Nervous Tics, Tourettes

[natrfrk]

My 8 year old is having symptoms that are either nervous tics or tourettes. Are they the same? Can tourettes come on suddenly, or can it go away and then come back suddenly? At first I thought they were tics, then as I was researching, I started reading about tourettes and I just don't know now. And I also read how vitamin B12 deficiency can cause eye twitching and other nervous tics. So I did some research on b12 and she does have a lot of the symptoms. This is the same one that has malabsorption issues, so it is possible for her to be deficient. I had a mild deficiency in B12 myself about 2 years ago. And I think it's back based on my own symptoms. But mine are things like tingling. Hers are outright twitching and jerking type symptoms. And I believe she has vocal tics too though. She started out with grunting and throat clearing, hacky cough, a few years ago. Our doctor is a homeopath. He gave her a remedy and it worked for that. And we changed her diet, took her off all processed foods because of the malabsorption. She had none of her usual nervous habits after being off junk for several weeks. Well, we got off track over the holidays. About two weeks after we allowed her to have processed food, she started having this vocal squeeling when she gets excited, or just happy. It's pretty constant and repetitive when she is really happy. She doesn't realize she's doing it and the more we bring it to her attention trying to help her control it and stop it, the more she does it. Anyway, not long after that, she started eye blinking. Then the left eye started twitching. Then her head started having tremors (this is sort of like slight, bobble head shaking). And now I am noticing that it often happens as an "episode", a series of the events combined. It will start with the eye twitch, then the head tremor, then the vocal squeel followed by a grunt or throat clearing, followed by the shoulders shrugging up and the head trembling again. Then she's normal for a minute and it starts all over again. I have not figured out what triggers these episodes. I do know that I notice them most when she eats. No matter when or where, it can be any time of day, and at home, or out, it doesn't matter. The eye twitch and head trembling happen together very often, almost constantly lately. But they are brief moments at a time, with brief moments of normal in between. I was bringing it to her attention to try and get her to stop, but she didn't even realize she was doing it. She really thought I was just teasing her. I have since read that you shouldn't bring these type episodes to ones attention, it will make them worse. So, now I try not to say anything. I know I need to get her back to the homeopath. But I am hoping to work on this naturally first. I am hoping that when I get her back on NO processed foods, that some of this if not all of this will cease on its own. In the mean time, I also still wonder if it could be from a vitamin deficiency? I am thinking of supplementing her with b12 sublingually.

Do any of you have any experience with these type symptoms? Do you think this is from her diet? Could it be Tourettes? Does it sound serious? She does not notice this stuff happening. I seem to be the one to notice it most. When we are around other moms, they notice. Dads don't so much. Only one of her friends has said anything, and that is because she heard me telling DD to try to not squeel. So she kept reminding DD, and so of course, she did it all the more. But it was not to annoy her friend, I believe her. The eye twitch was pretty bothersome to watch. I feel like if my eye was doing that, it just looks like the eye should be feeling irritated. But she says it doesn't. But then the head trembling started and that definitely has me more concerned. I don't like seeing this knowing that this is her nervous system being under attack here. You know? I persoanlly think it is something in processed food. We do not eat anything with artificial sweeteners, so I know it's not something like aspartame. But we did let her have holiday goodies over Thanksgiving and Christmas. I really thought we could make it through the holidays without cheating. But I guess I just caved under the pressure of everyone telling us how cruel we were to deprive her since her last celiac test came back negative. They don't want to hear how it could have been a false negative. Anyway, now I think we are bad parents and more cruel for allowing this to happen than if we had just stood firm and said NO to everyone. They even have her hounding us for junk now. And she used to be so strong, and she would say no on her own. She knows how that food affects her. And now with all these new symptoms... I blame myself. But the holidays are over now. There's no more excuses for this. And DH wants to believe this is a vitamin deficiency so she can have junk on occassion. I have told him, if it is a deficiency, that's because of the junk. Either way, SHE CANNOT tolerate processed foods.... He's seen it first hand. Why doesn't he get it? He thinks I don't need to go to the extreme of she can never have junk again. I think we do need to go to that extreme. I blame the foods. I don't know specifically what it is that is doing this, but it has to be something in the processed foods. Don't you all agree??? I mean, maybe she doesn't have celiac, and maybe it isn't even from gluten. But there are tons of chemicals in processed foods...

