Help for vocal tics

[Amy1987]

Hi!

 

I believe my daughter has a vocal tic. It is almost like a gasping noise. Are there any supplements that help more specifically with the vocal tics? She has had motor tics on and off for almost 2 years. But, now they have seem to have subsided.

 

Thanks!

[JudyLV]

Amy,

Is your daughter aware of the vocal tics? My son is 12 and I have asked him a few times if he was aware that he was making his sounds. He almost always says "no". Right now I am in the observation stage but am wondering if I should comment to make him aware. One time, over one year ago when he had a flareup with vocal tics I asked him to try to stop. He said he just has to do it until "it feels right".

I am new to this and just wondering what the best approach is. I feel they can not work on decreasing them if they are not even aware they are making sounds.

--Judy

[samsmom]

My son, who's 6 1/2 years old, started to have motor and vocal tics when he was 4 1/2. He had vocal tics during the spring/early summer when he was both 4 and 5. When he was 5, he went thru a month of really loud sounds - it was incredibly hard to live with. He didn't have vocal tics at other times of the year - only motor ones. But this spring/summer, he didn't have any vocal tics.

 

I am partly assigning that to the fact that we gave him L-Carnitine this year for the first time. We started it in March (after checking with our environmental Dr that it was okay) and use it daily. We use the 250 mg capsules from Twinlab. I open up the capsule and mix the powder in it with some fruit juice. It doesn't dissolve fully and there's always some left in the cup at the end, but he drinks it without complaint. It's best to give it on an empty stomach so he normally has it when he comes home from school.

 

I have to say that over the past year, we have also really cleaned up his diet, and do give some additional supplements, but the L-Carnitine is the one that we used to really target the vocal stuff. I know that some people have felt that L-Carnitine has not worked for them, but I would certainly recommend trying it if your doctor okays it and the vocal tics are a real problem.

 

Sams mom

[faith]

Hi Samsmom,

Could you tell me if when you started your son on the l-carnitine, did you notice any increase initially? Also was he having the vocal you mentioned at the start of the carnitine, or was it not present at the time? I ask because I did try this for my son about a month ago and was pretty sure the next day it was very increased, so I didn't give any more and it seemed a little better, but this past week I'm noticing more.....I am so wondering when this one will hit the high road....

 

thanks

faith

[Amy1987]

Judy - I am not sure if she is aware that she is making any noise. I haven't said anything to her. My husband doesn't even notice it! But, she is definitely making a vocal gasp-type sound. Unfortunately, my eyes and ears are always wide open and I don't miss much

 

Sams mom- thanks for the L-Carnitine info. I am going to watch her for awhile yet, but might end up giving it a try. I would be interested to know if he experienced an increase in the tics as Faith has asked.

[samsmom]

We started the L-Carnitine before any vocal tics had started this spring, and he just never had any vocal tics this time around, so we didn't experience any worsening. We were hoping to prevent them and seem to have succeeded. Like I said, I don't know if it was just down to that, but I would give it a try if you needed it.

 

Faith - I don't know how long it takes to get into the system and really take effect - the worsening that you saw could have been down to the L-C or was maybe just coincidence... Just another of those many puzzles that we face while trying to work out what's best for our kids....

 

All the best

 

Sams mom