Does my daughter have tourettes?

02-13-2014, 06:14 PM

okay, I know there are no doctors here so I am just looking for general information that I hopefully use to help my dear daughter.

Here is a brief history: She is 29 years old and no longer lives at home. When she was about 10 or 11 (prepuberty) she started pulling her eyes down because she said they felt funny. This progressed to making facial contortions. Then would get better and worse. Through her 20s her tics have to do with stretching out her arms, twisting her wrist, her legs are always twitching.

She went to see a neurologist as a child and was told they would go away after puberty. Well that didn't work. Lately, when I see her she seems to be in a constant state on various tics with her arms, hand, face, etc... I have to admit that, even though I am her father, I have a difficult time ignoring them, especially lately.

I asked her if they bothered her recently and she said that, "she embraces them". That is a fantastic attitude and I'm so proud of her. She is a Early Learning Teacher who loves her job and gets along with everyone.

So, she has never been diagnosed with Tourettes, but she plainly has a severe tic disorder. coincidently, she also has been a terrible migraine sufferer since about the time she started ticking. Not to complicate things too much, but she was also sexually abused around the same time.

This had become a long and complicated post. I guess what I am looking for is opinions as to whether she had "tourettes" or some other tic disorder, or even a psych disorder from the abuse. She has no idea I a posting this. She is resigned to live with it; embrace it as it were. I am hoping that there is some help out there for her.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts, or insights that may have helped you.

05-08-2014, 12:30 PM

Hello,
I am very familiar with tics. My 16 year old son was born very early and only weighed two pounds at birth. At the age of around 4, I noticed that my son would do odd things. He would wiggle his pinky, pull his eyes to one side (to the point that it would hurt his head), make noises in his throat, and he would scrunch up his nose. The weird thing is that he would do the same thing for a while and then move to something else. Anyway, he is 16 now and sees a neurologist. He has been diagnosed with Tourette's and takes Kepra to help control the tics (he had to get on meds because he would hurt his head when his eyes pulled). I asked the specialist what causes Tourette's, and she said there is no definite answer. I think it was because he was born so early, but who truly knows. In my opinion, and I am no means in the medical field, it sounds as though she may have Tourette's.

03-31-2017, 01:06 PM

Sounds like Tourettes but it also sounds like she's doing great with it so no need to really do anything.

12-05-2017, 04:13 PM

My son who is now an adult was diagnosed at about age 9. Tourette’s typically has some kind of combo of both physical tics and verbal tics. If your daughter has both (even if the verbal are minor or secondary) then she likely has Tourette’s. Sometimes those with Tourette’s can also have other issues such as ADHD, OCD or anxiety. However, tics can also be a symptom of ADHD itself, but tics in this case are usually more minor in nature.

If your daughter can control the tics when she wants to for short periods of time, and if it feels like effort to do so she probably has Tourette’s. We always described it like a sneeze. You can hold it in for a while but eventually the body is going to make it come out

Its great that she is embracing it, but I caution her to still get diagnosed properly as she is entitled to be accommodated. This may be required if she goes to school or has a job.

Does my daughter have tourettes?

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