Worried about 4 yr old son

[Lee101]

Will try to make this as short as possible.

 

Our daughter was diagnosed with TS last October after displaying vocal and motor tics since the age of six. We also found out that her great aunt also had tics.

 

Our son started preschool this year. At the beginning of the year he told me that whilst there there was something in his leg making it move and he couldn't stop it and the teacher had to hold his leg down. This happend only a few times then every thing calmed down.

 

He has had a slight stutter that comes and goes, our other daughters speech therapist told me to keep an eye on it. That was a year ago and it is still happening at random intervals, he speech is also quite bad so he is now seeing her as well.

 

A few weeks ago he asked if he could help with setting the table etc ( he is a sweet boy ) he and I were left at the table talkin. I can't for the life of me remember what we were talking about, he said something to me, I said, " why is that mate?" the reply was - because I dont like myself, he burst in to tears and ran into his room:( he then kept saying that he wanted to break the toys he dosent play with, I said we could give them to children that don't have many. This upset him again and he said he loved his toys. For a few days after he kept saying he wanted to break his toys, when I asked him where this was coming from he said his head. He Bodley told me that he wouldn't let it win?!

 

Since then I have noticed an increased in hyperactivity and emotion though only at home. He also does a lot of hand flapping when thinking or answering questions. His teacher also conformed the hand flapping but neither the speechie, teacher or myself believe this is autisum.

 

The other night my husband noticed his toes crossing over themselves and he said this happend sometimes. I asked him if his legs had been moving, he said no but his head had. I eventually got out of him that it wasn't jerking but the actuall skin was moving.

 

We have booked in to see the same OT that our DD is seeing as he as issues with fine motor skills/ sox etc, and a pediatrician, however I am beyond words with worry:(

 

I have also noticed that he sometimes squeals, screetches or yells for no apparent reason, again only at home, and repeats words or fraises heard from someone else or the TV. Though this happens only after the fact.

 

Any thoughts would be so great fully appreciated. X

[pr40]

my kids have pandas and I tend to see most tics through that optic. did you make sure that the tics your son has are not related to infections like lyme, strep, or mycoplasma? normally, you would do a bloodtest for these, IGENX for lyme, regular lab for the others, as well as immune markers.

Symptoms you describe, especially their going and coming back, their change mimicking autism, remind me of PANDAS.

Best of luck

[Chemar]

TS does run in families, so where I agree it is always wise to investigate for a possible infection connection, still this may be the manifestation of genetic TS. The repetition, aka echolalia, is a common TS vocal tic. Emotional outbursts are also not unusual with TS, especially in younger kids. remember TS can manifest as no more than simple tics all the way though to very complex tics and other co-morbid conditions.

 

One of the earliest things I remember my son saying about his tics as well as his Tourettic OCD was "my head made me do it"

[Lee101]

Thanks for your replies. Yes the thought of TS has definatly crossed our minds. Most of his behaviours by themselves I guess I thought was just a stage, however all together they made us think. Also with TS I guess we were expecting the typical eye blinking, sniffing ( as our DD had ) or something along those lines, Can TS begin to show itself without these trade mark symptoms?

[Chemar]

TS tics are very very varied so there is no "typical" tics for everyone, even within a family.

 

Here are some commonly recognized tics

http://www.tourettesyndrome.net/wp-content/uploads/CommonTics.pdf