Relation to severity with age of onset?

[Schnauzer]

Hi,

My 4 year old has started some eye ticcing again. He has started ticcing at 3 years old, but they last sometimes a month and then they go away for 3-4 months. I do have a genetic background, my brother had severe TS, he does't have the tics anymore, but he does have the OCD that accompanied it. I am concerned that my sons tics are starting at such a young age. My oldest son who is now 17 had tics at 9, lasted about a year and they went away, thankfully. I'm just concerned that it is starting so young with my little one. Does this mean that he is more likely to have a severe form of TS? I'm doing the epson salts every day, natural calm and going to start on a multi, just ordered the progressive one. Also, my sons tics always start when he gets a cold. I dread it when he catches a cold because I know it is the start of tics.

[ilovedogs]

I haven't read any studies that say that starting tics early will mean more severity as they age. I think it's highly individual for each child. We have no history of TS in our family, nor OCD(my father in law has anxiety issues but not OCD, as does my husband). Anyway, my son starting ticcing the day he turned 9 and he hasn't had a tic free day since. He's 12 now. We do epsom salts and magnesium supplements but I don't really see those things helping. He thinks the epsom baths help his muscles relax, though, as he is a very athletic kid and plays tennis and trains daily. As for getting a cold and ticcing; illness is definitely a trigger. For my son, it's a fever that gets him ticcing more not necessarily a cold itself. And, allergies seem to make him tic more so keeping histamine low is important to us to help control the tics. Lots of folks on here have found that sugar, dairy, corn, gluten, etc can exacerbate tics. And, we've all found that a healthy diet can also keep tics minimal. Cutting out artificial colors, preservatives, dyes, nitrates, and MSG are all helpful to the overall health of kids who have neurological issues. I am not stringent on these with my son, but we do limit artificial colors and preservatives most of the time. I also stay away from MSG and all of it's derivatives, it goes by a lot of other names like hydrolyzed yeast, blah, blah....I can't remember some of the others, LOL. Anyway, I think it's good to adopt a philosophy that you will take each day at a time, do the best you can to work with the tics and neurological issues daily, and pat yourself on the back for being a great mom for caring so much!

 

Bonnie