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throat clearing tic? asthma?


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Hi- Would like to hear from those whose kids have tics. My nephew, age 4, had a cold a couple of weeks ago. My sister has recently noticed he is frequently clearing his throat. She has googled this, and thinks it might be asthma, as throat clearing is often a first symptom, and her BIL has asthma. I told her and my mom that throat clearing can be a tic- and she should get a strep test. I just said it calmly- as in an extreme precaution. I try to remind myself that all kids don't have pandas:)

 

Am wondering if any kids have had this throat clearing tic- if so- were they checked for asthma? How to tell a tic from asthma or actual nasal drip, etc.

 

She thinks it could be a habit now.... I am thinking- my kids never have cleared their throats even with a bad cold- and certainly never had a habit of this. I don't want to alarm her- but wish I could understand if there are any tell tale signs of whether this might be a tic or something else.

 

She cannot establish any pattern to it, sometimes it is frequent, and then he wont' do it for an hour. He doesn't seem to do it at night while sleeping (which seems to somewhat rule out nasal drip).

 

Lastly, have any of your pandas kids had something like this when young, that just went away- and then at a later point developed pandas. I just want to know how concerned and closely I should watch him....

 

thanks!

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My ds has the throat clearing tic.... I have never heard of it being a sign of asthma. No doctor ever suggested that to me. My non pandas ds has asthma but never clears his throat. His first symptom was coughing that didn't stop only brilliant me didn't know that was asthma until he was in the mist of a major asthma attack.... My pandas ds didn't start with the throat clearing as his first tic but he started with an eye blink at age 2... that came and went and the throat clearing came at age 4... it was between 5-6 when the behaviors connected to pandas started (fear of sleeping, mild ocd including hoarding of garbage and handwashing, irrational and inflexible in thinking). I consider my son's pandas to be very mild.

 

When I approached the dr. about the throat clearing he told me it was likely a "habit" or just a transient tic... I wish I knew about pandas at that time to have had him cultured. Intersting even at his worst with the throat clearing, when I asked his teacher about it in both first and second grade, neither noticed it. At home it was constant enough that it kinda made me crazy :lol:

 

I should add also that now since my son is older... almost 8, when he does it I really can tell the difference between just clearing his throat like we all do sometimes and the tic but if I ask him he can tell me now... I ask him if he feels like there is something there he is clearing of if he just is doing it and he will tell me he is doing it and he doesn't know why.

 

 

 

 

 

Hi- Would like to hear from those whose kids have tics. My nephew, age 4, had a cold a couple of weeks ago. My sister has recently noticed he is frequently clearing his throat. She has googled this, and thinks it might be asthma, as throat clearing is often a first symptom, and her BIL has asthma. I told her and my mom that throat clearing can be a tic- and she should get a strep test. I just said it calmly- as in an extreme precaution. I try to remind myself that all kids don't have pandas:)

 

Am wondering if any kids have had this throat clearing tic- if so- were they checked for asthma? How to tell a tic from asthma or actual nasal drip, etc.

 

She thinks it could be a habit now.... I am thinking- my kids never have cleared their throats even with a bad cold- and certainly never had a habit of this. I don't want to alarm her- but wish I could understand if there are any tell tale signs of whether this might be a tic or something else.

 

She cannot establish any pattern to it, sometimes it is frequent, and then he wont' do it for an hour. He doesn't seem to do it at night while sleeping (which seems to somewhat rule out nasal drip).

 

Lastly, have any of your pandas kids had something like this when young, that just went away- and then at a later point developed pandas. I just want to know how concerned and closely I should watch him....

 

thanks!

Edited by ajcire
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1 i find others are not as hyper focused on tics as we are...so your boy may be doing it at school and no one's thinkg twice.

