Back to school tics

[Dnryan]

Its been a while since my now 10 year old son has been ticcing but here we are again. It's The end of August, school starts in two weeks, and there are a multitude of tics all of a sudden. I think he's subconsciously anxious about school. This happens every year. Then, once school begins and its not as bad as he expected it to be, the tics gradually disappear. The comfort this time around is that I know what the trigger is and that they will go away. In the meantime, we know we need to reduce screen time and gluten and encourage him to get plenty of sleep - and just keep him occupied. Any other tips? Do I need to add magnesium to his diet? He takes a multi vitamin and omega 3.

[starlygirl]

Don't have any tips, although I don't think the magnesium would hurt anything. Just wanted to say my son is 4 and he started 5 days a week of Pre-K this year. He'd gone all summer with minimal tics but has had an increase since he started school this week. I figured it was probably connected to anxiety about the new routine, even though he seems to be enjoying school. Interesting to hear something similar going on w/ your son.

[evemac]

We've also seen an increase in this first week of school (new one: fast blinking). I totally think big events can trigger tics. I have started adding Mg as well, but it's too early to tell if there's any change yet.

 

Good luck!

[Chemar]

It could be two-fold....the stress/excitement of back to school as well as the subtle changes as we approach change of seasons.....many factors related to that!

Both these have been noted as being potential "tic triggers"

[mar]

Stress will bring it on but just want to let you know ds is ten and started school with no tics this year. His bus stop is with five girls that give him him a hard time at times. With him 3 years past I checked food allergies and sensitivities. He is also allergic to pretty much all outdoor allergies. This was at 7 and he is doing much better with tics with helping with his allergies. His tics are doing alot better. yes axiety will make tics worst but if you help and discovers other symptoms then the anxiety will not make Tics a s bad. Have to run let me know if you have any questions.

 

Mar

 

 

Ed

[Dnryan]

How do you deal with the allergies? I've been wondering about that too. My ragweed allergies have been really bad and the timing almost matches the return of his tics. Like chemar said, there's the change of seasons, too.... Could some kids seasonal allergies present as tics? The way food allergies could? Does allergy medication help? Come to think of it, DS's tics have very often happened when he was experiencing sniffles and things of that nature. This feels like a real possibility here, wow.

[Shelley19]

I think, for our DD, 9, that allergy season is a time of year her tics get worse. It's full blown ragweed season here and we've been dealing with more tics. I know DD has allergies and this spring I put her on generic Claratin and that helped a lot with the spring tree pollen etc. She was experiencing anxiety and sniffles, sore throat, but I don't recall her being bothered much with tics then. Now comes ragweed season and the tics are here, still on Claratin.. Maybe it's a coincidence....I wish I had started keeping a journal two years ago when the ticcing started....I'm operating on the hypothesis that at least some of her tics are caused by allergies or sensitivities and so I'm trying to lighten her load with diet, simple supplements, and removing common allergens as much as possible (just cleaned the house top to bottom and washed everything I could fit in the washing machine, changed filters etc). She does seem better. We're working on getting in to see an environmental doctor who will check her for allergies and hopefully that will give us some answers. I don't think school is a trigger as we homeschool, but then she does have a pretty mean teacher.

[mar]

Ds would tic in march/April for a couple of weeks and then again in the fall for a couple of weeks when he was younger. This was 3,4 ,5 years of age . He was getting ear infections and strep occasionally. At 7 during the fall it hit hard core!! Got him tested and he is allergic to ragweed, mold, pollen, grass. He was miserable with several sinus infections from what they said. Thrown on antibiotics and told he is borderline asthma. Took an inhaler for a week. I asked if their could be food involved and she said no! He would have eczema. She said he would suffer all year long and need allergy meds and to watch for asthma!!! This is where my story begins no I was not okay with this!! Within a couple of weeks we watched a family members dog for a couple of days (ds was tested for dog dander and all good) ds started coughing and looking miserable. By second day He could bearly get up stairs lips turning blue! took hom to doctor and of course needed breathing treatment! Had to send dog out of house bc had this crazy feeling it was the dog. As everyone is telling me it's not the dog I feel it is in some way!! Even thought he was tested I just didn't want that dog in the house. So within a week got ds tested for dog saliva and bingo he was highly allergic!! So at this point I was just scared and just wondering what is going on with the sudden allergies, tics, OCD and everything !!! After finding this site I learned that food could be involved with the tics. Got blood work and wow!! Food sensitivities to like 30 out of 88 things. In the meantime we tried Claritin and if helped with the sneezing but did no justice to congestion! Ds asked to go off bc when he sneezed it helped it to come out. At this point I am looking at this 7 year old with bags under his eyes, pale and just misurable bc he is allergic to dogs. His lips are red from constantly licking them! My son loves dogs to a point of no return!! So this is where I started his diet. It took a while but after clearing out all sensitivities and allergens it looked better. He is not ashmatic thank goodness. He was told to be put on singular and other allergy med by ped but I didn't agree bc I was afraid of side effects. So yes I think ragweed or any allergy could cause tics. He is ten now and over the last three years it's crazy and amazing how his tics very with certain things. I am suffering with allergies right now and ds is doing okay. He has bad days and good days but a lot depends on what he eats. He has not taken any allergy meds in the last three years! We only tried Claritin and he didn't like it bc it didn't help congestion but at the time his congestion could of been due to sensitivities so it was not causing relive. I have heard it does help others. He does react when he has strep. With some tics, anxiety and OCD so it is a never ending battle. Do want to point out with dd and her sniffles. Yes when dd who is 7 now got/ or gets congested she sniffles nonstop. She is different then ds. She is gluten free and milk free and all dyes like ds. But her symptoms were mainly leg pain and stomach issues which is complete opposite of ds. But when she gets a cold it's the sniffle tic. So far she has been spared of the eye blinking, and llip linking and eyes rolling., and of massive allergy attach . But she is very impulsive and does show OCD. But to just end this with yes I think allergies play a key roll whether it's Tourette or pandas or who knows what! I think finding out about this had helped my children. I just think that if your doctor throws them on allergy meds bc they don't know to diig further. Let me know if you have any questions. I know everyone's situation is different. But this site helped me greatly and I hope all it will help others!

 

Mar