New Tic?

M

ML

Guest
Several years ago when master was evaluted at the autism clinic they said he had a throat clearing tic. It comes and goes, I haven't heard him do it in quite some time, at least a year. Though because of his chronic allergies much of the time it's a legitemate response to increased mucus.

Now, recently, he had a stye which is now gone. But he is blinking his eyes all the time. Could this be a tic? Or, could it be a side effect of Tenex?

I'm also worried about the power eating. I know we've talked about this issue on the board ad naseum but it bears repeating.

I love this child so much and it's hard watching him use food and feeling like I'm trying to take drugs away from an addict. I need to do better on this.

Thanks,

ML
 

Sara PA

New Member
Neither tics nor increased appetite are Tenex side effects. In fact, Tenex is used to treat tics. Is that the only drug he's taking?
 
M

ML

Guest
Yes it is Sara, I took away the Celexa. I guess it could be a withdrawal effect. If I can get a better lock and handle on the eating I just know the other stuff will fall in line. Please pray or cross stuff for me.
 

smallworld

Moderator
Tics can increase with anxiety. Maybe the Celexa was addressing his anxiety, and now that it's gone, he's more anxious. Hence the tic.
 

Marguerite

Active Member
"But he is blinking his eyes all the time. Could this be a tic?"

Yes.

The throat-clearing one - difficult child 3 does this, has done for years. He was trying to make a film for a school project, was filming lorikeets feeding and all his footage was unusable because he was making his quiet throat noise.

The blinking - I've seen this in a couple of difficult child 3's drama classmates (also mostly autistic). difficult child 1's Aspie friend used to do this too.

I tend to leave them alone, re tics. Unless the tic is really disruptive, we've learnt to just ignore it. The more you fuss, the worse you can make it. And if it's a way of coping with stress, then why interfere?

But it is a good idea to query if it's medication-related because you don't want your child ticcing because of medications. At least THAT is controllable!

Marg
 

mum2JK&TH

New Member
It could definately be a tic. difficult child had the eye blinking one. The throat clearing and sniffing/snorting were his first tics and the eye blinking came but the sniffing when away. It came on during a really stressful time for him.
All the tics seemed to disappear about 6 months ago, but the snorting has returned within the last month. We had to restart his medications for school/sports (we take him off during the summer) and I figure that's what is causing it.

I hope it goes away soon for your son. I know the eye blinking was a hard one. No one would look at him and even he noticed the reactions :(
 
K

Kjs

Guest
Is his anxiety increased? School maybe?

difficult child does the eye blinking thing. Comes and goes. Use to do a mouth thing, like a smile but it wasn't.

He does very noticably blink his eyes. I notice this when his anxiety level is up. Sometimes I just tell him to stop or try to stop. Other times I ignore it. It comes and goes.

Eating is an issue here too. But not the same. difficult child is so conscience of his weight he sometimes decides he is not going to eat at all. Then there are the thought-LESS people like the nurses and even doctors that say "MY you put on a lot of weight, TOO many video games this summer". Yep, that put him into a starvation diet.

If there is junk food, difficult child will eat it (when he is in his eating mind set). But if there isn't anything that interests him, or if he has plans to do something he could careless if he eats.

Is your difficult child active in any classes or activities? Maybe if he is you could redirect him to something in that area.
 
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