Tics - please help. Feeling desperate!

[bundleofnerves]

Any positive stories about children with tics out there? My dd's seem to be getting worse - she's 7. I'm really worried not only by the tics but also by the fact that - according to my googling - they are usually accompanied by ocd which will show up as she gets older. I don't know if she has tourettes or just transient tics, and I'm not that bothered by the label, since as I understand it's a continuum anyway. I just want her to turn out ok in the end - so if your dc have/have had tics but are otherwise ok and happy, please let me know! Thank you!

Hi. I have 3 sons age 5, 7 and 15 and they all have/ have had tics. When my oldest was between 2 and 7 he had quite a lot and then he just seemed to grow out of them. He did have a few months when he was about 10 where he had some OCD problems but this seemed to resolve. When he was young I was very anxious about it and imagined the worse case senario. My 7 yr old has had tics on and off since he was 2 ish but this year doesn't seem to have had so many and I'm more relaxed about it. I know how you feel, it's very stressful at times but it does seem to be quite common for them to get better they get older.

My 8 year old use to get tics but thankfully nothing this past year. He is prone to be overly-sensitive & easily upset but I certainly don't worry like I used to so hopefully you dd will grow out it of it too.

DS had quite a lot of tics when he was younger - throat-clearing and finger clicking were the most annoying ones - but he is now 15 and I haven't noticed any tics for ages. He doesn't have OCD either, but does have (not officially diagnosed) dyspraxia, and had a lot of sensory issues he also seems to have grown out of.

My DD aged 8 developed a mouth-opening tic just over a year ago. It got worse for 6 months (she'd be doing it once or twice a minute all day long), then seemed to disappear for a few months, then came back again.

We saw a neurologist who confirmed it's a transient tic and offered behavioural therapy to help her replace the tic with something less noticeable. My DD decided she could do this herself and now rubs her mouth when she feels the need to tic.

She is a little OCD about tidiness but generally a normal, happy child with a nice small group of friends. And she recently managed to do a lead part in the school show and perform a solo in a music concert. The tic really isn't holding her back and I don't worry so much about it anymore.

Thank you all for posting. It really helps me to hear about kids with tics who are basically ok. PJ67 was your eldest son bothered by his tics? And if there's anyone else out there with dc who tic I would love to hear about it. I am finding it pretty hard to cope with this to be honest, just imagining the worst.

My 4 year old DS developed a tic - sort of a clearing throat, squeaking sort of noise, coupled with a single loud noise a bit like a yelp. Happens every so often, maybe once every few hours, usually when he is upset or has energy to burn.

He started it just before his 4th bday and I'm praying he grows out of it.

If I tell him off for it (like when we're in public) he seems to genuinely not grasp how loud or intrusive it is.

I never know if I'm mean to ignore him, or tell him off... What does everyone else do?

Honestly I'd never really heard about tics in mainstream kids until DS developed one and I read about it on MN. I have a relation with a learning disability who has a range of tics; until recently I thought it was linked to his learning disability, but now I realise all sorts of people have them.

I don't think my oldest son was ever bothered by his tics, but I think he didn't like me mentioning them. I tried not to but sometimes ended up saying' can you stop doing that' when it stressed me out and I think that upset him more than the tics. None of his friends ever seemed to bother either, even though in my imagination he was going to have to leave school due to the bullying he would get!

DS (7) had a throat clearing tic for over a year and prior to that a really ritualistic one where he would smooth down his hair then touch his ears to his shoulders. We are now into picking at the base of his nails which isn't too bad at all (but the nails are growing strangely ridged)

He's otherwise fine. I think he just finds comfort in the tics, it's a way of self soothing isn't it