Adult onset tic disorder

[aerial10]

I am a 42 female, physically fit, but have not felt well in over a year.  I have had problems with insomnia, muscle and joint pain, fatigue, weakness, chest pain, and now I have a tic which I would describe as head jerk.  I've had normal blood tests, MRI - normal, EEG - normal.  I also had a sleep study which was also normal except I woke up after an hour and a half and only had light sleep afterward (this is how I typically sleep).  I feel anything but normal.  I am currently being treated with a SNRI - Effexor 150mg. and Ambien CR.  I stay asleep all night now, but do not feel refreshed in the morning.

My interest is to find out about others who have adult onset tic disorders.  My doctor says that they are rare but can't tell me why mine started.

I've had my tic every day since since it started last August.  My head jerks to the right very fast.  Sometimes it happens many times per minute all day long.  Other days, I will only have maybe 30 the entire day.  The first one wakes me up in the morning.  I think that the amount of restful sleep and stress has a lot to do with the intensity and frequency of the tics.  Although, I have noticed increases in the head jerking when I'm having fun too. I also developed a gasping sound when it happens (since December).  The noise is very surprising and amusing to those around me (myself included).  I've also noticed that sharp movements or noises can especially trigger the tics with vocals.  Sometimes, I feel slightly dizzy when I've had a lot of those types of tics that day.  

I don't feel like I always know that I'm about to have a tic and I don't think I can stop them.  If I focus on them too much, I do feel I cause myself to have more.  When I had my EEG, I had them repeatedly for what felt like 5 to 10 minutes during the hyperventilation part of the test.  I was very embarrassed and could not control myself.  I don't really understand my reaction to this part of the test and would like to learn more.

I have refused medication and hope that the movements will resolve on their own, which they seem to be slowly getting better.  My main focus is to improve my health by lowering my stress levels.  I've always had a lot of stress my whole life and but I don't have panic attacks.  The Effexor is the 5th antidepressant I've tried but I can't say that it helps.  I would definately say I feel depressed about my health.  I don't feel like anything I do really helps considerably.  I can live with the tic, the pain somewhat, but I hate the fatigue.  I'm hoping counceling will help.