My son has developed a vocal tic (huh) a day after receiving his Kindergarden shots. It is mild at times and at others so frequent he has trouble communicating. He has had some mild tics we ignored. (pulling his shirt/flicking his fingers) They lasted a few weeks and only occured when he was nervous. He was tested for aspergers 6 mo. ago (at my request) due to the fact that he had some trouble relating to his preschool peers. 2 days worth of tests showed cognitive skills off the charts, expresive language and social skills low ave.,but no aspergers! For the past 6 mo. he has made huge gains in social skills and communication due to the fact that we went back to revisit previous preschool skills (such as playing with puppets and reading about how to get along with others.....instead of answering questions about white blood cells and gravity on other planets)
Now after all this progress he has developed this tic. Last night he told his dad, "the doctor made this happen". He did freak out when he got the shots, and was very clingy the remainder of the day. Then the next day the tic began. I know the general medical community says there is not a relationship between immunizations and Autistic like symptoms but..........
Any advice/help would be appreciated. I started him on omega 3 and l carnitine just because I read it might help but I really don't know what I'm doing. Sandy

Hi Sandy and welcome tho I am sure sorry this is what has brought you here

I know many parents who feel that vaccines have triggered tics in their kids, especially kids who are already susceptible

was one of the vaccines varicella(chicken pox)? this seems to be one that tends to trigger tics, based on anecdotal reports from parents.
Also it seems for some kids the combination of all the shots can have neurological impact

My son has genetic Tourette Syndrome and l-carnitine was very helpful for his vocal tics, while omega 3s are excellent all round (some kids with TS seem to tic more when given fish oil for omega 3 and do better on flaxseed oil)

have you tried epsom salts baths? (2 cups in tub warm water, soak for 20 min) The magnesium sulfate in the salts seems to have both calminative and detoxing properties for kids with tics.

hoping that things stabilize for your son and that this is just a transient tic

Thank you for responding. I'm going to try flaxseed oil and epsom salts. His shots included varicella, MMR,IPV and DTaP. I'm so angry right now. I feel as if I allowed myself to be bullied into these shots by a community that won't allow children in Kindergarten without them.
My son has also been sweating after he goes to sleep. The house is normal temp and he seems okay all day but when I have checked on him (an hour or so after falls asleep) his hair and pillow are wet. My gut says this is his body detoxing and I've tried to encourage water and gatoraide. Any other suggestions? I've also seen the word Panda and was wondering what that stood for. Thanks, Sandy

Hi Sandy
PANDAS is Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections, where kids seem to get neuro stuff (primarily OCD and tics etc) after strep infection or exposure, or scarlet fever etc
It can only be dx by blood tests for strep antibodies as throat swab often gives a false negative

There is a lot of info out on vaccines triggering neurological disorders, including this article by David Kirby
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-...b_b_93627.html

It is such a difficult situation as the illnesses for which kids are vaccinated are serious and sometimes deadly ones, yet the growing evidence of harm from the vaccines simply cant be ignored IMHO

hoping that this will be transient for your child and that you see improvement soon.

It sounds suspiciously like Tourette's syndrome, Sandy. Has anyone ever looked into this for you?

No......seems as if 2 days with the school psychologist would have uncovered something. Had his 5 year old check up a week ago and mentioned the pulling on his shirt when he would try to explain something. Doc. said this was normal and would go away. (and this has held true in the past)
He did something unusual today and that was cling to me at his camp. Had the death grip on me and that is just not normal. He also said, as he was having a bath, (with epsom salts as recommended) "I hope this stuff calms me down". Have read up on Tourette's on the internet but there is sooo much information. Is anxiety part of it for kids? At what point would a diagnosis be important? Who would I see? Someone suggested a geneticist.
Sandy

Hi Sandy
have you found the tourette forum here?

