Tics triggered by Stress

[janey]

Hi,

 

I was just wondering if anyone has advise to help my 8-year-old son who predominantly has two main triggers......TV/computer games and stress. I have eliminated the TV/compute games, but can't control the "stress". Every time he has a bad day at school or camp it seems to bring on his tics. I know I can't isolate him in a bubble, but he is extremely sensitive and worries about everything. Does any one else have this with their child, and if so, how do you control his stress level, if it's out of your control??? He'll be starting third grade this year and I'm afraid there will be even more stress this year. I'm very worried.

 

I really appreciate everyone's input.

 

Jane

[faith]

Hello Janey,

I will be dealing with the same thing (stress of third grade) come September.... I am curious, you mentioned your son has various tics which go away for months at a time? Were you using any supplements in the past, or any natural treatments, or are you just looking into this now? I am guessing that your son's tics are not that noticeable when they are present? When you say "stress", do you mean he immediately tics in an uncomfortable situation (such as being called upon in class) or all the time during tough times, like leading up to an event or a test? And if you have given him any supplements such as the taurine you asked about, could you tell us if you've seen any effects?

 

My son has had the eye blinking and is currently doing very well with that, but I will notice him start twitching if someone in authority is speaking directly to him. I saw this prominently on his First Communion Day. But then it will subside and he hardly does it at all, maybe just a few while watching tv and night once and a while. I too, am not looking forward to the start of a new year, teacher and shuffle of classmates.

 

Thanks,

Faith

[Chemar]

stress is a very big tic trigger...both good stress (excitement) and bad stress

 

I find for my son deep breathing and his Epsom Salts tubs are really helpful when he is stressed. i put a few drops of lavender oil in the water too

[Cum Passus]

Hi Janey,

 

Stress is the #1 tic trigger in my 13 1/2 old son. I have felt so helpless sometimes when I cant keep his stress levels down. When I talked to my pastor about the panic attacks I was having over my son's screaming, he told me my anxiety was really caused by me wanting to control what was happening to my son. He wanted me to trust God more, and not to be upset at what man has done to cause health problems in people.

 

I had a hard time with that, but tried to see if I could help my son not be so scared of things. For example: We live in a historical town and it is cute and safe, but he is nervous walking to school, or riding his bike anywhere in town. What I have done is asked him to run errands for me, like go to the market and get me something I am missing in a recipe. Or take some book to the library, walk the dog. I have even told him he need to take his little sister for a bike ride and to watch over her.

 

Anyway he would get nervous, but came back proud of himself . Now he will hop on his bike and chase the garbage man, or check out a fire truck on a run as long as it is not to far from home. He has gone down to tha ball park to watch the 16/18 yr olds play baseball. And he went to the 4th of July parade, and took his little sister.

 

He still stresses out about things, but we have noticed it has changed. He still does not like it when people he does not know come to the door, but hoping that will change over the years as he gets taller, he is so small for his age.

 

Funny you say your worried about school, I thought for the longest time I made him a nevous nellie because I homeschooled him. I think he would have been this way no matter where he went to school.

 

I know your son is young, but if you can think of anything he could do at his age that puts him in control of something I think after time he too will outgrow some of the stress. Hopefully it will be sooner then my son, sometimes he drives me nuts with the... what if this or that happends.

 

Good Luck,

C.P.

[lmcgill]

Our 8 year old seems to be bothered by stress as well as the games. We have mostly stopped the games, and while on vacation he was very calm and completely tic free. As we were coming home Wednesday we stopped to eat and I noticed a few heavy eye blinks starting. Prior to that, he had been asking who was going to look after them (twins, boy girl) tomorrow. When we got home he did a couple little hops as well and continued with a few more eye blinks. He then asked us what time we were going to bed and wanted his door open more then usual. When I was driving home yesterday to pick them up from a mostly new sitter, I was expecting him to have more tics, but he was having a good time and was back to normal save a couple eye blinks when he was eating and then when my wife brushed his teeth. He will be in a new school this year in grade 3 and I get anxious thinking about what that will do to him. We will also be moving just prior to him starting school.

His tics all summer have been mostly non existant. But I too am thinking they may be stress related. He tells me he is not feeling upset about anything, but I am not sure an 8 year old knows what stress actually is.

I will continue his supp's along with a propper diet and trust that between God and myself, he will be fine.

 

P.S. Has anyone experienced ticcing such as the eye blinking only while eating and brushing teeth? This seems strange to me, almost like a habbit instead of a actual tic.

