r/Tourettes

hi everyone i hope you're doing well. sorry if this comes off as validation begging, i'm just feeling anxious tonight and don't wanna bother my friends anymore over the same obsessive thoughts that can't really be fixed.

i'm gonna see a psych soon for a diagnosis and i've had tics for 5+ years now but i'm only just seeing a psych because my tics have only just gotten to a point of exacerbation where i can't live anymore without some clarity and medical support.

i'm scared they're gonna wonder why i took so long. why i suddenly have awful tics when they were manageable for years before. they're gonna think i'm lying about having them for so long, or that i'm not to be taken seriously because they only just started being severe tics this summer. i need a diagnosis so bad because i need support and if my tics remain this way i want to see about medication or something. if they refuse to take me seriously it's over.

I live in a large city and we have a Spotted page and subreddit. On the subreddit, there's always complaints about people on public transportation or traffic violations and sometimes these people try to film them. I have minor tics but occasionally I have to deal with going out with more noticeable tics. Nobody has ever tried to film me or anything but I know it happens because I know people who take pictures of disabled people or something physical about them they can't control, one of these people is my boyfriend, he doesn't post online but I give him shit for this when he shows me a picture of someone. There was also a post where someone took a picture of the seat after someone had an accident and I find that sad it's immortalized online so fast..

I posted about it before on an older account, but I went through a really horrific and traumatizing period at work where I was getting relentlessly scolded for having tics.

Thankfully, they've been down 95% of what they normally are (not getting into details but I found something that helped), so I would say the ableist harassment stopped but I haven't recovered from it mentally and I'm still around the same people who aren't too hostile anymore but are very much not sorry. It's mostly in the rearview mirror but I'm not really over it. I never retaliated against people like this because I've been fired for having Tourette's before and I have no hope that it would be anything other than ME that gets fired. Every time I have an infrequent tic, it doesn't feel too great internally and I'm very insecure.

A lot of us have been bullied for having Tourette's and I was wondering if anyone had any advice to share.

Do they think I'm somehow oblivious? It just hurts. Always being paranoid that people are looking at you then realizing they actually are. I don't even blame the people that just cross the street. Maybe they think I'm on drugs or something and don't feel safe, whatever. But to just stop and stare like I exist for their entertainment? Incredibly insulting. I'm gonna say something next time

Secret worst part about Tourette’s is that you can’t have a cat sleep on you. I’m suppressing my tics so fucking hard rn cause my cat is loafing on my legs but my brains like noooo you need to twitch right now.

My poor cat??? Whenever I tic she gets startled :((( I’m sorry baby

I remember since i was little, i've always had HORRIBLE urges to do things. For example:

if i held a cup i would have a baaaad urge to throw it, so bad i had to strangle my muscles from the inside to avoid doing it. Or tap something repetitively till the urge goes away

And when i stood on my electric scooter at 12, i often had urges to jump off, take my hands off it, swing etc. It was so bad i often ended up having multiple head jerks to avoid doing it.

And always whenever i walked near a drain with my phone out, i got a huge urge to throw my phone in it and again so bad i had to strangle my muscles.

I've also had ingense urges to say innapropiate things in bad situations (coprolalia) without doing it. But still very irresistable. And the phrases would replay like hell in my mind and always disturbed my inner monolauge. Also like when i prayed to God ad a child and thought things like "fk god" "i hate you" "i dont believe" etc etc and would have to apologize only to get interrupted by these thoughts constantly

Never really fullfilled these urges, but still extremely uncomfortable. If i fullfilled them, i would probably be diagnosed a LOT earlier. I dont know how i was/am able to supress this much. I still experience all of these urges, but as a kid i just thought it was normal. Is it?

I know the science says that it's just a neurological thing but sometimes feel like I must be possessed because no one should have to live with this disease. Sometimes it's all consuming and can be really exhausting. I just can't help but wonder sometimes if I can just find someone to cast the demon out.

i developed coprolalia tics recently. they're extremely frequent for me now. is there anything i can do? has anyone successfully "phased out" their socially inappropriate tics for other ones? i hate swearing and saying mean things to people even if i can't control it. it makes me feel miserable about myself. i don't think swearing is wrong but i personally don't do it if i can help it because it doesn't make me feel good and now i'm doing it 24/7 because i *don't want to* do it so of course it happens more.

hello! I recently joined this sub, and have been diagnosed with Tourettes for about a year. this is probably a very stupid question, but can tics be influenced by other things? For example, say someone watched a video, movie, etc. can they develop a tic of something from that movie/video? i ask this because i feel like i may be developing a new tic but am not sure.

