Just days before this blog was launched, the Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada started a website called The Great Wall of Tics — a place for anyone to post about the tics that have resulted from their Tourette Syndrome.
We have received permission to take that idea and start it here on the Teens4TS blog. So please, comment away about your tics. You can write about all of your tics in one comment, or dedicate one comment for each tic! Whatever you’d like to do is fine with us!
We just want to hear from you so the whole world can learn more about tics and the people who have them. This is YOUR blog and YOUR chance for 15 minutes (or more!) of fame. Why not seize it today and share your tics? The clock is … ticcing!
If you would prefer to post them on our Facebook or Twitter pages, you may do that as well. Or, you can write to us about your tics at teens@njcts.org. Once we receive enough tics, we are going to try and take our “Great Wall of Tics” and make it as public as possible! The more people that know, the more TS will be able to be better understood.
Eye blinking and grimacing for a very long time, say mh.
The one’s I do most will also have an asterisk sign:
-head movements (all directions, especially up (back) and down)*
-eye brow raising*
-eye brow furrowing*
-eye blinking and rolling*
-upper body tensing and jerking
-facial grimacing*
-making this weird dog/monkey-ish noise*
-extending my arm out
-What I call my “waking up” tic (straightening up and opening my eyes whenever I start to fall asleep anywhere but home)
-mouth movements
some tics I used to do were opening my mouth wide, tensing my stomach only (separate from my upper body), and flexing my wrist.
Sniffling, snorting, clearing my throat, coughing, clicking my jaw, cracking my neck, popping my thumb, popping my wrist, popping my elbow, straightening my knee, popping my ankle, cracking my big toe
I have a new tic where my arms bend and hit my ribs. It is like when you bend your arms to do the chicken dance and then I slam them against my ribs. I also have vocal cord dysfunction as a tic, so that causes me to wheeze a lot. Sometimes if I forcefully hit my ribs hard enough I start to wheeze.
I have recently developed echolalia. So, occasionally I repeat a sentence or two of what other people say. I am pretty good at muffling it with a whisper, but sometimes just have to let it out. I went to the Dalai Lama concert with my friends the other day and accidentally let out a sentence copying him. They told me not to mock His Holiness.
The way I was diagnosed with Tourette syndrome at 17 was after a case of whooping cough. The continued wheezing lead to a diagnosis of vocal cord dysfunction. When all other treatments failed, the doctors thought it might be a tic since I was also rolling my eyes a lot. Low and behold, when I was put on tic medicine my breathing got much better. My doctor said the adage “when you hear hoof beats you gotta think horses and not zebras” doesn’t apply to me. I am a zebra because vocal cord dysfunction as a tic is very rare. I kind of like being a zebra.
I have a lot of tics. The ones with * are my worst/most noticeable.
– Jerking my head forward, like a fierce nod almost. *
– Rapid blinking/rolling my eyes. *
– Quickly tensing my stomach muscles and then releasing. *
– Making this noise that almost sounds like I’m laughing at something or saying ” Hut ” – The more nervous/stressed I am the louder it gets. *
– I used to bite my teeth together really hard, that tic hurt. -___-
– I’m starting to think that me always biting my lip is a tic too..
But yep, those are my tics. :)
Hey I replied to your comment on the great wall of tics saying that you and i have a lot of similar tics and are close in age. Pretty cool!
mine r also very similar 2 these except that i also have a lip biting & lip licking one that gets worse in the winter.
One of my tics for months now has been forceful inhalation. It doesn’t really hurt my throat though it sounds like it. But, when I have a sore throat, it hurts like no tomorrow. My new tic (finally) is forcing my chin up a little bit. I roll my eyes and jerk my head more when I’m agitated. When I get very agitated, I have the urge to break and squeeze things. I do my best to control it. The sad thing is that I’m not that kind of person. I’m the kind of person who is easy going. I hate being easily agitated. It started in the beginning of 2011. Those are my tics for ya! :)
A few more of my tics are stretching/opening my mouth, raising my eye brows, blinking, facial grimacing, jerking my head and neck, grabbing at the bottom of my neck, grabbing my crotch area, and hitting my chest.
I have so many tics. A few of them are rolling my eyes, dropping to my knees on the ground, jerking my arms out, cracking my knuckles, biting/picking/licking my lips, making a high pitched yelping sound, making squeaking sounds, coughing, and sniffling.