Sudden onset of tics

[twinmom]

Hello all,

 

I am glad to have found you! My 4.5 year old suddenly started exhibiting abnormal eye movement; we had never noticed it before and now it happens in spurts but can be quite frequent. It is a disconcerting eye roll/drift. His regular pediatrician diagnosed it as a tic, and gave us info for local neurologists, but gave us the "he'll out grow it" spiel.

 

But get this. He has an identical twin brother, and I asked what the likelihood was that he will get it, too. The doc said very likely. Within 24 hours his brother has started throat clearing - - he went from "0 to 60" in 24 hours!

 

I noticed that someone asked on another thread whether the symptoms were sudden or gradual. Can any of you tell me the difference/significance? If you were me, would you follow up with an allergist as well as a neurologist? I read up a little on the Fiengold Web site, and my son, although generally healthy, has had a lot of the issues mentioned on that site, so diet control and supplementation are of keen interest to me.

 

Anything you can tell me about acute onset would be really helpful. Thanks!

[EAMom]

HI twinmom,

 

I would strongly urge you to bring both boys in for strep throat cultures (do the 72 hour if the rapids are neg).

 

If you have more questions (especially if your results are positive!), please feel free to post on the PANDAS forum.

 

I wouldn't bother with strep blood tests yet. But definitely do the cultures! Some docs may be leary about doing throat cultures for tics (a lot of docs don't know about PANDAS or don't believe in it). If that is the case you may have to lie and say they had strep exposure or complained of sore throats.

 

I should also warn you that lots of PANDAS kids show no symptoms (no fever, no sore throat) when they get strep...except for tics (or ocd or behavior change). Good luck!

[twinmom]

HI twinmom,

 

I would strongly urge you to bring both boys in for strep throat cultures (do the 72 hour if the rapids are neg).

 

If you have more questions (especially if your results are positive!), please feel free to post on the PANDAS forum.

 

I wouldn't bother with strep blood tests yet. But definitely do the cultures! Some docs may be leary about doing throat cultures for tics (a lot of docs don't know about PANDAS or don't believe in it). If that is the case you may have to lie and say they had strep exposure or complained of sore throats.

 

I should also warn you that lots of PANDAS kids show no symptoms (no fever, no sore throat) when they get strep...except for tics (or ocd or behavior change). Good luck!

 

Ironically, my son had just had a throat culture for strep a week and a half before the tics started, and it was negative. Do you think I should have him retested?

[Chemar]

Hi and welcome

 

has your son had recent vaccinations?

 

any diet changes??

 

many things can trigger tics and in many young kids they come suddenly and leave as abruptly ie transient tic disorders

 

our son had a sudden onset of dramatic tics but on reflection we realized he had subtle ones for many years that we just didnt recognize as tics. he has genetic Tourette Syndrome

[twinmom]

Hi and welcome

 

has your son had recent vaccinations?

 

any diet changes??

 

many things can trigger tics and in many young kids they come suddenly and leave as abruptly ie transient tic disorders

 

our son had a sudden onset of dramatic tics but on reflection we realized he had subtle ones for many years that we just didnt recognize as tics. he has genetic Tourette Syndrome

 

No recent vaccinations.

 

I have (naturally) been thinking about this a lot. We recently updated our kitchen, so our diet went south for a couple of weeks (lots of take out/premade junk). Also, the countertop installation called for a very strange smelling glue, so the house environment has changed as well. We are getting the diet back on track, but may try restricting a little more to look for triggers.

 

I can't think of anything they have done previously that appeared to be ticks, but that of course doesn't mean he didn't have them. It is just kind of amazing how it was suddenly so pronounced.

 

I know I am jumping ahead of myself, but is there a test for genetic touretts, or will time tell? We have no previous family history.

 

Thank you all for answering my questions!

[EAMom]

Yes!! esp. if the culture was before the tics started.

 

Do throat cultures on both boys.

[Chemar]

remodelling work can bring many tic triggers including the fumes from the glue, the formaldehyde in woodwork etc and paint fumes etc etc

 

my son has learned the hard way that even a little junk in food results in a looooong waxing period of tics

 

there is no test as such for genetic TS yet altho the gene research should hopefully soon enable detection. usually a family history of tics and one year of both motor and vocal tics (not necessarily at the same time) is what the clinical criteria are for dx

 

IMO many kids are misdx with TS when in fact there are other reasons for the tics

[twinmom]

This is all very interesting and helpful. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to all of my questions! I will definitely follow up on the diet and the throat cultures. Not much I can do about the kitchen, but perhaps limiting their exposure there could help too.

 

Thanks again!

[EAMom]

Houseplants have been proven to help clean the air of indoor polutants such as formaldehyde, benzene, etc. If you google "house plants clean air" you'll get a lot of info. Here's just a couple:

 

http://www.cleanairgardening.com/houseplants.html

http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgarden...0Indoorair.html

 

A lot of these species are easy care and don't require lots of light.

 

Maybe with spring/summer you can keep the windows open more to let things are out.

 

(But, still get the throat cultures just to make sure you aren't missing strep!)

[myrose]

Just a suggestion......I put a hepa filter in my daughters room. It ran about $25-35 at Walmart. I keep her room closed with it on high during the day and at night I place it on the low setting so we do not have to listen to the noise.

I also have some of the ionic filters all through the house (not hepa) you would not believe the junk I clean off the blades every week!

And I am one of those clean freaks LOL

 

Maybe just some nice clean purfied air at night while they sleep could help....This is just a suggestion if its attributed to the new remodel.

 

Last year when my daughter was at her worse it was right after our carpet cleaners came. It was Sears and they promised green friendly cleaners but the smell was overwhelming so I wonder what it really was.

I started to wash my own carpets after that and eventually just replaced them with wood floors.

 

Anyhow after the carpet cleaning is when I added the hepa filter in her room and always kept the door shut with windows (in the other rooms) open until the carpets were fully dry.

 

I hope you find the triggers soon...its almost like trying to put together the BIGGEST puzzle of your life. Just when you think you found a piece....another one seems to fit as well!!!!!!!!!!

 

Its definitely sometimes a difficult and emotional road for some but it seems for most in the end it was all worth it!

 

Being that it started right around the time of the remodel you may be ahead of the game....could be chemical sensitivity???

[myrose]

Just a suggestion......I put a hepa filter in my daughters room. It ran about $25-35 at Walmart. I keep her room closed with it on high during the day and at night I place it on the low setting so we do not have to listen to the noise.

I also have some of the ionic filters all through the house (not hepa) you would not believe the junk I clean off the blades every week!

And I am one of those clean freaks LOL

 

Maybe just some nice clean purfied air at night while they sleep could help....This is just a suggestion if its attributed to the new remodel.

 

Last year when my daughter was at her worse it was right after our carpet cleaners came. It was Sears and they promised green friendly cleaners but the smell was overwhelming so I wonder what it really was.

I started to wash my own carpets after that and eventually just replaced them with wood floors.

 

Anyhow after the carpet cleaning is when I added the hepa filter in her room and always kept the door shut with windows (in the other rooms) open until the carpets were fully dry.

 

I hope you find the triggers soon...its almost like trying to put together the BIGGEST puzzle of your life. Just when you think you found a piece....another one seems to fit as well!!!!!!!!!!

 

Its definitely sometimes a difficult and emotional road for some but it seems for most in the end it was all worth it!

 

Being that it started right around the time of the remodel you may be ahead of the game....could be chemical sensitivity???