crazy

It appears that every year around this time my sons tics flare up for about 2 months. He has an eye roll, facial twitch, and a new one which is sort of a neck/ head turn. He is 16 and hates having tics. They are somewhat mild the rest of the year. I figured he would outgrow them but I guess I was wrong. The flare up are difficult because peers have no idea why he starts doing this out of nowhere. He has a mild mold allergy and mold count is really high at this time of the year. I believe it's a combination of allergy and starting the school year. How do most people deal with tics caused by environmental allergies? He does take Trokendi for the tics which makes a huge difference. He takes Zyrtec for allergies. What helps for other people? I want to try to help him with these next 2 months. I'm thinking I need to get him back to accupunture which seemed to help. Every time he has a flare up my anxiety elevates , I hurt for my son, it's been a tough year in general. Any input would be appreciated. Thank you!

Hi everyone, I have always been on this site to get help for my sons tics, at this point that is he has bigger troubles. My husband and I caught him smoking weed about 1 1/2 months ago. When we went through his phone it appears to have started in August. We freaked out! We took away all social privileges. We drop him off and pick him from school. We take him to practices. He has no life. We drug test him once a week and he has been clean. We just figured out he is still using drugs. He has drank my cough syrup, used Xanax and adder all and hydro that he has apparently gotten from kids at school. He says he has no desire to change. He is making our lives a living . Where do I go from here? I am a very private person and don't like involving lots of people.

Well I'm back again due to my sons eye rolls. They are really intense. I have no idea how he can see. He is not dairy or gluten free, I assume they aren't a trigger since he has gone months without tics while consuming those foods. He is a typical teenager and I have lost control of his diet, he just doesn't care. He is starting to lie a lot and is having some anger issues. He has plenty of stress but that is hard to remove. He hates his father (my husband), they are not very nice to each other. After 20 years of marriage I may need to leave him, he is an awful father. That's an entirely different story! I really need advice on supplements that can help detox the junk food out of his diet, he won't take magnesium baths anymore. I also could use advice on supplements that have helped with eye rolls. Please help, this is tearing me up. 😰

He had an eye exam in July and his prescription stayed the same. He does wear contacts. What is a good dose for magnesium? He takes 220 mg. of Magnasorb, higher doses in the past gave him loose bowel movements. I do feel we had general success with accupunture. He went once a week for several weeks. I began to notice a difference somewhat early in the process. He was embarrassed to go and told no one. The clinic does not have very late hours so he is not willing to leave football practice early to go. The one thing I noticed is he flared up with tics within hours of the appointment and was better by morning. Once he had improvement we spread out the appointments. He stopped going in the spring when baseball started and was fine. At the first appointment she did ask a lot of questions to help determine the points for the needles. Every time after that she did a quick rundown on what issues he may be having.

Ibee, That's really impressive that you were able to figure it out. I've never found a specific trigger other than caffeine, stress, and lack of sleep. I have read in the past that NAC, l-carnatine, and GABA can help with eye roll tics. I have no idea which to start with and dosages. My son I think would get adult dosages because he is 15 and 160 lbs. He went to acupuncture last year, overall he had success. He is not willing to go at this time due to football practice after school. He is very competitive! I'm a worried mom as usual. He starts school tomorrow with a strong eye roll tic and a slight lisp due to getting his braces off and needing to wear a retainer for 2 weeks both day and night. Not a great combo for a tough guy like him. I have wondered if getting the braces off made him tic.... I would think the opposite. Anymore input on possible supplements would be great.

It's been awhile since I have been on here regarding my 15 year old son. His main tic is eye blinking. I figured that he would begin to outgrow this by now but hasn't. He does take Trokendi along with Magnesium, B6 p-5-p. For the most part they are very mild and tolerable. Since puberty he does have tics everyday compared to before puberty. He has started a new tic, it sort of an eye roll. He looks up to the side or down to the side a lot! Not a good one to start the school year! Teachers are going to think that he is rolling his eyes at them. I remember reading in the past something that was helpful with eye rolls, I believe an amino acid. I can't find the information on here. Any information would be appreciated.

My son goes once a week for accupunture. I noticed improvement with the frequency and intensity of the tics during the 2nd week. He goes after school and within an hour the tics flare up and by morning they are calm. He thought I was crazy at first taking him for treatment but now agrees that it helps and does not mind going. When I tried to stretch out the appointments to 1 1/2 weeks I noticed them getting worse again so he is sticking to once a week for now.

My son (14) has went for 9 weeks now. He has seen an improvement in the frequency and intensity of his facial tics. A few days ago the tics got worse, I'm trying to figure out why. He says the accupuncture is relaxing and often falls asleep. Immediately after treatment the tics are always worse until the next morning. The clinician says that is very normal. We are going to continue with treatment for awhile more to see what the future results are.