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum25.html

So many things can trigger tics, from diet & allergies to genetics, thru illness/infection and vaccines and more.
many parents are also finding docs are often quick to give a TS diagnosis, without first investigating the possibility of these other triggers, mainly because a lot of conventional doctors just either dont know of, or too easily discount the volumes of anecdotal evidence out there if they would just look. Research is beginning to point to it too.




there is a very good site for general information on Tourette at http://www.tourettesyndrome.net

Hi Sandy,
Just wanted to answer your question about anxiety. Yes, anxiety disorders are comorbid with Tourettes in some patients. But, it could just be a phase since he's only 5. Chemar has given you some great starting points here.
My 9 year old started with tics a few months ago. We've had one and off anxiety issues with him prior to the tics which I just chalked up to childhood phases, now I wonder if it's all tied together. Anyway, stress usually increases tics no matter what the cause of the tics are to begin with. So, maybe you can find out if something is causing him stress. And, yes, the epsom salts will probably calm him down. There are also magnesium supplements that will help, as well. Try researching KidsCalm products by Peter Gillham. Keep us posted!

Thanks for your reply and suggestions. I'm going to look up the KidsCalm products as William has always seemed overly concerned about odd stuff. Once when he had a splinter in his hand and it got infected I explained to him about pus/white blood cells since he had been hyperfocusing on human body facts. BAD CHOICE!! I was confronted with several days of "Will the white blood cells attack other parts of my body?, Can they get out of my skin? Do their mouths have teeth?............." Sometimes I don't know what may upset him and the only thing different lately was him getting his shots. (I was wise enought not to tell him what was in them) He did freak out and sounded like he was pleading for his life but doesn't it always sound like that to a parent?
Do you find that it is better to talk about the anxiety or let it ease up on it's own? He is currently ticcing in cycles. A bunch in a 30 min. period, then just a few for 2 hrs. Sometimes he can be distracted from them and sometime nothing helps. Would love to get you perspective and your childs' on what moms can do or stop doing when the tics get bad. Currently I
want to provide a 'break' so we wrestle or tickle which gives him a few min. of relief. I also was wondering if introducing/encouraging a former less noticable tic....in his case the finger flicking would be a good idea. The vocal huh brings about questions he doesn't have the answers to or he must listen to me attempt to answer the same questions. Thanks again, Sandy

Well, on the anxiety front I find talking about it is therapeutic for ds. He's had separation anxiety and phobias on and off since he was 4. When he was younger I kept it simple, now we take more time and get him to apply what he's learning in therapy(he's been seeing a counselor b/c of his OCD type anxiety for 2 months now). It couldn't hurt to teach a 5 yr old how to breathe and relax. Also, check with Amazon for the Lori Lite(sp) relaxation CD's for kids, they are awesome.
As for the tics, from what I've read it seems that drawing attention to the tics makes them worse. I think it just depends on the child. I have a friend who's child has a transient tic disorder and she just gently reminds him of what he's doing and encourages him to control it. My ds has gotten to the point where he tries to control them when he's around a group of peers but for the most part we don't talk about them unless he brings it up. He knows he does it but we don't make a big deal about them. My ds doesn't have vocals but has noticeable facial tics and kids are always asking him about it and he just says, "It's something I do, like a habit". Most kids understand and leave him alone once they ask.

And, yes, I have to be careful what I say around ds and about what he sees on TV. His anxiety brain will search out anything to get anxious about: disease, blood, the word cancer, scary monsters, death, etc, etc.... Anyway, this is and has always been one of our bigger challenges. Right now the tics are the least of our concerns. The anxiety had changed recently and so that's what we're trying to handle now. Raising kids is such a challenge and I pray everyday that ds's tics and anxieties will be under control and that he will learn to accept the challenges that lay before him as he gets older. I don't know how long he'll have tics but I think anxiety is here to stay as it's hereditary on both sides of our families. Both my dh and I have family members who are on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds so we think some of this is hereditary and some is environmental and some might just be 'who he is', KWIM? Anyway, sorry about the book here but I hope it's been helpful!