Help with my daughter's tics

[agrajag]

Hi everyone. My daughter is a couple weeks away from turning six and this past Sunday started ticcing. She's had this tic once before, about a year ago - it's an eye roll tic, where she'll roll her eyes to an upper or lower corner, usually accompanied by her head turning in the opposite direction. When I asked her about it she says it makes her eyes feel better. When she did this last year it lasted about a month, then just cleared up. This time, however, a new tic seems to have appeared that accompanies her eye tic - she rolls or stretches her ring and pinkie finger in a circular motion. Needless to say when she does both of these at the same time she looks like she's having some sort of seizure. When I ask her about the finger tic she says she can't help it, she just feels like she wants to do it. Any kind of physical activity seems to make things worse as her soccer game this past Wednesday left me wondering how she didn't fall over as she spent the entire time with her head twitching to one side or another.

 

With school coming up in a couple weeks we're trying to put it off to anxiety, but it just seems so sudden and quite noticeable. I'm obviously fearing the worst, but there's no history of TS in our family that we know of, and it's only been a week, but to be honest it's freaking me and her mother out. It makes me sick with fear to think that our pretty little girl could be the subject of teasing because of these tics. I hope someone here can offer a little advice as to what to do next.

 

Thanks.

[tlkinser]

Hi,

I am pretty new here as well but know your fears all too well. My 5 year old has been ticcing off and on since last spring; his tics are very obvious vocal and motor tics that haven't let up in the past 2 weeks. It is heartbreaking. I also have a 6.5 year old daughter who does some of the eye widening and blinking stuff along with some throaty noises and/or humming under her breath. Since my son is so bad right now, I really don't even notice the things my daughter does, but I do worry about her being made fun one day soon in school. Since we are at the beginning of our journey, I don't have much advice, but I do want to let you know that you are in the right place. I don't think there is any more information out there than what you'll be able to read on these forums from people who have already been through everything we are going through. The amount of information regarding diet, supplements, allergies, etc can be overwhelming at first but just take your time and sift through as best you can. I have found that my traditional pediatrican in not much help as he and the other drs that we've seen there want to keep sending us to neurologists. I have been to two so far and they have not really offered much more other than medications. We have chosen not to go that route and are anxiously awaiting an appt with an Environmental Dr in our city. We have also been in touch with Dr. Murphy at the Shands Clinic in Gainesville, FL since my children both tested + for strep last spring when this whole thing started.

 

I know I have rambled on about my own story- sorry. I just want to let you know that you are not alone in your fears. Your dd may have something as simple as a transient tic that will go away on it's own. You may want to make some dietary changes if you feel like there's room for improvement. Also, read about the various supplements that others here have tried. The book offered here about tics and Tourette's by Sheila Rogers is excellent (not suggesting that your dd has TS, but it is still full of great info). I also think that Doris Rapp's book, "Is This Your Child?" is great. I found a copy on ebay.

 

You will find a wealth of info here. The best advice I can give you is to just start reading through old posts. It will give you so much hope as well as many options to try with your dd other than medication (if you so chose). Best wishes to you all.

 

tlk

[michele]

Hi everyone. My daughter is a couple weeks away from turning six and this past Sunday started ticcing. She's had this tic once before, about a year ago - it's an eye roll tic, where she'll roll her eyes to an upper or lower corner, usually accompanied by her head turning in the opposite direction. When I asked her about it she says it makes her eyes feel better. When she did this last year it lasted about a month, then just cleared up. This time, however, a new tic seems to have appeared that accompanies her eye tic - she rolls or stretches her ring and pinkie finger in a circular motion. Needless to say when she does both of these at the same time she looks like she's having some sort of seizure. When I ask her about the finger tic she says she can't help it, she just feels like she wants to do it. Any kind of physical activity seems to make things worse as her soccer game this past Wednesday left me wondering how she didn't fall over as she spent the entire time with her head twitching to one side or another.

 

With school coming up in a couple weeks we're trying to put it off to anxiety, but it just seems so sudden and quite noticeable. I'm obviously fearing the worst, but there's no history of TS in our family that we know of, and it's only been a week, but to be honest it's freaking me and her mother out. It makes me sick with fear to think that our pretty little girl could be the subject of teasing because of these tics. I hope someone here can offer a little advice as to what to do next.