2 i thinkg the clearing can last while after being sick or seeming of allergies clearing as the season winds down......as a healthy adult myself ..even though the common cold in numbers is 7-10 days...the few times i get sick, the lingering effect of feeling run down last for a month or better, ther may be something still bothering him

3 being a pandas mom...get everything checked

 

My ds has the throat clearing tic.... I have never heard of it being a sign of asthma. No doctor ever suggested that to me. My non pandas ds has asthma but never clears his throat. His first symptom was coughing that didn't stop only brilliant me didn't know that was asthma until he was in the mist of a major asthma attack.... My pandas ds didn't start with the throat clearing as his first tic but he started with an eye blink at age 2... that came and went and the throat clearing came at age 4... it was between 5-6 when the behaviors connected to pandas started (fear of sleeping, mild ocd including hoarding of garbage and handwashing, irrational and inflexible in thinking). I consider my son's pandas to be very mild.

 

When I approached the dr. about the throat clearing he told me it was likely a "habit" or just a transient tic... I wish I knew about pandas at that time to have had him cultured. Intersting even at his worst with the throat clearing, when I asked his teacher about it in both first and second grade, neither noticed it. At home it was constant enough that it kinda made me crazy :lol:

 

 

 

 

Hi- Would like to hear from those whose kids have tics. My nephew, age 4, had a cold a couple of weeks ago. My sister has recently noticed he is frequently clearing his throat. She has googled this, and thinks it might be asthma, as throat clearing is often a first symptom, and her BIL has asthma. I told her and my mom that throat clearing can be a tic- and she should get a strep test. I just said it calmly- as in an extreme precaution. I try to remind myself that all kids don't have pandas:)

 

Am wondering if any kids have had this throat clearing tic- if so- were they checked for asthma? How to tell a tic from asthma or actual nasal drip, etc.

 

She thinks it could be a habit now.... I am thinking- my kids never have cleared their throats even with a bad cold- and certainly never had a habit of this. I don't want to alarm her- but wish I could understand if there are any tell tale signs of whether this might be a tic or something else.

 

She cannot establish any pattern to it, sometimes it is frequent, and then he wont' do it for an hour. He doesn't seem to do it at night while sleeping (which seems to somewhat rule out nasal drip).

 

Lastly, have any of your pandas kids had something like this when young, that just went away- and then at a later point developed pandas. I just want to know how concerned and closely I should watch him....

 

thanks!

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My dd 12 just finished with a throat clearing tic. Prior to that she had a nose blwoing tic (no productive blowing, just noisy blowing. She seems to move from one tic to the next with some regularity the last few months.

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If you are talking about the kind of throat clearing where somone sounds like they are attempting to truly 'clear' the throat, as in mucous, ('ahem' type sound),....may be a tics, yes....but two things I would suggest to look into is a trial of no dairy, as this does produce mucious and if mucous build up is the problem, it may help alleviate it.

 

If it is a thoat clear with a vocal 'sound', where you actually hear the child's voice, then I'd say that it was a vocal tic, from experience. It doesn't mean it will stay forever, it could come and go. if the child has no other symptoms of any type tics (or ocd or other issues), well, you'll have to gauge that.....

 

Also, when my son presented with vocal tic, our DAN doc suggested Gerd or acid reflux could be the problem, altho there were no symptoms. he said many don't show typical symptoms of it. he gave us previcid to try, and also sleep with head elevated, (not a pillow, but the legs of the bed should be raised with blocks)......

 

of course it didn't help us, because I don't think this turned out to be my son's problem, his tic is a vocal tic. but it was worth a try.....

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My older son has/had a throat clearing tic...it surfaces with allergies/illness...it is definitely a tic...(for him).

 

He has been checked for asthma...no asthma.

 

You can tell the difference...is it a mucos clearing thing that happens occasionally, or, a just sort of throat clearing noice that happens quite frequently? (the latter being a tic)

Edited by P.Mom
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We have a lot of experiences of tics - twitches, jerks, half-cough, echolalia, throat clearing, humming, eye blinks - if I ever had the guts to film them at the time, I'd have a you-tube library. After pex, we haven't had any tics, but you know that every throat clearing when he was sick sent me into orbit with fear. But they never amounted to anything other than a once or twice sound, same as any other non-pandas kid.