Well, I was only going to ask if tics and tourettes are the same thing, but then I got to talking. This is really bothering me. And those of you that know me at all, know that I tend to beat myself up over stuff like this, especially if there's some way to blame myself. But on the bright side, if it is processed food doing this to her, then it should be as simple as removing them from her diet again, right? And then it can be marked as lesson learned...??? Right? What do you think??? Should I just change her diet back to whole foods only and wait and see what happens? Or do you think I should rush her to the homeopath right away?

[MommyRose]

Hi Natrfrk!

First, hugs! I'm so sorry the food issue is still so huge within' your home. That must be rough. I don't have any real answers for you but do have some thoughts. I did a quick search on 'Tourettes' then 'tourettes and diet' and did see some connections people have made between tourettes and diet. Wikepidia gave a great description of tourettes in which they said many people have mild tics and that tourettes isn't usually diagnosed until a combo of tics is present from anywheres from 4 weeks to a year. Also, the drugs are dangerous and usually unneccesary to use for tourettes. Looks like there is some interesting stuff on it. I also read that tourettes isn't dangerous to the person.

So, with that said...my personal opinion is to give her clean diet a try for two weeks then bring her in to the doc. It sure wouldn't hurt to call him and see what he says though. I think the connection with malabsorption is interesting too and worth a shot to give her more supplements. I wanna give that a thought for my kiddo as well. Do be cautious with the head tremors...just if they develop more.

Since behaviors such as hers can be brought about by stress I am not surprised that you said these episodes are happening when she eats. In the past year alot of stress (and over the holidays as you described) and frustration has surrounded food for her. It quite honestly could be a subconscious reaction to eating for her right now.

I've been dealing with some nervous habits with my 9 yo too. And...I so understand how frustrating they are!!! Before we went gf (now...my dh and I are...not the kids) he'd had a really really bad cough. Nothing stopped it and it was constant during the day. I'm talking cough controling medicines, doctor visits, lozenges...it was hard during field trips and such!! When we went gf I did have the kids gf for 2 weeks and the cough went away and has not come back. He had this thing for 4 months. I think going gf broke the cycle...not sure...but I'm glad the cough is gone, he sounded like a lifetime smoker! This same boy has had a habit of rubbing from his eyes up to the bridge of his nose whenever he is nervous or upset...for over a year now. It was so bad for awhile that he had permament dirt marks there! More nervous tics or habits appeared this fall when he was performing in a choir with his brothers. I couldn't get over watching him rub his eye/nose area, yawn, wipe his head, shake his head, stretch his mouth, open his eyes wide...you get the idea. He's a good size kid and very visible on the bleachers. I'd talk to him about it and it embarrassed him. I know he didn't know the extent of what he was doing. I taped them one day and he was mortified to see himself. He really worked to control it from there on...although, that didn't stop him from being talked to from the teacher. Poor kid...I felt for him. Clearly though he had proven he could control it. We practiced singing and control at home too. They had 6 performances during the Holiday season and he kept getting better with each one...but, we had to talk about it each time and the instructor talked to the choir about appearance. In fact, I've noticed he doesn't have the dirt on his nose anymore. From my experience with my son is where I'm wondering if her tics are not connected to the frustration with food. Just some thought for you...

I've also wondered with my own son if these habit changes aren't just part of growing up and not knowing what to do with himself. He also developed this really loud annoying laugh...we are working on that one...!

So, yeah...definitely change her diet back. Is she involved in her good food choices? Making her lunch foods, picking recipes and such? Maybe that would help her feel more in control. Oh...is there anyway you could film her episodes with your digital camera without her knowing? Perhaps it would be helpful to show your doc or your dh! Not to show to her...you'd have to be the judge of if that would be appropriate in your situation.

Please keep us updated!!!

[gelbard]

My nearly 12 yo was having a lot of eye blinking and twitching a while ago. It was so bad that it was hard to look at him when he was talking to me. I did EFT on him, and it totally stopped! Now each time he feels that he's blinking a little too fast, I do another round, and it switches off.
Now, if your daughter has health issues then EFT may not help competely, but it may take the edge off so that you can check other things off easier.
Good luck!
Sara G

[rosetapper23]

I know people with Tourette's...and with Asperger's Syndrome. This doesn't sound like Tourette's....but I do wonder about Asperger's. Please do a search on it--it's very common.

