Nervous ticks in children

[Stressed mother]

I have a 6 year old wonderful son who lately has had several ticks.
A couple months ago he started doing this odd thing with his mouth/jaw-opening his mouth really wide and then closing it. He would do this a couple times minute.
I asked him if something hurt and he said no, and when I asked to stop doing it he said he couldnt.
His kindergarten teacher pulled me aside and said she noticed him doing it in class and thought it was just a nervous tick that would go away.

He did stop it, but then about 3 weeks ago he had a cold and started sniffling. Well the cold went away, but the sniffling didnt. Then he was sniffling every 15 seconds or so. Now it progressed from sniffling to a snorting sound.
Once again his teacher said something. It was the last day of school and she thought maybe he was anxious about it. School has been over for a week, and he is still snorting.
The mouth thing wasnt so bad, but now that he is snorting/sniffling instead, other kids and my family are always asking what is wrong with him. I dont want him to be teased or labeled "weird"
When I ask him to stop, he says he cant. I try to ignore it, but after hearing it over and over again sometimes you just snap and I sternly tell him to stop. He maybe stops for a minute, but then it starts up again.
I am really worried about this. I am going to call his doctor and get him appointment. Just wondering if anyone else had gone through something similar?

Thanks for any help.

Well that is good news.

I've been reading this thread with interest. My son started the eyeblinking tic last spring and it hasn't gone away yet. The day I first noticed the tic, I broke down and cried. I know it's silly, because really in the grand sceme of things he's fine...but I was just heartbroken that he might be teased in school about it.

He's also started coughing a lot. It's a single dry cough. At first I thought he was coming down with a cold, but the cough never went away.

I notice he blinks and coughs more when watching tv.

I've been worried that his tics won't go away and he'll have turettes. But reading this post has given me hope.

I was in the grocery store the other day and there was a man in line behind me with a serious vocal tic. He was making a barking sound. I felt awful thinking that could be my son one day (God forbid).

I have a 6 year old wonderful son who lately has had several ticks.
A couple months ago he started doing this odd thing with his mouth/jaw-opening his mouth really wide and then closing it. He would do this a couple times minute.
I asked him if something hurt and he said no, and when I asked to stop doing it he said he couldnt.
His kindergarten teacher pulled me aside and said she noticed him doing it in class and thought it was just a nervous tick that would go away.

He did stop it, but then about 3 weeks ago he had a cold and started sniffling. Well the cold went away, but the sniffling didnt. Then he was sniffling every 15 seconds or so. Now it progressed from sniffling to a snorting sound.
Once again his teacher said something. It was the last day of school and she thought maybe he was anxious about it. School has been over for a week, and he is still snorting.
The mouth thing wasnt so bad, but now that he is snorting/sniffling instead, other kids and my family are always asking what is wrong with him. I dont want him to be teased or labeled "weird"
When I ask him to stop, he says he cant. I try to ignore it, but after hearing it over and over again sometimes you just snap and I sternly tell him to stop. He maybe stops for a minute, but then it starts up again.
I am really worried about this. I am going to call his doctor and get him appointment. Just wondering if anyone else had gone through something similar?

Thanks for any help.

I have a 6 year old wonderful son who lately has had several ticks.
A couple months ago he started doing this odd thing with his mouth/jaw-opening his mouth really wide and then closing it. He would do this a couple times minute.
I asked him if something hurt and he said no, and when I asked to stop doing it he said he couldnt.
His kindergarten teacher pulled me aside and said she noticed him doing it in class and thought it was just a nervous tick that would go away.

He did stop it, but then about 3 weeks ago he had a cold and started sniffling. Well the cold went away, but the sniffling didnt. Then he was sniffling every 15 seconds or so. Now it progressed from sniffling to a snorting sound.
Once again his teacher said something. It was the last day of school and she thought maybe he was anxious about it. School has been over for a week, and he is still snorting.
The mouth thing wasnt so bad, but now that he is snorting/sniffling instead, other kids and my family are always asking what is wrong with him. I dont want him to be teased or labeled "weird"
When I ask him to stop, he says he cant. I try to ignore it, but after hearing it over and over again sometimes you just snap and I sternly tell him to stop. He maybe stops for a minute, but then it starts up again.
I am really worried about this. I am going to call his doctor and get him appointment. Just wondering if anyone else had gone through something similar?