 

Thanks.

 

I totally understand your worries. My five year old son will start school next Fri. and is having a bad waxing cycle right now. He was exposed to a couple viruses in the past month and is doing a few compulsive movements right now like repeatedly pressing his knuckles against his face and fingers against things. He has done blinking before. It usually goes away after a few weeks. Right now he has been having symptoms for a month. I am currently trying a gluten free diet and low sugar diet and are in the process of trying to figure out what is going on through a ton of blood tests. I have never had much follow up with our pediatrician. I would suggest a neurologist, immunologist or allergist. Right now we are trying the Biomedical Dr. as we have had little success with the others. The immunolgist was the only one we found to prescribe the antibiotic therapy but he gave us no follow up on its course of help. Your daughter may be suseptible to tics which is what we were told early on. Stress can make it worse. At orientation the other night my son pressed his hands over and over. I am torn about telling the school. If they have preconceived notions they may tend to watch their every move. Judith Rappaport who wrote about the obsessive child told me not to tell the school because many five year olds will be immature and show hyper behaviors. Does your daughter show ADD? or ADHD? My son does and he is very emotional during these exacerbations. Plus he gets obsessive compulsive over certain toys and movies and Happy Meals. It is sad but I don't think they will get teased because they are so young and other kids probably won't notice unless an adult points it out. Unless someone watches them very closely it may go overlooked. Best of luck and keep us posted. The people on this site are very helpful.

 

Michele

[agrajag]

Hi everyone. My daughter is a couple weeks away from turning six and this past Sunday started ticcing. She's had this tic once before, about a year ago - it's an eye roll tic, where she'll roll her eyes to an upper or lower corner, usually accompanied by her head turning in the opposite direction. When I asked her about it she says it makes her eyes feel better. When she did this last year it lasted about a month, then just cleared up. This time, however, a new tic seems to have appeared that accompanies her eye tic - she rolls or stretches her ring and pinkie finger in a circular motion. Needless to say when she does both of these at the same time she looks like she's having some sort of seizure. When I ask her about the finger tic she says she can't help it, she just feels like she wants to do it. Any kind of physical activity seems to make things worse as her soccer game this past Wednesday left me wondering how she didn't fall over as she spent the entire time with her head twitching to one side or another.

 

With school coming up in a couple weeks we're trying to put it off to anxiety, but it just seems so sudden and quite noticeable. I'm obviously fearing the worst, but there's no history of TS in our family that we know of, and it's only been a week, but to be honest it's freaking me and her mother out. It makes me sick with fear to think that our pretty little girl could be the subject of teasing because of these tics. I hope someone here can offer a little advice as to what to do next.

 

Thanks.

 

I totally understand your worries. My five year old son will start school next Fri. and is having a bad waxing cycle right now. He was exposed to a couple viruses in the past month and is doing a few compulsive movements right now like repeatedly pressing his knuckles against his face and fingers against things. He has done blinking before. It usually goes away after a few weeks. Right now he has been having symptoms for a month. I am currently trying a gluten free diet and low sugar diet and are in the process of trying to figure out what is going on through a ton of blood tests. I have never had much follow up with our pediatrician. I would suggest a neurologist, immunologist or allergist. Right now we are trying the Biomedical Dr. as we have had little success with the others. The immunolgist was the only one we found to prescribe the antibiotic therapy but he gave us no follow up on its course of help. Your daughter may be suseptible to tics which is what we were told early on. Stress can make it worse. At orientation the other night my son pressed his hands over and over. I am torn about telling the school. If they have preconceived notions they may tend to watch their every move. Judith Rappaport who wrote about the obsessive child told me not to tell the school because many five year olds will be immature and show hyper behaviors. Does your daughter show ADD? or ADHD? My son does and he is very emotional during these exacerbations. Plus he gets obsessive compulsive over certain toys and movies and Happy Meals. It is sad but I don't think they will get teased because they are so young and other kids probably won't notice unless an adult points it out. Unless someone watches them very closely it may go overlooked. Best of luck and keep us posted. The people on this site are very helpful.

