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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To worry about som's nervous tic

30 replies

polkadotpj · 15/02/2020 19:54

My son has variously had eye twitching, cough and now is sniffing and blowing air out of his nose as a nervous thing. It's definitely this, been to optician and GP and I've no idea how to start with correcting it. Ignore it? (Hard as it's so irritating but then crushing as his face falls if we mention it) , doctor, psychology support? It's driving me mad and worrying me in equal measure. His brother is driven crazy by it and I fear his classmates too as he's mentioned not being as friendly with his formerly great pals. Help! Anyone had the same?

OP posts:
LovingLola · 15/02/2020 19:56

How old is he ?

Original poster
polkadotpj · 15/02/2020 19:57

8 sorry

OP posts:
Singlenotsingle · 15/02/2020 19:58

You need specialist advice and support on this.

Original poster
polkadotpj · 15/02/2020 20:00

I thought so. Was just hoping for a handhold and any other experience

OP posts:
WreckTangled · 15/02/2020 20:00

Ask school to refer to the school nurse. They should be able to do some anxiety work with him. (That's what we would do in our area but each one differs).

InescapableDeath · 15/02/2020 20:00

How long’s it been going on? It’s quite common to have tics temporarily at this age. I moved my son that new school ages 8 and for six months he cycled through various tics. I got so annoyed! And so hard trying to not be annoyed! But it did eventually calm down and has now stopped.

Tombakersscarf · 15/02/2020 20:00

What did the GP say? We were referred to a neurologist with ds' tics.
Though another GP did talk about support with anxiety - I wouldn't describe him as anxious at all. He is unlikely to be able to stop through will but can hold it in a time still a more appropriate location, then they burst out. You can't correct it

Serin · 15/02/2020 20:00

How old is he?
One of ours had a nervous eye twitch when he was in primary school that was much worse if he was tired or spent too long watching screens.
It eventually resolved itself with no medical involvement. We made a real effort to get him out in the fresh air every day and built his confidence through sport (rugby) but no idea if this helped or not, it seemed to.

nokidshere · 15/02/2020 20:06

As @InescapableDeath says, tics are pretty common around this age.

Try not to worry or keep asking him to stop (easier said than done I know). An 8yr old boy that I know has been taking magnesium which has had fantastic results in stopping them. Other people I know have given it to their children for anxiety and have had amazing results so maybe something worth trying?

This is the one that they have had results with.

To worry about som's nervous tic
Itsagrandoldteam · 15/02/2020 20:06

My son has been through this several times, since about the age of 8, he is 16 now. His problem was mainly blinking, it would drive us mad, but the best thing to do is ignore it. With my son, he just stopped doing it eventually, sometimes it lasted days, sometimes weeks. His always coincided with something stressful happening at school, such as bullying or exams.

I hope your son grows out of it, if it carries on too long though I would make an appointment with your GP. Good luck.

sleepylittlebunnies · 15/02/2020 20:11

My DS with ASD has this. He used to do a cough/clearing of his throat when he was younger when he was anxious. We ignored it.

He developed eye twitching in the months leading up to SATS; before turning 11. His teacher was concerned and we got his eyes tested and they were fine. We and his teacher put it down to anxiety and stress. We didn’t comment on it, didn’t put any pressure on him at all. He mentioned it as friends had noticed, I told him that I thought it’s from worrying and he told his friends that and they were lovely.

The twitching stopped at the end of his SATS. He didn’t pass. I’ve only noticed it since when he is public speaking, which he does get nervous about and very slightly when he’s trying to maintain prolonged eye contact with someone in authority.

I don’t know for your DS but this has been our experience.

