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We had breathing tics, for a long while. I don’t know if it helped her , though I am certain that it helped me a lot, I gradually increased her physical activity so she would be busy and concentrated, focused, which generally decreased her tics. Today, I am not 100% sure if eliminating the circumstances that trigger the tics really helps or not.

We had a brief peak end of summer. I now say brief but need to admit it felt like a year to me. She still has some active tics at the moment but these are very hard to see for people other than me and wife. As you pointed out frequency went down significantly and also intensity of the movements are a lot lower, most of the time. This might be because she is better at controlling it.

I have to agree with Madimi that tics, especially at early ages effect the parents far more than then the child. A long as it's not because of extra stress or anxiety, I don't very actively try to remove triggers anymore. ( I still sometime do selectively) i.e. My doughtier had a very certain tic when we were playing volleyball but I kept on practicing with her (she eventually got to a point she is better than me now) and that particular tic went away quickly. Btw, after a very steady decline we have seen an increase starting one week ago (we are at vacation , traveling new places ) not as bad as our 'worst' times, but still far worse than our average for the last two years. I hope that this temporary but I also know puberty may increase the symptoms. I really wish I could stop worrying.

I recommend keeping a daily log in Excel or similar format that quantify frequency, number of , intensity of tics. You can than create a chart and have better understanding of the trend. As tics wax and wane at a very low frequency and intensity/frequency of tics change very slowly over time it’s not really easy to understand the trend. My daughter turning 8 in 2 weeks and it’s been I think close to 5 years (as I think we had some tics way before, anyway) from the first peak. Right now, I can only see 1-2 tics every couple of days and if I hadn’t known, I’d just qualify them as some odd movement of an 8 year old. We did have a rotation of tics like you, where most will stay 1-2 months (multiple tics , same time) where some tics may rotate a bit quicker and some may stick bit longer. However last 1.5 years, this rotation become noticeably quicker (also intensity of tics got lower along with frequency, but we still had relative peaks now and than) and tics become less sticky. (We were never down to single day though. ) So I take this as a positive. I think in a year or so, you will see considerably decline. And, like you, I never got better handling this internally. Ask for help, when in need. People are happy to help.

"Tourette" is quite a dated diagnosis, and almost means nothing. And I don't think that coughing or throat clear is actually a vocal tic. Most people share the same feedback, best @ activity , worst @ in front of screen. Screen time is almost impossible to avoid, I suggest converting screen time from passive watching to creative activities like video filming editing etc. I know can't be done at all circumstances... If the tics are not very frequent, it's a positive sign. don't worry if new tics come in, we have it all the time. I think frequency and strength of the movement is what counts most. I am sure your son will gradually recover. It also looks like we have multiple instances of tics in the family too, so I am positive that genes definitely play a role.

They didn’t go away. Since my last post, I saw some tics, probably a smaller ‘peak’ is coming as it was quite for some while. But it’s way better then it was a year ago , and a year ago was better then two years ago. Overall it’s in a declining trend. The only trigger I was able to outline is ‘anxiety’ . She is not overly anxious but when she is anxious about something I think thicks are triggered. So that’s what I am focused on. I try to built self confidence as much as possible so that she can deal with anxiety. Help her gain skills and keep her busy with supports and control the level off ‘healty stress’ to increase her tolerance to anxiety gradually. That is my strategy. But I don’t know if it’s helping or not. At least it’s not hurting.

Hi, Never heard of Neuro feedback therapy so I can not comment on it. After a small peak few months ago, we are at the lowest levels since tics have started. Even I can not detect them any more, sometimes I feel like I saw one instance but that's all. Probably we will see wax and wane so I am not holding my hopes very high but so far so good.

I hear you. We had gone through the same, after 2 years of cool down, we had a peak 2-3 months ago. And now it went away almost 90%, we are not back to the lowest levels but close. In the mean while I noticed that, while she looks though as nail outside she is disrupted if I get angry with her for a reason and she thinks our relationship is hurt (internally). That’s my guess by the way, as a parent. Then her tics get elevated rapidly. I am now focused on controlling the way I get angry and emphasizing that even at my angriest moment she and wify is my number ones and it’s quite ok that we have these kind of moments now and then.

