twitching

[Frustrated Mom]

My son is now 11 and for the past 4 years he has been doing some strang twitching.  He moves his nose, rolls his eyes back, nods his head and makes a strange sound in his throat.  I have talked to a doctor and he says it is just stress related because it started when we were going to move.  However now I can not pin point it to such things.  I have had him tested for food allergies and have found that he is allergic to fruit and some sugar, which in the past caused very bad headaches. Even what was found in marshmellows and hot dogs caused the headaches.  I have cut his intake of sugars but he still tends to twitch.  He does not do it all the time. In fact he can go for months and not twitch and then all of a sudden he begins.  I am at my witts end.  Feeling that I am not helping my child.  Please, give whatever advice you can.

Thank you

[Patti]

My son is 11 and was diagnosed with tourettes syndrome when he was 6.my pediatrician also told me it was stress related and if i stopped making a big deal about it,he would stop.well,i found a professional who diagnosed him with TS.If you want to chat,email me and i will give more information..

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Dear Frustrated Mom,

If your son is otherwise normal, the twitching can be the manifestation of Tourette's Syndrome, a transient tic disorder, a psychogenically-induced tic, etc. In other words, the behavior itself is no indicative of one particular condition.

The logical place to start is to have your son see a pediatric neurologist. Your description indicates that the motor and vocal tics are primarily reflections of a neurological, not psychological, condition. The only way to know is to pursue the relevant evaluations.