Child With Tics and Jerks

My daughter who is 8 developed a jerking twitching movement with her head and neck. She started this past November and is now going for an EEG (finally!!) on Feb 10. I had to fight my dr to get this exam as he believes it is solely behavioural. She does the tics when we aren't watching too she it isn't for attention. She does them more frequently when she is tired.

She does not have any verbal tics.

Please help as our Canadian medical system is slow moving and most won't do anything until it is too late.

[JimH68]

Has your child had STREP recently or been tested for STREP?  Just curious...

[jls9499]

Well it's wonderful she is going to get an EEG, however my grandmother developed something called Tourette's Syndrome when she was only 9.  You may want to at least research some info on it. Also ask your daughter why she does it.  My grandma always said it was something you couldn't help like an inch that needs to be scratched.  Good Luck.

[praisydaisy]

No, she has never been tested for strep. Please respond.

[JimH68]

Not sure if you caught the story last year about the girl who was sneezing every few seconds (about 12,000 times a day.)  It turned out that the sneeze was actually a tic. This tic materialized out of the blue (I believe after what her parents believed was her having a cold.)  The tic was due to STREP antibodies in her system, which according to the PANDAS theory, mistake part of the brain for STREP infection and then attack it.  I believe she was subsequently treated with antibiotics but have not seen a followup story.  I am glad you received another response as well.  I believe the purpose of this site is to get as much info from others as possible.  Then when talking to your doctor you can ask as many questions as possible.  If you are interested, google PANDAS and be sure to put STREP in the search too, otherwise you might just get links about fuzzy bears from China.  I'm not a doctor, just a parent of a PANDAS child.  The odds that this is the case with your child might be slim, but something (one of many things) to consider is all, even just to rule it out.  If you do decide to test for STREP, be sure to get the TITER count test.  This test will tell you within a few days the level of STREP antibodies in your child's system (if there are any.)  A child does not have to have an active STREP infection to suffer from this, it's actually the STREP antibodies that cause the reaction.  Many doctors do not believe PANDAS is real so if you do bring it up with her pediatrician, be ready for summary dismissal of the idea. Good luck to you and your daughter, and whatever the cause, may you find the help you need (the sooner the better.)  If you can, please keep readers updated as I am sure there are many others out there searching for help themselves.... or searching for a direction to head.

[praisydaisy]

Thank you so much for this information. I have contacted my daughters previous dr and she is going next week. I will keep you posted. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

[JimH68]

I wish you best of luck with your daughter.  Please don't get discouraged if what I posted is completely unrelated to her problem.  Keep exploring all possibilities... something hopefully will turn up.

[houstonwaiting]

My daughter just turned nine and seems to have developed the same thing.  Did you ever get an answer from the doctors on what it was?