Been twitching for years, could i have Tourette's?

My daughter who is 8yr is starting to show signs of what everyone is talking about. She only has the head tic, where she twitches her head back and forth with a quick jolt or front to back with a quick jolt. She used to clear her throat or sniff a lot, but that has stopped. She describes it as there is something wrong in her head that makes her do the twitching, but she also says the weird feeling almost goes away when she controls and stops the twitching. So does that sound like anyone else? I'm really trying to understand it. Kids at school have noticed it and have asked her why she shakes her head, and she just tells them there's something wrong with her head, and it doesn't bother any of the other kids, they are just curious. I have to make a doc appointment for her, but it looks like there's really no good answer for what is happening. Please everyone continue to share your stories. It's shedding a lot of light on a subject that seems to need more information.  

I have had these twitching movements since i was around about 9 years old (39 now) .The first thing i remember doing was a sort of short  humming noise every 4 or 5 seconds , that went after a year or so and was replaced with blinking really hard every 5 seconds , after that went i was about 14 and it was replaced with moving my eyes looking up as far as they go and tensing my eyebrows in one quick movement ,although by now i had more control about this and would only do it when no one was looking at me....by 16 i would just have a sort of light head twitch where i would jerk it back very slightly every so often when no one was looking.That went on until about my late 20s. In my 30s my twitching has moved to my nose but i have worked out that it is at its worst when i am excited or bored.

I have read about magnesium tablets from health shops that can help with twitching , i think they relax your facial muscles.

Hey everyone, interesting to read your experiences. I feel your pain. I have the same problem. I've always had different types of 'twitches' since I was about thirteen. It started with a subtle eye twitch, but has changed location in my body over the years - different facial twitches, neck jolts, eye movements, head nodding and other ridiculous things. But now I am 24 and it's the most severe I've ever had it. I currently have a kind of midriff twitch where I sorta pull my stomach in and make a shallow breath 'huffing' like sound. It's driving me crazy and annoying my family and boyfriend, although they have been very supportive and just want me to stop.

I've always been of a nervous disposition, always worrying over anything and nothing and constantly feel anxious and restless. I think I'm slightly OCD too which doesn't help... I can feel the tension building within me to twitch and it feels like I'll explode if I don't act out the movement, it's a really weird sensation, I just can't stop doing it!! But I'm too embarrassed to go to the doctors about it. And I feel embarrassed to go out sometimes incase somebody sees me doing it. I feel like a freak and it's ridiculous, and I get mad at myself for annoying others with it... argh!

I'd never heard of a physical tourettes before, but it sounds like that could be the problem!

Hope you are all having better luck!

Hi, I know how this can be cured very quickly. I speak from personal experience. I am 29 and have suffered with on and off with twitching and repetetive verbal noises throughout my life. I do not buy the Tourette Sydrome label. First, I would like to point out that as with many anxiety conditions, like panic attack disorders, anxiety/shame relating to the symptoms can bring it on, make it more frequent- and in my opinion this makes the twitching progress into something debiliating to the point where it can be labelled Tourettes - and the more you do it the more the body is programmed to do it. Now here is the cure. If only I had worked this out in the last couple of years.All you need to do is take magnesium tablets and it will stop. I take two a day. Sure, it does feel like a psychological condition - but I now know that it is actually as simple as a dietary deficiency. The water we drink, the refined foods we eat, they lack magnesium. Try to eat whole grain breads and pastas, green vegetables, legumes. Read up on magnesium. Also if you happen to smoke, stop smoking - and do more excercise. If you are vegetarian - taking up meat might help you feel less anxious. But the bottom line is, take magnesium. You can buy these vitamins in any chemist. Any questions, let me know. Best of luck.

Hey everyone,

I'm so glad to have found this topic. I'm 24 and I've suffered from what a lot of you have been describing. I was lucky enough to not really suffer from it badly in high school, I think I first became aware of it around the age of 15-16 where I would constantly be blinking and 'widening' my eyes. Fortunately I was able to get really good control over it by having a short, positive phrase that I would repeat over and over to focus on something different when I'd start doing it.

It then came back when I was 22 in the form of jerking my shoulders (right shoulder in particular), my neck and blinking. I believe it was stress that brought it back. It's had quite a bad effect on my life in that I now hate going out because I become very self-conscious about my habits and think everyone will notice, it makes me kind of awkward in social situations whereas previously I was really confident and didn't have a care in the world.