Hiya! I’ve been diagnosed with Tourette’s since I was 11, so just over a decade now, and I’ve always had a strange experience with premonitory urges. When I have an urge to tic, I will do it, and the feeling will almost never be satisfied. I have to keep doing a tic until I distract myself enough that I “forget” the urge is there.

This also leads to most of my motor tics being what I think is called “dystonic”, i.e. I have to hold them for an undetermined amount of time. I typically release these types of tics after a few seconds, but if I were to attempt to actually satisfy the urge, I would likely just hold that tic indefinitely.

Is this a common experience? I don’t really mind the tics themselves, but the constant feeling of physical dissatisfaction is genuinely something I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy. Is there anything I can do, or is it just Tourette’s being evil?

Multiple people have suggested Emeterm. I just looked into buy one and there are multiple devices. Which one do you use for Tourette’s ?

So my tics were pretty bad about 10 years ago, but since then, I have an entirely new social circle, and my tics had subsided to the point where nobody in my life (including my long-time partner) really knew I had it. I even kinda forgot about it for a while, and tics completely faded into the background noise.

Recently though, they've picked way up, and now I'm in this really awkward position where it looks like I just picked Tourette's out of nowhere. I've always had a fear of people thinking I'm faking it, plus the usual embarrassment of tics, and suddenly having coprolalia again is just crazy.

Has anyone else had an experience like this? How did you navigate it? Am I over-thinking things?

Some info:
23f in the US.
Diagnosed with Tourette, Anxiety, OCD, Depression, and ADHD (no hyperactivity, used to be ADD)
My tics are in the middle. Typically on the “milder” side, but most of my tics are motor and cause me pain when exacerbated.

Currently on:
- Vyvanse 30mg once a day for ADHD. (focus, energy, motivation)
- Guanfacine 3mg twice a day for tics
- Lexapro 20mg once a day for Anxiety, OCD, Depression

I recently just switched from Concerta 27mg to Vyvanse a couple months ago. Concerta worked but my problem was higher dose= more tics, more effective; lower dose= less tics, less effective. I definitely like Vyv better, but I’m ticcing more. I tried a lower dose but it oddly made me tic more and wasn’t effective lol. I’m back on the 30mg but guys,,, my neck hurts 😭. I’m ticcing like crazy.

Do yall know of any medications I can ask my psychiatrist about that will help tics but not counteract the effects of my Vyvanse? I’m thinking about asking about clonidine (my brother used to be on it), but would that be any different than what the guanfacine is doing? Has anyone ever treated/managed both tics and adhd successfully at the same time?

Hi 👋

Longtime lurker, first time poster.

I’m 43 and was diagnosed with “mild to moderate” Tourette’s and ADHD-I when I was 11 years old. My tics were mostly facial movements, eye rolling, throat clearing and a neck muscle spasm. I endured a lot of teasing, but never was given medication. The tic related symptoms mostly disappeared after a few years.

Over the past 6 months, I’ve noticed that after a 30+ year period with mostly no tics…they’ve returned.
The primary tic that I’m experiencing is a neck and chest muscle spasm that’s to be honest…fairly exhausting.

I saw some previous posts that describe a bit of what I’m talking about. But 30 years is a really long time.

I’m curious if this is something anyone else here has experienced? I’m thinking carefully about what to do next.

Thank you for any and all support.

As most of you know, tourettes is often described to people who don't have it as if we are "holding in a sneeze" or "scratching a persistent inch".

I never thought these analogies were accurate at all. And it irks me that therapists used to try and tell me to understand how it feels before a tic is going to happen in order to stop it.

IDK about any of you, but I don't get that feeling. It's more like when a fly lands on a cow and their muscle contracts. It just happens. It feels like I'm glitching all the time. It feels more accurate to say it's like playing an online video game but there's lag. So you'll go to do something and then it will rubber band you back to where you were. It feels more like that to me because often when I go to do anything, I have to add a bunch of extra movements before I'm able to do the thing. So it's like my mind is on the task, but my body keeps rubber banding and sending me back.

What analogies are more accurate to you?

I was very conflicted today. I wanted to be able to tic freely, at least with small vocal tics but felt so overwhelmed and embarrassed that I missed half the movie in the bathroom ticcing. How do you guys go about specifically vocal tics in quiet public settings?

Like the title says. How is it for the most of you?

Anyone know where I can find video of people in their 80s with Tourette’s or other Tourette’s elders? I need some hopecore

US parent here!

For those of you who have used a Neupulse, do you find it comfortable? For instance, is there anything about the wristband, or gel pads, or anything that has taken awhile to get used to, or that was a deal-breaker?

My daughter tried the Emeterm, and her biggest complaint is that it felt "itchy."

Also, just curious -- what are the settings/controls like? We have a TENS unit, and it has ALL THE SETTINGS, whereas the Emeterm you can just control intensity.