 

Then this spring, pandas son starts struggling with allergies for the first time ever. His sister, who has debilitating allergies, isn't clearing her throat, but my son starts doing a near constant clearing. But no pandas symptoms. So I'm watching like a hawk, telling myself to relax (ever notice how CBT is a lot harder when you're the one trying to do it instead of being the coach?). I try to remind myself that even I am coughing and clearing my throat to the point of annoying my office mates due to allergies.

 

I'm starting to worry until a neighbor's daughter comes over and she is also clearing her throat constantly from allergies. The two of them sounded like they were having a concert. Everything my family is allergic to is done blooming now and no throat clearing. So my point is, even Mr Tic himself, a classic Pandas kid, can get throat clearing or coughs and it isn't necessarily because of Pandas. Some coughs are just coughs.

 

Would I recommend a strep test? Sure. It would be foolish for you to know what you know and keep it to yourself. But I wouldn't panic. If it is Pandas, it will unfortunately show in other ways. I'd just keep tabs and check in in a few weeks. If she needs you, you'll be there.

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I'm very new to PANDAS.. Tomorrow will be 3 weeks since I heard of it for the 1st time and that is when I was being told that is what my 8 year old DD has.. She is #3 of 4 kids.. But my 10 year old son has an allergy induced Asthma (or at least that is what we have been treating him for for the last 7 years.) It started out as a non stop couch.. but last year after I took him off all his meds.. she started this awful sounding clearing of his throat NON stop.. I mean it made me and DH crazy and my parents when he was there or my IL's when he was there.. I never checked with the school.. I asked him why he was doing that he said he felt like he couldn't breath and that helped him breath. So I took him back to the doctor they started him back on his zrytec, singulair and flonase and the throat clearing stopped... So yes it can be a Asthma thing.. or atleast an allergy induced asthma thing.

BUT now that I read it could be a PANDAS tic thing(which I never knew before) now I am wondering goodness over the last 3 weeks I want to say everything is PANDAS..

 

Like when my 14 year old DD was 3 years old she had a childhood tic of sorts where she couldn't stop blinking her eyes.. or twitching her eyes would be more like it.. EEG came back saying it was seizure activity in her brain and she spent 3 1/2 years on seizure medication till she out grew it.. NOW I'm wondering if that could have been something PANDAS also.. I have to like you said stop thinking everychild has PANDAS..

 

So my oldest had the blinking eye tic caused by seizure activity in her brain my 2nd child (10yr old) has the clearing throat allergy induced asthma... and my 8 year old DD has the PANDAS almost makes me wonder what is in store for my 5 year old DS

 

If you are talking about the kind of throat clearing where somone sounds like they are attempting to truly 'clear' the throat, as in mucous, ('ahem' type sound),....may be a tics, yes....but two things I would suggest to look into is a trial of no dairy, as this does produce mucious and if mucous build up is the problem, it may help alleviate it.

 

If it is a thoat clear with a vocal 'sound', where you actually hear the child's voice, then I'd say that it was a vocal tic, from experience. It doesn't mean it will stay forever, it could come and go. if the child has no other symptoms of any type tics (or ocd or other issues), well, you'll have to gauge that.....

 

Also, when my son presented with vocal tic, our DAN doc suggested Gerd or acid reflux could be the problem, altho there were no symptoms. he said many don't show typical symptoms of it. he gave us previcid to try, and also sleep with head elevated, (not a pillow, but the legs of the bed should be raised with blocks)......

 

of course it didn't help us, because I don't think this turned out to be my son's problem, his tic is a vocal tic. but it was worth a try.....

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Sinus infection.

