over the summer holidays ive noticed my son keeps shaking his head side to side every so often. i did ignore it up until this week as its got more often and bigger shakes!! im not sure whether to describe it as shakes or twithching.
ive asked him if he could try to stop doing it but its now a habit hes got into.his dad is furious with him when he does it so my little boy keeps getting upset,and i must say its making me cross and i dont want him going back to school with this habit. im trying to be patient with him but i dont know what to do for the best, do i ignore it or pull him up on it when he does it?
we are going away tomorrow and im dreading it as if he keeps doing it in public and the hotel etc his dad will be angry with him and i will be stuck in the middle!! please any advice would be great.

Is he taking any medication? I ask this because 3 days ago I started giving my son some cold medicine-he started to do this thing with his tongue-sticking it out and moving it over his lips very fast and constant (he's 5) when I asked him about it he said he would stop. After a while I could see he didn't even realize he was doing it-he said he couldn't help it and was getting very upset that he couldn't seem to control it. Anyway,I stopped the medication (he was also very restless and could not sit still) and he stopped the tongue thing.

hi ,no my son isnt on any medication. but hes the same as your son as he doesnt even realise hes doing it! i have actually been on medication for headaches a few years back and that made me twitch ! not good!
i think im going to try to ignore it and hope its just one of those things and it will go away soon!

my nephew does the same thing. I didnt know why he was doing it, i ask him, he apparently didnt either.

Finally after watching him for a couple days. I realized he was cracking his neck. I asked him about it. that is also when he realized thats what he was doing (his uncle cracks his neck once in a while)

He has now stopped. only doing it the odd occasion

Six is around the age where children (boys, mostly) start showing signs of tic disorders. My son has transient tics, which is a mild form of Tourettes. He twitches his eyes and mouth and he can't tell he's doing it.

You and your husband need to have a talk with your son's pediatrician. One in four boys develop some type of tic and getting cross with him will only make the problem worse. If he has this disorder, HE CAN'T HELP THE TICS! My son is on medication (Tenex) and it helps for the most part. It's been worse this past week because he went back to school and was excited.

He has never had a problem with the kids in school and most of his friends don't seem to notice. The neurologist suggested having a sense of humor if someone asks him about it. He tells them, "Everyone has a habit, this one's mine. It's better than picking my nose."

I'm not saying that your son for sure has tics, but he fits the profile. Is he on any ADD medication? Tics are a side effect of some of those. Also, is your son a little OCD about anything? My son has always been a little germo-phobic. Obsessive-compulsiveness can also be a clue.

hi,thank you for your replys.
hes not on any meds but he is a very quiet nervous child.ive read somewhere that nervous children can develop things like this.
he has got a thing about tidying things up neatly,like boxes of toys,cupboards etc. hes tidier than me!!
im quite worried now and will take him to the doctors this week.
do medication stop the shaking ??
he already has trouble mixing at school because of being shy and i dont want him being picked on.
is ticks something he will grow out of then do you think??

Hi there -

I'm new to this board, although not to this site. This was the first post on this board, and it made me want to respond.

It's also possible that this could be a form of epileptic seizure. I had seizures myself at that age, as did my sister and father. My neice and nephew also have and my 3 1/2 yr old daughter has seizure. This sounds very similar to epilepsy. I'd suggest putting up a post on the Epilepsy board, and see what response you get there.

FYI - my Dad grew out of it. My sister pretty much has. I didn't. The jury is still out on the kids. But - not one of us was ever teased in school or make fun of in any way. I had Grand Mal seizures in class all the time - no one ever said a word. If your son DOES have some sort of disorder, be it tics, epilesy etc., it doesn't mean that he will be ostracized by the other kids. Don't worry about that unless it becomes an issue!!

Good luck

Here is comment I posted to another parent several months ago. It tells my son's whole story:

When my son was around 5 or 6, he started pushing his eyebrows up and down. The doctor suggested cutting his hair (his bangs were falling to that spot on his face) and the tic went away. We used that as an indicator of when we should take him to the barber, but within a year, he continued the tic after the hair was cut.