[natrfrk]

Hi Rose, you're sweet. Thank you for shaing about your son. Yes, my DD is involved in planning and preparing her meals. And up until we allowed her to cheat, she always was responsible and chose healthy over junk. I think once we get back on track, she will choose wisely again. As for capturing her episodes on video... I don't know if I will be able to without her knowing I am doing it. But maybe if I don't tell her WHY I am video taping. I just don't want her to become self conscious. But if I don't tell her that others might see the video, then she might behave in ways that would embarass her for others to see. She is quite a ham when there's a camera around.

DH is all for the clean diet. He just thinks that it should be okay to have grains and the occasional junk food. He can't understand why not, and I don't know how to get him to understand. He saw how good the diet was for all of us, how we all improved on it. He and DD improved the most. And now he has seen that even just one cheat leads to another and another and then back to that lifestyle that we don't want... so I have tried to get him to understand that if for no other reason, THAT should be reason enough. At least until we are strong enough to not let once lead to another.

Anyway, I am getting sleepy. I guess I should go get some sleep. That ties in with our diets too. I don't sleep like I should when I eat poorly...

Oh, Sara, I just saw your post. Thanks replying. I have not tried EFT on her. I don't really know how to do it on another person. I have tried it on myself before, but I am not sure that I did it right.

And thank you Laura, for your insight. I will do some research. I had not thought of Asperger's. I have heard the name, but never researched it before. So, I will do that tomorrow.

Laura, even though I am getting sleepy... you had my curiosity going. I looked up symptoms real quick. I read webmd and mayoclinic's symptom list for aspergers. I don't see it. She has great social skills. Makes friends easily. She is never clumsy. She is very in tune with others' feelings and can read body language. She's very good at having conversations. I don't see any symptoms that are like nervous tics. I am not sure how my description of her episodes is coming across to those who don't know her and can't see what I mean. But I can say that in spite of them, she has no trouble making or keeping friends. They don't even seem to notice these new things. And since she isn't aware that she does them, she is not self conscious about them. Which part of my description makes you think of Aspergers? I would like to find information on it if it is a possibility. Sometimes her doctor does take my ideas into consideration. And he is not a pediatrician, so he may not think of this without the seed being planted. I know he hadn't thought of gluten, even after I mentioned it to him, until AFTER I took her off of it. But then he was open to it.

[MommyRose]

Asperger's wouldn't of come to my mind. Your description of your daughter sounds completely opposite. Asperger's is a high form of Autism. From what I've seen parents have behavior and educational struggles with their children with Aspergers. Asperger kids do often have special dietary needs...they often do better without gluten for instance.

I'll bet you can get her back on track with her eating fairly easily. I got off track myself over the holidays and I've been paying for it intestinally the last few weeks. For me when I get off what makes it hard to go clean again is the "Oh...why not. I'm already messed up." My stomach aches haven't been pleasant though and I had to face facts.

[Lori French]

Have you tried magnesium foot soaks? It helps with other twitches.....

[rosetapper23]

The reason why I suspected Asperger's is that children oftentimes develop tics and/or what look like grimaces. They have no control over them. Also, they have a tendency to utter words (usually inappropriate ones) just all of a sudden. In this way, they are very similar to Tourette's. I have a friend with Tourette's and a nephew with Asperger's, and they are a LOT alike when it comes to uttering things uncontrollably. Many people with Asperger's are so high functioning, they seem absolutely normal. Others seem normal but have the tics and word utterances. Others do NOT seem normal, and they are the ones in the special education classes.

You may be on to something with the malabsorption issue...I'm trying to remember what I've read about the throat clearing. I recall reading something that causes that, but I can't remember what it was. If she doesn't get better, though, with added vitamins (best to deliver the B vitamins under the tongue and perhaps fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K through cremes rubbed into the skin), perhaps you should make an appointment with a neurologist.

[pamelaw]

I had many nervous ticks that were so irritating and worrisome prior to my using Magnesium Oil in foot soaks. I rarely have them anymore, and when I have it's when I've not soaked regularly. I need 4 days a week at 20 minutes per soak.

[natrfrk]

Rose- "For me when I get off what makes it hard to go clean again is the "Oh...why not. I'm already messed up." We do that same thing too. DD is good at that one... but I think I am the worst.

I guess I should get some magnesium oil and try the foot soaks. How expensive is that? How much do you have to use? Is it too expensive to use as a bath? What about epsom salts? Those are magnesium aren't they? Would that work?

Laura- "(best to deliver the B vitamins under the tongue and perhaps fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K through cremes rubbed into the skin)" What kind of cremes? Where would I get these? I have seen beauty type creams with some of these vitamins, but they are usually packed with chemicals too... I'd like to find something pure.