madimi

Hi, I also understand how you feel, it can be such a lonely place seeing your child struggle with tics and desperately looking for answers. My son enters his fourth year with tics and the last 8 months his tics have been the lowest they ever been. Can i tell you why ? not really.....! I think every child is unique, for my son screen time has been his biggest trigger, there where days he wouldn't tic all day and as soon he sat down on his tablet they would come on. Times the tics where at their worst i also followed Mert advise and focused on more outside activities and family play. Next i realized tics are far from rare and many adults have mild tics much more than people with more complex Tourette, so that was my biggest hill to climb to stop convincing myself the worst would happen. My son tics have never been noticed at school, although i asked numerous times . which i still not understand cause at times he would tic every second of the day at home or even having more than 5 tics at the same time. I might have been a stress factor for my son, taking him from one therapy to the other, only made his tics worse. Letting him get away with more then his brother because of fear triggering tics. I let all that go now and treat him like no other kid with all the stress and pressure that comes with it. Kids sense more than we know so be very careful. Does your child also rotate through different tics? Don't lose hope, i also had moments where it felt like his tics where only getting worse instead of better. But now he is 10 and they did get better. Greetings, Lindsey

My son also had breathing tics, unfortunatley i don't have any advise to help with this tic. In our case my son has a tic for couple a weeks and than stops and turns into another tic and often 3/4 tics at the same time. Been looking for answers like any other parent over here, but had no luck so far. Stay strong i know how difficult it can be.

Hi Just wondering how everyone is doing? We are still coping with tics, lately my son has many different tics at the same time but frequency of them happening is lower. If that makes any sense? I still have not figured out what triggers them. Stress and exitement seems te make them worse. And when he is sick with a virus he tics much less wich is odd i think. Hope everyone is well. Lindsey

Hi Atex. My son is 9 and his tics are also slowly progressing every year, but after obsessing for many years for finding triggers and going from one doctor to another, I recently decided to take a step back and just enjoy life. Every kid with tics is unique with his own triggers. Personally for me i don't believe change of diet, gut health etc.. made any difference for my son. Cbit didn't help my son either, he even told his therapist; why i have to change my tics they dont bother me i just want to be free. This changed my view a lot my son isn't suffering from his tics only i was sadly. Do i see triggers yes, screentime is a big trigger for my son, but i still let him, why take away something he enjoys just because he tics more while doing so! I see in the mornings he almost doesn't tic and towards the evening they tend to get more. Exitment is also a trigger for my son we went to a Water park and he ticced more. But there are also many times he doesn't tic at all. Like on the beach i rarely see him tic, where we spend many days cause we are living on a island. Or while eating dinner my son doesn't tic or when playing with his pet hamsters. So what im trying to say we can help a little, but cannot control the tics entirely. And maybe in a few years they be gone or maybe not. But me being more relaxed helped my son for the better for sure. Greetings

Just wondering how everyone is doing My son has turned 9 and still tics. The evolution of tics have changed over time, before he used to be stuck in 1 or 2 for a few months and as of right now every day its different he can do a eye roll 1 day and the next day it can be entirely gone. So every day its a surprise😀 He is still not bothered by his tics and at school his teacher keeps looking at me like im making it all up. so its possible he supresses them at school or are they just not that obvious in a class with 20 kids At home i always dee some kind of tic so im really not overeacting. He is been doing 4 months of therapy and i noticed no difference. By now i thought i would handle things better but every time after a good waning period when the tics suddenly make their comeback i still feel as defeated as i did in the beginning . Hope everyone is well Greetings.

Hi Mert, Happy to know your daughter tics became milder. We are still going in waves and seem to be be rotating through older tics so i take it as a good thing he hasnt developped new tics.At the moment we see shoulder shrugging (but only when walking outside ) and a cough/throat clear quite frequent. Only thing seems to help my son are outside activities its where his tics seem to be at its lowest. And being on a ipad he has them the worst. My sister has five kids and 2 of them are also experiencing mild tics and my sister has been blinking here whole life a lot so i do think there is a genetic link in my family. Tourette diagnosis seems likely for my son.

Hi everyone, Wondering how everyone is DOING? A friend of mine suggested Neurofeedback she had good results for her son. Anyone here have experience with this? greetings

Hi Silver, Im glad to hear the tics are fairly mild. although i understand how hard it must be for you to go through this with both your daughters. We also have a appointment 27 July for a evaluation with a therapist. Most days i get so frustated with myself that i let the tics control my life especially at moments i catch myself only seeing his tics instead of the amazing boy he is, and it makes me feel like a bad mom. The good thing is he never says anyting about his tics and is very happy indeed, i also noticed many times he is not aware that he is ticcing. I wish you wish you all the best with your daughters.

