Do all tics ever go away completely

[Hedgie]

My son has numerous tics. New ones keep showing up. Never a period where he is tic free. It's been going on for 3 months. 2 doctors confirmed that it is highly unlikely to be transient due to number of tics no vocals

What happens now. He just turned 9. How does manifest itself. What is considered mild tourettes? What is the worst time.... Will they get worse before getting better. Does anyone ever have multiple tics that dissappear completely. They say it can get better after adolescence .... Mild..... But in what context is mild. Will they tics still be noticed by others. Those of you who have touettes in adulthood or have spouses that have it....what mild symptoms do you have?

So very very worried. I am having a very difficult time trying to read old posts. Can't seem to navigate website

[Pilbara]

My son has been having multiple vocal and motor tics for the last 9 months, started when he was 7 years of age. He has had so many - hard eye blinking, eyebrow dance, face grimace, shoulder shrug, head whip (up and down), rapid head turn to the right, jutting the chin out, hand clapping - vocals he has had a high pitched yelping (his most consistent tic), stuttering, word repeat (says though, the, oh cool). They have all come and gone.

Right now his tics are very minor, we have just had a period of 2 weeks with no tics at all. But in the last few days a fast head shake appeared, but it is so minor. I'm thinking it is the candy canes kids have been giving him at school (corn syrup appears to be one of his triggers). With the course of tics they tend to start mild, increase in severity and then reduce or disappear. Some tics will last longer than others. The journey that every child takes cannot be compared to another, nor can any doctor predict the outcome for your son. It may get worse, but it may not as well, there is just no way of telling. One day it could just stop as well.

 

Tourette's is just a label attached to tics that go over 12 months. I don't worry about the name, I just worry about finding and reducing triggers. The information in this forum is awesome and I highly recommend Sheila Rogers book "Natural Alternatives to Tics and Tourette's". For us we have worked with a Naturopath to get this body as healthy as possible. We discovered he is extremely high in Aluminium (you will find a lot of kids with tics may have high levels of heavy metals in their system), low in zinc. Also looking at gut issues (google brain/gut connection), which I think it really helping. Since working with the Naturopath, I think it is why he is now in such a good place with his tics.

Other things I have done is gone chemical free in the home, moved to more organic meat and vegetables/fruit, bought air purifiers and made some diet changes based on observable triggers, for us artificial flavouring and corn syrup are the major ones, so I read lots of labels. You have to play detective, but it is so well worth it. I know you can feel helpless as there is no magic cure for tics. But looking for trigger will give you something to focus on and I can at least say they have made a difference for my son.

I found this site helpful just to provide some positive information from people who have gone through Tourette's. You can so easily get caught up in the worse case scenario and it may never happen. After being in the place of panic and tears, I'm now very accepting of what may happen for my son. I'm thankful that it is only tics, when I think about some mothers who are going through far harder things with their children, we are very lucky. It will be a struggle at times, even emotional, but I hold onto the statistics that the long term outcome is certainly in their favour. I can also say that I am thankful for my son's tics. Never would I have learnt so much about our food and our environment and be willing to make changes. It has been an eye opener that has certainly changed my life for the better and my whole family has benefitted.

Hope this gives you some hope that it is possible for tics to improve. Feel free to PM me and ask any questions, it was not so long ago that I was where you are now.