Search the Community

Thank you so much to everyone who participates in these forums. I have already found so much comfort and support in reading your words over the past year when our son started having vocal tics out of the blue. I am sharing our story for the first time now because of some recent developments that are causing us great concern. I have tried to provide as much information as possible and apologize for the very long post. I am posting this in the PANDAS forum but am not sure if the Tourette forum fits our son's profile better. Mid-February (2015): Our just-turned-four year old son, “A,” started making a repetitive vocalization that sounded like a faint, high-pitched tone. Over the course of a week or so, it morphed into a very loud involuntary squeaking noise that, at it’s worst, could occur multiple times in a minute. We went to see our family doctor, who examined “A” and reassured us that childhood tics were a somewhat normal occurrence and that “A” would probably grow out of them. We went to see a pediatric neurologist who talked to us about transient tic disorders (and the long-term possibility of Tourette Syndrome) and sent us on our way. Over the past year since the first tic appeared, there have been several cycles of tics being more and then less prevalent. They always appeared to be vocal in nature and included sounds such as humming, coughing, sniffing, and exhaling loudly. Sometimes they were confined to a specific time of day, like at meals, or at bedtime when we were reading books. Other times they waxed and waned throughout the day with no predictable pattern. We did our best to not call attention to them and to try to reduce “A”s anxiety when they occurred. In October we introduced an air filter in his room and observed a (perhaps coincidental?) reduction in the frequency of his vocal tics. In fact, for a period of time from about Thanksgiving until mid-January, we did not observe any tics and began to wonder if perhaps he had “outgrown” the tics as his doctor had suggested could happen sometimes. Then, on January 20 (2016) he peed his pants at school during an engrossing activity. This had never happened before. Over the course of the next several days, “A” continued to pee in his pants, often several times a day. We took him to the doctor to test for a UTI, which came back negative. We have since deduced that the peeing happens when he involuntarily tightens his abdomen - perhaps a new motor tic. Around this same time, “A” started having trouble sleeping again. He asked for Mom or Dad to lie next to him as he was falling asleep, and on multiple occasions he has awoken in the middle of the night and asked for one of us to sleep in his bed with him. Once, when I (Mom) was lying next to him in bed as he was falling asleep, he mentioned that he saw “red Santa Clauses” and “red buses” all over his wall. He asked if I could see them, too, and then (possibly covering up) said that he was “only joking.” He has started avoiding certain foods again, saying that they “taste funny” or that they’re “too sweet.” This includes foods that he normally consumes with great pleasure, such as granola bars, juice, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and toast with honey. He started making funny twisting movements with his body, often having to stop in the middle of doing something to bend over and hold a counter or something for balance. He juts his hip out to the side or wiggles his torso. When reading books to him, he twists his head and torso to the side or sometimes puts his ear to his shoulder in a rapid fashion as if a fly flew into his ear. He fidgets his fingers as though he’s typing something. New vocal tics appeared, including a shouting tic (makes a brief shouting noise at random times throughout the day), and a change in volume mid-sentence. He also has been grimacing and putting his chin to his chest or tipping his head backwards, which can make his voice sound funny or distorted if he’s mid-sentence when it happens. He also talks occasionally in “baby talk” or gibberish, and sometimes loses his train of thought or appears to stutter slightly. His teachers have expressed concern that he is “losing his ability to speak” because they can only understand him part of the time. He received early intervention speech therapy from ages 2-4, but made such great progress that they stopped services around his 4th birthday (just before the first vocal tic appeared). His teachers recently asked if we should consider contacting the speech therapist for some “refresher” services, given the regressions they have observed in his speech. He has been very tired and has dark circles under his eyes. His teachers note that he seems very tired at school, too. He is sometimes listless at home and asks over and over again “what can I do?” When I give suggestions for activities that he usually likes to do, he rejects them. He has been choosing activities that seem odd or destructive, such as sharpening crayons or pencils over and over again until they are little nubbins, mushing things into crumbs (e.g., food), scribbling roughly on a piece of paper instead of making a careful drawing (which he usually likes to do), and racing a truck back and forth across the floor and occasionally bashing it into other toys. These types of activities are occasionally part of his normal play, but right now they seem to be the only things he wants to do. Perhaps most concerning of all are the changes in his mood. It feels like a different child has come and replaced our normally inquisitive, focused, and generally good-natured boy. He has had about 4-5 huge tantrums over the past several weeks that have usually resulted in Mom or Dad gently restraining him because he tries to hit or bite. He fights and claws until he wears himself out (sometimes lasting 30-45 minutes), and the tantrums often result in lots of crying. We try to talk to him about what’s going on, to reassure him that we want to help him, to ask him if his tics are hurting his body, to validate how he has a lot of “big feelings” right now and that’s okay. He doesn’t like to talk about any of this, but sometimes validating his feelings makes him cry harder. It’s hard to imagine how scared he must feel about all of these things happening to his body. We went back to the pediatric neurologist last week and he listened to our concerns and watched the video clips we had taken. He did a basic neurological exam (reflexes, balance, etc.) and then proceeded to talk with us about Tourette Syndrome and OCD. It wasn’t a particularly helpful or illuminating visit except for the reassurance that there doesn’t appear to be an underlying life-threatening cause for these developments. We mentioned the possibility of PANDAS with the neurologist and received some pushback. Nonetheless, he made a note to our family doctor to do a strep culture but didn’t think a blood test was necessary. The rapid strep test was yesterday and came back negative. If the longer-term results of the culture come back negative, our next plan is to get a blood test. We are also planning to test for Lyme. We have an appointment in March (earliest available) with a local naturopath who comes highly recommended by our local Lyme Disease support group (even if it’s not Lyme, we think she will be helpful for exploring other issues). Prior to this recent onset of tics, he had two bad colds, which we just assumed were your normal, run-of-the-mill winter colds with a runny nose, coughing, etc. so we didn’t go to the doctor and they seemingly cleared up on their own. One last possibly relevant detail - when he was three, A’s doctor has noted that A’s tonsils are larger than average and we saw an ear/nose/throat specialist at the time. The specialist said that a tonsillectomy might be something to consider in later years so maybe it’s time to revisit that conversation? Questions: How can we help our son? What are the next steps that we should take in trying to get to the bottom of what’s going on? And what types of low-invasive efforts we can try at home (e.g., epsom salt baths) to try to bring him some relief in the short-term? How do you help your young child feel reassured when something like this is happening? What language do you use to talk to him/her about what’s going on? Any other feedback or ideas are welcome. We are distressed and discouraged and looking for any help we can get. ***Thank you for taking the time to read this.***