 

 

By far the most common cause of chronic cough (defined as >3 weeks duration) in adults is post nasal drip (PND). PND comes from inflammation in the nasal passages (rhinitis) and/or sinuses (sinusitis). Other well-known causes of chronic cough (asthma, chronic bronchitis, gastric reflux, drug reaction) occur much less commonly than PND. PND causes chronic cough by mucus dripping down onto areas of the respiratory system which contain sensitive nerves (throat, voice box, windpipe and lungs). Because chronic cough is often thought of as a 'lung condition' by health care providers, PND as a cause is often overlooked (even though the medical literature documents it as the number one cause).

 

http://www.lakesidepress.com/pulmonary/Cough/questions.htm

Edited by SF Mom
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Hate to say it but my son has had that as a tic twice now and it lasted about 6-8 weeks each time. It was definitely a tic. He did a throat clear and then a sniff.

 

Just watch. My brother's kids have pandas, I just know it but if I insist on it at this point they will think I am obnoxious! If it ever gets bad again, I will insist that they get their girls tested for pandas (titers, cunningham, etc.). But for now I am allowing them to be ignorant to it b/c ignorance is bliss (although I do think one of my neices would greatly benefit from tx right now, but not a crisis at this point)! Lucky for them my boys have paved the way...they can get a quick dx and I already have the perfect doctor lined up.

 

BTW, I think it is common for kids to get transient tics as they are growing up so maybe that is all it is.

 

Stephanie

Hi- Would like to hear from those whose kids have tics. My nephew, age 4, had a cold a couple of weeks ago. My sister has recently noticed he is frequently clearing his throat. She has googled this, and thinks it might be asthma, as throat clearing is often a first symptom, and her BIL has asthma. I told her and my mom that throat clearing can be a tic- and she should get a strep test. I just said it calmly- as in an extreme precaution. I try to remind myself that all kids don't have pandas:)

 

Am wondering if any kids have had this throat clearing tic- if so- were they checked for asthma? How to tell a tic from asthma or actual nasal drip, etc.

 

She thinks it could be a habit now.... I am thinking- my kids never have cleared their throats even with a bad cold- and certainly never had a habit of this. I don't want to alarm her- but wish I could understand if there are any tell tale signs of whether this might be a tic or something else.

 

She cannot establish any pattern to it, sometimes it is frequent, and then he wont' do it for an hour. He doesn't seem to do it at night while sleeping (which seems to somewhat rule out nasal drip).

 

Lastly, have any of your pandas kids had something like this when young, that just went away- and then at a later point developed pandas. I just want to know how concerned and closely I should watch him....

 

thanks!

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Both of my PANDAS kids had a throat clearing tic years ago. My daughter then began a coughing tic which seemed to replace the throat clearing. She was misdiagnosed as having asthma, put on asthma meds, but the cough never went away (the throat clearing was gone by this time). When we went for a second opinion, the doctor thought it was a tic rather than asthma. From there we went to the neurologist.

 

All of that being said, it is my non-PANDAS son who has been cleaing his throat the last few days. He does not do it often, but I definitely noticed it. He tends to do it when he has allergies and a post nasal drip. I have heard it before, only when he is suffering from allergies, and it seems to go away when the allergies get better. If it continues more than a few days, I will get him a throat culture and have his sinuses checked to make sure there is evidence of a drip. Knowing what I know now, I feel I can never be too careful.

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Thanks for the info everyone!

 

My sister took him to the doctor last night. No asthma, allergies or infection. The doc thinks it could just be habitual. She did give him a strep culture and Rx for titers, though.

 

Hopefully, something temporary...will keep you posted.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Thanks for the info everyone!

 

My sister took him to the doctor last night. No asthma, allergies or infection. The doc thinks it could just be habitual. She did give him a strep culture and Rx for titers, though.

 

Hopefully, something temporary...will keep you posted.

 

How is he now.. has anything come from the culture and titler???

is he still doing it??

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Thanks for asking.

 

Well it was definately a tic.

The culture was negative, and I think she isn't doing the titers. He ended up with a rash almost a week later that she thought looked like Fifth's disease (slapped cheek- look). I haven't talked to her in almost a week- so don't know if it is gone yet or not.

 

Will keep an eye on him- of course. Hopefully just a "transient tic".

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