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I was just curious to see what kind of tics we all see. I know some of us here are still new so I thought this would be a good resource for parents who are new to this whole tic thing. And, if you'd like to share the duration of the tics, etc. I also included(just for fun) my own weird habits!

 

I'll start:

We've seen eye blinking, eye winking, hair tossing, and now he's got a jaw stretching(it's a real quick movement that tightens the jaw and snaps it back quickly) which is the strangest one so far!

Ds has had the eye blinking/winking since the very beginning.

He also likes to sniff his fingers and loves to smell everything. I'm assuming this might be a tic or more of a compulsive habit. He clears his throat a lot when allergies kick in but I never hear it outside the allergy season so I attribute this as more of a habit than a tic.

 

 

The funny thing is: I've started to notice things about myself that I do, even though they aren't tics that are weird habits. Ever since I started nit-picking every little thing my kid did and every move he made. I clench my teeth really hard when I need to do something vigorous like scratching the dog really hard where she likes it or like when I am shoveling rock. It's like I don't realize that I'm doing it but I noticed I make a really weird face(thank goodness I don't do this one in public much). I pick at my body(fingernails, scabs, etc), twirl my hair, chew on pen caps and pencils.....I'm sure there are others. And, I'm always bouncing my leg or tapping my foot especially in church. I'm usually still while watching a movie or tv, though. Oh, I also smell my fingers after I've touched something, as well. I figure ds might have learned that one from me.....funny how I never noticed that I do it until ds came along!

 

 

Bonnie

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Bonnie,

 

After my son started having tics, I started noticing them in the general public (including television). This is going to sound odd, but there seems to be a disproportionate number of musicians with tics. Quite a few people here have mentioned that their children are musically gifted too. Makes me wonder if those areas of the brain are closely related.

 

As for my kid, (I feel like I've typed this a million times) he tics where he feels it. When he had swollen lymph nodes after a virus, he turned his neck gently from side to side for a week; when he had tonsillitis, he did a hard swallow (if you try it, you will feel sensation in your tonsil area) for about five days; when we took him to the lake (which included boating (glare) and three trips to the movies) he blinked off the charts for the next two weeks; a cold will leave him with a lingering throat clearing . . .

 

Regarding your "weirdness," I have come to the conclusion that all people do some strange things. Just today, I looked into the car next to me at a red light -- car, $60,000; suit, $800; latest cell technology with wireless gadgetry, $400; finger up the nose, priceless!

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Hmmm...my son is pretty musical too.

 

In fact, the last round of tics started after he begged me for a violin and I finally gave in (he'd been asking for about a year or more). As soon as he started, we started noticing head and shoulder tics that seemed quite related to the odd body position you have to maintain to hold a violin correctly. So we switched him back to piano (no odd body postures).

 

His main tics are eye blinks and eyebrow raising when mild, with added jaw dropping when moderate, and additional shoulder shrugs and hands to chest when in aggravated mode (high tics, that is, not himself being aggravated. He's a very mellow child).

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Bonnie,

 

After my son started having tics, I started noticing them in the general public (including television). This is going to sound odd, but there seems to be a disproportionate number of musicians with tics. Quite a few people here have mentioned that their children are musically gifted too. Makes me wonder if those areas of the brain are closely related.

 

As for my kid, (I feel like I've typed this a million times) he tics where he feels it. When he had swollen lymph nodes after a virus, he turned his neck gently from side to side for a week; when he had tonsillitis, he did a hard swallow (if you try it, you will feel sensation in your tonsil area) for about five days; when we took him to the lake (which included boating (glare) and three trips to the movies) he blinked off the charts for the next two weeks; a cold will leave him with a lingering throat clearing . . .

 

Regarding your "weirdness," I have come to the conclusion that all people do some strange things. Just today, I looked into the car next to me at a red light -- car, $60,000; suit, $800; latest cell technology with wireless gadgetry, $400; finger up the nose, priceless!

I had to laugh about the nose picking thing! My dad still does this, and in public no less! <_< It fascinates me that a grown man doesn't know what's appropriate behavior! You know, you said your child tics where he feels it. Ds said that he has a loose tooth and I wonder if he's doing this jaw pulling tic b/c of the tooth?

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what a very insightful topic <_<

 

my son has had all kinds of tics just about allover. from mild to severe enough to cause injury. And they come and go and change and evolve.

I am avoiding detailing them, as I know for some reading who have TS that can be a trigger

 

I can relate too to the "tics where they are felt" and have always thought that my son's sensory issues and his tics are frequently interconnected (he has the whole caboodle of all 5 senses in his sensory integration dysfunction)

 

perhaps even his extreme chemical hypersensitivity is tied in with it all

 

He doesnt really have longterm habits, as even his OCD varies so, depending on triggers there too.

