6yr old daughter eye rolling tic - what is it?

[hellswelshy]

Hi just wondering if anybody else had experience of this. My 6yr old daughter,who is an identical twin, has recently started rolling her eyes. I think she did it occasionally previously when uncomfortable or embarrassed but a month ago it started to increase. I pointed it out to her gently, as wanted to see if she realised and also to say that enrolling may appear rude to some people, like teachers. She said she couldn't help it and got a bit upset so I dropped and reassured her it was fine, just one of those things. After this we had a very busy time at home, with visitors and lots going on and she and her sister were overtures. At this point the eyerolling really stepped up! We took her to our GP and were told to keep an eye on it, that it MAY be a tic or mild seizure...I admit I was a little worried. Then as we have all had more rest and relaxation, and stopped mentioning it to her it seems to have drastically decreased. She is still doing it but about 80% less than before?
Anybody else had experience of this or who could shed some light on it?

Sorry few typos ...should say over tired not overtures and eye rolling not enrolling....

I am by not means an expert in the slightest but it sounds stress related. I've had slight compulsion tic things in the past and they are always worse when I am tired or stressed, or when I am actively aware of what I'm doing but they have generally faded away. Sorry I can't be of any real use.

Thanks for the reply; i definitely think its stress/tiredness related too. She can be a bit of a anxious little being at times.. I just want to understand it i suppose and rule out anything else.

My son has had the same thing on and off this past year, but in the form of blinking rapidly/exaggerated blinking. Mainly when relaxing, like he loses control. Have been told it's a tic also. It did stop for 4 months July-Nov, but has started back up again. He was 4 when it started last May. You are not alone with tics x

I think the majority of tics sort themselves out over time with no intervention. Sounds like you're doing a good thing by not making too much of it, and minimising stress.

I had many tics as a child. Excessive blinking, eye rolling, head nodding and an odd dull noise from back of my throat. Never all at the same time thankfully!.... They all disappeared before I hit my teens bur the noise one came back during my pregnancy with ds 4yrs ago... 15yrs after it had stopped!.... I can keep it undercontrol but it does get worse whem strwssed x

She should grow out of it xxx

My ds does this. It definitely seems to be related to anxiety. I have been told my ds may be zoning out when he does it because he wants to remove himself from the situation for a while. Or it could be for sensory input (sensory seeking).

He had an appointment with a neurologist to check if it could be absence seizures but neurologist did not think so.

It is a bit worrying, so reassuring to here other dc's do this too.

My dd had the same eye rolling tic at 6. In her case the trigger was huge stress at school, we took her out and then changed school, and the tic stopped. however every now and again she gets a little tic for a while, usually if she is stressed or just overtired, at the moment she has a slight face pull tic, which has been there for a month or so, after about a year of no tics. She isn't stressed but is growing fast and quite tired out. They seem to just fade away. The eye rolling tic is a common one, I know a teenage boy and an adult who both had it as young children, neither have tics now.

Get some magnesium vitamins and fish oil guys my 5 year old had this for 9 months and i took the ipad off him and started him on magnesium vitamins and the omega 3 oil and it stopped after a week!! I was so worried i didnt sleep for months worrying. I kept taking him back to the doctors and they were just saying its a faze but i done some research i would highly recommend vitamins 100%!!! Hopefully this can help other parents that are worried xx

Is it eye rolling like a teenager, so turning eyes right up and holding them there? Or is it like they're bouncing or scanning up and down?
Did she say whether she was assure of it.
Might be worth an eye test if it's the latter?

My daughter started eye blinking and various other tics at the age of 6 - she is now 11. They come and go and can sometimes be unnoticeable and other times be a bit odd looking. That being said, no one has ever commented on it.
I do think there is a link with anxiety so I never mention her tic (unless she wants to talk about it) and I just let her get on with it.
I have used magnesium supplements before and found them to be helpful. An alternative is a bath a few times a week with a cup of Epsom bath salts and some lavender oil... it's really calming. I also put the lavender oil on her pillow so she has a relaxing sleep.
I find allergies to be a trigger for my daughter so I give her antihistimes too, if necessary.

