Tourette Syndrome & Tic Disorders Support Group

The kind of stress that we as adults experience is not necessarily the same kind of stress that a child has. Even though your daughter goes to a school that she loves does not mean that she never gets stress in her own little way. There are many things that can do this to a child. Classwork, homework, tests, situations that the kids can get in at recess, just being overwhelmed, etc., just to name a few. It can be as simple as her feeling rushed to finish a timed test. Excitement is another thing that can increase tics. The reason the doctor says the summer is a time when most TS kids tic less is because most of the time it is a slower less rushed way of life for them. Kids with TS seem to wax more right before school starts (in anticipation of a new teacher, new friends, etc.) right before any big holidays (excitement), right before school ends for summer (excitement, anticipation). My son Wesley (9) absolutely loves his school, his friends, his teacher, etc., but he came home from school last Friday crying and so upset and has ticced more over the weekend. When I question him it is because he had a substitute teacher on Friday. I asked him was she mean to him. No. Did she punish him. No. I have questioned him many times over the weekend and he says she was very nice. He liked her. When I ask him why he is so out of sorts because of her if she was so nice it is because he said he felt he had to hide his gum chewing from her the whole day because he was afraid she would be upset with him for chewing gum. (He has a chewing tic right now and the school allows him to chew gum so as not to chew his fingers. It helps.) He said she also told him to hurry and finish his work because they needed to move on to something else. (He has a 504 that allows extra time to complete assignments because of his OCD) You see, his stress was because he did not know if she knew that he had special accommodations and that "worried" him. I called the school Monday morning and they said they would put it in his file that any sub was to be made aware so as not to make him upset. You see the sub was really a nice person. He even said she was nice to him. It just blew his whole day and weekend because of him not knowing for sure what was going on. He is on Lexapro 15 mg. daily for the OCD and Anxiety Disorder that he has. It doesn't seem to be helping a whole lot other than he doesn't seem to be as anxious. The OCD is still bad. I can't imagine what it would be like if he wasn't on any medicine at all. The loud throat bark that you said your daughter has now sounds like something Wesley has just started. The other day we were in a store and from out of nowhere it started. When I did it later that night to show my husband (when Wesley was not around) it hurt my throat so bad and for several hours after. I didn't do it but one time. Wesley had done it several times. I can't imagine how it must feel to him and your daughter. It really is a hard scrubbing feeling on the back of the throat. I hope this helps answer your questions somewhat. Sometimes it just helps knowing others go through the same things that you are going through.

Thank you!! I totally understand what your son went through with the sub and now that I think of it she is the same way as well. She wants, like your son, to do well but at the same time adds a ton of pressure.

I have a 10 yr.ld grandson who lives with me that has TS and also has that throat bark right now. It changes though. Sometimes it's a snorting noise, sometimes a little screaming noise but it's always something. I get the feeling that he tries to hold back when he's at school because when he gets home he's very vocal which is probably why you were told it is not as severe in the summer months. The tics will continuously change and sometimes even seem as if they've gone away. Summer is the perfect time to try new meds. Some work better for some than others. Keep researching and don't be afraid to ask your MD to prescribe something you think might help. Hang in there!!!

School just ended a few weeks ago and now he has these verbal tics. I guess I am seeing a trend now. Thanks

Sometimes my son's tics got better in the summer, but not always. It really varies and each person is unique. There are many other meds that can offer relief. Stress reduction seems to help sometimes. Not only stress can make the tics worse. Other emotions- excitement, anger, frustration etc seem to have an affect at times.

i am 19 now, and have had tics my whole life, but wasn't diagnosed i think untill i entered either 3rd or 5th grade, and i was on zoloft for a few years, which i think helped me alot. but then i went off the zoloft, and i started to kind of "outgrow" my tics.

i know, though, that when i get stressed or nervous, my tics act up like crazy, and they used to change all the time too. i would have a vocal tic for a few months, then practically overnight it would change to an arm-flinging tic, and so on. but i can see how tics might lessen in the summer, because you don't have to worry about school and you're much more relaxed. i definitly noticed a difference in the summer because homework cause an explosion of tics for me. i would fling pencils across a room because my tics would be so bad when i did homework.

i would suggest even getting your daughter involved in yoga or tai chi, or any hobby that relaxes her. i've noticed the more relaxed i am, the easier it is to control my tics.

i'm here to talk if you or your daughter ever need someone.

Sometimes as parents we can drive ourselves crazy looking for reasons why our kids tic. One thing that is important to realise, is that kids with tourettes, will tic regardless of triggers like stress excitement. etc. While these things will or can certainly exacerbate tics there doesn't always need to be a reason for the tics our kids are doing.

I have a 10 year old boy who was diagnosed with tourettes about a year ago. He had been having tics for a while in particular sniffing & curling his toes but we put this down to nerves at first but looking back it was the start of his tourettes. He came back from school one day and was on the floor and was jumping up. It turned out a teacher and shouted at him for something he hadn't done (he hardly ever gets shouted at) and this must have upset him enough to make any tics much worse. From then he has had various tics from hopping to doing a small jump in his seat. More recently he has made some facial grimaces but they are not that pronounced.

I had to pay to see a private consultant to get him properly diagnosed as our own GP didn't really know what I was talking about when I tried to explain things.

When he was finally diagnosed with tourettes it took me back and I just felt in some state of shock. I felt like I couldn't really talk about it as I didn't want to draw attention to the fact. My husband was quite upset to. We have been told that it is genetic from my husbands side. When we were in with the consultant my husband pulled a slight face which he does when he concentrates and ive hardly noticed until it was pointed out and she said thats it. His brother also does a sort of grimace, again I have hardly ever noticed this until it was pointed out. My husband also said his mom used to tell him to stop rolling his eyes when he was younger. We were told that my son didn't need any medication to control his tourettes but that it may get worse when he was 11-14. The tics do wax and wane and sometimes he can go for weeks without doing hardly anything at all. I sometimes even forget he has tourettes.

I am so proud of Jack as he is a wonderful boy who is caring, kind and a lovely son & brother. He is a real joker and enjoys acting. He attends a drama school and plays football for our local team. He does really well at school and is top of his class at maths. He is such a chatterbox and is always trying to make people laugh. Most kids seem to accept him for who he is and we have worked hard at always filing him full of confidence. I tell him if people make a comment to just say "Yeah and im still this gorgeous". He laughs at saying that to me the person saying something looks pretty small. I know it gets him down sometimes but he keeps on and still smiles which makes me so proud. He has a girl at his school that is blind and she had said to him i wish I could see so I could see you Jack as he had been helping her around the school. He said to me that he wasn't as bad as the little girl at school because he could see.

It is very hard emotionally on us a parents as we worry so much about our children and want to protect them from everything. I don't always find it easy to talk about and find it really annoying when people just say oh tourettes thats swearing isn't it?. I wish the TV programmes made would talk about it and show a more positive side inside of the worst cases (but I guess thats TV).

Anyway what im trying to say is I am working on things and am so proud of Jack for the way he handles things. Having tourettes is not going to stop him from doing anything and we are going to be behind him every step of the way. XXXXXX

Chocolate~
I LOVE the thing you told Jack to say, "Yay, and I'm still this gorgeous!" That is a perfect response to get peoples attention off the problem and have them focus on his whit and humor instead.
Thanks for sharing and welcome!
Hugs!
Kristin