I've tried hypnotherapy as a solution but the 3 times I've been I haven't seen any real improvements. I've also tried magnesium like the above poster mentioned but that had no real effect either, so I'm scratching my head to find a solution. I'm thinking a visit to the doctor might have to be the next step. I'm not really embarrassed by visiting the doctor, as I will do whatever possible to try and get rid of it. I'm sure you're all in the same boat and hate having it impact on your life.

Has anyone been to the doctors and found a good solution? I'd love to hear from anyone who has been through this and anyone possible solutions.

Cheers :-)

i to am glad i found this topic, im 16 and eversince i can remember i have had a complete body twitch once a day everyday. completely random and sometimes twice a day, it never got in the way of my social life just akward comments from people noticing my throat clicking, occasional hand twitch, and constant throat clearing. but i also ride motocross and i would occasionaly get the full body twitch while riding and it would scare the c**p out of me i havent fallen because of it yet, but it just leaves a feeling that you have no control over yourself which offroad on a motorcycle is a very dangerous thing, but theres no chance im giving up motocross. i havent told a doctor yet but my mom and sister have noticed it and i told them the symptoms, but as most people on here have found that parents obviously dont understand what the symptoms mean. glad to see others with this

I am 31 years old and have been dealing with tics as far as I can remember, I think of it as a full body tic, I can try and control them as much as possible but never really can, I was also diagnosed withh ADHD which even if that's not true I am a very active person, can not sit down for too long get easily bored, and everything that people say ADHD is. But if I 'cured' myself from twitching my eye, my knees or wrists or jaw or something else would start to spasm. What I have learned to do is try and not let it bother me. I actually got to the point where I can even admit to it to other people. Not like they couldn't tell any ways. but at least hearing me say something about led me to believe that they weren't thinking the worse. Now I probably could live with it except now it has gotten so bad that I have started to get migraines because of it. instead of simple eye lid twitching or just simple things like that I actually kind of roll my eyes on the back of my head and I sometimes feel stuck there. and I can feel pressure on the side. Now I know I get migraines so bad sometimes that I feel like throwing up, but I don't know if this is part of my twitches. if any one here has similar please let me know

i keep twitching and started at 8 ,now im 14 and its horrible everyones makes fun at me at school or look at me as a weird kid who does weird twitching,i do some horrible humming and clicking noises jn class and people find it annoying and my friend tells me to stop but i cant ..i wish it was as easy as 123 to stop/: ,i hope the day i find my first love i wont lose it cuz of my twitching..since i got scare of zomeone since little(wont say names)cuz he scream to me in the face and grab my stuff and threw them go the wall,i started twitching and founded as a relief and have try to stoping it by biting my lilp or tongue but it doesnt go away..i also have a lot of muscle twitching especially head..i shake my head and look up and then hum,its annoying..i hope one day i stop..im tooembarrassed to go to the doctor,i need help to have a normal life!!anyone how could i stop twitchingand be look as a normal person and not as a mental health twitching person!!!help anyone any tips of how to stop??response please!!!/:

I am 25 and have many, and it seems to be getting worse! Sometimes my body hurts from ticcing so much.

I really hope and pray there is a cure for it one day in'sha'Allah (God willing) - Just remember though, it could always be worse. Be greatful you are healthy, have working limbs, eyesight, hearing etc

Hi Guys im now 30 and ive been dealing with this since i was probably 7 yrs pld, it breaks my heart reading all your comments and in the same breathe gives me a slight bit of peace to know this burden ive carried my whole life is shared with more than myself! it has been the monkey on my back my whole life, always holding me back from my true potential ive felt, yet in the same breathe i thank God as its made me the person i am, i would say im a good looking guy with everything hes needed in life, and could easily be someone who walks thru life stepping on people basking in ignorance, but because of this i am a down to earth person, who feels remorse, empathy for others. Its also brought me closer to Allah. i remember i used to twitch so badly that i couldnt sleep at night, i used to cry and pray to God in my bed asking him to remove it from me and let me live a normal life like everyone else, but i remained however with the baggage. But God made me see the wrold then in a different way, and it made me feel closer to him and his miracles, i also felt because of my twitch it opened another part of my mind, which in turn opened another realm to the world, where everything made more sense. Dont get me wrong it hurts everyday, i try to control myself but its harder and harder, i have a very busy life and a good job, and its a continuous battle to hold back, expecially when im in meeting or boardrooms, ive thought of trying to get help but i know this would probably come in the form of meds and i didnt wanna go tht route, plus this would be me admitting!