Thanks for any help.

Hi I see you were the founder of the Nervous Tics post in 2007. Hoping you are still out there as now in 2019 I have a 3 year old doing all the same things... been breaking my heart! Wonder over the years how your son progressed in life?

 

[Stressed mother]

My son is 20, he was diagnosed when he was in elementary school with Tourettes, his tics were so bad at one time and people would stare. they would change every 2 weeks. With the help of a great Nurologist and the medication combination she has him on he is tic free. Once in a while when he is stressed or tired you will see some tic but nothing like it was before. Hope this helps. If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to me.

Thank you, currently I feel like my little one has a life sentence of misery and I am really struggling as I feel every day will just be an ongoing struggle for me and her! What medication did they put him on and did he always feel different to others?

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Look up PANS and PANDAS. It might explain the tics. You need a specialist for it. Good luck.

 

[holycow]

Don't give up hope mommas! Mouse House Mama is absolutely correct! Basically it may start with a strep virus. There is a Pediatrician on Face Book. Elisa Song MD. Healthy Happy Kids who has great information!

Also just adding from my personal experience take it or leave it for what it is worth. My son was sick all of the time! Antibiotics etc...the whole gamut. He started with a tick and I started researching. I have cut down on the dyes in foods. He was very sensitive to them. I also found they are banned in other countries. I also cut down on his sugar. They were giving him sweets as prizes in school (angry face!). Yes, when my son ate too many sweets it opened him up to getting sick. Since eating a better diet he is doing much better. He is 13 now. These changes made a difference in my son.

 

[portocall]

Awe. I know it is hard to see your child be a little different from most of their peers but I have two children that have tics and they do just fine in school. Plenty of friends and good grades.

The best advice is to ignore them like other have said.

 

[Silver77]

Wow. I responded to this thread in 2007 and my 7 YO son is now 18 and is finishing High School. The tics have not gone away completely but I think at this point in the game, at 18, they are just part of who he is - in fact, they are very mild now compared to when he was 7. He had a short hospitalization for depression when he was 16 and was diagnosed with mild OCD, but I noticed a huge, positive difference in his behavior between the ages of 16 and 18. The tag pulling is definitely still there and most likely will always be, but he has channeled his energy into sports and work and going to the gym, so in a way, he has an outlet for the extra "energy" that I always thought he had.

I have grown up and outgrown (for the most part) a bad stutter, it's so mild now as an adult, but at ages 5-6 it was really bad. I do think some things kids do outgrow. I think behavioral therapy is still considered one of the best ways to deal with these as it's hard to get them to just go away, but managing them is an important skill to learn early on. I wish you all the best.

Well that really is great news! It definitely could've been worse!! Whew! As we all have said before, sometimes tics are hard to deal with, and we hate seeing our children with ANYTHING 'wrong' with them, but compared to what some parents are going through, we have it pretty good. Glad to hear the good news!

I can't answer your questions as I'm in no way a medical professional (although I play one on The DIS LOL!!)...I was told if they have more than one tic (doesn't have to be at the same time) & at least 1 is verbal - even if there are months in between the tics, it's tourettes. Our neuro doc gave us a list of what are considered tics & man did it open my eyes! Even some very litle things (things I've done myself) can be considered a tic. Cracking your knuckles for example. I've done that since 4th grade (and am 40-something now!) I don't have the list but maybe you could find it online.

Many kids with TTD or TS also have other anxiety-related issues like you describe. While DS14 has not actually been diagnosed with anxiety or OCD, I fully suspect he has them. My mother & I both have been diagnosed with OCD disorders, and they are highly hereditary.

I think you're doing a great job! Come here to talk, ask, vent - any time, we all know what you're dealing with, and it can be difficult, frustrating & confusing! The only advice I have for you after dealing with this for 10 years is have patience. I know, easier said than done. DS14's tics HAVE calmed down over the yers, but they're not gone. Many kids outgrow them, so I'm hoping with every year that passes it becomes less & less.