Hi Mert thank you for your reply. At the moment i feel like we take 2 steps forward and than 3 back. From having very very mild tics for 3 years now suddenly a big rise and i think at the moment we have at least 6 tics active, eye tic a nose wiggle and playing with the air between his lips which creates a sound ( best way explain) and a ocassionally throat clear. I been trying very hard to keep anxiety down been going every day to the beach, at those times tics are almost absent. But as soon were home non top tics The eye roll started few weeks ago very frequent for 2 days and than subsided to mabye a couple times a day, till yesterday again very frequent. So on and all the last 6 months we have seen big increase in tics and many changed form. Im starting to lose hope a little bit especially since i had hopes with school over he would be more relaxed. Well this was me pouring my heart out once again.

Hi, Sadly my son has developed a eye rolling tic. Mabye anyone advice how to handle this because at the end of the day he complains about a headache! thanks a worried mom

I have seen the same things in my son a haircut triggers waving his forhead, playing football it triggers pulling up his football socks constantly etc....sometimes i think his brain is on repeat like everyday gestures we do stay on repeat. And i like to believe in the science that the brain is still inmature and will correct itself while getting older. In the meantime i stay alert for any other symtoms.

Thank you Mert. Yes hopefully my son will start therapy this summer. We do realise he is under stress with school he follows private Greek speech lesson and he mentiod there he finds day school hard. He is very smart but i only speak Dutch to him at home so sometimes he struggles with the grammar at day Greek school. However his private teacher told me she never observed any tics so i think sometimes in social setting he can control himself. He also goes to Dutch school in the afternoons sometimes i worry if its all to much for him. But than again he is happy and the tics dont bother him. Mert how is your daughter doing?

Hi everyone just wondering how you all doing? I feel like we been in a rollercoaster of emotions (and tics) the last few months. The tics trend have changed a lot the tics morph from the one to another quite quick and each staying for a short period of time. wherelse in the past we used to be stuck with one or two for a few months. I am not sure what this sudden change means? In the meantime he is not bothered by the tics and continues to be happy and its not getting in the way of his social life. I must admit i dont think the tics wil go away anytime soon, and trying very hard to accept it as a part of our lives.

No we dont have ADHD/OCD. I did ask Neurologist for testing ADHD (maybe i was missing signs) but she reasurred me if this was the case he would have clear symptons home and at school, wich is not the case at all.....! Thinking back i realise we did have some sensory tics (i like to call them) like he used to tell me if i could cut the label from his shirt because it was itching him, or would asked me couple times a day to rejust his socks, or didnt like to wear hoodies because it felt tight on his neck. But if i explained he had to wear it for example after a while he did, so i dont think it was that obbsesive like OCD meaning. He plays football which he loves, i did notice when the coach puts him in the goal he tics a lot, when i asked him if he likes to be goal keeper he said yes but he is afraid to let a ball pass....! so i told him its okay when that happens and to just enjoy the game. But he loves it so we have to find a way to cope with the stress that comes with playing competitive games. I hide my anxiety as much as i can but maybe time to time he senses it for sure....! Its just that that tics were here for a long time but always mild and he would go for hours without them on a daily basis and if i took him outside i never noticed them. So this is the big change for us now there here every second of the day with no pauses.

Alright just feeling down and wanting to poor my heart out. Last Februari (after a long period of time where tics were almost unoticable )my son started suddenly with a cough/throat clearing tic what lasted for a good 2 months with intense freqency. now the cough tic is low and a neck/shoulder tic emerged with very high freqency (every few sec)so for 3 months we are not seeing any decline in tics and i start to worry again very much. I mean for 4 years we seen on and of tics but never anything like this. I keep punishing my brain what happend? why got a sudden explosion of tics, what are we doing wrong? and what can we do? i called my neurologist again and she told me if i wanted to put him on medication! what seems very extreme to me, had anyone here ever considerd this?

interesting read; Understanding how tics are suppressed may help some at risk for tic disorders: Identifying kids who control their tics may help others at risk for Tourette syndrome -- ScienceDaily greetings

Mert as always i find your information very useful. Also means that a lot of information on the web is incorrect. Reminds me of our Neurologist saying to see it as Chronic tic since tourette naming for her is not useful, unless if there were other co-existing disorders like OCD/ADHD. But after reading the web i took her in doubt. My sons cough has morphed into a throat clearing with still very high frequency. Still doing everything i can to take his stress levels down. Its scary we never had such high frequency (5 sec)with a a tic, maybe his Covid infection had something to do with it or the anxiety that came with it. Only positive its the only tic at the moment as all the others have subsided. How is your daughter doing? Greetings

Hi, i've read your story and its quite overwhelming all the information on food and natural foods and treatments. My son is very difficult when it comes to food so that will be struggle for sure. I understood your son is doing well now with minor tics, so when you said full blown tourette by 10 what can i inmagine? and so its possible that with age all tics (tourette) disorders can improve or are you sure the treatments made it better?