We then started noticing a mouth grimace. We discussed it with the ped and he told us it was a transient tic. One in four boys have some type of tic which usually gets worse during puberty. He said if it got worse, we would need to consult with a neurologist. We did this the year he was supposed to start middle school.

The neuro dx'd him with mild to moderate Tourette's and gave us a ton of info. He said that although they can't help it, they can be taught to control it a little. My son's tics get worse when he gets excited. If we can control the excitement level, they aren't as bad. Also, activities that teach self-discipline help (like martial arts). I have noticed that when Patrick starts a new tic, we can stop it early, before it becomes a habit.

The most important thing to teach your child is that it's nothing to be ashamed of. When other kids ask why he does it, the doctor said to respond with a comment that "It's just a habit. Everyone has one, this is mine." Because a sense of humor goes a long way, my son added "It's better than picking my nose." It works every time.

We eventually did put our son on guanfacine, which is a blood-pressure medication. It was the most heart-wrenching decision we have had to make as parents. Neither of our kids have ever been on anything stronger than anti-biotics, so long term medication was a terrifying thought. Although we were worried in the beginning with the side effects (it made him very tired in the afternoon), it turned out to be the right decision and the side-effects are gone.

In the 2 years he's been on, he's made the principal's list all but two grading periods (and then missing it by only one "B"). He never even came close before. We never realized he had a concentration problem until after we put him on the meds and saw what he was truly capable of. The neuro thinks that the medication has helped calm his brain to help him concentrate. He's in middle school and has no problem with other kids teasing him because they are pretty much gone. They do come back when he gets excited, but they aren't like before.

As far as growing out of it, they say that puberty makes it worse, so it's possible that they may go away when they reach adulthood. I've seen adults that tic, so I guess it isn't always the case.

hi,thank you,your imfo has been a help. my son also done the eyebrow thing last year! and does now still occasionaly does strange things with his face!!
but thats very mild and im not so concerned about it,but the head shaking is definatly getting worse so im booking him in the doctors first thing in the morning. x

I'm new around here too, but wanted to second what Catharine said about seizures. My 2 year old niece and 3 year old daughter (both biological sibbies, long story, but no I didn't get knocked up by my brother lol) both have different presentations of the same form of epilepsy. They both have petit mal, with my daughter having only staring episodes, after which she bites her hands, and my niece has twitches. Sometimes her whole body will twitch, sometimes just her face, particularly her mouth or eyes. If she's walking, she has occasionally lost her balance because of them. Niece has these episodes upwards of 15 times an hour even on meds, before meds it was 50+, close to one a minute. My daughter has spells 2 or 3 times a week with no meds.

If the behavioral things you try don't work, it may be worth evaluation by a neurologist.

my 16 yr old did the same thing when he was 5. he has a mild case of tourettes also. Not enough to takes meds. He has gotten a lot better over the years. Please do no tease or get mad at him....you will only make it worse. it shows more when they're nervous. Just ignore!! You may want to take him to a children's doctor and get checked. I did...and it's really mild and doesn't bother anyone. his friends don't even notice....

I just posted something similar to this...Did you find out what was going on??

Is he taking any medication? I ask this because 3 days ago I started giving my son some cold medicine-he started to do this thing with his tongue-sticking it out and moving it over his lips very fast and constant (he's 5) when I asked him about it he said he would stop. After a while I could see he didn't even realize he was doing it-he said he couldn't help it and was getting very upset that he couldn't seem to control it. Anyway,I stopped the medication (he was also very restless and could not sit still) and he stopped the tongue thing.

Hi
My 9 month old daughter is also having similiar symptoms just that her head will tilt towards her right and her right arm will jerk straight at the same time. This happens concurrently within 1-2 seconds. She was on Promethazine and has since stop. Was your son on the same medication? How long does it take for the medicine to wear down before the symptoms stop? We stopped the medicine 5 days ago, but she is still having similar symptoms... Are you aware of any permanent damage to the child?

