Motor Tic

[Owlgal86]

Hi, my son is 7 years old and developed motor tics - kind of like stretching his neck/kind of like shrugging shoulders (hard to put in to words). He's never had tics prior to this that I'm familiar with - if he did they weren't as obvious. He's been to his pediatrician and a pediatrician ER doctor who all did neurological exams and said he was fine. He's been doing this probably about 3 weeks now - I'm just having a hard time with this because I don't understand it. Will this go away? How long? I'm having a hard time trying to tell my own health anxiety that it's nothing sinister going on. He doesn't have any behavior issues or ADHD or OCD. I just really don't understand this and looking for some advice to help ease my mind.

[supermom13]

It could be a transient tic that could last a few months.  Is that what your doctor said?  My son is having motor tics at the moment so i am trying to clean up his diet, less screen time, magnesium gummies etc...

[Owlgal86]

Yeah that is how they described it and that they are common in childhood - didn't really seem overly concerned. However me on the other hand, has googled and read every article known to man kind because I just don't understand this stuff. How long have you dealt with this? What does your son do? I feel so alone on this. ;'(

[supermom13]

Well i am the same way overly concerned.  I think i pretty much googled every thing i can. Which is bad for me.  My sons tics started 2 months ago with blinking, grimmacing and a few others.  Those seemed to fade and now we has a throat clearing one.  He also has allergies and he is on zytrec so i am not sure if thet is helping with his tics.  Diet and vitamins are key.  Is your son sleeping enough, taking vitamins like magnesium, fish oil etc and maybe clean up his diet?

 

 

[Owlgal86]

Yes I need to clean up his diet - I've read a lot with like artificial coloring, etc. He takes a magnesium vitamin but just Flintstone vitamin which I know is not the best so I need to look into getting him something better. Just feel like all this came out of no where and it's giving me anxiety which I know is not helping him because he'll shrug his neck or something and then look at me to see if I was watching him. I just don't know how to relax myself.

[Jason_DFW]

Hi - My son began developing obvious tics just prior to his 13th birthday, and over the course of several months they intensified, morphing from one tic to another, never knowing what will be next.  They started with the shoulders, then the blinking, some sniffling, grimacing, crossing of fingers, head rolls, etc...  Then came the reports from school of lack of focus and grades dropping.  

We went immediately to watching the food intake, artificial colors, etc...  I went nuts, throwing out food, buying gluten free and all sorts of crap from Whole Foods.  We started Natural Calm, B6, and eventually was prescribed Guanfacine by the neurologist.  

After months we finally reached a point when my son made it clear I was way more worked up about this than he was and that he's fine.  Frankly, I was stressing him out.  He hated all of the special food.

To make a long story short, we now do Natural Calm gummies morning and night.  He takes a B6 and 1MG of short life Guanfacine morning and night.  We watch for artificial colors and flavors and try to avoid, but don't do the gluten and dairy free approach.  He plays sports at a high level, so we withhold the Guanfacine on game days, as it can make him a bit tired, and it seems to work for him.  As an athlete he tries to eat fairly well.  The Guanfacine, even at the low dose, has helped with school.  He is comfortable telling people about the diagnosis of Tourettes and even pokes fun at himself.  His buddies are for the most part great about it, only 1 kid at school picked on his condition, and toward the end of the school year my son reached his breaking point about the teasing and dropped the other kid.  Kids rallied behind him afterward.  

He's in a really good place and the tics are under control, for the most part, but are still there.  I know there are kids with far worse tics, but I'm convinced that doing just enough without heavy meds to control the tics and getting to a place where my son is comfortable in his skin has made all the difference.  This is harder as parents than it is on him.  

 

Anyway, that's our experience.

Edited June 26, 2018 by jason_dfw

[supermom13]

Thats encouraging to hear that your son is so accepting of his condition. When you say the tics are somewhat under control with guaficine would you say there is a 40, 50, 80 percent reduction?   I am not at the point i would start medicine but wish there was a medicine that masked all the to s, i know i know wishful thinking

[supermom13]

I meant to write mask all the tics. 

[Jason_DFW]

I would say with the combination of the vitamins and half dose of guanfacine we see a 70 - 80 percent reduction on most days.  There are some bad days, where the tics are front and center, but not too often.  He's almost 14 and I want for him to take responsibility for his meds, so we do go through periods where he might miss a day.  If he skips meds for a day and plays hockey he's like a bobblehead on the bench and after the game, as dopamine fires.  It's really noticeable!  I'll record him and show the video to him as a reminder. 

[Pilbara]

We have all been in your place.  I think the onset of tics has to be the most stressful time in our lives due to the fear.  I'm 6 years in with my son and all is good.  His tics started  when he was about 5 with hard eye blinking, but it was at 7 that it errupted with multiple motor tics and vocal.

Highly likely you just have a motor tic and I do see these regularly in lots of kids, so no need to stress just yet.  If you haven't picked up Sheila's book yet, then I highly recommend it.  For my son his triggers were chemicals and high levels of aluminium in his body.  Since we have tried our best to detox his system and be as chemical free as possible, my son's tics are extremely mild.  They come  mostly in the evening when he is home and when he is stressed, but for the most part people don't even notice it.  He is in high school now and his tics have been accepted by his peers and he is comfortable explaning his TS if anyone picks up on it.

But  the intensity of his tics at 7 to now at 13, are worlds apart.  They are so minor and are not an issue for him. I know as he continues to develop, the long term outcome is extremely positive.