Does this sound like Tourette Syndrome?

[Mom_to_2_boys_1_girl]

My son is 7 years old.  About a year ago he started doing this weird throat clearing/grunting sound, all the time!  We took him to the doctor thinking, at the time that he had post nasal drip or something causing him to need to clear his throat.  The doctor said there was no sign that that was the case but suggested we try an antihistamine for a few days.  This went on for weeks.  His daycare and school teachers commented on it.  Other kids commented on it at school and daycare, asking why he was doing it.  He would make the sound in the middle of words, many times a minute, all day long.  
That did eventually stop and we almost forgot about it.  But then he would do other 'weird' things.  He would click his tongue all the time, hum, do weird things with his hands.  We attributed it to anxiety.  

In November he started doing this shake that started like a shiver, in his shoulders/neck, but became more - sometimes he bends at the waist, his whole body tense, and shakes.  And 2 weeks ago, on top of that shaking, he has started making an 'eeeeeee' sound all the time.  We've asked him about both.  He says he can't stop the noise - it just comes out.  And the 'shiver'/shake he says he wants to stop but he just can't...
He has other issues that have concerned us for years that have been brushed off by the doctor - he doesn't sleep well.  I don't think he's ever slept through the night.  It takes hours for him to fall asleep at night.  He has night terrors, sleepwalks, talks in his sleep... He has horrible anxiety, which we're seeing someone about.  He also has traits that I think fall into the OCD category - obsessive worrying that he's going to die, that I (Mommy) am going to die... (I have OCD and I see myself as a kid in him!).

Lately we've had people asking if he has Tourette Syndrome which never even entered our radar!  But the people asking are social workers and psychologists who he is seeing for his anxiety... So while they're not people who are able to diagnose it, they are people who work with others with TS.  

Does this sound like a case of Tourette Syndrome?  I know I had tics as a child - I used to clear my throat all the time, and shake my head... and now as an adult I do a little facial twitch that is sort of like moving my glasses up on my cheek (only I do it even when I'm not wearing glasses).  My mother also has minor tics.  This leads me to believe it's an inherited condition, whatever he has... but does it sound like TS?

[Smokescreen79]

Some should check it this could be pandas. just to make sure. It is relativly unknown.

[jshear]

Hello. Your story is very similar to mine with my daughter. She is now 10 years old and was recently diagnosed with TS, OCD and Anxiety. Tics aside the worse symptom she had was that of not being able to fall asleep due to the obsessive thoughts and tics as well as anxiety-ocd. For months we did not know what was going on as her anxiety and ocd seemed more noticeable then her tics. At the time we thought her tics were due to other reasons. I have to tell you that we tried many things to help her sleep and the only thing I have found to benifit her was Melatonin. Other mothers of children with similar issues told me about it.. my pediatrician gave the ok and so far so good.. she has been falling alseep with in the hour of taking it which helps her with stress and there for helps her with her tics.. as she tends to be worse upon lack of sleep and stress.

[Skeeter098]

My best friend has Tourettes Syndrome.  He's 15.  He also makes throat noises.  I have only caught him once making a wierd sound with his tongue.   He makes uncontrollable faces while watching TV or when he's on the computer.  When he was younger he used to HAVE to count all the road signs while in a car and if he missed one his mom absolutely had to turn around so that he could count it.  He used to walk two steps forward and one step back.  He couldn't step on a single crack and he had to count his foot steps.  Some of his "ticks" have gone away.  He also hardly sleeps at night. He'll stay up til around 4 a.m. and then go to sleep until 9 a.m. and he'll be up and refreshed all day.  He also had other problems though too.  He has ADHD, OCD and he has MERSA.  He is also Idiosyncric (he counts everything!)