Pregnant women and tourettes syndrome

Tourettes syndrome runs in my family.  My grandmother suffers from tics and my mother has a dx of TS.  I have suffered from tics since age 6.  I am now 27, and my husband and I are hoping to begin our family.  What are my chances of passing along this syndrome to my baby and is there anything I can do prior to or during my pregnancy to lessen the risks?

[Christie2004]

A genetic counselor may be able to go over your family history and assess your risks.  Your OB-GYN should be able to give you a referral for preconception risk assessment.

I don't know that there is anything that can be done to prevent it, however.  Good luck to you!

[Frankk]

My wife is 11 weeks pregnant and she has tourettes. It seems that the heightened sense of smell she had before she was pregnant is now very much amplified.  Before she was pregnant, she was easily stressed out and had occasional anxiety attacks, and now that too is amplified.  Our doctor said that chronic anxiety should not hurt the baby.  I really don't think the doctors can tell you what the chances are of passing it along to your child.  The only research I have found concerning that indicates that sometimes it skips a generation, in other words even though your child may not have the symptoms of tourettes he or she will still carry the genes.  A prenatal blood test may show higher chances of tourettes because it detects the genes for it, but that doesn't mean the child will ever have the symptoms.  There is actually very little information about tourettes, at least from what I have been able to dig up.

[Sierrasmama115]

My daughter is 5 and has had tics since 2. She has not been officially diagnoses with Tourette however has been diagnosed with a tic disorder. From what i understand both sides of the family have to have some form of related neurological disorder . i.e OCD, ADHD, Tourette, etc. My daughter's father has Tourette (severe as a child, practically non-existant as an adult). I have slight OCD which runs in my family. I am sure at the next appointment with the ped neurologist the diagnosis will be official. I am just hoping and praying it goes away after puberty like it did with her father.

[Ash539]

Hi,

My wife has a tic with anxiety and depression also she is pregnant in present situation for 12 weeks so may i know it will affect our baby or not.

[os12]

I just wanted to let everyone know that there is no brain test or laboratory test to determine if someone has Tourette's. As much as I would love to see it, unfortunately Frank, science has not arrived yet at an era for us to know on which chromosome it resides. I am a 27 year old female who also had it for most of my life. I am also pregnant and the fear of my child having it as well always scares me. However there is no way to predect it.  I have focused on Genetics in college enough to know about it.  Let me explain a little more.

Tourette’s disorder is one where both males and females are affected. A parent with TD or a parent who has the gene for TS has a 50/50 chance, with each pregnancy, to pass the gene on. Tourette’s particular gene does not manifest its symptoms in everyone. In other words, if a parent passes the gene on to a child, the child may not have any symptoms
of the disorder. If a daughter inherits the gene, there is a 70 percent chance that she will have at least one of the signs of TS. On the other hand, if a son inherits the gene, there is a 90 percent chance that he will have at least one of the signs of TS. Tourette’s is also associated with a non-genetic cause in 10 to 15 percent of children with this condition. Complications of pregnancy, low birth weight, head trauma, carbon monoxide poisoning and encephalitis are thought to be associated with the onset of non-genetic TS.


Hope this helps!

-O

[melaniedc]

Hello,

I am 28 and pregnant.  My tourettes was much worse when I was a child and has improved greatly as an adult.  However, over the last couple of months (coinciding with my pregnancy) my tics have increased.  Is this normal?  Does stress, hormones, etc. cause this?  Any information is appreciated!

Thanks,

Melanie

[peep773]

I have been suffering with tourettes my entire life.  My husband and I have been trying to get pregnant, and since we found out I was ovulating, we might actually be pregnant.  Do you take medications for your tourettes?  I noticed you posted this 2 years ago, so I'm assuming you had your baby.  The only thing that helps my tics is haloperidol, and I haven't taken it since we may have conceived.  My tics are OUT OF CONTROL!!  I heard niacin helps ease through tics, but I don't know if that would be healthy for the baby.  You said your tics were worse when you got pregnant; did they get better after the first trimester?  I do want my tics to be under control for myself, and to avoid stress to prevent a miscarriage.  If you check this email, it would be great to find out anything from you about your pregnancy and how you got through it.  You can email me at ***@**** - I don't know if I can find this site again, I think I'll just join whatever this is in order to get a reply - from anyone..

Thank you!
-Rhea.

[StephanieMark]

Hi All,

I know everyone's posts were from awhile ago but I have a few questions. I am 26 and pregnant about 7 weeks. My tics seem to be a lot worse than normal. Usually during my period I have one or two days where I am slightly depressed. Now that I am pregnant I feel that my tics are on overload and I am depressed and nauseous to the point where I am crying all the time and don't want to do anything. I will have maybe 2-3 hours a day where I feel ok and happy. I wasn't sure if anyone else has experienced this. I know that Tourettes has to do with a chemical imbalance so I am thinking that my brain is getting all jumbled. If anyone cold reply and let me know how they felt during their pregnancy it would really help.

Thanks,

Steph

[Maganleigh]

Hey! My name is Magan. Im 35 weeks pregnant with my second child. I was diagnosed with tourettes around age 5 and still have problems with it now. Its got a lot better since childhood though. Since I've became pregnant its got worse. I think the anxiety of the pregnancy and also already taking care of a 2 year old has caused it to get worse. My daughter hasn't shown any signs of having it but its still to early to tell. Im praying she doesn't ever get it. Ive found that setting aside some relaxation time helps a lot. Taking long baths, listening to relaxation music, and walking has helped out. The more im up keeping busy with something the less tics appear. Hope this helps :-)