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Head Tremors

   My daughter has been to 6 different Neurologists since age 3. She has a even side-to-side motion of the head. Not one of these Neurologists gave the same diagonosis. 1 said "its a tremor, what you see is what you get." Another said it could be a motor tic, another said he thought it was a habbit. My daughter is now 12 and has only 1 friend and is teesed all the time with the most hurtful words like (freek, bobblehead ect..)Her PCP said he thinks its something else the the meds to help would not be able to be taken with her meds for ADHD(Concerta and ritlin). The question I ask myself is, as a parent, am I doing everything in my power to help my child, I don't think so.
   My daughter as a child has fallen a lot because she never really had good balance. She had hit her head quite a bit and has averaged 3 stitches per year in her face from age 3 until age 8. At age 8 she had 13 stitches inside and out of her mouth from falling on the playgym at daycare.
   Yes I have had a CT scan and a MRI and nothing was really said on the MRI.
   Does anyone know what is wrong with my daughter and is she able to get help with this. She starts JR High in the Fall and kids there are very crule.
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147426 tn?1317265632
Your daughter's rhythmic head swinging is unlikely to be a tic.  There are several reasons for this.  One is that age 3 would be an extremely young age for a child to develop a tic. Most children do not manifest tic's before 6 or 7 years of age.  Another is that tic's are not continous though they may be continual.  That is they may happen with great frequency, but they always have some pauses.

Another characteristic of tics is that they evolve and change over time.  They do not remain absolutely the same over many years.

Tics are also typically sudden and jerking, paroxysmal, explosive.  They are not rhythmic.

Finally, the clumsiness and falls worry me that this is more than a tic.

I hope you can get an evaluation for her.  Quix
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Avatar universal
Could be tourettes.

Quite often people with conditions like tourettes have overlapping symptoms with other conditions such as dyspraxia, aspergers adhd (which you mention) etc which often have balance problems and clumsiness.

Quite apart from my ongoing twitches, I have noticed on video that I have a head mannerism of jerking my head to one side at certain points when I am speaking, no reason why, it's just something I do
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147426 tn?1317265632
Has your daughter been evaluated at a major academic pediatric center?  The first neurologist blew you off.  He didn't know so he dismissed you.  I don't buy a "tic" lasting 10 years.  The concept of this being a "habit" , to me is laughable.  I am concerned that she might have a problem in the part of her brain responsible for balance and coordination in space, the cerebellum.   Do her eyes jiggle or jerk?

I believe she needs a THOROUGH pediatric neurology evaluation which might include motor/balance testing, neuropsych testing (because of the ADHD) and a neuro-ophthalmologic evaluation, possibly genetics.  If you are in the US look at some of the major university medical centers and arrange for your daughter to be evaluated properly.  Examples of these centers would be (out of hundreds) Boston Childrens, Cleveland Clinic, Duke, Vanderbilt, University of Chicago, UCLA, ---I shouldn't have even started listing them.  There are so many really good centers.

She deserves an answer.  I hope you can find help.  If you do get an appointment take all of her medical records and copies of her films with you.

Good luck, Quix
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