My Poor Little Boy

[fitforit]

Hi, just a little story before my other story.

 

I have had some tics all my life, the earliest I remember was when I was 6 years old and I remember the feeling I had was that "my skin was out of place". I remember standing in school assembly fidgeting with hip and shoulder tics. After assembly and going back to the classroom, I remember my teacher looking around the class like she wanted to choose someone for a classroom duty like she did, so enthusiastically I put my hand up first. She then asked me and 2 or 3 other children to stand up. Then I was the first person she spoke to. She did an imitation of my tics in front of the whole class and and then said, "Why are you doing this?" I started to cry and just mumbled, "My skin is out of place." She then told me to sit down and nothing was ever said again to me by that teacher.

 

My parents have never said anything to me about my tics, but they must of surely noticed. I haven't noticed anyone else in my family with tics. I manage to supress most of my tics, though I have been "caught" doing them sometimes and have been asked by some people why I move my "Whatever Body Part" like that. The tics move around my body but mostly in my shoulders and neck now and they do get very sore sometimes. These have been persistant for nearly 5 years now. It mostly feels like tight shoulder muscles and I need to relieve the tension. I know that being stressed and not having enough sleep increases the frequency of my tics. But I have had a stressful time with a divorce and fighting to keep my son, which I do have custody of and I just cannot sleep until around 2pm every night but still need to get up at 7:30 every morning. Not being able to sleep is also something that I can remember from being around 5 or 6 years old.

 

I am 40 years old now, and my son is 5 and a half.

 

And my son has started having tics.

 

First it was the eye blinking which lasted about 2 months. I cried when he said "Daddy, my eyes are broken"

That stopped.

 

He had a short bout of constantly blowing rasperries, that went away.

 

His eye blinking came back for a short time, only for a couple of weeks.

 

Then he started snorting like a pig. Lots of people noticed it. He told me that he was "crazy". That lasted maybe six weeks.

 

Now he has started sharply rolling his eyes up and to the side. It happens both sides, I haven't noticed if to one side more. It started shortly after I bought him a TV Video game. But also he has really started reading a lot of books and "trying to read the words" not just looking at pictures. Actually for his age I feel he is quite advanced in his reading. And he has also started using my computer a lot to download computer games to play. He also goes to bed quite late and over the past few weeks it has been past midnight as he refuses to sleep. Kind of like what I remember about myself at that age. Anyway we are giving the computer and video games a rest and I have stopped him reading in his bedroom after I put him to bed as it isn't bright enough to read. I know my stress can affect him though I try to be as calm as possible in front of him. And I have tried to keep him from getting angry as he does tend to get angry easily.

 

Anyway he has now told me "My eyes are wrong. I can't stop turning them. My eyes are crazy".

 

What do you say to a little boy about this? I feel so helpless.

 

He is a very smart boy actually. He is bi-lingual, he can speak English and Mandarin Chinese and he is a little athlete as well. he has always been strong, has roller bladed since he was 2 y/o, no training wheels on his bike since 3y/o and he is also right into TaeKwonDo right now too, he has been practicing for more than a year. He loves art and he loves going to Kindergarten. He can be a little naughty at times, but I don't think he is that bad. I am also a Kindergarten teacher and I have seen "naughty kids".

 

What can I do?

 

Should I take him to a doctor to comfirm he has tics or that it could be something else. I am sure he doesn't have any allergies as there hasn't been any change in his diet to start or stop his tics.

 

My poor little boy. I love him so much and it hurts me so much to think he is going to go through what I went through and what I still do go through.

 

Thanks anyone for listening.

 

Fitforit Daddy

[Chemar]

Dear Fitforit Daddy

 

welcome to Latitudes

 

I do feel for you as you go through this with your son, but I hope that by reading here and on the main Latitudes website at http://www.latitudes.org you may find lots of hope and the realisation that there may be ways to help your son not have to go through things with the misunderstanding that you suffered

 

I would also recommend the TSA website for some excellent info on how to ensure that your son is not treated at school in the way that you were! In case you didnt hear yet, TS is now legally classified "other health impaired" under the Disabilities Act and so schools are now bound by law to make accomodations and allowances for people with TS

 

http://www.tsa-usa.org

 

I am working at present and so cant post too long but I really want to encourage you

My husband came to understand his own childhood tics and OCD etc, for which he was punished once our son was dx with TS

We have been able to really advocate for and help our son because of my husband's determination that he would not suffer like his daddy did, and also because of the proactive way that we have sought to help him wherever we can. You have started that today by posting here. Your son is blessed to have you as his dad.

 

look! can you see that ray of light at the end of the tunnel!!

