{"id":3791,"date":"2014-08-12T07:30:51","date_gmt":"2014-08-12T11:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/njcts.org\/tsparents\/?p=3791"},"modified":"2014-08-12T07:30:51","modified_gmt":"2014-08-12T11:30:51","slug":"52-weeks-of-ts-week-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/njcts.org\/tsparents\/52-weeks-of-ts-week-14\/","title":{"rendered":"52 Weeks of TS: Week 14"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: Every Tuesday, noted Tourette Syndrome advocate Troye Evers shares his \u201c52 Weeks of TS\u201d blog journal with the TSParentsOnline community. In cased you missed the first 13 weeks, you can\u00a0read them here<\/strong><\/a>. For more information about Troye, please click on his name or visit his\u00a0website<\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

April showers bring May flowers, and allergies and the flu. Actually one of the worst flues I can ever remember having in my whole life. I felt it creeping up for a few days, but with my workweek, I would not admit I was getting sick. It worked quite well until last Sunday when I was writing last week\u2019s entry, I said the dreaded words \u201cI\u2019m getting sick\u201d. That was it, I admitted defeat, and within a few hours was feeling like death.<\/p>\n

I have heard people say, \u201cI was so sick my skin hurt\u201d, but never experienced it until now. It was horrible, I was so congested, lethargic, my muscles hurt, my eyes hurt, there was such a pain in my lower back that made it so difficult to get comfortable, and yes my skin even hurt.<\/p>\n

I get my fair share of illnesses, which I find hard to understand how, with the amount of antibacterial I use and lack of touching people and things. This one is one I wish on nobody, there was actually a point there I slept for 24 hours, yep 24 hours straight. Most of the time when I\u2019m sick I just cuddle up on my sofa and watch horrible TV, but not this time. I didn\u2019t even want to leave my bed.<\/p>\n

While fighting this infection inside of me, I realized, I didn\u2019t have anxiety. I\u2019ve noticed this before when I\u2019m sick, but got to thinking about it this time. I have bad anxiety, if I\u2019m awake, I\u2019m anxious about something, but not when I\u2019m sick. Am I onto something?<\/p>\n

There is some sort of chemical reaction when you\u2019re sick that cures anxiety, well at least for me. That\u2019s the one thing I like about being sick, I don\u2019t have a care in the world. Wow, did I just come up with the cure for anxiety? lol. I doubt it. Even if I did, I could never prove it, I\u2019m a writer not a scientist.<\/p>\n

In the midst of this contamination of my body by yet another uninvited guest, I did have a special appointment this week, that appointment that I waited three long months for. Yep, the TS specialist at Columbia university. As the days approached I started thinking to myself, why am I going, what do I really want to get out of this visit?<\/p>\n

The answers I came up with was very lacking of substance. I mean, I didn\u2019t have much of a desire to try a chemical cocktail of medication. I\u2019ve already been diagnosed with TS, so I didn\u2019t need him to tell me that. Why was I doing this, just so I can walk into his office and say, \u201cHi, I have TS, and I\u2019m not going to shake your hand because of my OCD, can I go now?\u201d<\/p>\n

I mean the truth of the matter is that I don\u2019t think there is much you can tell me that I don\u2019t already know. Its 2012, we have Google and WebMD, I already know everything about TS, I mean everything. Lol. Does anybody have a broom to push me off the high horse that I have climbed upon?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m pretty sure the other people with germ OCD can see where I\u2019m going with this. I will come up with any excuse I can to go to the doctor. Oh my god, my eye is itchy, I must have pink eye, now I\u2019m going to go blind. Oh no, my stomach hurts, I must have cancer and I\u2019m going to die, I know I got it from the subway. However, as soon as it\u2019s time to go to the doctor, I will come up with any excuse not to go.<\/p>\n

This time I decided I knew more than the doctor did, so I didn\u2019t have to go. I\u2019m surprised I didn\u2019t rediagnose myself with not having TS, which would have been a valid reason not to go. Oh, the babbling rant that goes on in my head, lol.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry, I went. I did walk around the block three times, and then sat in front of the facility for 10 minutes, watching the people walk in and wonder, \u201cWhat do they have? Can I catch it?\u201d I finally harvested enough strength to go in. It was pretty much what I expected, 12-page questionnaire, thirty minute interview, etc. etc.<\/p>\n

The doctor came in with his assistant and three student doctors. They told me not to suppress any of my tics, just let them all come out as they videotaped me and watched. I was not one of those kids that ever wanted to run away to the circus, but here I was. I felt like a circus act. \u201dCome one, come all, and watch. He twitches, he grunts. Now twitch for the audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

I kid, it wasn\u2019t that bad, but it was a bit demeaning. I let all my tics come out, I don\u2019t ever do this outside of the comfort of my own home, and it was strange to have all these eyes watching me for the purpose of my tics. We talked a little about my medication history and I informed them that I was currently taking Klonopin, but that I only took it when I needed, or at night before I went to sleep.<\/p>\n

He decided to keep me on the Klonopin, but to slowly increase the dosage to a regimented daily dosage, and call him once a week to check up. Basically the old, \u201cTake two of these and call me in the morning.\u201d What the hell, I\u2019ll try it. As long as I don\u2019t become a zombie, I\u2019m all-good. Right now, I\u2019m at half a pill in the morning and a full pill before bed. Each week I have to increase the dosage by half a pill.<\/p>\n

Well, spring is finally here, and I\u2019m feeling a health kick come on. There have been many studies involving TS and nicotine therapy. They say nicotine has help some people calm down their tics. I have been a smoker for quite a long time, too long to even say, but I\u2019m quitting this week. I guess this will be my own nicotine therapy study. Will my tic increase if I quit? We\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n

This is something that I\u2019m actually going to pay close attention to. I\u2019m also starting a weekly workout regimen. Let\u2019s see if working out can calm my anxiety and\/or tics. What a week to look forward to, I\u2019m excited for new adventures.\u00a0Until next week, \u201cI\u2019ll tic to you later.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t <\/div><\/div>\n\t\t