I do beleive this has given us a deeper thought processing ability and foresight, as we have tried to train our minds to control from young ages, but i am always trying to find a natrual way to control. Sometimes i get angry with myself and tell myself u wont twitch today and i achieve it sometimes, then the next day i think my brain subconciously thinks its done a good job and then resumes as normal, ive found sitting in quiet and meditating is a good idea, taking deep breathes and trying to think of one thing helps, and try be hard with yourself also and give yourself breaks, where u promise yourself for a certain period.

 

Its a pleasure speaking to u guys, and i will definately be here alot talking to you guys as it really helps! :)

 

Hey everyone, I have been looking for a blog like this for a very long time now. I started when I was 7 (that's as far back as I can remember) and I am now 21, I have exactly what is explained here I do all kinds of things and when I lose one I get another, Sometimes I twitch so badly I have to stop what ever I'm doing just to do it which makes a lot of things hard to do and I get so stressed out I can't even explain the feeling but it's the worse and sometimes I feel so unproductive or slow at something because I have to keep stopping what ever I'm doing. My parents would ground me from tv or console games and seeing my friends for months on end until I stopped but obviously I never did and I never could. Does anyone know what would happen if you could professionally diagnosed? The only reason I haven't seen a softer is because I'll lose too much of my life as in the ability to drive a car, I am a mechanic and I have 8 cars and driving is my life and if I lost it I would be devastated. I can still concentrate on driving regardless of a twitch as none of them really affect my line of sight but still. Does anyone know what would happen to be diagnosed? Is it worth it ?

I have been doing something like what you guys are talking about since I was 11 im 16 now it started a few weeks after I stoped taking a medicine for ADHD the first time that it happened I was making a noise kinda like laughing under my breath but I could control when I did that sometimes later on I kept myself from doing it at all and I stoped having the urge to do it but after a few days I started breathing in a weird way I would breath in and out fast and it was loud I had less control over this but I managed to control it around my friends and in public but at home my grandma would tell me to stop doing it and I would stop for a few minutes but start again and like the 1st time I kept myself from doing it at all and it went away but then It started with my eyes I kept opening then really wide sometimes and other times shuting them really hard I also did this thing where I kinda flexed my bottem eye lids making then slide towards my nose I had even less control over this and I couldnt keep from doing it at all not even at school I was like this for all of 7th grade people always asked why I kept doing it I just said I couldnt help it then I eventually kept myself from doing it it felt impossible at first but then it got easier untill it went away then during the summer I started licking my lips and I couldnt help this either id do it untill they were red and burnt really bad I was doing this for 8th and 9th grade in 9th grade I just kept carmex with me and put it on when ever they got red or started burning and again I refrained from licking my lips andnit went away then in 10th grade i started poping my ears by sorta flexing flexing the muscles in the upper part of my jaw and it wasnt very noticeable but my ears get sore if I do it too much it kinda sounds like snaping a cracker in half I even do it when I eat or when I do anything I havnt been able to keep from doing this and I dont know if I should because it might just turn into something more noticeable 

I have twitching Tourette's they are very hard I body jerk and shout out random words try.replacing your twitch with something easier and less mainstream to so for example I used to stretch my arms out and in very violently I then replaced it with clapping my hands

Hiya I get what you both mean, I'm 15 at the moment and I'm constantly twitching at random moments. I can almost feel them about to happen so I know what you mean by having to release it. I sometimes get them for a long time frequently and then sometimes I don't have them for a while. My mum (who's a nurse) thinks it's and anxiety or stress thing and I suspect that too. I don't have anger issues but sometimes when I'm angry I get slight jerks and spasms. Sometimes it apparently can also be anaemia which I have shown signs of but I think it's best to get a doctors opinion

Im in high school and I twitch. Its not involuntary though. I feel like I make myself. People laugh at me and ask me why i do that or if I'm okay, and i say yes I'm okay but I dont know why I do it. Is this similar to what you're going through? It all started in fifth grade when i would jerk my head. Now its my arm and my legs and my head. They're really bad and Im so embarrassed. No one else at my school twitches like me. Its all possible for them to sit still. I can when im by my self or really super relaxed, but the second it pops in my head i have to twitch. I also used to make noises in my throat or click my tongue. Lately ive also been forcefully blinking both eyes. Im tired of the embarrassment and i want to know that its somewhat normal or what the actual cause is. Cause im even scared to tell my doctor because i dont want him to tell my mom and she question me about it. But they get so bad sometimes. Especially when im in social situations. Anyway, for anyone who replies to this i am eternally grateful for your help. Have a blessed day!