New tics appear when child is ill? Is there a correlation?

[Schnauzer]

My 3 1/2 year old who has some facial tics that come and go tend to always flare up when he gets ill. His latest tic, frowning of the eye brows and scrunching his nose came with this latest cold that he caught. What I typically do is increase his magnesium and the tic eventually goes away when he starts feeling better. Gosh, I hope this particular tic goes away because this one does look odd compared to the eye blinking that he had before. I guess the advantage that I have is that given my brother has TS, I knew immediately that these were tics. My oldest son(16) had a brief episode of tics when he was around 9 years old and they went away. He does have a tic where he flicks his wrist, but nobody has ever noticed, except of course me. I always cringe when my youngest comes down with a cold because I know some type of tic will surface.

[Chemar]

Hi

have you had your child evaluated for possible PANDAS or PITAND?

 

when one sees a waxing of tics and/or OCD with illness, there is always the possiblitiy that it is related to a latent infection, even tho there may not be obvious symptoms of the infection eg strep

 

this is not always the case as yes, some people with TS do also show waxing of tics with any kind of illness

 

but even with the pretty clear evidence of genetic TS in your family, it may be worth also checking into PANDAS/PITAND just to be sure you arent also dealing with an infectious agent being a trigger

[Schnauzer]

Hi

have you had your child evaluated for possible PANDAS or PITAND?

 

when one sees a waxing of tics and/or OCD with illness, there is always the possiblitiy that it is related to a latent infection, even tho there may not be obvious symptoms of the infection eg strep

 

this is not always the case as yes, some people with TS do also show waxing of tics with any kind of illness

 

but even with the pretty clear evidence of genetic TS in your family, it may be worth also checking into PANDAS/PITAND just to be sure you arent also dealing with an infectious agent being a trigger

 

What type of test should I ask for? I know that the last time he had a cold they did a throat swap for strep and it was negative. Are there more specialized tests?

[Chemar]

What type of test should I ask for? I know that the last time he had a cold they did a throat swap for strep and it was negative. Are there more specialized tests?

 

throat swabs (especially the rapid ones) dont always detect the strep.

 

there is no definitive test for PANDAS & PITAND but rather a clinical evaluation based on a number of parameters, including blood tests that may indicate which antibodies are present

 

you can learn more from this compilation thread on our PANDAS & PITAND forum

http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=3928

 

not all kids who have tics necessarily have infection as the trigger, but it is worth checking into, if only to rule it out