 

back later

 

(((Fitforit Daddy)))

[Guest]

Welcome Fitforit Daddy,

 

Nice to have you here. I'd suggest trying to find a doctor from the Finding Medical Help topic on this fourm which I'm also linking here: http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=565

 

Also I wouldn't rule out allergies. Three years ago I traveled to have allergy testing done. I originally wanted vitamin levels tested, but my doctor said we also do allergy testing. I didn't think I'd have any, but I decided I'd have them test me to be sure. So they tested me for allergies and I'm allergic to almonds, bananas, dairy, chicken, chocolate, cinnamon, citrus, coconut, corn, eggs, garlic, green beans, olives, peas, white potatos, soy, cane sugar, tomatos, wheat, and bakers yeast along with several dust/molds and pollens. I never in the world thought I'd be this allergic/sensitive. I'm really glad I know though because it does make a huge difference in tics.

 

Carolyn

[quan_daniel]

fitforit,

I definitely can see your son doing better with the frequency of his tics

by reading some of these articles on allergy, food diet, vitamin and other supplements.

Most importantly trying to find a good alternative practitioner is key.

 

We were not able to find one where we live, but nevertheless the advices in this forum have helped improved our son's life tremendously.

 

It gave us(family) back a sense of normalcy.

 

One of the key ingredient combatting his tics were magneisum ,zinc,and enzyme.

 

He probably will always have a little flare up here and there or who knows he will outgrow it.

 

Your posting sounded very similar to my posts dated 2004 and since then it

seems like a long time ago, so hang in there.

 

daniel

[fitforit]

I told a close friend last night about my little boy. This is the first time I have told someone in close to me about this. I only did so as she noticed his eye rolling tic and asked him why he was doing that and told him to stop.

 

She really had no idea of such a thing as "Tics". Only if we were all that lucky.

 

I emailed her an article I found on a website with a general overview of TS and Transient Tics. I checked my email tonight and this was part of her reply:

 

"I think like you said we shouldn't force him to correct it but we should still try to let him know or somehow try to remind him it's not right to act like this.... Otherwise, I am afriad he may think it's nothing wrong with it and keep doing it for a long long time and maybe hard to correct him later..."

 

Poor Little Boy. He is the one who told me, "Daddy, my eyes are wrong."

 

I told him last night that I know his eyes don't feel comfortable now and that it sometimes happens to Daddy too. It should go away soon.

 

Actually tonight I did notice that is ws much less frequent and severe.

 

I also printed some articles out and gave them to his Kindergarten teachers today, so maybe there hasn't been so much attention drawn to it today.

 

By the way, I am an Australian living in Taiwan, so this is really difficult for me as it really seems people are either ignorant or don't like talking about it hear. I am also a Kindergarten teacher and I have seen a fair few kids with Tics. Right now I have one girl in my class who constantly blinks and there is another Daddy of one of my children who also constantly blinks, sometimes so hard his head tilts forward, and I have taught other kids before with mostly eye blinking or eye rolling.

 

Is there anyone from Taiwan out there or does anyne know of a support Group here in Taiwan. It is hard to find information and I don't know where to find an article in Chinese so to make the Chinese teachers and my Taiwanese friends more aware of this.

 

Fitforit Daddy

[kim]

fitforit,

 

I'm wondering if you could comment, or ask your son, if his eyes feel dry?

 

My almost 10 yr. old is doing an exaggerated eye blink, interestingly on the right side only, and some "eye rolls." He says that his eyes feel really DRY.

 

Kim

[quan_daniel]

fitforit,

Why did you email her(your friend) an article about tics and tourette?

Why can not you tell her you also roll your eyes at times and you can not correct it?

 

Can you share with us if your tics got better when your became a teenager?

 

Just curious.

 

Best wishes

[Irena]

When my son did this "eye rolling", I didn't realize then that it was a tic. So I asked him why he did it. He said it felt nice as if he was giving his eyes more fresh air.

In my opinion, feeling "dry" or "not aired enough" is just the effort of saying they feel the need to do it and most probably there is no any specific eye problem involved. We saw the eye doctor, of course, in vain hope that he "fixes" it.

[kim]

Irena,

 

You're probably right.

 

I keep trying to see if it increases when he drinks or eats without taking enzymes, as he's always drinking something, or if it's related more to being tired. I don't see it in the morning, and more as the evening progresses.

 

The tics around here are pretty subtle and I only pay attention to them in relationship to what else might be going on with them. They are just an indicator, not the main event anymore. More like an indicator of Alison's full bucket type theory.

 

Kim

[fitforit]

Why did I email my friend an article? To educate.

 

From my friends uninformed opinion, perhaps if I told her that I do that to and have since I was a child, she would say that was because nobody told me that it was wrong to move my eyes like that and now it is too late to correct it, just as she said about my son.