Hi everyone, My son has had 9 sessions of acupuncture and for the most part I noticed a difference in the frequency and the intensity of his tics up until 3 days ago. I am still looking for answers. I don't think gluten free or dairy free is the answer because he has went up to 9 months with virtually no tics and had dairy and gluten. He is 14 and his diet is no longer terrible impressive. I'm trying to find a good multivitamin that does not cost to much. Suggestions would be appreciated. Also, years ago on this forum many members were having success with amino acids. Any suggestions on types to use and dosage? He mainly has facial tics which are brutal for a high school boy who would like to date"hot chicks"! 😳. Thank you for your input.

My son has been receiving acupuncture once a week for the past 4 weeks. I am pleasantly surprised with the improvement. The tics are still present but with a lot less intensity. We will continue to go and I hope to continue to see positive results.

Tom, Thank you for your kind words and helpful advice. I need positives in my life. I think I personally have become obsessed with helping my son. The worry that I have just weighs heavy on me. My son is an incredible athlete who thrives in competitive situations. This also makes him tic more. He is also an honors student. I am very proud of his accomplishments. He has said that he hates the tics but they don't affect his life. He feels that people don't notice or at least they don't say anything to him. He is quite good with snarky comebacks if people say things to him and he generally brushes it off. I should probably back offa little but when things get tough for him I want to have answers that can help him. He does struggle with anxiety and gets stressed easily, that is why I am looking into acupuncture. I am hoping it will have a calming effect which could help with tics.

My son has had a increase in facial tics this year, I feel puberty may be the culprit. He has been on Topamax for 5 years and has had a lot of success up until this year. I know most on this board don't use meds but it truly has been a positive medication for him. He has a decent diet overall and can't really figure out triggers other than lack of sleep and maybe caffeine. I haven't tried the gluten free, dairy free diet because I don't think he could have went 9 months at a time tic free if those were triggers. We have added Intuniv and he has been on for 1 1/2 weeks and I think there is an increase in tics. I know it takes several weeks to see improvement if there is going to be improvement. Has anyone had good or bad experiences with Intuniv? I also wonder if it's coincidence because this is also the time of year that he has a flare up. Also, I have read accupuncture can help but how do I find one that knows about tics? Any help would be appreciated, he starts high school in the fall and fear bullies with all the facial twitching that he has.

I often read about taking epson salt baths to help with tic reduction. Over the years I have had my son take the baths to attempt to help with is facial tics. I have not seen any benefit. What have other people experienced? Also, if my child has been exposed to a drink trigger (mt. Dew) how long does it take to see a reduction in tics? After drinking it he woke up the next day with a strong winking tic that has now been there for 2 weeks.

My son has had his braces on for almost 6 weeks now. He had a new tic the day he got the braces on but it was gone by the next day. After a few days his winking tic disappeared, he has had this mildly for many months. I was happily surprised, I was thinking maybe this is going to help with the tics. Well about 4 days ago the tic came back with a vengeance. He has a very hard wink that moves that also moves his mouth. He also looks like he is chewing gum but he is not. It is non stop. He drank Mountain Dew early in the week, much to my disapproval, the next day he had the tics. I have no idea if it is related, caffeine has never affected him before but we limit it either way because it not good for him in general. He eats a decent diet, takes magnesium, B6 P-5-P, multi, l-carnatine (during flare ups) and Zyrtec. He also is on Topamax. He has been on it for 5 years with good success. I think puberty is a cause of the regular winking tic. I also feel he may need to increase his dosage due to his weight, he has increased his dose yearly because of growth. When he began the medication he was a 60lb little boy, now he is a 140 lb man at 13. I think he handles the tics well, at that age I think I would be a mess, crying all the time and hiding from people. He hates having them but does not hide from them. He is very successful in school and in sports. Any advice, tips or encourages words are always helpful for this stressed out mom.

My son got braces put on yesterday due to spacing issues. He was very self conscious of his gaps in his teeth. I noticed when he got home from school yesterday that he has developed a new tic. It sort of is a lip pucker. His normal tic is an eye wink. He is doing the typical facial thing that everyone does when first getting braces (the office informed me). I was worried deep down before we put on the braces. I have never truly found triggers for my son other than lack of sleep makes things worse. I have a horrible feeling because I am worried. I hope it stays mild and goes away. I know getting braces is a huge adjustment mentally and physically. He needs to wear them for about 16 months. He does take Topamax and had great success till puberty hit, then the tics started to overpower the meds. They are not severe but I still worry because it is such an awkward age and kids can be mean.