[the4rugrats]

Not sure if this is the right board, but anyways......
My son who is 14 has, I suspect, tics. He has done little movements and/or noises all his life. At the moment its head nodding. There was a time, when he was younger, that he had a couple movements in rotation... one for a few months then replaced by another for a few months, at one time it seemed like they stopped but then came back again. For the last year it has been head nodding, at first it was only a couple every now and then...but its got to the stage that he nods 5 or 6 times every 1/2 hr...and even more when someone talks to him.
Is this something that I need to get diagnosed 'officially' or something he just puts up with? Is it a case of there is nothing that can be done or is there something that can help? It is driving me slightly crazy, and his older (but much less mature) brother is always teasing him about it. I'm wondering if it has gotten worse because his brother is teasing him now, whereas when he was younger (and not so noticeable) before he wasn't.

[Phascogale]

I'm going through this at the moment with my 9 year old.

When she was much smaller ie 3/4 she had some obvious tics. In fact I think she had 2 sorts. There was the one that occurred when I took away her dummy but stopped when given back so I assume it was anxiety related (guessing she used her dummy as her comfort object). Then there was another one that occurred regardless (or maybe not having the dummy made it more obvious).

Anyhow it disappeared quite a long time ago but in the last couple of weeks it has reappeared.

What I suspect is that it might be a B12 and/or a magnesium deficiency. She's worried it's Tourette's (watched a 60 minutes segment on this a few months ago).

I went to see a naturopath about 2/3 years ago with her and he suggested that I put her on magnesium supplements and also a multivitamin. This might've been what stopped the tics in the first place.

Why I think this is what it might be is that I probably have the same deficiencies (and am prone to them for no apparent reason). I will be taking her to the doctor for some blood tests ie check her B12 levels and in the meantime I have her on a magnesium supplement (which she says is helping).

By no means do I suggest you put your child on any supplements. I'm just telling you my story so that things like this can also be considered.

I would be seeing a doctor or two (may need a second opinion) and even a paed to find out whether there is a cause that can be alleviated.

[countrymel]

I get tics and a stutter when I'm stressed.

Because they come and go I've never worried about it - I think it is far more annoying to those around me!

[MakeLoveNotBacon]

My son is 5 has what I think are self-soothing tics. He's always done "something" - a noise or movement - usually very mild and only noticeable to us. But at one stage he blinked very badly, it didn't seem to matter if he was stressed or not. It lasted months, started mild, but seemed to get worse. Anyway I booked him an appointment with the Paed, and then of course he stopped the blinking. There was a waiting list with the Paed so the appointment is coming up and I'll still speak to him about it.

I think you definitely would want to see someone about it. If it's stress/nerves related, I'm sure a professional would have strategies that could help him out.