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Cough tic - help


jazip

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New to this board and looking for some information and hopefully some helpful tips...our son who is 13 has just finished with a very long virus (started 2nd week of January), he had a very sore neck and headaches and of course we went to emergency as we were concerned with meningitis. He had 2 MRI’s immediately and thankfully there was no sign of meningitis or brain issues…he had headaches and a continual sore neck…about a month ago he had a legitimate cough for a few days (all of our family passed it around) and he lost his voice (laryngitis)….however after a couple of days it started to sound really bizarre and cough medicine did nothing and it stopped as soon as he fell asleep. He still can only whisper and he does this “cough” every 20 seconds or so…the longest we have seen while awake and doing some covert timing is 3 minutes without a cough. We suspected a tic and it was confirmed by our dr this week..she said it usually clears in 3 – 6 months.

 

After reading some of these posts I almost feel embarrassed asking for help as this clearly isn’t as bad as what other kids are going through…if it was just the tic I wouldn’t be too anxious although my son is really getting self conscious about it (didn’t want to go to the NHL game tonight as he was worried the guy, who is usually drunk would be annoyed by his cough) – but we really do miss hearing his voice and talking to him (he is an awesome kid).

 

Any tips on how to minimize the tic and get his voice back?

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Hi and welcome

whenever there has been a viral or other microbial infection preceding the onset of tics etc, it really is a good idea to investigate what is now known as PANS

I am not saying that is what is causing the problem with his voice/cough....but it is just something worth checking into

 

what kind of virus was it?

 

We have a forum for PANDAS/PANS where parents can give you more info http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?showforum=17

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Hi and welcome

whenever there has been a viral or other microbial infection preceding the onset of tics etc, it really is a good idea to investigate what is now known as PANS

I am not saying that is what is causing the problem with his voice/cough....but it is just something worth checking into

 

what kind of virus was it?

 

We have a forum for PANDAS/PANS where parents can give you more info http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?showforum=17

 

Thanks for the reply - as far as the virus, never got any clear indication after multiple blood test (a spinal tap wasn't done)..he had no fever at all and multiple drs. Conferred it wasn't any bacterial type of virus (we asked over and over)...the headaches are mostly gone and I think what is causing what is left is mostly from being upset about not being able to stop this "cough" and not being able to talk. There are no other tics or ocd type behaviour.

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Hi

I am a little confused when you say

it wasn't any bacterial type of virus
?

Bacteria and viruses are different organisms and so are treated differently too. But both are microbes that can cause infections.

 

There was press coverage about a girl who could not stop sneezing and it turned out she had PANDAS (which is specifically from strep bacterial infection)

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Hi

I am a little confused when you say

it wasn't any bacterial type of virus
?

Bacteria and viruses are different organisms and so are treated differently too. But both are microbes that can cause infections.

 

There was press coverage about a girl who could not stop sneezing and it turned out she had PANDAS (which is specifically from strep bacterial infection)

 

Sorry for the confusion, he was tested for strep on 4 different occasions and all were negative, there is no other issue other than this cough tic that happens every 20 to 30 seconds. The 4 ER drs along with our GP and a new pediatrician all confirmed it was not a bacterial infection of any kind. I will certainly ask again and mention the PANDAS but for now would love for him to have his voice back and work through some program or strategies to help with the "cough"..

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Hi

I am not speaking of strep in your son's case

 

In your first post you said

our son who is 13 has just finished with a very long virus (started 2nd week of January),

 

A virus can cause PANS which is different from PANDAS. PANS can be triggered by any microbe whereas PANDAS is from strep. You said your child had a virus and since then has had that cough tic. That could be a manifestation of PANS

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Hi

I am not speaking of strep in your son's case

 

In your first post you said

our son who is 13 has just finished with a very long virus (started 2nd week of January),

 

A virus can cause PANS which is different from PANDAS. PANS can be triggered by any microbe whereas PANDAS is from strep. You said your child had a virus and since then has had that cough tic. That could be a manifestation of PANS

 

Gotcha..I will definately ask our dr about that - as it currently stands other than the cough/throat clear there is nothing different about his behaviour other than feeling self conscious about making this noise and not being able to chat about sports, school and the usual things we talk about.

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Hi

I am not speaking of strep in your son's case

 

In your first post you said

our son who is 13 has just finished with a very long virus (started 2nd week of January),

 

A virus can cause PANS which is different from PANDAS. PANS can be triggered by any microbe whereas PANDAS is from strep. You said your child had a virus and since then has had that cough tic. That could be a manifestation of PANS

 

Gotcha..I will definately ask our dr about that - as it currently stands other than the cough/throat clear there is nothing different about his behaviour other than feeling self conscious about making this noise and not being able to chat about sports, school and the usual things we talk about.

 

Def. look into PANS. My son presented w/ this same cough tic (no other symptoms) after what was most likely a viral infection. He has PANDAS/PANS.

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