 

Michele

 

Thanks for the replies. No, my daughter doesn't have ADD or ADHD, at least not as far as we can tell. She did extremely well in her first year of school, is very well behaved, and in many ways seems wise beyond her years. However, looking back now, my wife and I realize that she's had several tics over the past couple of years. She's had the air-gulping one, and a puffing sound that she'd make, neither of which lasted more than a couple of weeks. I think this time is more noticeable simply because she's got two tics going at the same time - fingers and eyes. We've also noticed her urinating very frequently over the last couple of days too - my wife says that this is yet another tic. We really don't know what could be bringing all this on as she doesn't seem stressed out about anything, but maybe she's internalizing things. We do have a moldy basement that she was playing in last week, the day before all this started, and we've had a lot of rain too making allergies seem that much worse. We're going to book an appointment with the family doctor for later in the week to get her booked in for an allergy test - may as well start somewhere. I guess I'm just hoping that, since her other tics went away of their own accord before, that these will too. They just seem a little worse this time

[bmom]

I would also suggest getting the ASO titers tests done for strep. I remember reading somewhere where frequent urination could be tied to Pandas.

[michele]

My sons have gotten worse with age and repeat infections. He also wants to go potty too often. I think this is a compulsion. I've had a bladder test done and no infection showed up. His behaviors and emotionalness and ADD have gotten worse with age. He makes alot of noises like high pitch yells. Also he is afraid of alot of things below his age. Like he won't remove his training wheels. I am with you on the fact that I hope it goes away soon as it has done before. However I am noticing a waxing and waning cyclecoming and going. Best of luck and let us know what you make out at the Dr.

 

Michele

[Chemar]

Hi agrajag

 

we have had anecdotal evidence here (including my son) where pesticide exposure can heighten tics.

 

I noticed that you mentioned soccer, and so am wondering if the soccer field may have recently been pesticided/fertilized

 

if the tics are occurring at the same time as last year, you may well be looking at some kind of an environmental trigger like that

 

for example, has your child been swimming a lot? I ask because chlorine is also known to trigger tics in some.

 

here is an article on Finding Triggers for Tics that may give you some pointers

[agrajag]

Hi Everyone,

 

I just thought I'd give you an update on my daughter's condition. It's been roughly two weeks since we first noticed her tics starting up, and after the first week my wife took the kids to her parent's beach property a couple hours away. The day after they arrived she noticed the tics subsiding, and the day after that they were practically gone. My daughter enjoyed playing with her cousin and swimming in the ocean, generally having a great time. They returned to town this past Thursday afternoon, where I was delighted to see only one eye tic the entire evening. The next day I noticed a couple of tics, but still nothing like what she was. Fast forward to today, four days after she returned home and the tics are as bad as they ever were, almost worse. Her eyes and fingers are rolling roughly ever eight seconds, with some bursts more pronounced than others.

 

Her eyes look particularly dark underneath, and she's been rubbing at them in addition to the rolling. Needless to say, it's worrying and depressing to see them return so strongly, yet her mother and I are both puzzled as to what could be causing it. Sounds environmental, as it gradually improved as she was away and gradually worsened when she returned. We picked up some Reactin today and gave her a dose, but apparently that takes a couple days to kick in so I guess we won't know if that does any good for a bit.

 

When her eye tics began last summer it was towards the beginning/middle of summer, whereas this year it's been towards the end of summer. As for her soccer field, well she played roughly the same time last year and we didn't notice any tics then, although I'm not sure if they're doing anything differently with the field this year.

 

Oh, we had her tested for a bladder infection as she's constantly asking to go to the bathroom, with half the time resulting in her not getting anything out. Another tic? Anyway, the test results came back negative.

 

We have an appointment scheduled for a pediatrician on October 5th, but it'll be interesting to see how her tics react to the beginning of school this Wednesday. If it's truly a stress-related tic I'm hoping that starting school will allay any fears she may have and the tics will start to decrease. If not, then I don't know what to do.

 

Oh, one other thing - we noticed that she's done her finger tic in her sleep occasionally. What does that mean, if anything?

 

Thanks again for any help or advice you send our way.

