him on a certain diet as I used to doesn't help anymore. I should mention that my husband is deployed and will be back in a week. I can imagine that it's the anticipation of having his dad back again soon. But still, I need to find something to calm him down.. at least a little. I started giving him epsom salt baths with lavender almost every night.. nothing. Thankful for any ideas which might help!