If your DS,9, developed a quite noticable nervous tic what would you do?

[cadelaide]

DH says leave it a few weeks till we visit GP and I think I agree.

This follows slowly escalating anxiety over a couple of years, I just don't know. I'd really like to hear of any experience.

My DS1 is a fairly anxious child. What sort of tic has your DS got?

I try to work on getting my DS1 to slow down, and make sure he gets lots of exercise. I'm fairly high-strung myself, so I understand, but it doesn't mean I'm good at dealing with it.

I also try to get him to do slow breathing, to slow down, when he's doing badly.

Oh thankyou NQC, I've posted so often about my boy and I was beginning to think people had given up on me, I just feel so bloody useless and we (obviously) so want to help him.

The tic started about 3-4 weeks ago. At first he would stretch his neck to one side, now it's evelved and he sort of juts his chin out too. It's become really quite noticable. We've told him it's not unusual in a boy of his age and apart from that we ignore it. I just wish I could help him to relax.

evolved

Please please dont worry too much about this and don't build it up too much in your mind - and search archives for threads (my old name was callmemadam). My ds did this from 9 to 11 with varients of tics, new tics and so on, until we thought observers would think him loopy. They went at about 11 although at almost 15 he still has the odd twitch under stress, but it is a fairly normal stage that your ds will get past, Ignoring them helps, and gentle reminders once in a while dont hurt, but if you pick him up too much he will get stressed, and worse.

What I would do is make an appointment with the GP in his name, then go to it during school without him. No idea whether that is the right thing though!

In fact the particular move you describe is EXACTLY what ds did, and he still rolls his shoulders. It releives stress, so massage and osteopathy can also help.

Thanks Sal.

Was he anxious generally, and if so how does he cope now?

A boy in the class I teach displayed those symptoms and was diagnosed with mild tourettes. But there were some behavioural indicators too.

It doesn't sound too bad, tbh.

Would he accept massage from you or your DH?

I wouldn't stress about it that much, but try to encourage him to relax (watch diet, make sure he exercises, encourage positive thoughts - I write positive little notes to DS1, which seems to help).

Do you know what he is anxious about in particular, if anything?

Cadelaide - yes, he was quite anxious looking back, but superficially it didn't show, hence the tics, I think. I am as sure as I can be that it won't be Tourette's which has other clear behavioural markers associated with it: it really isn't uncommon for children of this age to develop tics which they simply grow out of a while later. My ds had several, the most worrying being an inability to swallow food, and hearing voices shouting at him in his head, particularly when falling asleep. All of these, while alarming to dh and me at the time, turned out to be fairly common and not very important. If your ds has stresses you can help with then I would say concentrate on alleviating those, but don't stress about the tics which will go eventually. There are wuite a few older threads on here about the same thing, I'm just useless at posting links.

NQC, I do try and get him out running around as much as possible, but massage is hopeless. He just collapses squirming and giggling, then wailing "I'm tooo sensitiiive"

He doesn't seem to be anxious about anything in particular, although he does worry a great deal about "getting into trouble", especially at school. He finds the idea of being reprimanded by a teacher appalling, horrifying. He's almost too good, iyswim, and will fret if his mates are misbehaving.

Sal, thankyou. He has had trouble swallowing and we have been alarmed by these symptoms, along the lines of "whatever is it all leading to?", so it's really helpful to have an idea of what we might expect. He has been on the verge of a panic attack a few times.

I wonder whether relaxation CDs might help, anyone tried?

Poor you, you sound so concerned. There is a very good book called the out of synch child has fun which may help him find other ways to relieve his stress. It may be a very sensory based thing. You caould always see your gP and ask for their advice re referral to OT or Clinical Psychology, but he may not need that... . There are also good cds for relaxation/confidence which could help if he is generally anxious. YOU can get them easily online...
good luck

Hello, I dont know how you feel about herbal remedies etc, but I have a very sensitive dd, also very anxious, and its making me anxious ! I read about one of the Bioforce herbal remedies recently and have just started using it,its called Avena Sativa, and is just extract of oats. Its liquid and you just add it to a little water 2 to 3 times a day, 20 drops for adults and for children its 1 drop for every year of their age. We are both taking it ! Only started on Monday and I hav noticed an improvement already. I bought mine from a chemist. It may be well worth a try, cant do any harm, hope this helps, I know what you are going through to some extent and it is so worrying and draining.

Thanks Debris, I'm a believer in herbal remedies as it happens.

I have some melissa in the garden and I passed a bit to DS to sniff, just to marvel at the ponginess really. He said "It makes me feel all sort of sleepy Mum". Then I recalled that in herbal lore melissa is known to be helpful for stress. Interesting.

Extract of oats sounds barking, tbh, but I'll try anything and I think there's a lot to be said for the placebo effect too. How old is your DD?

mindful, I'm off to amazon to look for that book, thanks.

if you are into herbal stuff checkout the australian bush remedies too, they are fabulous!!!