Hi Chemar, How is your son? How long have you been dealing with tics. I havent been able to find out what really triggers the tics besides screen time and stress. We are on a mediterranean diet with a lot of foods fresh from the island so i think we eat quite healthy. Regarding Pandas my son did go through many throat infections and was treated with antibiotics every time.

Hi Silver, Thank you for your story. I think the fact you cannot predict this complex phenomenom as tics is what makes it hard to deal with, knowing any moment a new tic can come up or the not knowing what lies in the future. As a person who tends to think the worst.... is where my biggest problem is and where i plan to work on with a therapist. Im glad to hear your daughters tics are mild and i hope they stay that way. As you my son doesnt seem bothered by the tics and is always a happy face in our home. I'm considering CBIT therapy cause doing nothing isn't in my nature although my neurologist thinks as of now he doesnt need it. I forgot to mention i have a vivid memory out of my own childhood that my primary school teacher asked me why i kept rolling my eyes, as young as i was i remember it made me feel very bad about myself. Besides that i dont remember having any problems. That makes me wonder if there is in fact a TS gene or if i should take it as a possitive that it can be something that passes since i was a teeneager and now adult with no tics. I do believe putting attention or even talking about tics can be dangerous or tricking the brain. At the start of all this when there was tension in our house because we didnt understand yet what was going on, my older son started wiggling his nose. He told me jokely, "you been talking about my brother tics and know i want to do them too" (it did not last). Its a journey for sure and im learning every day.

Once again thank you very much for all the helpful tips, and i wish you and your daughter all the best and hopefully better days with less worry will come for us all!

Hello, honestly this thread has been a light in my dark moments for sure so thank you. I am Dutch but living on a small island In Greece, monday i will start to look if they offer CBIT therapy anywhere, i want to try everything that might help him. His motor tics didnt bother anyone but now im dreading him going to school on monday and having other pupils commenting on his cough! what did you do in these situations? i have not discussed this yet at school. Did your daughters cough tic maybe also started after a cold, i have a feeling this was a trigger! I think if im really being honest my biggest fear is that he wll one day start barking/swearing like you see on tv, im not proud and dont want to be offensive towards people with Tourette but its consuming me some days. So i think sometimes i act out because of my fears. Like sometimes im like "stop it"try to cough softer' I feel quilty afterwards because i know he cannot help it.Thats when i realized i need to find help for myself first, just like Mert said otherwise i cannot help him. I need to get out of this circle. I mean this little boy means the world to me and we all just want to see our kids happy and relaxed. Taking his screen time i find difficult, i dont want him to think he cannot play video games because he tics, and think he is getting punished for it while having a older brother who can! I cannot find a pattern to the tics, apart they werent constant wherelse the cough tic that is happing right now is. I think thats why i feel very negative this time around.

To be honest im not dealing very well this time with the situation. its the first time his tic is constant every 30 sec. I discussed with my husband to find help myself to deal with my own anxiety, the motor tics i could handle if i became overwhelmed i just looked away. with a cough its just impossible. did you also experienced times the tics wore constant? is it possible he feels my pain and puts him under more pressure? is stress really a factor? what can i try to calm him down? we are having storms the last days so going outside isnt a option at the moment. i feel a little bit lost today.

Ok thank you so much i will have a look at the study. I also been writing down his tics and frequency but i cannot find a pattern. Like when he watching tv he used to do a eye rolling thing but i NEVER seen it any other moment of the day. Wich i found very odd and makes me believe tv /tablet trigger something in the brain. Anyway the only thing we can do is try to stay calm and hope for the best. Thank you very much for your helpful information and keep this thread alive. Greetings

Its a 8 year old boy with a whole lot of energy but nowhere near problematic, he is doing well at school and his teacher tells me he is very well behaved and so far she hasn't brought up tics. So no obbsesive behaviour yet. I have seen a child neurologist and she told me same as you, as long he is happy and tics arent bothering him too much and she didnt see any comorbid disorders, is a wait and see aproach. But then this little voice in my head telling me this is going on for 3 years now and according to the web, more than a year both motor/vocal tics are diagnosed as Tourette. On top of all the now 2 week coughing tic wich has me in panic mode and doing my best to avoid if but its there all the time, wherelse in the past his motor tics only occured little bit spread through out the day but could be gone for some hours of the day! so is his disorder progressing or is it just a stressful time now that were all home (my older son and husband had Covid) in quaratine and will this also pass eventually! its such a complex thing to me tics and put my whole world up side down and wish i an had a glass ball to predict me the future. If i may ask what kind of tics has your daughter exprienced over the years? Here has been the typical eye blinking, shoulder shrugging, moving (invisible) hair out the face and moving mouth.