tic urges

[deagar]

I was wondering if someone can help me understand some things my son is going through since I have never had tics. First off, do tics have a tendancy to be strong in the morning since they have lay dormant throughout the night? Also, if my son is able to somehow delay some tics at school, will they be stronger as soon as they get home? I am assuming that is the case so if that is true, is there anything he can do to lighten the burst? It is the head shakes and inturn upper body jerk that is the CURRENT problem. I want to suggest things to him but since I have never experienced them, I am not really in that position. I don't want to keep asking him questions and dwelling on it if at that moment, things are OK. Please help me understand?

[Chemar]

Hi Deagar

 

yes, we always found my son's tics to be up after waking (he never tics in his sleep that I am aware of) and yes, the big release after school is very common.

 

it has been described like shaking a soda bottle and then releasing the cap....they suppress the tics while at school and then whooosh as soon as they feel safe to release them when back home or even in the car on the way back from school. We often had days where my son would come home and immediately take his epsom salts bath to help relax him and his tics

 

a good way of describing a tic urge is like a persistent itch...you can try to ignore it but eventually it reaches the point where you just HAVE to scratch

 

I know it is so hard for us as parents to not intervene, but whenever possible we do just have to pretend we dont even notice unless the child opens the convo

 

in the beginning, before I had learned the hard way, I would do things like say "so were the tics ok during school?" or even "how are you feeling?" and would trigger tics...even if I just looked at him it could set him off bigger.

 

altho his tics are really mild now, I still have to be so careful as a wrong word or glance when a little tic shows can result in a big reaction!

 

the best you can do is just provide a calm environment for him to feel comfortable to release as much as he needs to, and just keep doing the best re keeping his diet and environment etc as free of potential triggers as possible

 

hope that helps a bit

[deagar]

Does it help to hold your child during the tics to help so the movements aren't so severe or wouldn't that help? Another words, do the movements "have to be" severe in order to get them out?

[Chemar]

that would have to be your child's decision but honestly I wouldnt recommend that

 

I know when I tried to intervene that way it caused my son stress and made things worse. The "restriction" albeit gentle and loving, caused a more dramatic tic response

 

believe me I know how scary it can be, especially when the tics look like they may cause injury

 

I would suggest you just ask your child if he minds if you hold him, but be very careful in how you approach this

 

i just asked my son (now 20yo so in a whole different place than when he was younger) and he confirmed that restricting tic movement that way could cause a much more dramatic tic response

 

there is also a theory that too much tic suppression can cause the "tension" to manifest as anxiety, OCD etc

 

so I guess what I am trying to say is, unless there is serious danger of severe injury, try to remain as detached as you can.

[kimwal]

Funny you should call the"uges" because thats what my son always calls them. He does blow big time after school . As he has gotten older he has gotten a little better at holding them in but he does let them out when he gets home. Along with the storms, tantrums, whatever you would like to call it. It is very hard for them to hold it in all day and when they get home it is their safe place.

My son will also have his tics or "urges" at the power of suggestion. When people would sometimes say or mention things it would give him the "urge" to do or say it.

Ex. When he was in 5th grade his teacher asked the students to pray for a friend of hers that was in a car wreck and had her eye smashed /hurt very badly. Well my son comes home having the urge to poke on his eye after hearing that story.

The urge is like they say having such a strong urge or feeling to do something and the more attention we bring or talk about it the more we will make them think about it.

Good luck,

kim

[Chemar]

Kim

the eye thing you describe is what our physician would define as "tourettic OCD", where the tic morphs with OCD

 

"catching" tics/OCD is commonly reported by people with TS, and actually one of the reasons my son stopped going to TSA meetings and avoided the camps etc, as he is very prone to picking up other people's tics as well as developing OCD symptoms by autosuggestion

[rosalyn]

Hi Deagar

 

My little guy is actually at his best in the morning and progressively gets worse as the day go on ( usually but not always). At first I asked him about it and he said it was like a tingly sensation that built up in his tummy sometimes high legs and would tickle him all the way up. Now he says it is just something he has to do. I find the more it is discussed the worse it gets and so now we don't mention them unless they are really bad and I know he is getting a bit worn out with them. At tht point I just suggest he lies down for a quick relaxing time or would he like a little massage. This doesn't help the tics much but does seem to destress him a little. I know he tries to supress them as much as he is able at school and he does tend to come home twitching away.