Hello. Firstly this was a wonderful thread to find. It's nice to know we are not alone.
So, I have a 6yo son that has been exhibiting tics since he was about 3 1/2. Now I don't know if the event of having twin brothers at that time set the tics off but his first tic was a gesture of getting the hair out of his face (like throwing your head back to get the hair out of your eye). He had bangs so we cut them short and that actually seemed to help. However after that we got the grimacing, then the throat clearing and now we have snorting. He still clears his throat but not very often and he's been doing some of the breathing thing as well but to a smaller degree (so far). We do our best to ignore it but I'll be the first to admit that my best could be a lot better. The advice to present the tics as something that is not a big deal and to even teach him to briefly explain them to others who may not ignore them is what I believe to be great advice and we will have to work on this.
Now from what I've learned (here and other sites), anxiety and/or excitement makes it worse and he certainly gets anxious about things but he has a lot of friends and is quite outgoing so I don't believe he has any anxiety about his school, or friends and in fact he deals with new situations and people very well. Nevertheless, he used to like to do all the extracurricular activities we had him in (swimming, basketball, soccer, T-ball, karate, and gymnastics (not all the same time of course)) but now it's a struggle to get him to do any of them. He seems to have anxiety about doing too much and complaining he is tired and wants to rest after school (but of course he comes home and proceeds to run around with his bothers for hours). At the moment he is only doing swimming but my wife and I are working with getting him involved in at least one other activity that he can do. The perplexing this is he visually would enjoy every one of the activities as he was doing them. We are trying not to be overly pushy but also feel that we need to nudge him so that he continues to be involved. The problem is of course that any nudging at all can of course cause him anxiety. As a parent this is a tough call and I'll take any advice anybody has.
Another thing I want to point out that we've tried is that about a year ago we took him to see a Clinical Social Worker. This person came highly recommended by one of our twin's physical therapists who we love and trust. He specializes in children and among other things Tourettes and tic disorders (web.mac.com/benpomerantz/Site/Healing_Strategies.htm). Now at the time he was very frank with us and warned us that our boy (5 at the time) was still too young to really put the techniques he uses to practice. I got a really good impression from him and while I didn't actually contact any references he claims to have been able to eliminate or severely mitigate most of the tics he has come across in kids and teens. I think what I also respected is that he didn't just want our money and when it was obvious after a few sessions that our son was indeed too young to really employ the techniques, we mutually decided to not continue the sessions but stay in contact and revisit with him when our boy got a bit older. So now that it is a year later I think we are going to put a call into him. He may still be too young but he's matured a lot over the last year so we'll see. We're not the kind of parents that jump into meds right away unless it becomes a much bigger problem.
After re-reading my post I'm not sure if I'm actually asking a question. I think I'm just getting more information out there for people and would appreciate any comments or advice that others who have gone through this might have.
Actually I do have one specific question in that many have said that transient tic disorder won't last longer than a year and if it does it would most likely be diagnosed as a chronic tic disorder or Tourettes but what I'm unclear about is if we're talking about a specific tic or all of them as a whole. As I stated he's had a tic since he was 3 1/2 however no specific tic has lasted more than a year. With the exception of this last week when he's been snorting and doing a bit of the throat clearing and a bit of the breathing, the tics have always been in succession.
Ok I think I'm done now. Thanks for reading.
-ezm-

I have read the threads in this post at least 5 times over the last few months as my 8 year old daughter is now experiencing vocal and motor tics on and off for the last 15 months. I would really love an update from you all about how your kids are doing. The worry and fear that I have for my daughter's future is really encompassing me.

 

[JBurke]

I have read the threads in this post at least 5 times over the last few months as my 8 year old daughter is now experiencing vocal and motor tics on and off for the last 15 months. I would really love an update from you all about how your kids are doing. The worry and fear that I have for my daughter's future is really encompassing me.

