Please Help! Desparate! My 9 year old just developed this!

The doctor said that he may have developed a "Tick" and sometimes they can get bad and sometimes they can be minimal and be controlled with medication.  He said that it could have been brought on by stress, being upset, worried, or something going on in his life.  I am still worried.  He said that tourettes, he doubts, cereblpalsy is brought on earlier in life, parkinsons is later in life, etc. Now it will take forever to get in to the shrink and in the mean time kids will be cruel.  He will be down on himself and then he will need a psychiatrist or psychologist.  

He is upset because kids are staring at him and he is embarrassed.  He is having uncontrollable movements.  He is my baby and always will be and I am supposed to keep him from having problems and I couldn't stop it!  I am devistated.  We were at the ER last night and they think it is neurological too.  All of a sudden my problems feel like nothing compared to this.  He comes first and I will cancel all future appts if I have too.  I will skip my social security if I have to.  He is more important to me than anything in the world.  He can't stop making his throat noise - it is almost a clearing noise - it is like a "unmmph" and now he started shaking his hands and moving his fingers about and constantly tugging at his shirt (the top of) and shirt collar really badly and it does not stop!

What could it be, what can be done?  Is this something he will outgrow?  Should I home school him?  What can we do? Can I take him to Children's Hospital and them give him medicine before monday?  How long does the medicine take to take effect to supress the tics/ movements?  Desparte, Please.  I can't stop crying and it comes on all of a sudden and yes, I have done it in front of him and I can't help it. I do end up leaving the room when I can.  I know I should be strong for him.  I don't think the doctors actually care because it is not their child.  
Thank you ahead of time!

[chancetics]

well well well crying in front of him and having this poor attitude isn't going to help anything. you need to relax first. thins could be be be worse. your son could have a life threatening issue. ts is not not not life threatening. take him to the doctor. tell them what you think it is. set up up up future appts. dont baby him. hes a normal boy who who who tics. he will need to learn to be ok with who he is. and you will need to help help help him. your attitude is only showing him that he has something to be ashamed of.

[xmelax35]

When I cried in front of him was at the doctor's office.  Only because we do not know exactly if that is what he has. I have gotten several different answers from different doctors so far.  None of them will refer us to a neurologist, in which I think is what needs done.  The crying is because it breaks my heart to see him going through this and because his words stuck with me.  He had said in the beginning, "mommy, if there is a surgery that can get rid of this and make me better, I want to do it"  Then later he said, " if there is a medicine that would help I would take it too.".  It broke my heart that he is going through this. He knows I am not ashamed of it.  I feel for him so much.  He is my best friend and my son.  It has always been just me and him.  I am told by doctors: something neurological, low thyroid, anxiety, just tics, his medication, or his medication caused permanent damage, and tourettes. So many different answers.

[DinaGrimes]

I understand how upsetting this can be.  My daughter also has tourettes.  She started with her first tic at the age of 5.  She is now 12.  The tics will come and go.  Some are worse than others.  She is going through a very bad one right now (this one has been going on for about 2 months).  We choose not to medicate her because of the side effects.  We have talked to her about medication and will put her on something if she feels that she can no longer put up with the tics or if she starts to get badly teased.  Stress will make the tics much worse and the more they are aware or thinking about the tics, the worse they will be.  Try to provide your son with as little stress as possible (I know that is easier said than done).  When the tics get extremely bad for my daughter, we have her try to get involved with something that will take her mind off of thinking about them (ex.  drawing works for her).  This works very well for my daughter.  Have your son work on something that is fun for him and will take his mind off of the tics.  
Sometimes I think this is harder on the parents then it is on the kids.  Like you, I want to cry just watching my daughter go through this.  I think it helps that I also have tourettes (though very mild) so I can relate to my daughter and I have an idea of how it feels to her.  
There is no cure for tourettes.  No easy answers.  You need to put your energy into learning to live with it and helping your son live and cope with tourettes.
If I can help in any way, please let me know.
Dina

[stumo32]

Hi, im 33 and have learned to suppress my tics. Heres the way i think TS works, i still get the urges today but just dont perform the tics.
Dont think the thought of the tics will ever vanish from me but actually doing the tic has 99% vanished from me.
People with TS will know that a tic is like a split second thought that turns into an action, you get a sudden urge that you think you cant control. But one day i just snapped and decided to fight against it as i could not take the headaches etc from the nods anymore. Everyone that has TS has prob held back a tic for as long as they can before letting out the tic, so in otherwords, they are proving to themselves that they can fight against it.
Dont get me wrong, this was real hard to do and its only natural for a couple of tics to come out on ocassion at first, but after even a few days of not performing a tic as much, your mind sort of forgets to do it, you will see the difference.
When you perform the tic all the time, then your just in automatic mode and cant stop, so by not giving in to the urge your mind actually forgets about the tic.

About tics that come and go, this to me is cos they are concentrating so much on other tics that their brain forgets all about the tic that has vanished, so its sort of put to the back of the mind in a way. Then you notice that your not doing that tic no more and it starts up all over again :s
So practice tic holding everyday makes perfect....well kind of anyway :)
The effect of not performing the tics is quite quick, within days i could tell i was ticking less, within a month or 2 i felt great, still the ocassional tic but hardly noticable.
Its all a question of putting up a fight against the urge, i felt i was going crazy when fighting against it sometimes, but was well worth the effort in the end.
I hear a lot of people say dont fight against the tics, just let them come. That to me is rubbish, i put up the fight when i was at my worst with TS and won  :)
Only time now that i feel the urges is when im watch TS on tv or even writing this gets me feeling twitchy.

Hope this letter helps

[ladies12]

i am reading this 3+ years after your original post.  how is your son?  was it TS or a tic disorder?  i ask because i feel EXACTLY as you described.  so scared, crying - insanely worried about what this is, how do we treat, how this will affect her life, school, friends, teasing, etc.  i'm a wreak.  i do HOPE you got the answers you needed and that the tics are under control.