I don't think I have tourettes, but I have this shoulder twitch thing sometimes and I usually say that it's involuntary like a sneeze, so I get where you're coming from
The way I describe it that most people seem to understand off the bat is like this: imagine you’re stuck with a sinus infection for the rest of your life and have a severe cough that comes with it. You can drink water, take meds, use throat coat, throat spray, cough drops, but no matter what *that cough is still there building in your chest and it won’t go away* til eventually you just double over coughing and wheezing. Its better to just let the smaller coughs happen as they come rather than swallow it down and let it build. In a sense, that’s kinda how tics feel (to me)
I had to describe it to my doctor to get a referral to a neurologist and after I realized that the feeling I compared it to was literally caused by my tourettes and was 100% not as relatable as I thought. People apparently don't feel bubbles in their spine when they need to pop their back😭
I went to school with a guy who has tourettes he would rapidly blink randomly, that's all. It's pretty interesting seeing and learning how vast different tics can be.
For me, it feels like needing to to scratch an itch or crack a knuckle. Sometimes, I get tics in some parts of my body that make it feel as though i have a joint there that needs to be cracked. I have voice and breathing tics that feel like trying to hold on a cough.
I usually say it’s kinda like a sneeze sometimes you can feel it coming but it doesn’t. Sometimes it hurts a little. And sometimes it just happens without warning. When I try to explain suppressing my tics I usually say it doesn’t physically hurt but it has a mental strain and sometimes I feel a pressure where that tic would have been
I don't know it's an involuntary compulsion trying to hold it back trying to fight you're autonomic nervous system is pretty fucking hard and stress inducing oh my god multiple basically mini panic attacks a day trying to hold it in The cost of masking is real
the way i explain tics vs stimming is like, a tic is like a sneeze, its hard to hold back and if you do its very uncomfortable, and stimming is like an itch, where it can get uncomfortable, but its not hard to hold back, and it just feels better to do than to ignore
I think of mine like an itch that won’t go away. If you have an itch can you do anything but think about it until you scratch it? Nope, 99% of the time you’re going to scratch it. 😊
Sometimes it feels stabby in one place. Sometimes it feels like electric centipedes crawling under my skin. Sometimes I can't even feel that I am twitching. I don't feel my vocal tics, they just happen.
I have had tics on my face for quite a while, they started during Covid and I have developed some more over the years but I don’t have any vocal tics, I have some on my face and some on my neck. I don’t know if I just have tics or I have some sort of touretts but without the vocal tics?
Tourette Syndrome is just one type of tic disorder - there are multiple types! TS involves both motor and vocal tics but there are other types of tic disorders with different diagnostic criteria. i have a video or two on them!
What are your opinions on medication? My dad has Tourette’s really bad and was taking medication for a long time but he’s since stopped because he said it doesn’t help him any more? Any thoughts?
I was on meds for about 20 years - so most of my life - and i DEFINITELY needed them, and they helped me get through life big time. as of the past year, i’m not on meds anymore, but the preface for that includes years of me learning a ton of great techniques + strategies that help me manage my tics. it’s different for everyone - it’s totally possible that pharmacology isn’t the best tic management tool for him anymore!
I don't think I have tourettes, but I have this shoulder twitch thing sometimes and I usually say that it's involuntary like a sneeze, so I get where you're coming from
For me, it’s like trying to keep in a cough in a quiet room(near impossible)
The way I describe it that most people seem to understand off the bat is like this: imagine you’re stuck with a sinus infection for the rest of your life and have a severe cough that comes with it. You can drink water, take meds, use throat coat, throat spray, cough drops, but no matter what *that cough is still there building in your chest and it won’t go away* til eventually you just double over coughing and wheezing. Its better to just let the smaller coughs happen as they come rather than swallow it down and let it build. In a sense, that’s kinda how tics feel (to me)
I had to describe it to my doctor to get a referral to a neurologist and after I realized that the feeling I compared it to was literally caused by my tourettes and was 100% not as relatable as I thought. People apparently don't feel bubbles in their spine when they need to pop their back😭
I went to school with a guy who has tourettes he would rapidly blink randomly, that's all. It's pretty interesting seeing and learning how vast different tics can be.
thank you for sharing your experience
For me, it feels like needing to to scratch an itch or crack a knuckle. Sometimes, I get tics in some parts of my body that make it feel as though i have a joint there that needs to be cracked. I have voice and breathing tics that feel like trying to hold on a cough.
I usually say it’s kinda like a sneeze sometimes you can feel it coming but it doesn’t. Sometimes it hurts a little. And sometimes it just happens without warning. When I try to explain suppressing my tics I usually say it doesn’t physically hurt but it has a mental strain and sometimes I feel a pressure where that tic would have been
I head someone describe it like the feeling of having something on your leg even though it isn’t there.
I don't know it's an involuntary compulsion trying to hold it back trying to fight you're autonomic nervous system is pretty fucking hard and stress inducing oh my god multiple basically mini panic attacks a day trying to hold it in The cost of masking is real
the cost of masking IS real!!!!
the way i explain tics vs stimming is like, a tic is like a sneeze, its hard to hold back and if you do its very uncomfortable, and stimming is like an itch, where it can get uncomfortable, but its not hard to hold back, and it just feels better to do than to ignore
I like that!!!
I think of mine like an itch that won’t go away. If you have an itch can you do anything but think about it until you scratch it? Nope, 99% of the time you’re going to scratch it. 😊
Sometimes it feels stabby in one place. Sometimes it feels like electric centipedes crawling under my skin. Sometimes I can't even feel that I am twitching. I don't feel my vocal tics, they just happen.
the electric centipedes one is a fun and interesting way to describe it, i like that!!!
I have had tics on my face for quite a while, they started during Covid and I have developed some more over the years but I don’t have any vocal tics, I have some on my face and some on my neck. I don’t know if I just have tics or I have some sort of touretts but without the vocal tics?
Tourette Syndrome is just one type of tic disorder - there are multiple types! TS involves both motor and vocal tics but there are other types of tic disorders with different diagnostic criteria. i have a video or two on them!
What are your opinions on medication? My dad has Tourette’s really bad and was taking medication for a long time but he’s since stopped because he said it doesn’t help him any more? Any thoughts?
I was on meds for about 20 years - so most of my life - and i DEFINITELY needed them, and they helped me get through life big time. as of the past year, i’m not on meds anymore, but the preface for that includes years of me learning a ton of great techniques + strategies that help me manage my tics. it’s different for everyone - it’s totally possible that pharmacology isn’t the best tic management tool for him anymore!
At first i thought you meant the bug😶
lmaooo this thought from ppl watching happens often!