 

ps added

music is my son's passion (both of them) and they play many instruments and compose etc. My TS son never tics when he is absorbed in listening or playing music ^_^

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Gosh, I only wish my son's talents included anything with music. Guess we missed out on that one. In the past when his tics were at their height, he had neck stretching, eye rolling, eye blinking, head turning, throat clearing and he repeated some phrases over again after he had said them. Now, he didn't do these all simultaneously. Usually there would be about two that were active at a time and then as one would get better, something else would take it's place. Right now he is occasionally repeating phrases, but most people don't notice it because he whispers it to himself. Normally, when he isn't stressed, he is pretty much tic free.(knock on wood). I won't even get into my issues <_< .

 

Dedee

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Mine include, but are not limited to:

 

- nose twitching

- eye rolling (usually off to left)

- throat and diaphragm tic affecting breathing (VERY annoying)

- eyebrow and scalp(!) tic

- grunting (ocasionally - feeling builds up but I can just about hold it back and it's not that often)

- head shaking (very very slight, like I'm silently saying 'no' to something)

- neck tensing (I think I may have done permanent damage)

- shoulder shrugging

- right hand to jaw (in order to try to get rid of horrible feelings due to mole on edge of palm of left hand. This mole gives me such horrible feelings, I can sometimes hardly bear to do things with my hands. Some times I have to use the backs of my hands e.g. for things like pouring shampoo into them. This is the most upsetting, uncomfortable and distressing part of mine. The dislike of the mole is NOT aesthetic. I have one on the other hand too although I don't see it as often. I wish I could afford to have them removed)

- kicking the floor as I walk

- turning my head and adjusting my gaze to move my nose in front of objects

- looking at objects (in a tic-like way, as in I *need* to look at something. This is extra annoying if I'm trying to speak to someone as I'm always afraid they're going to think I'm not interested in what they're saying as I often have the urge to look at things to their left (I don't know why the left, it just happens that way). This got me into trouble in a test at school once as I kept having to look round at the corners of my chair and everyone thought I was blatantly cheating. What could I say - I need to even up the corners by looking at them? Grrr)

- needing to touching things

- needing to lick things (rarely)

- sucking (this makes my teeth ache)

- thumb tics

- upper arm tics

- chest and stomach tics

- other random tics that I do as and when

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My son is PANDAS but definately has tourettes tics/behaviors. I was also curious of the tics others have shown. These are some tics my son has had but usually at different times. Lip licking, inside mouth chewing, eye blinking rapidly, finger choriform movements right and left fingers, finger cracking knuckels( even, right, then left side against his face), toe walking cracking on tip toes, (right then left toes)bending at kness and touching the ground(both hands at once), hair twirling during dinner, repeating lines from TV shows, squeals, eeks and throat sounds(loud in general), saying words like poop, butt and weiner or hate repeated throughout the day, touching self on his privates, quirks about body moles on other people and arm pits and bald heads, biting finger nails and toe nails, repeat urination urges, obsessive collections of toy figures, obsessions of movies, new releases and Happy meal toys, Webkinz collection obsession, fine motor issues which may stem from finger or eye tics, fears of getting hurt so won't ride a bike or swim away from the shallow sides, attention issues, sensory issues so bumps and bruises are magnified x10, emotional liabilty. I agree with the musical ability. My son memorized every word to every song of a musical by age four and could perform it exactly like they do in the movie.

 

My husband and his brothers snap their jaws forward too, also they crack knuckels and wrists and bite fingers and nails, they make faces by pushing lips together and out and scrunching their noses. Funny I never noticed this until my son started the tics!

 

Michele

I was just curious to see what kind of tics we all see. I know some of us here are still new so I thought this would be a good resource for parents who are new to this whole tic thing. And, if you'd like to share the duration of the tics, etc. I also included(just for fun) my own weird habits!

 

I'll start:

We've seen eye blinking, eye winking, hair tossing, and now he's got a jaw stretching(it's a real quick movement that tightens the jaw and snaps it back quickly) which is the strangest one so far!

Ds has had the eye blinking/winking since the very beginning.

He also likes to sniff his fingers and loves to smell everything. I'm assuming this might be a tic or more of a compulsive habit. He clears his throat a lot when allergies kick in but I never hear it outside the allergy season so I attribute this as more of a habit than a tic.

 

 

The funny thing is: I've started to notice things about myself that I do, even though they aren't tics that are weird habits. Ever since I started nit-picking every little thing my kid did and every move he made. I clench my teeth really hard when I need to do something vigorous like scratching the dog really hard where she likes it or like when I am shoveling rock. It's like I don't realize that I'm doing it but I noticed I make a really weird face(thank goodness I don't do this one in public much). I pick at my body(fingernails, scabs, etc), twirl my hair, chew on pen caps and pencils.....I'm sure there are others. And, I'm always bouncing my leg or tapping my foot especially in church. I'm usually still while watching a movie or tv, though. Oh, I also smell my fingers after I've touched something, as well. I figure ds might have learned that one from me.....funny how I never noticed that I do it until ds came along!

