My son who is 15 years old has behavioral problems along with eye tics. In 6th grade, his teacher said that she thought he had developed an eye tic (excessive blinking). In 7th grade, the tic changed to blinking and looking up rigidly at the ceiling. In 8th grade, he would blink and his eyes would jerk to the right very, very quickly, then return to their natural position. Also, his right eye would blink by itself. He never seemed to be aware of this going on. His behavior started changing around 7th grade with aggressiveness, Oppositional
Defiance Disorder-like behavior. During this time, he was also struggling with school in the areas of Math and Spanish. Some teachers said that he couldn't sit still for 5 minutes while another teacher said that she could stand right in front of him and he would stare ahead as if in a daze. He couldn't concentrate on schoolwork. He was doing good in subjects that he liked or that were more active. The teachers suggested having him tested for ADD. We took him to a behavioral clinic and they tested him. The medical doctor said that he did not do well when tested to follow muli-tasked instructions (do this and do this, but before that, do this). They sent the teachers a total of 4 different questionaires to fill out, along with a parent and self questionaire to be filled out. The diagnosis was finally made that he had borderline ADD. The medical doctor also put him on Guanfacine (Tenex) for the tics. The very first pill he took controlled the tics. We then had him tested for a learning disability at the school. This came back that he was not severe enough for services but that he did have dificulties in areas like Math and Spanish, organization and multi-tasked directions while doing very well in other areas. My son always had problems with written directions and would ask me to read them and explain to him what they wanted him to do. Then he would have no problems doing the task. The medical doctor had referred us to a Pediatric Opthamologist who tested his eyes and found no physical problem. He Then saw a Neurologist. That day my son had missed his morning pill of Tenex. The doctor could observe some of the sniffing and facial twitching. When he moved his finger back and forth in front of my son's eyes, he said that there was a "bouncing" of the eyes as they followed. He called out an EEG, MRI and CBC. They all came back normal (the EEG showed no signs of seizures, but some tics were observed). Along with the CBC a Titre test was taken. This was slightly elevated. (I wasn't told that for about 5 months). The doctor mentioned retesting the Titre so we are due to have that done. At the recent recheck appoinment, we told the doctor about rages our son goes into when told to do something that he does not want to do. He has kicked holes in the doors and walls. He has also been experiencing mood swings. Sometimes he seems very depressed and tired. Other times, he talks a mile a minute. The doctor referred us to a different Psycologist. After meeting with her, she felt that my son was misdiagnosed with ADD. I told her that he eats salt on everything, that he eats pasta (carbohydrates) constantly, that we had given the previous Psycologist pictures that he had drawn as early as 3rd grade of death and bloody knife pitures, that he would talk about skinning a cat (he would never do this and loves his cats dearly), that he used to say that he and his friends were going to get in a car crash and hit a brick wall, that he has told me about obsessive behavior (counting, doing to one side what you do to the other), that he told me that he has heard voices when he was awake, that he said he always has scary nightmares, that he doesn't like people to touch him or like itchy clothes, that he curses all the time, that his tics get worse when nervous or anxious, that he said his closet door opened by itself, that he won't use the same cup twice and is always checking his eating utensils to see if they are clean, he is very picky about his food being prepared just a certain way, He went into fetal distress when born and ingested meconium and was in the ICU for 2 days. My son walked early, talked late (just after 2 yrs.) and his first grade teacher said that he had (and still has) difficulties with his fine motor skills (handwriting in cursive and drawing). He doesn't have trouble making friends and is pretty popular and amusing. He loves skateboarding and computers. I told the Psycologist that my father is being treated for depression and that an Aunt on my mother's side takes Lithium. Other siblings of hers has had nerve problems. A cousin on that side of the family has similar tics/movements to my son's. The second Psycologist said it sounded too complicated for her and referred us to a Psyciatrist for an evaluation and a Psycologist for counceling. She mentioned Bipolar disorder. The previous medical doctor had mentioned Tourette's Syndrome. At this point, I don't know what to believe but am making an appointment with the Psyciatrist. Does anyone have any information to pass on to me, or any ideas about what could be going on with my son? Thanks and I'm sorry that this is so long, but this has been going on for years and there was a lot of info. to include.
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