Does anyone have experience of a child with tics?

[DifficultPifcultLemonDifficult]

Over the last couple of months my dc (10) has began to have some tics.

They bring their shoulders up and twitch their neck back and blink really hard, this repeats between 10-20 times then they are fine.

To start with it happened maybe once every week, this week it has happened multiple times a day.

It's at the point now where I am going to go to the doctor, although I'm unsure what, if anything, they can do.

Does anyone know what can cause this, if there is anything I can do, and how I can possibly help my dc with this. I have literally no experience of this at all.

TIA

I've NC'd for this

My daughter (10) has always had some sort of fairly mild/moderate tics, mainly vocal, throat clearing, that sort of thing.

The last year it's been mainly coprolalia (loud constant swearing basically) which has been tough for her at school, etc.

We were referred to Paeds who said it was a CAHMS issue. They were fairly dismissive when we met with them tbh and just said it was anxiety related, and off you go, bye!

We tried magnesium and so no difference. But about two weeks ago we tried CBD oil and honestly they are 99.9% gone.

You do have to do a lot of reading to make sure you're getting the right dosage, but if you want to know how we do it, PM me. It's a fucking miracle, I'm not kidding.

Thank you for your advice MissisBoote. Dd is effectively on a reduced timetable since the lockdown, she is not continuing with ICT and Btec PE. She got a pass to leave lessons on Friday. I think many of teachers will be relieved by that one as a number have voiced their concerns to me. The Vanguard I have been recommended Magnesium by someone else, so I think I will try it. Difficultpifcult sorry I didn't mean to kidnap your thread but I think that a pooling of knowledge can only be beneficial. It is all so very scary when your Dc is basically out of control of their own body.

My DD had tics to varying degrees over a few years and most noticeably towards the end of primary. She is 13 now and tic free. We did seek help through the GP and CAMHS as she also suffered from anxiety. Counselling helped with the anxiety and the severity of the tics which seemed to be related but eventually she just grew out of it.

Try not to worry, difficult though it is. Many children go through a period of having tics but usually do grow out of it. I had them as a child myself.

Thank you all so much for sharing.

Ive got some magnesium and B12 and will give that a try, if not I'll definitely look into CBD oil if it continues like this.

Its a huge relief that it seems fairly common, and often temporary. It is quite scary to witness, as you will all know, and it's awful to not be able to 'fix' it.

2020 has been a really weird year all round and the stress of my cancer on top is probably the cause, you've given me some great things to try so thank you all very much.

Both my sons had them in pre- and early-teen years. I wasn't too bothered because I had a permanent clearing-throat habit for my entire school life and it suddenly stopped. Haven't noticed either of them tic recently (20 and 17).

Husband occasionally gets them too - there was an eye twitch for a while, and he's recently developed a little lift of the wrist at the dining table (it's quite endearing, like a lizard on hot ground ).

Has been ill? A virus and often a strep infection can cause this.
You then find anytime they are low after that they can come back or become more noticeable again.

Would also say what helps with ds is lots of down time both after school and at the weekends. He comes home from school undresses and gets into bed with his iPad for an hour. He does one activity on a Saturday morning for 3 hours but other than that generally speaking his weekend is his own.
He used to do more mid week activities but the rushing around just never seemed to do him much good. Every child is different of course but ds very much benefits from a slower pace of life. The original lockdown was hog heaven for him!

My DS had motor and vocal tics from about the age of 3 - 7/8 - blinking, throat-clearing, sniffing, twitching, alternate tapping the back of his heel with his other foot whilst walking and clapping with stiff hands in unfamiliar/stressful situations.

Went to GP who referred to CAMHS, who diagnosed mild Tourettes (as had both motor and vocal tics and they had been present for over a year). The tics stopped a year or 2 later. He's now 13, never had them since.

@TheVanguardSix so sorry to read about your cardiac arrest and hope that you are recovering well from it. I just wanted to mention that there is a Facebook page called Sudden Cardiac Arrest UK if you are not aware of it, which has lots of help and info from survivors and family. (Sorry to jump it OP 😀)

purplemustang thank you so, so much for this!! I'm incredibly grateful to you for telling me about this page. I'll definitely ask to be invited. That is so helpful. The emotional stuff, the fear itself, is a much bigger hurdle jump than the physical stuff at times. Thank you again.

@TheVanguardSix no problem at all. I tell as many as I can as unfortunately I have seen that you don't get told all the info at hospital. It is a shame it isn't promoted by the hospitals. But it is full of people that know what you have been through or have information to help. Good luck

Has anyone had any luck either finding something that works to reduce, or finding a way to not let it stress you out? My daughter's tics change all the time, and I find it really hard not to know what's going to come next.

DS (13) has been diagnosed with a Chronic Tic Disorder. It started when he was about 10-11 but wasn't very obvious but in the last couple of years they have got worse. I videoed him one day when he wasn't looking and got an appointment with the GP. Showed her the video, she referred him to a paediatric neurologist, who also saw the video, where he got his diagnosis. They are referring him to a Tic clinic to help manage them. During this lockdown his tics have got much worse. Stress, anxiety, too much screen time (working on the computer all day then wanting to play with his friends after school work), tiredness all play a factor in how they present. I hope your GP can give you some support and a referral