I don't know how long this will go on or if it will ever stop and so I now feel that for us it is best to ignore them. There is nothing anyone can do and so I feel by pointing it out just makes him aware of the fact that he is doing something different which has the potential of drawing his attention to it even more, making it worse. Most of all I want home to be a place where he feels safe to be himself and know he is not being scrutinized, they probably have it hard enough out of the house without me adding to it.

 

God Bless them, these lovely wee children going through these difficulties.

 

Hope that helps

Roz

[guy123]

I was wondering if someone can help me understand some things my son is going through since I have never had tics. First off, do tics have a tendancy to be strong in the morning since they have lay dormant throughout the night?

 

Not with me. Altho I find that mine don't really start until I actually get out of bed.

 

Also, if my son is able to somehow delay some tics at school, will they be stronger as soon as they get home?

.

 

I've heard a lot of people say yes, that is the case.

 

I am assuming that is the case so if that is true, is there anything he can do to lighten the burst?

 

Medication.

 

I have never experienced them

 

Usually, it's preceded by a feeling that you have to do something. The only example I can think of is this: don't blink. Soon you will start feeling like you have to blink. Don't. Pretty soon, you will HAVE to blink. It doesn't matter how strong your will power is, or how focused you are, or anything else. You will eventually HAVE to blink, and you will blink.

 

That's not exactly it, but that's as close to describing the urgency of the situation. Although usually with tics it's not relieved until there is a strong muscular contraction (part of the reason why most tics are not "gentle" movements) which alleviates the "urge" for a few seconds/minutes/whatever.

[Chemar]

I am assuming that is the case so if that is true, is there anything he can do to lighten the burst?

 

Medication.

 

 

when we used medication for my son to try to help reduce the tic severity, we got precious little tic relief, and a whole heap off added side effects that were way worse than the tics!!

 

Yes, some people do find help from meds, and feel the benefits are worth the potential side effects, but

I would again urge everyone to do very careful investigation on the potential side effects before making the decision to put a child, with a still developing brain, on "medication" for tics, especially when there are more natural ways that may help. We found that the doctors gave glib "minimal and rare side effects" answers when we asked, but the experience we had with my son, on a variety of meds, was horrid!!

[mar]

My son seems to tic less in the morning. His get worst throughout the day. I went for awhile dwelling on it and asking him questions and it definately made them worst. One piece of advice is to not pay attention to them. I have gotten to the point that I told my son that it's not a big deal (when he looked worried) and I try to not pay attention or at least he does not see me looking. There was one time were he told me "do you know mom how their is people who smoke and can't stop because it's hard, that is how I feel, once I start doing it I can't stop". We haved talked about how bad smoking is and how it's hard to stop when you start. It's kind of amazing that a young child put the two together. But that is his way of explaining how hard it is. I will do things like wrestle with him, make a joke or get him going with a game that will distract him and that helps some. And yes when he gets home from school on the bad tic days he will get all the anger out and have tantrums. I have always wondered how he does at school but I'm sure he tries to hold them in and we notice his attitude at home. I have learned to keep quiet and use lots of distraction with other things to help him out. Hugs and kisses are also good. They need the love and support and he takes it with open arms.

 

Mar

[guy123]

when we used medication for my son to try to help reduce the tic severity, we got precious little tic relief, and a whole heap off added side effects that were way worse than the tics!!

 

Yes, some people do find help from meds, and feel the benefits are worth the potential side effects, but

I would again urge everyone to do very careful investigation on the potential side effects before making the decision to put a child, with a still developing brain, on "medication" for tics, especially when there are more natural ways that may help. We found that the doctors gave glib "minimal and rare side effects" answers when we asked, but the experience we had with my son, on a variety of meds, was horrid!!

 

I wasn't implying everyone should jump into medication, just that it's the method in which I would place the most faith.

 

Perhaps I should add the following caveats:

 

1. I would be more hesitant to use medication on a developing brain (i was 27 when I started so that wasn't really an issue)

2. Do crazy amounts of research and don't just use what the doctor says at the dose the doctor says. Some of the side effects are worse than the tics.

3. If it's a child we're talking about, chances are he/she will "outgrow" the tics by late adolescence/adulthood, anyway

4. Try all the safer/cheaper stuff first. Diet/allergies/sleep/vitamins/supplements/etc.

4.5 ...just do research on supplements, too. We don't need any "help my child is having GABA withdrawal" threads.

 

5. Donate to medical research/technology charities... Just saying TS/tics should be fully and permanently suppressible without side effects, if not curable. Go research, go!