Could I Have Tourette's?

[Kizza]

A few years ago (I think when I was 13/14 I am now 17) I started twitching and doing like a head jerk type thing, then (along with the twitching) I started making grunting noises and clearing my throat, now (still twitching) I do like a huffing kinda sound sometimes its really quiet but other times it’s really loud, and occasionally I click my tongue. My parents tell me to stop it and that I need to get out of the ‘habit’ and look at me in a weird way when they see or hear me doing it, so of course I try and stop doing but when I try and stop I get this like weird horrible feeling/sensation and the only way to get rid of that feeling is to let it out which of course it comes out worse because I have held it in sometimes I don’t realise im doing it, it seems to be worse when im stressed or even when im in public, when im on my own it’s not as bad, when I am really relaxed it hardly happens.

Last year it did seem to disappear for about 3 months then came back.

No one else in my family has it or has had it as far as im aware.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Chemar]

welcome Kizza

 

what you are describing does sound like the tics associated with Tourette Syndrome, especially how you feel when you try to suppress them.....however other things can also cause tics so it truly would take an evaluation by a qualified (ie experienced with Tourette/tics) doctor to determine if this is TS....and even then many people are sometimes misdiagnosed (strep and other bacteria and viruses can cause tics, as can heavy metal loads, vaccines, food allergies, vitamin deficiencies, yeast infection of the gut and also some environmental things)

 

do you also have OCD? (obsessive and/or compulsive behaviors)

 

is there any way one of your parents may be willing to read up some on TS and tics?

 

In addition to all the information here and on the Latitudes article pages for Tourette http://www.latitudes.org/tics_tourettes.htm

there is a really good site by Leslie Packer http://www.tourettesyndrome.net as well as a lot of info on the TS association at http://www.tsa-usa.org

 

hope that helps a bit and that you will keep posting here. we will all try to help you find answers

[Kizza]

Hey Chemar

 

Thnak you for your reply,

 

No i don't believe i have OCD, i have done a lot of research about OCD and no i don't think i have it, my mum says she has it, she hasn't been diagnosed or anything she just jokes about it because when she comes home with the shopping, when she put everything in the cupboards if it's cans like the cat food cans we have she has to make sure that all the labels are facing forward and are all inlined and when my sister moved 1 of the cans it really annoyed her so she had to put that can exacly right again, but as for me having it i don't think i do. but i do have Trichotillomania which started when i was 8-9 i don't know if you have to be diagnosed with that cuz i haven't but i know i've got it.

 

 

And sorry im a bit thick today lol what do you mean by having 1 of my parents read up on some TS and tics? do you have one of them research or something, im a bit slow today sorry.

 

And thank you for the links im looking at the second 1 now its really good.

 

Thanks again.

 

P.S. I will definately keep posting here.

[faith]

Hello Kizza, welcome to the forum,

I would be interested to know if you are male or female, if you don't mind. If female, have you had the Gardisil vaccination around 12 yrs of age, I think that is when they give it. If not, do you remember when your last vaccine of any kind was? Maybe 10 or 11? Some of us here believe that vaccines could exacerbate or bring out tics in kids that have a predisposition for it. I find it interesting when someone reports that they started tics at a later age, the median age is about 6 or 7.

 

Also, think back, are you quite sure you never had any type of habits that may have been mild tics when you were younger that may have gone under the radar because they were not bothersome or noticeable by your parents or others, maybe not even you. could be anything like wrinkling your nose, stretching your mouth, blinking more than usual, sniffing fingers.?

 

Faith

 

p.s. even if it is tourette and you fit the criteria, (tics of motor and vocal that last more than 1 year without a break of at least 3 months), it is just a criteria of symptoms and not a disease. In other words, nothing about you will be different, its just a name. Many of us here to not really care what they call it, we just are looking for ways to manage and alleviate our children's symptoms.

[Chemar]

Hi Kizza

 

by asking if maybe one of your parents would read up on TS I was just suggesting that if 1 (or better yet BOTH) actually read up on it they may be more understanding of what you are going through rather than just telling you to stop

 

btw Trichotillomania is classified as an OCD symptom

 

glad you are finding the links helpful

[Kizza]

Hi Faith,

 

No thats fine i am Female, no i haven't even heard of a Gardisil vaccination, the last one i had was my tetanus and polio which i think was in year 1o so i think i would of been 16.

 

 

 

And now that you mention about the thinking back and the examples you gave i do remember doing a mouth stretch thing where i would like open my mouth really wide so i could feel my lips stretch i didn't do it all the time just every now and then i stilkl do it now but it happens very rarley, and about thje sniffing finger's (this is probably gonna soundf really weird) i only sniff my finger's if i have scratched (because of an itch) a certain body part e.g. armpit, the inside of my ears etc. if i for example scratch my head, leg arm, back etc i don't feel the need to sniff my finger's. lol

 

Thanks for the reply.

[Kizza]

Chemar oh i understand now

 

yeah ok i'll have to try speak to them about that thanks

 

and oh it is ok so i do basically have OCD ok fair enough

 

Thanks

[guy123]

and about thje sniffing finger's (this is probably gonna soundf really weird) i only sniff my finger's if i have scratched (because of an itch) a certain body part e.g. armpit, the inside of my ears etc. if i for example scratch my head, leg arm, back etc i don't feel the need to sniff my finger's. lol

 

I do that on occasion. I don't know that I feel a compulsion to do it, I just... do it. lol. And I'll keep smelling it it for a few moments. It's really weird. But it's only something I do when I'm home alone. I don't do it in public. It's probably subconsciously checking the status of your health. For example, one of the strongest triggers of attraction between men and women is scent (in good relationships it is not uncommon for one partner to tell the other "i love the way you smell"), but the reason for this is it's your body checking out the other person's immune system. Studies have shown that essentially, if you are attracted to the way someone smells, then their immune system would be a good compliment to yours in the production of offspring.

 

If you want to take it one step further, some people believe that the reason there are so many divorces today is because people are wearing so much perfume/cologne that they are masking their actual scent, and they are choosing mates (spouses) based on a scent that is not what the other person actually smells like. So the people aren't as compatible as they think they are, and after a few years of marriage, this becomes apparent and thus they divorce. I don't know how true that is, but it's something to think about.