I have a violent head tic, I jerk my head forward ( jutting my chin out) I do this approx every 3-4 seconds all day every day. I have had this tic for 27 years continuously. I am in extreme pain in both neck, head and upper shoulders, which are constantly tense. I am now experiencing a burning sensation under my skull ( as apposed to on skin) I am sure this is as a result of the tic. Does anyone else have this or a similar tic that has been ongoing long term Any advice would be great I am sure i am doing physical damage now !!!

My son is 19 years old. He was diagnosed with PDD-NOS at a young age and we're just looking for advice now. He is very intelligent academically, and is now attending college, but his uncle has a very similar diagnosis and he is 53 and still lives with his mother and we just don't want this for him. We really want to help him be independent. One of the biggest issues is that he really struggles to think outside of the context of himself. When he is upset, he claims himself as the victim. When there is a conversation, he turns it back to himself (ex: if we're talking about the British royal family, he'll ask if we think he's kingly). To him, it seems like everything exists in relation to him. He gets so upset when he sees his twin and older sister going to hang out with the people he considers friends and it just seems like it would be so much easier for him to have friends of his own if he could learn to empathize and relate to others better. I know social problems are directly related to his disorder, but is there a way to help him? He's taken classes on social skills and we try to remind him when it's relevant, but is there anything else we can do?