Gosh-I saw this and started reading and then noticed I was the original poster from 2007!
Well my son is all grown up now and in college! He is doing great. The ticks he experienced at age 6-7 eventually went away. We never put him on medication. We would always just try and ignore it or direct him to some other way to comfort himself. Over the years, from time to time, he would maybe have an episode of a new kind of tick (maybe blinking or jaw clenching on occasion, but never the vocal ticks any more). I noticed I have them too from time to time (mostly jaw clenching) so it just must run in the family during times of stress.
Hugs to you! Love your child and know that, like all other stages of children, this too shall pass.

 

[mumto3girls]

I posted several times on this thread already, but my child is now 21, a junior in college and doing fine. Her tics faded away around middle school and have not returned. I don’t believe her life was in any way adversely impacted by having them.

 

[E&Cmom]

I did not post in the original thread but my daughter developed tics when she was 5 and was diagnosed with TS when she was 7. The pediatrician sent us to a neuropsychologist who Specialized in tic disorders. Her tics have never been bad enough that medication was needed. She is now 18 and started University this week. Thoughout school she has done very well academically, has had good groups of friends, took part in many extracurricular activities and was accepted into a fairly competitive art school. She still does get tics especially if tired or stress but they are not as noticeable as when she was younger. I remember how stressed I was when she developed her tics and was diagnosed but it hasn’t has an adverse impact in her life. She has always been happy and healthy.

 

[floridafam]

Our DD 15 developed a tic after her last dental appt. She would open her mouth like someone would do if they were trying to “unplug” an ear. We had no idea it was a tic and sought help from her doctor. We ended up seeing a Neurologist and she thought it was PANDAS. Had a bunch of blood work done and it wasn’t but her B12 and Vit D were extremely low. She even had an MRI because she developed an issue with her eye and hand during this time.

No tumors or other concerns showed up on the MRI. She seemed to get remarkably better after we got her b12 levels back up to where they are supposed to be.

We think it’s a combo of OCD, actual pain from her wisdom teeth erupting, and her b12 and vitamin d being so low.

She was prescribed an antibiotic during this time for an infected bug bite on her leg and the tic or whatever it is/was stopped almost immediately.

It couldn’t hurt to see the pediatrician.

 

[LucFerrari]

I have read the threads in this post at least 5 times over the last few months as my 8 year old daughter is now experiencing vocal and motor tics on and off for the last 15 months. I would really love an update from you all about how your kids are doing. The worry and fear that I have for my daughter's future is really encompassing me.

Hello, I am 14 and I'll tell you about tics as one who has them. I have xd almost xd 30 at once xd and I can't help them. If i resist, they xd get worse and it creates anxiety. xd I'd like to know a little more about your daughter, to help me understand. I've had tics since i was 5 years old, and I know how it started. I was in the sandpit xd making little castles, and I created a pattern. Ive always been good with maths and logical thinking so my tics are based off of this specific pattern. Its infinite. Wheni do a tic is have to do one wasy and the other. Lets say xd i have to make a vocal sound. 1 = breathing in and making a sound, and 2 = exhaling and making the same sound. My pattern goes like this: 1221 (thats the simplest version), but out of all the times iver done the tics it goes like this: 1221 2112 2112 1221 | 2112 1221 1221 2112 | 2112 1221 1221 2112 | 1221 2112 2112 1221. It goes on forever. Its complicated, I dont expect anyone to understand. But my point is that everyone has different tics and learning from others can help to find your way and stop them. I know that your daughter is young, but excessive exercise is a very effective method, (i do 4-4 1/2 hours per day). Its effective, because on the days i dont do it, my tics are a lot worse. Seeing someone like an osteopath or a paediatric neurologist can help, but they will all say the same, to IGNORE it. xd Have a talk with the family and/or her close friends and try to ask them to ignore her tics if they mention it, because it takes pressure off of your child and that helps a lot xd Dont worry aout her future, because you learn to live with it because it becomes a part of you, and to be honest, i have NO CLUE how life would feel not having them. Try to get support ASAP, but usually they peak at 13-14 and they should usually go over time. Idk if im that case, but we'll see. Thanks for reading this far.. xd

PS: notice how i wrote "xd" a xd lot? I can't physically help it, or i can't breathe. Sorry about that. Good luck