My son started twitching his head a few years ago...To cut a long story short..I STOPPED giving him cereal and replaced the cereal with Fresh Fruit Salad and his tic has stopped...I hope it works for others..💝

You should go to an ophthalmologist. If it is nystagmus for instance there can be different causes, some of which are serious. One trip to the GP isn’t sufficient here

Thank you, I am due to see the Paediatrician early August..funnily enough my son was really complaining that just above his eye was hurting the other day..and he did have a bad bump to his head when he was younger..I hope it's not the cause..kind regards

I had an eye-roll tic as a child- probably between the ages of 7 and 9. In my case it was worsened by anxiety, but now as an adult I get migraines with visual aura that feel very similar to the sensation I had with the tic.

Just thinking if you could tell which omega 3 tablets and magnesium vitamins. my son 5 year old recently starting rolling his eyes occasionally to the corner, have taken him off TV for now. .

@Scvbarros

Get some magnesium vitamins and fish oil guys my 5 year old had this for 9 months and i took the ipad off him and started him on magnesium vitamins and the omega 3 oil and it stopped after a week!! I was so worried i didnt sleep for months worrying. I kept taking him back to the doctors and they were just saying its a faze but i done some research i would highly recommend vitamins 100%!!! Hopefully this can help other parents that are worried xx

Just thinking if you could tell which omega 3 tablets and magnesium vitamins. my son 5 year old recently starting rolling his eyes occasionally to the corner, have taken him off TV for now. . Thank you.

Hi All,

Came to this thread after a google search, my son who is 1 in a few weeks has been rolling eyes for the last 4-5 weeks or so. It happens probably once or twice a day and we noticed this firstly in his high chair when eating, when in the bath or when being changed first thing after waking up in the morning.

We have a HV next week and GP has been informed but they dont seem overly concerned, the rolling last probably 1 second. Has anyone had any updates on their babies?

Thanks

Mike

Could be nystagmus? I would take him to see an ophthalmologist.
Don't leave it with the GP.

@Westyggx Have you got any further with the outcome with your child’s eye rolling? From what you have wrote above my son has the exact same symptoms, eyes roll upwards for a second or two and looks completely involuntary since he was 9 months old, mainly seen in the high chair. He is now 2.5 and he still does it but it comes and goes, it stays for about 2 months at a time then disappears for 6-9 months then comes back. It’s bizarre! The phase he is going through at the moment I have seen once in the bath and when he wakes first thing in the morning but it was always high chair when he was younger. I’m desperately trying to find some answers. He’s had 2 EEGs to rule out seizures and we’re waiting an appointment to go back to a neurologist at the moment. Just this week he has started to do a few other tic like movements, lots of squeezing eyes shut at random times, hands over ears and shaking his head and kicking whilst in the car seat and he’s had a few involuntary body shivers/jerks. These are new symptoms this week which I have never seen before but the eyes rolling upwards for an few seconds sounds just like your sons. Any updates would be much appreciated.

My DS did this and it was absence seizures. This was diagnosed via EKG testing (typical 3hz spike).

You may want to see a child Neurologist. It can be seizures or tourettes.

@AT20 hi there, my son is now nearly 3 and he stopped doing this a long time ago. There was no explanation, just something he had learnt as he was growing. It did tend to happen at specific points like sun in the eyes, water in eyes or when feeding but as I say it’s long gone. We went to a few appointments and the doctor had said it was voluntary and he knew he was doing it, you could snap him out of it too.

good luck with your little one

One of my DC had this, exactly as you describe. Turned out to be small seizures which then developed into much bigger seizures several years later.
Hopefully your DDs won’t be this but I’d get her referred to neurology just incase.

Thanks all, @Westyggx great to know your son grew out of it, can I ask if he has any hyperactive traits? My son is extremely hyperactive and will never sit still… ever! but he is also highly intelligent and really concentrates when he wants to do something so I don’t believe he has learning issues. For example he loves books and will memorise the story and says it back to me hours later. As I say he’s only 2.5. However if he doesn’t have interest in something, he has a melt down. I suspect ADHD for the hyper active impulsive side but he is to young to be diagnosed.

@GADDay thanks for sharing, my son has had 2 EEGs under a private neurologist who specialises in seizures, he said they are unlikely to be seizures and his awake and asleep EEG showed nothing out of the ordinary. I was told to come back if symptoms got worse. He’s had nothing for 10 months and now a few eyes rolls have come back (although not as bad as when he was a baby) but now he is presenting these other tic like symptoms as mentioned in the post above. What is an EKG? Is that different?

@MilkToastHoney Was your child diagnosed with seizures through and EEG before they turned into bigger ones or were they missed when they were small seizures?

Thanks everyone