Tics and pain

[Anne_Linn]

I am so glad I found this forum. I hope someone can help me with my quiestions.

 

My 7 yrs old son has tics. They started as blinking when he was in kindergarden. Then they stoped for a while and came back when he started school. We hoped they would go away again, but the opposite happened. He now has other tics. He opens his mouth a lot, nearly all of the time. He rises his eye-brown, does someting with his head/neck and he makes an r-sound.

 

We are trying to be gluten and milk-free, not using artificial colouring etc. He takes vitamines, specially magnesium etc. It doesen`t seem to help. Not so far. We are waiting for appointment with a doctor.

 

But these last weeks he has been complaining about pain in his mouth, neck and upper back. This pain is really troubling him. I ask him if it`s real pain or if it`s just that he feels uncomfortable. He says it`s pain. It makes him angry and easily irritated. We have almost stopped doing homework because it`s to hard for him.

 

It may be he find it hard to explain exactly what he is feeling. But is it normal to have pain because of tics? Is pain normal for people with Tourette?

 

I wil be thankfull for any advice and answere to my question.

 

Anne Linn

[Sheila]

Anne Linn, Welcome to the Forums! Your post was read with interest and I'm sorry your son is having so much difficulty.

 

In general, there is not random pain for people who have symptoms of Tourette's. Usually the pain would be associated with the tic itself. Like if your son had been jerking his neck, or if there was pain from his repetitive mouth-opening--or whatever you say he is doing with his neck. He may also be tensing parts of his body that you can't easily see (or didn't mention in your note.)

 

You might want to see a skilled osteopath or other practitioner who specializes in manipulation or cranial work for an assessment.

 

Also you mentioned a number of things that you are doing after reading the book. That's great that you have been making some changes to see what happens. Please be sure to eliminate scented products and the use of any toxic cleaning/detergent type products in the home.

 

If you would like to let me know where you live and are interested in finding out if there is something physical going on--if you want to try to find a practitioner who can assess him, as mentioned above, please let me know.

 

Also, I am sending you a private message (PM) through the Forum. Please look for it, OK?