 

 

Bonnie

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Guest the4psnapod

Both of my children are musical. I thank my mil for that. I don't have a musical bone in my body. My ds 8, plays violin (suzuki & fiddle); my dd 10, plays violin (suzuki & fiddle), flute, percussion, mandalin and some piano. Both of my kids have an ear for music. They can hear it and play it on just about any instrument. They perform on stage w/grandma at Blue Grass festivals. They both started young.

As for the tics, I will try to name all that she has had. She is complex ticcer for sure.

eye blinking, nose twitching, sniffling, clearing throat, smelling hands, licking things, coughing, distorted face thing, mouth opening, neck jerking, lip licking, teeth grinding, repeating what she hears, counting in a weird sequence, wiping the tip of her nose, whistling, mouth clicking, hands squeezing/shaking, stomach tics, grabbing crotch, if she touched something with one hand she had to touch it with the other, bladder & bowel tics, toes curling, ankles touching while walking, hop/skip thing, bending down to touch the ground & flipping hands back and forth on ground a certain amount of times, jumping up in the air with arms raised yelling "yahoo", jerking arms up to chest, flipping light switches, chin touching to chest, touching things with both hands, writing something and having to erase it over and over until the paper rips trying to get it perfect, when she says something she has to analyze what each word means, blowing air out of mouth (in short bursts), running brush through her hair in a pattern with a certain amount of strokes until it feels right, wiping my cheeks with the backs of her hands, wow.......there is just so many to put down. All of her tics are complex so she does several grouped together. Like I said I'm not sure how many are tics, but somewhere in her group tic there is a real tic.

I found this site a few weeks ago while I was searching for alternative meds. We have never medicated her for her ts. I always wanted it to be her decision, but she will be 11 in a couple of weeks and her tics were steadily increasing quite a bit. She is in a private christian school that is great, but its also harder than public school. She will be in middle school this fall and she already struggles with her grades because of the ts, ocd & add so I really wanted her to get off on the right foot. I first came across the woman who started the vitamin/herb thing, but after doing research, I seen there was 20 pills daily. I found latitudes and ordered the new book. I am happy to say her tics have decreased in just 1 1/2 weeks on the vitamins. She is still my little ticcer, but that what a difference I've seen already. I have been gradually testing the meds listed throughout the book so I can be sure she won't have a negative reaction, and we still have a couple more to add, but I am happy. :lol:

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

My 8 yr old was diagnosed a couple of months ago but i was pretty sure of it already. {tourettes} Earlier, when he was 3 or 4 he would constantly sniff... didn't make a connection at the time though, he would also raise his arm as if to smell his arm pits. We just put it down to something he did as he is a very jovial young man. {sometimes too jovial for his own good :) }

Later, about 6 he started doing a twirl like a ballerina. He even did this during his soccer games {which he took very seriously, so I found it odd that he would twirl when the ball was coming} I think this is when I really started to wonder about it all. In March this year he started a head jerk to the right, first time I noticed it was during their first soccer game of the year. He did it constantly the whole way through. He also had facial grimaces... I made an appointment with our Dr later that week where he hardly did a thing and it improved alot. Ofcourse it comes and goes, and some days are worse than others. I found the head twitch devastating at first, but I have accepted it. The thing thast hurts me most is when he does have facial tics, mostly they aren't bad but some days they are so obvious... and i feel totally helpless.

As with the earlier poster, I also pull a really weird face if doing something strenuous... but I don't in public... my father did it and so does my eldest daughter, we always have. I had to have a laugh when I read that, because i have often wondered what people would think if they spotted me doing it. ha. :)

From Lyn.

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This is a great topic

My 7 year old blinks, chews his fingers & urinates frequently. In the past he has licked his hands at times , chewed his tongue, & nodded his head.

He is very into music and very emotional/sensitive

He appears to have photo sensitivity issues as well, after the whole firework ordeal.

Thanks for the insights,

Jeanne

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  • 6 months later...
Resurrecting this thread for new people!

 

bonnie

RY's (before starting his meds)

nose in fingers

rasperry sounds

holding breath

sniffing fingers

saying oregano over and over and saying shut the door over and over

itching knee

touching the ground when he walks

rubbing left eye

grunting

head tilt back

nose twitch

spitting

burping

saying I love you

touching things

wiping his mouth

arm flapping

hitting his hand to his chest

of course these all kept coming and going and onlyl a few at the same time.

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Cursing its the worst tic ever F B and sometimes N OMG horrible We started Bonnies vitamines day 2 wish us luck we have tried every med none work for very long I pray this will help

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