frank_kerly

Hi all, just a quick update... Christopher's shoulder shrugging has decreased significantly in frequency during the past few days (once or less every couple of hours from many times per hour). He's back to normal in other aspects too. If he stops improving or regresses, we'll follow up with a visit to a specialist. Thanks for asking.

Hi Lyn, he hadn't had anything unusual to eat that day or before. Only thing out of the ordinary was the party. Hi CP, today he received three shots - MMR, Varicella and Pneumococcal C. 9PM and no fever or irritability. The shoulder shrugs are still there. Have a good night all.

Thank you all for the replies. We had an early morning appointment with his ped, so didn't get to read them until afterwards. The doctor wasn't concerned about the tic at this time, but said to keep an eye on it to see if it worsens. (Figures, Christopher didn't tic once during the 35 minutes we were with the doctor). We're thinking that if the situation remains the same within the next couple of days, we will ask to see a neurologist. He only did a visual exam of his ears, throat and nose and said all was well. Would a neurologist order the more comprehensive tests if we asked? We already had concerns about the vaccination shots before reading your replies and expressed them to the doctor. He convinced us to go ahead with them. Now, after reading your replies, we're regretting that decision. The doctor's biggest concern was the fact that Christopher was under weight. He wants us to start him on PediaSure. We'll be watching him like a hawk tonight, video camera at hand.

Hi all, Three days ago we celebrated our son's first birthday. He had a lot of fun (even though the Elmo character we hired did scare him a bit at first). It was a long day for him and understandably he was tired and irritable by the end of it. Nevertheless, I remember thinking something was not quite right about him. He seemed a little quiet and subdued or withdrawn. At the time I just attributed it to the party with all the people and activity possibly being too overwhelming for him. That night we noticed the shoulder tic. This involved mostly the right shoulder, but also the left side. He would shrug the shoulder(s) repeatedly (but not necessarily in rhythm). He did this more frequently as he became more excited. I immediately did an internet search for involuntary shoulder shrugging and TS came up. I just can't accept this right now. I've been on the internet searching for alternate answers every day since for hours on end. Exhausted, at 4am this morning I came across this forum and decided to post something and give the searching a break. We have his 1 year check-up scheduled for tomorrow. I've made a list of things I want to tell and ask his ped. Among them are: - Shoulder shrugging. Frequent, mostly unilateral, kind of random but seem to increase in frequency during periods of excitement. - Three times (once while just falling asleep) he made a grunting sound along with the shrug. Actually one of those looked like he experienced pain as reached up and then pulled back his hand and touched his check while shrugging that shoulder and grunting. - Hands, arms, shoulders and torso seem to twitch slightly for a while shortly after he falls asleep - He's been more sleepy during the daytime than is usual. He is napping twice as long and still seems tired at times after waking. - He is eating less in the past 3 days - His demeanor today wasn't any different than in the past - As far as I remember, rubbing eyes and nose repeatedly when tired - Five days ago, he woke up (in sitting position), choked (on saliva?) and vomited, but otherwise seemed perfectly fine afterwards. - He had episodes of projectile vomiting 3 times in the past when he tasted new food he didn't like. He would taste, spit it out and then wrench until he started vomiting. Afterwards he would smile and seem relieved and normal. - He is teething (only 2 bottom and 1 top so far) - Is the shoulder shrugging something we should be concerned about? - Should we see a specialist? - Could this be TS? Are there any other things we should be observing before we see the ped tomorrow? Are there any other questions we should be asking? Thanks for any help. P.S. He just started walking today! He's taken a few steps in the past, but today he was walking all over the place. That event really cheered me up for a while.