toe and finger cracking

[michele]

Last week my son was sick for three days with fevers. Now he is back to cracking up on his toes and his finger knuckles against his back or his head. He is already on meds for the tics a low dose of Abilify 5 mg. and Omnicef for the strep reaction his body has had in the past. Now what should I do? It almost seems compulsive and repetitive the way he does this cracking in a repetitive sequence and does both sides of the body at once. Has anyone ever used a rheumotologist for the joint issues? He is only six so I don't know how much is joint pain related or just a pressure to want to crack. I am confused as to what is tics and what is a compulsive? Do they feel a pressure in the joints that makes them want to crack? Does it make sense to anyone that our psychologist doesn't believe he has tics because he believes he is aware he is doing them and that makes him conscious of his cracking which means he can choose not to do the cracking. He said if they were true tics they would be more like seizures where he could not control them. Have others here ever seen these kinds of behaviors in TS and do you think they are more tics or compulsions? I am so confused and this is much worse now and he is doing it every couple minutes. It makes it hard to know if he is TS or PANDAS but definitely there is an immune relationship with his getting worse symptoms after illness. Thanks for any advice.

 

Michele

[peglem]

The rheumatologist would most likely dismiss it unless there is swelling and pain in the joints (arthritis).

[Dedee]

Michelle,

 

I am so sorry you are having trouble again. Gosh, that is really a hard one. It is hard to say wheather it is a OCD issue or a tic. It sounds like it could be either or a combination of both. IMHO, it is probably best to just focus on trying to treat the underlying cause. Which ever it is, it sounds like it was brought on by this most recent illness. If he is already on antibiotics then you have that avenue covered unless you wanted to switch to something different for a try. If what he had was a virus, then it may have to run it course, hoping that wouldn't take long. I have read several posts where some are using advil (or some type of ibuprophen), to help reduce swelling in the brain, hoping to decrease symptoms. I really don't have any other suggestions. There may be some here who know of some natural anti-inflammatories. I hope you can find some answers soon. God Bless -

 

Dedee

[michele]

That is exactly what his ped said. However they might be able to treat from an autoimmune aspect at the rheum. I am sure he is not choosing to do this for attention. I am ready to give up on the psych. He thinks everything is from a behavior aspect because he is spoiled. It must be related to his recent virus. Possible it needs to run its course. His neurologist just phoned and said we can move up his appointment to the 24th. She said we could try Zoloft but the Dr. would like to wait until the appointment if possible unless he is too uncomfortable. She agreed kids can hold in these tics for so long in certain places like school then will most likely come home and need to let it out. I need to look into tics and compulsive behaviors and how they are alike. Any books that do a good job of describing this relationship?

 

Thanks.

Michele

The rheumatologist would most likely dismiss it unless there is swelling and pain in the joints (arthritis).