Original poster
polkadotpj · 15/02/2020 20:23

This all sounds very familiar. We went to GP with the cough and he's got an inhaler and almost as soon as we got inhaler the sniffing/ air blowing out started. His brother has been awful with him lately (pre teen moody and mean) plus there have been other things he's worried about
I'll look into magnesium and maybe counselling. He's a deep thinker and prone to worrying like me poor love Confused

OP posts:
picklesdragonisawelshdragon · 15/02/2020 20:29

It's definitely about addressing the anxiety. DS1 had various tics. The speech therapist reassured us, to ignore while building up his confidence etc. We were told to go back to the speech therapist if he began to notice his own tics, and respond to them (get cross with himself about it).

Herpesfreesince03 · 15/02/2020 20:32

Do you think he has Tourette’s

LabiaMinoraPissusFlapus · 15/02/2020 20:34

It is pretty common around that age and tends to just go over time. My son had it and has now stopped (he is 14 with ASD). He started at around age 7 and did it on and off with the seasons (also common!). He doesn't have any now. My daughter has also had the odd bout but much less and my other son too! They come and go and have definitely decreased and stopped with time. I think ignoring it is the way forward as I read around a bit and this seemed to be the general advice.

fedup2017 · 15/02/2020 20:35

Ds had a throat clearing tic at this age. He's grown out of it ( I think).
Once we worked out what was going on we tried to ignore it but also use it as a clue to ask him what was going on. 9/10 he was worrying about something and talking it through helped. Often he was leaving homework to the last minute. The last time it happened was last summer when he was worried about his favourite teacher leaving. He hasn't done it since then.

saraclara · 15/02/2020 20:38

I remember driving my parents mad by clearing my throat, when I was a kid. I didn't even realise I was doing it excessively. Presumably I spotted at some point.

You did need to have a serious talk with your other son though. It's absolutely not acceptable for him to be being so mean that his sibling is so anxious. Being a pre-teen is no excuse for it. This is not an inevitable part of being that age, so you need to come down hard on his behaviour.

Bringbackthebill · 15/02/2020 20:38

My ds had exactly this . It started with blinking then coughing and also doing the blowing air out of his nose.
It used to drive me mad but all the advice was to ignore it, which wasn’t easy.
He did eventually grow out of it.

saraclara · 15/02/2020 20:39

Spotted= stopped

ImportantWater · 15/02/2020 20:41

Mine also has exactly this. I mostly just ignore it and also use it as a guide to if he is stressed. He is 12 now, it was at its worse when he started school age 4 (eye tic) and secondary school (sniffing). DH gets really wound up by it but keeps it to himself or rants to me. I have found that too much screen time can contribute so take steps to reduce it when his blinking or sniffing becomes overly apparent.

ImportantWater · 15/02/2020 20:42

He is sitting beside me right now sniffing!

WhiteRabbit343 · 15/02/2020 20:46

I was recently diagnosed with Tourette's.

I developed a twitch in my eyes when I was around 8. This started as a heavy blinking for a few years that I learned to live with. It then progressed to twitches all over my face such as my eye brows and my ears and caused the muscles of my face to ache.

When I got to about 20 the twitches were in all my joints and my back and was really starting to cause pain so I saw a specialist and was eventually diagnosed. Unfortunately there's not much that can be done if it is Tourette's but I have learned to live with it.

My specialist did say it's very common for children to get all sorts of twitches but that they usually grow out of them. All the best!

ittakes2 · 15/02/2020 20:47

A lot of people have suggested you ignore it but I totally disagree. It’s a sign he is anxious or stressed - he is compulsively doing a certain behaviour. You need gp and referral to a specialist so he can learn skills to manage his anxieties. It’s a good age to see a therapist - he might refuse if he is older and problems get worse.

Original poster
polkadotpj · 15/02/2020 20:50

I'm more than ok getting him see. Just breaks my heart that my loving little boy, who hugs and tells me he loves me isn't feeling happy inside. I'll get an appointment booked. Thanks for all your replies

OP posts:
DontFundHate · 15/02/2020 20:52

Have you heard of PANDAS? Obvs you haven't provided loads of info but it made me instantly think of that.

Hope things improve soon @polkadotpj Flowers