Mummylee, My son was not taking that med but another antihistamine. I am very surprised that your daughters doctor gave her that at such a young age. I looked up the drug and side effects. It sounds like your daughter is having a reaction. How long was she on it for? Unfortunatley what I read wasn't comforting. I am not a doctor just a concerned parent. Please ****** Promethazine and then have your daughter checked. This can be serious. ok I just read back my post and saw that I can't tell you where to look it up so just put it in the search engine and you should find it. Unfortunatley there can be neurological problems. I hope that is not the case. Why did they give her that?

Mummylee, My son was not taking that med but another antihistamine. I am very surprised that your daughters doctor gave her that at such a young age. I looked up the drug and side effects. It sounds like your daughter is having a reaction. How long was she on it for? Unfortunatley what I read wasn't comforting. I am not a doctor just a concerned parent. Please ****** Promethazine and then have your daughter checked. This can be serious. ok I just read back my post and saw that I can't tell you where to look it up so just put it in the search engine and you should find it. Unfortunatley there can be neurological problems. I hope that is not the case. Why did they give her that?

hi kdel
Please, can you tell me how long did it take for your son to stop the tongue thing? Was it immediate?

We have visited doctors and stopped the medication since last Sunday, 30 Sep 07. However the side effect is still there. We are praying that the seizures will go off with time.

Appreciate your reply please. Thanks.

Hi again mummylee, First let me say that my son's med was only benadryl and I gave him less than the recommended amount AND this happened after only 2 teaspoons separated by 24 hours. It took a couple of days for him to stop.
My son also had a severe reaction to Zyrtec back in February. Now he cannot take any antihistamine or decongestant. I really think you need to take your daughter to a different doctor. Not the one who prescribed the med in the first place. Did you look it up? I don't want to scare you but if you look it up you will see that this can be serious. She is just an infant. You didn't say what they gave this to her for. It is not usually prescribed for babies. You can't really compare what happened to my son and your daughter. There could be alot more going on with her but she can't tell you.

Hi Kdel,

Thanks for your prompt response. Our baby was given Promethazine by a General Practitioner for her cough, and she took it for 4 days, with an increased dosage (prescribed by the same GP) on the last 2 days. Prior to this, she could be taking Promethazine through my breastmilk (I was given Promethazine by the same GP for my skin allergy, with assurance from the GP that it is safe for breastfeeding. I later discovered that Promethazine SHOULD NOT be given to breastfeeding mothers). So all in all, my baby has been taking Promethazine for a week.

Actually, after we noticed the twitch and arm jerks, we brought our baby to the hospital and she was warded immediately. The EEG (half an hour test) and MRI results were ok. The senior neurologist wanted to follow up with a 24-hour video EEG, but we decided to monitor her for a few days before deciding for the 24 hour EEG. She is still having the seizure daily. We will be following up with the neurologist this thursday.

It was only when my baby was warded in hospital that we were aware of the side effects. The hospital doctors were also shocked that the GP prescribed Promethazine for her. Now, we are worried that there may be permanent damage to her brain. It has been a week since we stop the medicine, but she is still having the seizures.

I am now a very worried mother.

Mummy Lee

Mummy Lee, you should probobly start another post since this one was started by someone else. You may get more responses. I do hope everything goes ok Thursday but would try to make that sooner. I also hope you can find a new doctor for your baby. Where I live it has recently come about that all cough and cold meds should be avoided by children under 6 years and cough meds never given under 2 years. My pediatrician doesn't recommend cough meds ever for a child, unless it's croup and then the med is a steroid to open the airways because it has to be done in most cases.
I hope your baby is ok and really I would be giving that pediatrician hell by now. Not only did he give it to her but he INCREASED it? Oh sorry I just saw that it was prescribed by a GP? Why not take her to a pediatrician? The GP should have been aware of these dangers anyway! Please let me know how your daughter is doing. As for my son, the tongue thing stopped but-before the benadryl (which I was told would not bother him) He had a severe reaction to an antihistamine called Zyrtec- his heart rate went up over 200 beats per min. had to call 911 and since then he still has occas. bouts of increased heart rate and is now under the care of a cardiologist. So please-follow your instincts. I drive the doctors insane with my concerns but could care less what they think. This is my child.