[lmcgill]

Hi Everyone,

 

I just thought I'd give you an update on my daughter's condition. It's been roughly two weeks since we first noticed her tics starting up, and after the first week my wife took the kids to her parent's beach property a couple hours away. The day after they arrived she noticed the tics subsiding, and the day after that they were practically gone. My daughter enjoyed playing with her cousin and swimming in the ocean, generally having a great time. They returned to town this past Thursday afternoon, where I was delighted to see only one eye tic the entire evening. The next day I noticed a couple of tics, but still nothing like what she was. Fast forward to today, four days after she returned home and the tics are as bad as they ever were, almost worse. Her eyes and fingers are rolling roughly ever eight seconds, with some bursts more pronounced than others.

 

Her eyes look particularly dark underneath, and she's been rubbing at them in addition to the rolling. Needless to say, it's worrying and depressing to see them return so strongly, yet her mother and I are both puzzled as to what could be causing it. Sounds environmental, as it gradually improved as she was away and gradually worsened when she returned. We picked up some Reactin today and gave her a dose, but apparently that takes a couple days to kick in so I guess we won't know if that does any good for a bit.

 

When her eye tics began last summer it was towards the beginning/middle of summer, whereas this year it's been towards the end of summer. As for her soccer field, well she played roughly the same time last year and we didn't notice any tics then, although I'm not sure if they're doing anything differently with the field this year.

 

Oh, we had her tested for a bladder infection as she's constantly asking to go to the bathroom, with half the time resulting in her not getting anything out. Another tic? Anyway, the test results came back negative.

 

We have an appointment scheduled for a pediatrician on October 5th, but it'll be interesting to see how her tics react to the beginning of school this Wednesday. If it's truly a stress-related tic I'm hoping that starting school will allay any fears she may have and the tics will start to decrease. If not, then I don't know what to do.

 

Oh, one other thing - we noticed that she's done her finger tic in her sleep occasionally. What does that mean, if anything?

 

Thanks again for any help or advice you send our way.

See my post, sounds familiar, what grade is she going in to? Our son seems to have a hard time dealing with stress, I am afraid this is how he lets it out.

[agrajag]

Hi Everyone,

 

I just thought I'd give you an update on my daughter's condition. It's been roughly two weeks since we first noticed her tics starting up, and after the first week my wife took the kids to her parent's beach property a couple hours away. The day after they arrived she noticed the tics subsiding, and the day after that they were practically gone. My daughter enjoyed playing with her cousin and swimming in the ocean, generally having a great time. They returned to town this past Thursday afternoon, where I was delighted to see only one eye tic the entire evening. The next day I noticed a couple of tics, but still nothing like what she was. Fast forward to today, four days after she returned home and the tics are as bad as they ever were, almost worse. Her eyes and fingers are rolling roughly ever eight seconds, with some bursts more pronounced than others.

 

Her eyes look particularly dark underneath, and she's been rubbing at them in addition to the rolling. Needless to say, it's worrying and depressing to see them return so strongly, yet her mother and I are both puzzled as to what could be causing it. Sounds environmental, as it gradually improved as she was away and gradually worsened when she returned. We picked up some Reactin today and gave her a dose, but apparently that takes a couple days to kick in so I guess we won't know if that does any good for a bit.

 

When her eye tics began last summer it was towards the beginning/middle of summer, whereas this year it's been towards the end of summer. As for her soccer field, well she played roughly the same time last year and we didn't notice any tics then, although I'm not sure if they're doing anything differently with the field this year.

 

Oh, we had her tested for a bladder infection as she's constantly asking to go to the bathroom, with half the time resulting in her not getting anything out. Another tic? Anyway, the test results came back negative.

 

We have an appointment scheduled for a pediatrician on October 5th, but it'll be interesting to see how her tics react to the beginning of school this Wednesday. If it's truly a stress-related tic I'm hoping that starting school will allay any fears she may have and the tics will start to decrease. If not, then I don't know what to do.

 

Oh, one other thing - we noticed that she's done her finger tic in her sleep occasionally. What does that mean, if anything?

 

Thanks again for any help or advice you send our way.

See my post, sounds familiar, what grade is she going in to? Our son seems to have a hard time dealing with stress, I am afraid this is how he lets it out.

