Is This Tourettes, Or Something Else? Posted: 10-24-06 09:45am
My current symptoms:
it isn't exactly a twitch, but I am
reguarly compelled to close my eyes very
tight and roll them back, putting major
strain on them. I feel a buildup up
tension before doing this and even though
I try to hold back, it gets to the point
where I must perform this. Sometimes i'll
do it 5 or 6 times in a row. More often
when I am stressed out, or bored. (this
happens mostly while I am driving, which
is dangerous because I drive for a
living). My tics also manifest themselves
as my needing to look at things a certain
way.. For example, I am constantly
turning my head to the right to line up my
vision with the top of my passenger side
mirror. Again, I will do this more than a
few times in a row until i'm able to snap
myself out of this. If I feel the need to
do this, I can hold back for a few moments
before I either do it accidently or kind
of blow up, doing it many times in a row.
Sometimes I get (what I call) the "blinks"
where I blink a few times in a row very
hard straining my eyes at the same time
(sometimes I slightly jerk my head while
doing this).
History:
i've had these symptoms regularly for
almost 20 years but have never had them
diagnosed. I remember being 7 years old
and having to kind of jerk/shake my head
constantly and uncontrollably. Most
often, I feel the urge coming on and can
do little to keep myself from doing it,
otherwise its a mental struggle to stop.
When I was 12/13 I would constantly roll
my eyes to the back of my head, being made
fun of at school for it. At this same
time frame, I was also doing something
weird with the muscles in my mouth,
stretching out very quickly into a kinda
of large smile in a jerking fashion.
What should I do about this? I've brought
it up once or twice in therapy but my
therapist suggested I relax more and
breathe deeply when I feel the urge,
stating that it was stress related.
Sometimes I blink when i'm not even
stressed out..Sometimes just thinking
about my tics brings them on. It is
beginning to interfere with work..
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blulyneguy
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 09 Jan 2007 Posts: 334 Location: Idaho,
Ts? Posted: 01-09-07 18:21pm
Sounds alot like ts (touretts syndrome).
Your "therapist?" should refer you to a
neurologist. I have stories about all
kinds of "experts" telling people about
stress, or anxiety, or whatever. There is
no definitive test for ts (just history
and observing) but sounds like could be ts
or transient tic disorder. Any vocal
tics? (grunts, sniffling, breathing
funny, clicking of tongue?)
