Eyelid Pulling - Any thoughts?

[ameecram]

DS5 has been really pulling at his eyelids for the past several weeks. Of course with school starting he is very excited, which has always been a huge trigger for him. His allergies are a big trigger as well which we are on Quecertin for. I'm just not sure what to do here. He pulls his eyelids and clears his throat. We are back to giving him dairy every few days, but continue to be gluten, soy, and mainly dairy free. This mainly occurs anytime the TV is on or playing the Wii, the screens seem to really affect him. Any thoughts?

Edited September 13, 2010 by ameecram

[tpotter]

Yes. Check the PANDAS forum for the thread about trichitillomania. There definitely appears to be a link.

[Chemar]

trichotillomania (hair pulling) can also occur in people who do not have PANDAS, and eyelid pulling is not necessarily the same thing

 

ameecram, did this start after you re-introduced the dairy

 

have you tried having him totally away from screens for a few days and does that stop it?

not sure if you have researched Claire's old posts on photosensitive tics but there is a lot of info there that she researched on the subject of screens (especially ones that are not LCD) being a major tic trigger for some people

[ameecram]

trichotillomania (hair pulling) can also occur in people who do not have PANDAS, and eyelid pulling is not necessarily the same thing

 

ameecram, did this start after you re-introduced the dairy

 

have you tried having him totally away from screens for a few days and does that stop it?

not sure if you have researched Claire's old posts on photosensitive tics but there is a lot of info there that she researched on the subject of screens (especially ones that are not LCD) being a major tic trigger for some people

 

Thanks for the replies! It did start after we reintroduced dairy, but not right away. And if I'm thinking correctly, he has had this type of tic in the past even while we were dairy free. He also seems to go through periods where screens and the sun really hurt his eyes. He seems much more sensitive to those things at certain times than others. He actually doesn't get much screen time, hasn't played the Wii in weeks, he doesn't have a DS nintendo, just the Leapster. And his TV time really is limited to the 1/2hr of PBS he gets in the morning before school. He almost seems at times like he is straining to see when he pulls his eyelids open, like he can't focus. Thanks again, I'm waiting to hear back from our naturopath. Cheri - do you think it could be dairy related??

[Chemar]

there are quite a lot of posts accumulated here over the years where people have found especially eye tics resolve with allergen removal, whether food or environmental so it may be worth going dairy free again to check what happens. Have you checked for soy allergy or sensitivity. My son used to be ok with soy, but realized that altho he doesnt have allergy, he seems to do better digestively off it. Same with gluten and dairy for him.