DS has developed a sniffing tic. Help!

[HereComesYourMam]

DS(11) has had a sniffing tic for nearly three months now. It's driving us nuts.

Pretty certain it's not congestion (we've tried various things, eg steam), and hesitant to ring the doctor as they're so busy and I'm not sure they can do much to help anyway(?).

He's always been quite a high maintenance child, but not a particularly anxious one. The tic started before this lockdown, so not directly related to that. Obviously it's been a pretty weird year but he had settled well at secondary school and was enjoying it. So not sure where it's come from.

From what I've read about tics online, you're supposed to ignore them and they'll generally go away. It's pretty hard to ignore tbh (he doesn't do it all the time, but when he does it's constant, and loud, and seems to be getting worse), but we're doing our best.

Has anyone else had experience of this, or similar? It would be great to have some reassurance that it will just go away... or to know if there's something that we can actually do to help.

Thanks

Hi there! My eldest did the same for a while. She is otherwise smart and aware of what she does, but she occasionally has tics. We also had the sniffing. Earlier we have had blinking (which is less bad). I did not mention the blinking but I did call her out over the sniffing as it doesn't sound pleasant (certainly not in these times where every sign of a cold is regarded with suspicion). In this case I think it did help to make her aware of it and also of the way it sounds, as it helped her realise when she did it. Now the sniffing has gone and we wait for a new tic!

Hi, my dd had two tics between the ages of 7-10. Not sniffing but eye rolling and a mouth one, both of which drove us mad ! However after pointing it out to her which upset her initially, we then talked about it calmly and I soon realised it distressed her so eased off massively. I played it down by telling her 'don't worry, it will pass, we all have habits' - don't know if this was the right way to approach it by the way. Gradually both tics did disappear after we just relaxed and ignored them. Anxiety and tiredness tended to make them worse in my dds case.

It will go! I speak from experience. My two boys were/are tic tockers.
My youngest is on the spectrum, my eldest is not. Both are/were 'ticcy'.
My youngest, in the first lockdown, developed this very annoying and excessive tic, which lifted off when school went back. He's been much more settled during this lockdown.
And it's the same with my eldest. He had a throat-clearing tic throughout his primary school years which calmed down by year 6.
Tiredness is a huge factor. I also gave my younger one more magnesium this lockdown. He's sleeping much better and longer this lockdown and eating more vitamin/mineral-rich foods than before. I do wonder if the tics are related to fatigue and deficiencies (ASD people tend to have lower magnesium). I am not suggesting for a moment that your son is ASD. Not at all. But knowing that my ASD child would have lower magnesium than usual has made me think a lot about vitamin deficiencies in relation to tics. Try upping his B6 as well through diet or supplements. I call the B vitamins the nerve vitamins because they're so good for our nervous system.

Please don’t draw attention to it, it WILL pass. These things come and go. We had American accents for a while, which was fun, and that passed too.

My 10 year old had loads of different tics over the years. We did go to the GP as soon as one disappeared he got another we have had pulling socks up, throat clearing, sniffing and eye rubbing. The Gp’s advice was to try and Ignore them but obviously if your child is aware have a chat about how they feel about them which really helped us. They are really common and usually they disappear on there own. However they can be an early sign of Tourette’s syndrome he advised me to read the info on nhs website and if we had any concerns to go back when he was a teenager x

Not DC but my Mum does this - I noticed over Covid. It’s only started recently. I think it’s an anxiety thing. She sniffs at the end of every sentence she says. Drives me mad.

Is your DS prone to tics or is this new behaviour? I'd probably want to rule out a physical cause before ignoring it/treating it as a tic. What does your DS say, is his nose itchy/feeling 'funny'/etc.?

You can get seasonal allergic rhinitis (www.nhs.uk/conditions/allergic-rhinitis/), for example... I'm actually thinking of this because I currently have rhinitis caused by pregnancy and I'm unconsciously sniffing quite a bit due to the itchy sensation!

Both my boys have tics. One has asd diagnosis and he can control his tics in public but at home when he's relaxed he's in full swing. The other has no diagnosis and I don't want to go down that road really at the moment, but he has the throat clearing one, pretty much all the time. He will also randomly shout odd things or make loud strange noises. We are trying to ignore it all at the moment and see if it goes away as he's only 7.
I do remember having a blinking tic myself when I was a child, and my big brother making fun of it. It went away thankfully.

My DS developed a physical tic at that age, last year he was diagnosed with tic disorder, we are currently on the waiting list for CBT, apparently it helps with learning how to control them.

If it new and never had tics before it’s worth ruling out PANDAS.

Definitely ignore them. One tic on its own isn’t usually cause to worry. But monitor. If there is more than one and physical and motor tics then Tourettes would need to be looked into. Lots of Drs brush tics off and don’t bother to actually assess properly. My son had tics for years before he was diagnosed with Tourettes, it could have been diagnosed much sooner if taken seriously.

Thanks everyone - this is all really helpful. Vitamin supplements is a great idea - apart from anything else I think it would help him to feel that we've done something.

He's never had anything like this before. He definitely is tired though, and probably has had a build up of anxiety over the last six months with the transition to secondary, even though it's gone well.

Do make sure he doesn’t have rhinitis- two of my sons have tree pollen allergy/ dust mites allergy.

I also have a lot of experience of Tourette’s - ignoring (as I’m not telling off/ increasing their anxiety) is important. If it’s a tic he may not really be aware he’s doing it - because it comes from such an old part of the brain (Basal ganglia).

Does he have nasal congestion- rhinitis, or does he have any evidence of premonitory urge (tics). What family history is there of allergies or tics. Steroid nasal sprays can help with rhinitis

My eldest was the first to have tics in our family - he didn’t go on to develop Tourette’s (other children did). I found it much easier to ignore once I viewed it as something he couldn’t help, it went away after three months (occasionally returns).

But I do sympathise - endless sniffing would drive me daft too!

DS1 had a throat clearing tic that seemed to go on for months. He also had one where he miaowed at the end of every sentence!

The throat clearing we did ignore mostly but on occasion when it was particularly annoying (eg watching a film) I would say, DS1 please have a drink of water and try not to cough for a while (I don't think he even realised he was doing it most of the time). It did go by itself eventually.

I'd be interested to know if other people's kids have developed tics over the last year, especially if they've never had them before. Apparently they have become more common?

Totally normal , my son developed a sniffling tic .On a (pre Covid )visit to the school I mentioned to the teacher and she replied the whole class were doing it and had been for over a month .

My son has been having different tics for 3 years on and off he’s constantly sniffing and clearing his throat, has anyone got any tips to help reduce the tics? Thanks

@HereComesYourMam

I'd be interested to know if other people's kids have developed tics over the last year, especially if they've never had them before. Apparently they have become more common?

My 6yr old had a throat clearing tic for months & months. Then developed a high pitched squeaking tic but oddly, the latter only happened at home! Never ever at school 🤔

@Poppins2016

Is your DS prone to tics or is this new behaviour? I'd probably want to rule out a physical cause before ignoring it/treating it as a tic. What does your DS say, is his nose itchy/feeling 'funny'/etc.?

You can get seasonal allergic rhinitis (www.nhs.uk/conditions/allergic-rhinitis/), for example... I'm actually thinking of this because I currently have rhinitis caused by pregnancy and I'm unconsciously sniffing quite a bit due to the itchy sensation!

I was thinking the same thing! My son did the same thing and I was convinced it was a tic, turns out is is some kind of allergy that he gets every year. He gets a steroid nasal spray and is right as rain in a week or so! Def get checked by a doctor