Any advice?

[MB_]

I've had a blinking tic since I was in my teens (I'm now 28). The tic feels as though it is harder on the right eyelid, and it often happens simultaneously with a sniff. I've also had a shoulder shrugging thing while walking for quite a few years as well. Recently this seems to have started to occur when I'm sitting down and has started to involve an element of neck/head movement. It is strange - my neck/shoulder muscles feel stiff and it feels as though the movements are some sort of reaction to that. I have no vocal tics.

 

The blinking tic disappeared for a few months when I started taking magnesium supplements a few years ago. But those supplements now have no effect. It makes me wonder whether it was a placebo effect and that the tic is mainly a psychological problem.

 

I was hoping that the blinking tic would disappear with age, but the whole thing seems to be getting worse. I've been to see two different GPs about this in the last few years, but they say that I should "try to control it" and that it's not bad enough to warrant treatment. But for me it is bad enough and I want to investigate doing something about it. What advice can you give? Has anyone here tried pharmaceutical or psychological therapy for simple tics such as those I've described?

[blakes_mom]

My son had the same blinking tics as you. Have you ever researched pandas as a cause for your tics.There is a pandas forum or pandasnetwork.org has some helpful information.

[Chemar]

Hi

 

there are so many possible triggers for tics that you may benefit from keeping a journal to document when the tic is most prevalent ....

 

many people tic due to allergies & sensitivities to environmental or food allergens so that is worth investigating.

and yes, PANDAS or PITAND conditions can manifest with tics caused by strep or other infections but honestly, simple tics are not usually the only symptom there, with OCD very prevalent.

 

Is there any history of tics or tourettes in your family?

 

we have an interesting article on Tic Triggers that may be helpful http://www.latitudes...ng_triggers.htm

 

You may also want to look at our compiled Helpful Threads info http://www.latitudes...?showtopic=2459

[evemac]

I've had a blinking tic since I was in my teens (I'm now 28). The tic feels as though it is harder on the right eyelid, and it often happens simultaneously with a sniff. I've also had a shoulder shrugging thing while walking for quite a few years as well. Recently this seems to have started to occur when I'm sitting down and has started to involve an element of neck/head movement. It is strange - my neck/shoulder muscles feel stiff and it feels as though the movements are some sort of reaction to that. I have no vocal tics.

 

The blinking tic disappeared for a few months when I started taking magnesium supplements a few years ago. But those supplements now have no effect. It makes me wonder whether it was a placebo effect and that the tic is mainly a psychological problem.

 

I was hoping that the blinking tic would disappear with age, but the whole thing seems to be getting worse. I've been to see two different GPs about this in the last few years, but they say that I should "try to control it" and that it's not bad enough to warrant treatment. But for me it is bad enough and I want to investigate doing something about it. What advice can you give? Has anyone here tried pharmaceutical or psychological therapy for simple tics such as those I've described?

 

Have you ever considered cognitive behavior therapy? I would like to try this when my son gets older, so I wonder if this would be a possibility for you. How about alternative forms of dealing with triggers? We go to biofeedback and a chiropractor (used to be once a week, expense limits us to once every 2 weeks), and we have done blood tests to rule out "trigger" foods: gluten (big trigger for lots of TS people), soy, sugar - we limit this as much as possible. We have seen a decrease over this last year, and I do attribute this to many of these interventions.

 

Best of luck to you! Don't give up!

[guy123]

I have had a blinking tic since I was 17. I'm 31 now and still have it.

 

Clonidine has made the biggest difference for me. I take 1/4 of a 0.1mg pill nightly (so that's a dose of 0.025mg).

 

I have used two different brands of Clonidine: Mylan, which gave me some significant side effects, and Activis, which gave me almost no side effects. I thought that was strange since the active ingredient is the same, but the pharmacist I talked to about it said I'm not the first person to have similar experiences. Both brands gave me benefits, but the Mylan one had more side effects (sleepyness, eye aches, headaches, dizziness every time I stand up, and sexual side effects).