Strange habits / tics in 4 year old

[babypup]

Hi everybody,

I'm new to this site...but registered as I am having a tough time with my 4.5 year old and wondered if anybody can relate or offer some words of wisdom.

Shortly after his 4th birthday (beginning of May 13) he developed an eye blinking tic. I was quite scared, having read up on things like tourettes being a possibility, but hoped it would just pass and may be a phase. The blinking stopped at then end of July, so lasted 3 months in total.

At the end of November I noticed it coming back, but it disappeared early Dec, only to flare up again on boxing day and is showing no signs of going but is getting worse.

I feel like my hopes of this being a temporary issue are now slipping away and that this may be more serious. I read that transient tics tend to go away and not recur, so should I now be getting more concerned about tourettes?

Has anybody had a child that has experienced tics, it would be great to hear your stories xx

Hi babypup.

My DD was in Y6 when she developed exactly what you are describing.

I honestly can't remember exactly how long it lasted - maybe four months or so but it might have been longer.

It got a lot worse before it got better, and I remember my DH and I being desperately worried. We sat up in bed one night talking about how this would going to have such a negative impact on her whole life..we ended up in tears worrying what on earth we could do to help her. I thought she would have it for life.

She's at college now, and tbh, I'd forgotten about it and haven't thought about it for years until I read your post.

One thing I would say about my DD is that she was having a particularly stressful and difficult year, and I'm 100% sure it was stress related.

I am also convinced that the fact that she bottled things up and preferred not to talk about things facilitated it happening, iyswim.

In the end I think it was comforting to her to do it, it was like a distraction and she said that although she couldn't help it, it felt nice and she liked it happening.

She only told me this afterwards, when it wasn't happening anymore, but on another occasion, she gave me the impression that she was choosing to do it, and didn't want to stop. so I'm not sure if sometimes she chose to do it, but at other times she couldn't control it.

Not sure if that helps. Try not to worry. Can you recognise a pattern of when it happens and/or when it goes away?

Does your DC seem withdrawn/unhappy/distressed at the time that it flares up again? With my DD, from the time it started, to the time it stopped it was happening all the time, within that period, it didn't come and go, iyswim, and once it had stopped, it never happened again.

Meant to say I know how you're feeling, and hope you can get to the bottom of it.

Thanks so much for replying Misfitless, it means a lot that you have taken time to respond and that you recognise and can relate to the anxiety of this situation.

Just as you have described, my son's blinking built up during the first 3 months phase in the summer and was almost constant. When it went away I felt so relieved and thought it was just a passing 'tic'. I have no idea why it has resurfaced after 4 months.

When it first arose, I could find no connection to any anxiety/problems and he seemed his happy gregarious self. The only possible link I can see this time is he got really anxious around Halloween, started thinking about vampires all the time and has been struggling to get to sleep at night without a lot of comfort, but that started at least 3 weeks before the blinking resurfaced, so I'm not even sure if it's related. He is happy, outgoing and his usual self apart from this slight fear of bedtime (but again there was no link to fear/anxiety the first time round that I could spot).

It's such a worry, all roads lead to tic disorders or tourettes online. It's the fact it went away and came back again within the year that's worrying me.

Thanks so much for sharing xx

Just thought I'd add that Db is currently going through this with my Dnephew. The facial tic coincided with him starting school where he was having a issues settling down. He'd been worried about eating lunches at school. It turned out he kept being told off for not finishing his packed lunch.

Dn recently had an appointment with a paed. consultant for something unrelated and further tests showed it wasn't neorological. It seems to come and go in its own accord however we have noticed it flares up when Dnephew is overly stressed and anxious. Or even a few consecutive late nights over Christmas set him off.

I do hope you get to the bottom of it. Google is awful especially when you're worried about your little one.

My child had a facial 'tic' that turned out to be focal motor seizures: a type of epilepsy. Without medication she can have weeks of multiple episodes then be seizure free for a while - epilepsy is not necessrily a constant or daily event. She is now medicated and mostly seizure free.

I appreciate there can be little more alarming than an Internet forum giving suggestions of multiple illnesses I would urge you to note when they are most frequent ( eg before sleeping, when tired, with a fever, after exertion and so on), keep a note of how often and how long you are seeing the blinking episodes and try to video it too; and then see your doctor.

Thanks adoptmama. I have done quite a bit of research on epilepsy as I notice when he starts up with the blinking tic it's really bad watching TV. But he doesn't have absences so I pretty much ruled it out. Plus when he had no symptoms for a full 4 months I wrote it off as a possibility. Did your child's tic come and go? Can I ask what symptoms you noticed please, type of tic, frequency etc. Epilepsy is something I have often wondered about in relation to my son x

Hi baby pup, have sent you a private message. Feel free to message me back if you wish/need.

Hi. My oldest son had tics on and off from around age 2 until 7. It started with blnking and he developed other ones. My second son who is now 7 has also had tics for several years, blinking, shrugging shoulders, sniffing and several others. Like you I tend to get worried sick about them but I have come to accept that he is a happy little boy who doesnt seem bothered by them. I also try to remind myself that they dont seem to be getting worse and were probably at their worse about 2 yrs ago.

There seems to be a huge spectrum of tics from almost normal to severe tourettes and I have spent a lot of time very worried and imagining how terrible things would be for them but this hasnt really happened. Chances are they wil come and go but wont be a huge issue but I totaly understand your concern.

Hi. My oldest son had tics on and off from around age 2 until 7. It started with blnking and he developed other ones. My second son who is now 7 has also had tics for several years, blinking, shrugging shoulders, sniffing and several others. Like you I tend to get worried sick about them but I have come to accept that he is a happy little boy who doesnt seem bothered by them. I also try to remind myself that they dont seem to be getting worse and were probably at their worse about 2 yrs ago.

There seems to be a huge spectrum of tics from almost normal to severe tourettes and I have spent a lot of time very worried and imagining how terrible things would be for them but this hasnt really happened. Chances are they wil come and go but wont be a huge issue but I totaly understand your concern.