Lenny

[Chemar]

Lenny

 

for many people with TS, "habit" is part of the OCD that frequently accompanies tics. So certain tics may be activated by certain actions, tastes, smells etc...........for my son, when he had a bruxism tic/OCD blend, eating or drinking anything sour or with certain textures would set it off, as did metal eating utensils. So it doesnt surprise me to hear of your son's tics showing at those times

 

it is also very important to rule out any possible triggers in the actual toothpaste and or foods too

[janey]

Hello Janey,

I will be dealing with the same thing (stress of third grade) come September.... I am curious, you mentioned your son has various tics which go away for months at a time? Were you using any supplements in the past, or any natural treatments, or are you just looking into this now? I am guessing that your son's tics are not that noticeable when they are present? When you say "stress", do you mean he immediately tics in an uncomfortable situation (such as being called upon in class) or all the time during tough times, like leading up to an event or a test? And if you have given him any supplements such as the taurine you asked about, could you tell us if you've seen any effects?

 

My son has had the eye blinking and is currently doing very well with that, but I will notice him start twitching if someone in authority is speaking directly to him. I saw this prominently on his First Communion Day. But then it will subside and he hardly does it at all, maybe just a few while watching tv and night once and a while. I too, am not looking forward to the start of a new year, teacher and shuffle of classmates.

 

Thanks,

Faith

 

Hi Faith,

 

Sorry I haven't responded in a couple of days. My son has and under bite, and had a palate expander put in on Friday. I've been dealing with that too. He hardly ate before the expander, and now it's even harder to get anything into him. My stress level has hit its peak.

 

The first tic he had was when he was around 5 years old. It started with eye blinking. I mean it was constant, almost scary to watch. I cried every night. At that time he was going to a baby sitter. I realized that the tic was worse when he went there, then it was on the weekend. I also noticed that the eye bilking was particularly severe after watching television. I completely cut the TV out. I realized that he was under a lot of stress there even though he loved the sitter. The sitter had two kids of her own who where "rowdy" at best. There was a lot of screaming and fighting between the siblings. He is bothered by loud noises, and I think the stress of those two kids going at it all day didn't help things. I took a leave of absence from work and stayed home with him for a month. The eye blinking went away without the use of supplements of any kind. Just removing him from the situation did the trick.

 

There were no tics present until he started kindergarten. Then he developed a very loud throat clearing tic. Since I knew I couldn't pull him out of school I let it go. The vocal tic wasn't as upsetting to me as the facial tic.

 

The next tic occurred last year in the second grade. I work full time so he attends after care. One day there was only half a day of school so that meant that he was in after care longer than usual. I explained to him that he would be in after care longer than usual, but that I was still going to pick him up at our usual time. When I got to after care, he was a complete wreck. He was standing by the window waiting for me and crying. He thought that something happened to me (we are very close). He was inconsolable when I got there. I had never seen him this upset.

The very next day he started with the nose twitching. It's almost like he flares his nostrils and his face grimaced. Again I didn't know anything about supplement at that time. I knew that taking electronics away had helped in the past, so that is what I did. The tics went away in a couple of months. This July we went on vacation. He gets nervous about flying, and sure enough the nose tic came back again. So that is where we are today. I found this site, and am trying the cal/mag/zinc, the Omega 3,6,9 and some of the other things recommended. Again, I cut out the TV, and game boy but I'm allowing some computer since he seems to do okay with it. I think it has to do with the type of monitor he has. I think I see a small improvements. I've been giving him the supplement for about two weeks now.

 

Sorry for the long message. It's hard to explain it all.

 

Thanks for listening,

Jane

[faith]

Thanks for that Janey,

Very interesting that you did not really know about natural treatments, but you did great in observing the improvement after taking away the gameboy and such--that is certainly part of it. I always like to get an idea of our kids' history with tics to see all the comparisons and where it all goes from here, if you know what I mean.

 

Since you seem to have really observed a definite anxiety problem with your child, the only thing I can suggest is finding some supplement or herbal treatment that works on calming anxiety. There has been some talk here of a product called "rescue remedy" by Bach that some use for that. Not sure what type of thing would be good for him, but you could ask one of your doctors. Our naturo gives us a product called "De-Stress" by Biotics Research and it says on the label "reduces stress and anxiety. Don't know exactly what is in it, but it seems to be some sort of "peptide". You could look it up on-line and think you could order it from the website. I can't say for sure how it helps my son, but it is just in his "mix" of supps that he takes, so I just go with it. My son doesn't outwardly show anxiety in an obvious way, but you never know what our kids are feeling internally, and calming the nervous system seems key for the tics.

 

Faith

[janey]

Hi Faith,

 

Thanks for the advice. I'll look into the supplements you recommended. Yesterday we went to a county fair, and there was a display there of various live large birds, such as owls and eagles. He got extremely upset over the fact that the birds were tied down. He loves animals and is extremely sensitive to animals, and people alike. He wears his feelings on his sleeve, and it's very hard. On the one hand I love the fact that he cares so much about everyone, and on the other, I wish he could be more like the rest of the boys his age who just seem to let everything roll off their shoulders.

 

Thanks for listening.

 

Jane