 

As I mentioned in my email. I am 40 now and still have Tics at different times around my body. Mostly now in my shoulders and neck which feels like tights muscles and I needs to stretch them to relax them. With my eyes now, I mostly get an urge to lift up one of my eyebrows, the side chages from time to time and actually now, when I get on the train for work in the morning and sit down and close my eyes to have a short nap, I have the urge to roll them up and to the side under my eyelids, but when sitting there with open eyes, I don't have such an urge. The other Tics I get most often are and urge to roll my ankle to the side, again as if stretching the muscles, and the same with my wrists. I mask these as I have don for years as if I am doing an exercise, as I go to the gym and exercise a lot.

 

I didn't tell my friend about my Tics as I don't wish to draw attention to them as I feel she will always be looking for them now.

 

Well my boy got up this morning and he was still pretty tired and his eyes started almost immediately, but he was just like having a quick look to the left and then havig a quick look to the right. He complained that his eyes hurt. Maybe they did, as he loked like his usual tired self in the morning, kind of like when you are really tired and you have to get up but you don't really want to, and he was very irritable. The morning time is the time when we argue the most often as he doesn't want to get dressed and doesn't want to eat his breakfast and doesn't want to brush his teeth and we only have a short time to do all this before the school bus comes. I don't really want to wake him up earlier as I feel he may be even grumpier. I thought all that was just part of being a parent, but now we have the eyes to deal with in here.

 

Fitforit Daddy

[Chemar]

dear fitforitdad

 

A really nice Australian mom posts on the TS board at Brain Talk 2

....Lara. Here is the link to that board....maybe give her a PM there http://forums.braintalk2.org/forumdisplay.php?f=25

 

Our own alison here ad_cll is also from Oz I think

 

eye tics are among the most common early childhood tics...both in TS and other tic disorders

 

I do hope you will do some reading on the various threads here about alternative therapies that many have found helpful

 

I apologise for my short replies, but I am in the middle of a very busy work phase plus my own family committments

 

I do want to encourage you again not to see this as only a negative thing. Personally, our family wears the TS label very openly and are better off for doing so. We avoid misunderstandings and actually find once people know more about TS, it becomes a non factor. I learned early on that the more we focus on the tics, the worse they become. yes, it is good to try to do what we can to minimise the tics from interfering with life...but not to become obsessive about it. these are the precious years with your son....dont lose all the other special stuff by letting his tics become your focus ...I am speaking from experience and wish I had known what I do now when we started out on this journey with my son

[fitforit]

Seems better again tonight.

 

So, hopefully this Tic has reached its high point and is fading out now. I only noticed him rolling his eyes a few times tonight. This is kind of what happened when he had his first eye blinking tic. He told me one night before bed, "Daddy, my eyes are broken" and all I could do was hug him and tell him that I loved him and it faded away not long after that.

 

Anyway, what I have done for him since this eye rolling tic started and became distressing to him was to cut out the TV video games, playing the computer, trying to get get him to sleep earlier, and give him a multi vitamin as well as try to keep him as relaxed as possible and not to get angry about silly things.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone.

 

Fitforit Daddy

[Jeff]

Fitfor it, Sorry to hear about what your little boy is going through. I know that it's heartbreaking. But I feel confident that you will find what triggers your son's tics, and find ways to remove the triggers. One of the biggest triggers for me and my girls is artificial colors and artificial flavors in foods. Many other folks who post on this board have also found this to be true. Some examples are Red #40, Yellow #5, etc. They are very commonly added to breakfast cereals, "fruit" drinks, candies, etc. If your son is eating foods with artificial colors and flavors, and some preservatives, maybe you can find some "all natural" replacements.

It has worked wonders for us.

Best regards. Jeff

[Claire]

I noticed the increased ticcing with the video games. For some children, this is a trigger. You might take the game away for a week and see if this helps.

 

Here is a link where a number of parents posted on their experience with this trigger:

http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?...p?showtopic=852

 

This is just a symptom of other issues, but if it helps, then you might be encouraged to try some of the natural treatments.

 

Also, the story of you as a child made me feel so sad for you and for the ignorance of your teacher. Those memories die hard...I know that you would worry doubly for your child. There are so many ways to help your child naturally.

 

Claire

[fitforit]

Reduced Dramatically

 

It seems the eye rolling has just about stopped. Maybe he can supress it a little now so that I don't notice as much. I am not sure, but the very few times I have noticed now are when he is going to bed and he is obviously tired and the few mornings when we have been running late and I have really had to move him along to get to the bus on time.

 

We have stopped the video games, he is a little annoyed about that, but kind of agrees to stop. Other than that, like I said previously, just try to get him to bed earlier and try to have a much of a stress free environment as possible and a multi-vitamin.

 

My beautiful little boy...