I’d recommend controlling anxiety if there is any and spending time with activities that require his/her focus (activities that don’t increase anxiety, ie he is not afraid of loosing the game etc) Tics are very personal and it’s not easy to estimate how long this tic will be around but my experience with ‘eye’ related tics are, they are among the ones that stay the shortest time. Usually they go away within 1-2 weeks (in our case) , but they usually did come back couple of times before they went away for a log time. But again this is my experience. PS: you may already know, but make sure that you really really ignore the tics. Don’t let the little one catch you looking for the tics.

I value your experience and since (unless allergic or renal issues present) mg is harmless, it can be tried. Given your positive experience I might also retry it in the event of peaks. (I read the hypothesis though wouldn’t consider it as a clinical trial, but still valuable material) I did not read the tic trigger book, so won’t be correct if I comment. My experience is, which is anectodal and should not neccessarly be same for anyone else, tics change so as some/most of the trigers. And for my case I figured out that unless it causes extra stress, repeated triggers can shorten the duration of the tics. ie, Swimming googles caused a lot of tics around the eyes and I tried avoiding them as much as possible. Only after I gave up avoiding them tics went away. Same for voleyball , she had specific tics that started immediately when we started playing volleyball, i kept on playing and they went a way in one week. Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts, I think we can learn from each other.

We can agree to disagree, however I think we are saying the same thing with different words. I don’t say anectodal experience is not useful, I think, without a controlled and peer reviewed research, trying to conclude from anectedol evidence can lead to significant problems. And if you are referring to the research paper from 2009, what I so far found, what people refer is not the results of the paper as the paper mainly describes the ‘plan’ for a trial, but a paragraph where author calculates the minumum number of patients required based on previous phase II clinical trail of 10 patients only (I couldn’t find any reference to that particular trial, but 10 patient is too little to conclude a result anyway) if you have anylinks you can share about this subject I can read them and change my mind and start using magnesium again.

Hi Chemar, by elasticity I mean ‘tics changing form’ rather then waxing and waning. While I value anecdotal evidence, I find it pretty dangerous as it will most of the time mislead. (Ie, thousands using magnesium pills) There is a reason modern science and medicine has built rules for proper research.

I am also suspecting that tics were elevated (or surfaced) as like you, we moved to a different country and she had to start school with no English at all. Couple of months ago tics increased relatively, but couple of weeks later all back to minumum levels, for now. I know she still has some tics, but pretty hard to detect for the untrained.

So far I’ve not read a research that correlates the elasticity of tics to other parameters. Having said above, I’ve evaluated increase in elasticity (Change of tics) positively. If the tics are not persistent and change usually the intensity is usually lower. Everybody experiences ups and downs in tic freq/intensity. it’s important to objectively document the severity in tics on a chart, so that you can take a look and see the long term trend, which is usually downwards. If there are comorbid issues, it’s quite important to address them. And finally CBIT seems to be quite effective for older children. Feeling exactly what you feeling deep in my heart, with all my heart I wish, hope that everything gets better for you.

Hi Madimi, I feel you, and I am sure all others on this thread are the same. We also had similar situations, a sudden rise in tics after a long quite period, details might be a bit different but more or less the same. I'd first check if there are other accompanying issues like OCD/ADHD etc, if this is the case It might be good to start addressing them, if this is not the case I'd worry less. It may not be the case for you but I usually find out that trigger for some sudden peaks could be related to anxiety. Children are complex and sensitive ones can get anxious of things we never think of. (i.e. my daughter got anxious when we booked some vacation at an island, thinking there could be some sharks around) Also when tics peak, I think they are more worried that these will be noticed and as you'd be watching them more, they would catch you watching them, further elevating the issue, resulting in a longer peak. In my case, what I (try) to do is, eliminating the anxiety and making sure she feels confident of herself. There are a few things I (try) to do in parallel 1. Ignore the tics as much as possible even if she tics right infront of my eyes. I don't turn my head, just pretend like I don't really care. If you feel he/she is too worried, tell it's ok and these will wane soon and close the topic. 2. Try figuring out if there is any hidden anxiety. Some tricky questions, observation etc... If I find something, I try to fix it softly. 3. Try building a new 'strength' or ability, to boost confidence. Like playing a sport extensively until she is far better than her peers. You don't have to follow my or somebody else's path. I am sure you will figure out a way. I don't know much about medications but I think each one comes with it's own side effects. I'd consider medication if BCT does not work and it's effecting life directly. The only exception is continuous tics like moving head rapidly from side to side etc.. may result in neural damage and should be intervened quickly. PS: It's been sometime I searched and read latest papers, always take a look at recent clinical researches on the topic. Keep us updated. I wish the best for you and your child.