Triggers - Discussion on timing and duration of tics

[MarkL]

Hi all. Thank you for this valuable and comforting resource.

 

I've read many of the articles and discussions on the board - along with the book - but couldn't quite recall a certain type of information.

 

Quick background: my 6-yr old son has developed a series of increasing complex and disturbing tics. From sniffing to throat clearing to blinking to head/neck jerks. Sounds very familiar to many postings on this site. We're testing blood and urine through a local environmental physician, are supplementing fish oil (1300 mg) and calcium/magnesium (just low level supplementation at this time), and have removed gluten and dairy from diet as an initial experiment.

 

My son seems to awake with a fair amount of blinking and head/neck jerks ... by the time we're ready to leave for school he's 80% better ... he'll start to get worse just before dinner time and is quite bad by bed time. The house is relatively low stress, minimal tv, no rugs, very clean, unscented everything.

 

Questions for the community:

 

I'm sure our experiences will be quite ranging, but I'm curious as to how quickly you're seeing increased tic levels once exposed to a trigger and how long increased tic-ing usually lasts?

 

Do you see immediate reactions to a trigger?

Or does it build over a period of time?

If over a period, how long a period have you noticed? hour ... few hours ... days.... ?

Is your experience different for environmental triggers as compared to food-related triggers?

 

Once the trigger is removed, do you believe trigger-induced tics decrease over the course of an hour, a few hours, a few days?

 

We're trying to think through potential triggers and all feedback would be most welcome.

 

Thanks.

Mark

 

 

 

 

 

[Chemar]

Welcome to the forums here at ACN/Latitudes Mark.

 

The answers to your questions are as varied as the triggers and the individuals who react to them!!!

 

 

My son seems to react fairly quickly when exposed to things that trigger him.....whether injested or environmental.

 

As an example, when it comes to food dyes, my son seemed to always have an instant reaction.........increased tics, increased agitation etc

Similarly with flashing or fluorescent light.

Chlorinated pools

Perfumes

etc etc

 

We found that exposure could sometimes have reactions that lasted quite a while. So removing the trigger did not always remove the reaction as quickly as it caused it.

 

Stress triggers him big time as well but there we found a more subtle buildup, and often the most long lasting reactivity.