 

Well, today was my daughter's first day of grade 1. She had a wonderful time seeing all her friends again Prior to dropping her at school this morning she had some tics, but fewer and less pronounced than the day before, which was pretty bad. Still doing her eye rolls/head jerk and finger twitch. Anyway, when we picked her up from school I spoke with her teacher and told her that she had developed some tics in the past couple of weeks and asked if she noticed anything during the day. She said she didn't, so that was a good sign I thought. On the drive home she was ticcing like crazy! Very bad. They seem to have reduced a bit as the evening has worn on, but she's very tired so I'm not sure how much that is contributing to things.

 

Does darkness under the eyes indicate allergies? She sleeps through the night with no problems, but she does grind her teeth a lot. She seems well rested in the morning, so I don't think it's fatigue causing the blackness under her eyes. Any ideas?

[lmcgill]

Well, today was my daughter's first day of grade 1. She had a wonderful time seeing all her friends again Prior to dropping her at school this morning she had some tics, but fewer and less pronounced than the day before, which was pretty bad. Still doing her eye rolls/head jerk and finger twitch. Anyway, when we picked her up from school I spoke with her teacher and told her that she had developed some tics in the past couple of weeks and asked if she noticed anything during the day. She said she didn't, so that was a good sign I thought. On the drive home she was ticcing like crazy! Very bad. They seem to have reduced a bit as the evening has worn on, but she's very tired so I'm not sure how much that is contributing to things.

 

Does darkness under the eyes indicate allergies? She sleeps through the night with no problems, but she does grind her teeth a lot. She seems well rested in the morning, so I don't think it's fatigue causing the blackness under her eyes. Any ideas?

When our son got home yesterday after school he seemed not to bad. Then he watched some TV and started the neck twitch. He was very tired and fell asleep in fairly short time.

He had the dark circles as well, we had him tested with the IgG method and he was very alergic to Soy and Eggs. After 3 months with barely any of these products, we have noticed the circles are gone, and he doesn't sweat at nights anymore.

Today I am going to keep him away from the TV and computer and see how he does. This morning he was very good, hardly anything. I know now that stress is a main trigger with the tics, we were hoping that diet would eliminate them, but that has not yet happened. However, he is a little healthier, which is good.

[agrajag]

Well, today was my daughter's first day of grade 1. She had a wonderful time seeing all her friends again Prior to dropping her at school this morning she had some tics, but fewer and less pronounced than the day before, which was pretty bad. Still doing her eye rolls/head jerk and finger twitch. Anyway, when we picked her up from school I spoke with her teacher and told her that she had developed some tics in the past couple of weeks and asked if she noticed anything during the day. She said she didn't, so that was a good sign I thought. On the drive home she was ticcing like crazy! Very bad. They seem to have reduced a bit as the evening has worn on, but she's very tired so I'm not sure how much that is contributing to things.

 

Does darkness under the eyes indicate allergies? She sleeps through the night with no problems, but she does grind her teeth a lot. She seems well rested in the morning, so I don't think it's fatigue causing the blackness under her eyes. Any ideas?

When our son got home yesterday after school he seemed not to bad. Then he watched some TV and started the neck twitch. He was very tired and fell asleep in fairly short time.

He had the dark circles as well, we had him tested with the IgG method and he was very alergic to Soy and Eggs. After 3 months with barely any of these products, we have noticed the circles are gone, and he doesn't sweat at nights anymore.

Today I am going to keep him away from the TV and computer and see how he does. This morning he was very good, hardly anything. I know now that stress is a main trigger with the tics, we were hoping that diet would eliminate them, but that has not yet happened. However, he is a little healthier, which is good.

Glad to hear things are improving for your son. Although I'm not sure that stress is the only trigger for our daughter, I'm sure it's a contributing factor for sure. When she went to visit her grandparents at the beach the weekend before last she improved to almost no tics within two days, then slowly got them all back again after returning home for a few days. It's either something in our house or stress (or both) that's bothering her - I just wish I knew which!

 

I'll keep anyone who's interested posted on her progress over the next few weeks.

[faith]

agrajag,

Do you have any pets at home? Also, have you began any supplement, i.e. magnesium--that one seems to be helpful for eye blink tics. I agree you should investigate any allergy connection. What is Reactin, and did that seem to help so far?

 

Faith