When your child develops a twitch

Mary - posted on 02/12/2011

Margaret
Thats funny because the first thing that I notice was Cody clearing his thought or what sounded like a gruntting noise, Then sniffleing and eye rolling came next. I would yell at him about the eye rolling and sniffilling. I didnt know it was TS. I thought he just needed to blow his nose and he was rolling his eyes to just be a kids. I felt really horriable when I found out it was because of TS. Because I would yell at him, "go blow your nose already.) When I found out I cried. I couldn't stop appoligizing.

Lisa - posted on 02/10/2011

Hello Margaret,
My son has Aspergers, Tourettes Syndrome and Anxiety Disorder. He is now going to be 18 years old in two months. The first sign of Tourettes that I noticed came on quickly, it involved throat clearing and head twitching. This seemed to be prompted by stress. I also noticed that when his bangs were longer the head twitching would be more exaggerated. I don’t know if this could be the case for your son. We went through periods where the head twitching was pretty bad. It almost seemed to calm him when he did it. He has since outgrown this but the throat clearing is still an issue at times. Please make him an appointment to be seen and let us know how it goes!

Margaret - posted on 02/10/2011

Thanks, Mary, I'll have to go look for that. I definitely prefer herbals when possible. Massage therapy... makes sense. Guess I'll know a bit more on what I need to do after our first doctor visit. I can definitely do massage now, though. Much appreciated!

Mary - posted on 02/10/2011

The tics are painful sometimes. When his whole head jurks an his eyes and he grunts at the same time, he is usually in pain. Sometimes stress makes the tics worse so the can prescribe muscle relaxers or nerve pills like clonzapam to help. One rule I go by if it makes my kid seem out of it its out the door.

Mary - posted on 02/10/2011

There is actually some things you can do to help with some kids that does not requier meds. There's deep presure theripy. You rub the area that is ticing and it helps relax the muscel.(sorry Spelling is not my stong point) Streching can help. I've heard about diet changes that can help, and herbs. They are just as expencive as meds, and some have the same or worse side effects. You should look into the message theripy. Their is a movie about TS and it has differant approaches to handleing it and the differant degrees to which it can be. I had it recorded on my u verse and DH erased it. Try going to the library or looking under showtime documentrys. I think it is called I have touretts but turrets doesn't have me??? I wish I could remember it. Anyway they show they herbal treatments as well as medication and even a sergery. I wouldnt do the surgery unless it was absolutely needed. The best way to treat this is to understand it and how it effects your child. Each one is differant, whats right for my son may not be right for yours. Good luck

Margaret - posted on 02/10/2011

@Diane;;I definitely appreciate your take on the medications. My biggest fear is that some doctor is just going to tell me to drug up my son, whether for autism or whatever else he has, and I don't want to do that. I'm sure that, for severe cases, medication has to help; perhaps for Mary that is true.
Is there anything that you do to help your son through a more natural or homeopathic way? Does your son ever seem in pain from his tics?
Thanks for the positivity--I need that right now :)

Diane - posted on 02/10/2011

My son who is ten has Aspergers, and Tourette Syndrome. He was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome at age 3 with multiple twitches and tic's. Neuro diagnosed him with Tourette's. Personally medications seem to do more damage to him then help. We always end up just giving him meds when the tics are really really bad and being on nothing when they are not so bad. Not so bad means they are not hurting him... I read in this thread that the woman said he sons were controlled.. wonder what he is on??? My son takes Respirldol and Haldol but both cause permenant tics and other problems for him so we are only on them when totally needed for tics that cause pain or damage. Clonidine is one he takes when he is in so much pain from the tics, or he is hurting himself and needs to be knocked out.

Hope your son is well.. Tourettes is nothing to worry about, its just an added ingredient to the recipe of life.

Margaret - posted on 02/09/2011

@Mary--thank you. I was reading about that a little this morning; it never even crossed my mind before now. It looks as if he's developing seizures, which scares the hell out of me.

@Katherine--SO on it. We have a doctor's appointment next week, and I imagine we'll go from there, probably to a specialist.

Thank you for the words, ladies. I'm definitely becoming nervous.

Mary - posted on 02/09/2011

I would say it could be Tourets syndrom. Sometimes it is interactive with Autism and the tics can be sever. Does he do any vocal sounds that are repetitive?? I deffinately think that he needs to be seen by an Dr. perhaphaps a nuerologist. T.S. can be controled for the most part b medication. Without it my oldes Cody looks like he is in total spasms from head to toe. with the right medications you would'nt even know he has it. My youngest is Autistic and because he's not vocal with his tics he isnt labeled TS. But takes medications that help with the flapping and motor tics. I hope you get some good news. I know its all so scarry, and your mind races woundering what is happeneing now or what next, but I wish you well. I'll keep you in my prayers.

Katherine - posted on 02/09/2011

I would speak to a neurologist ASAP. It's sounds pretty dangerous.
It's called a tic and based on the fact it's lifting him off of the ground he definitely needs to see a specialist.