I'm so sorry for the slow reply - thank you so much for your post, I'm so sorry to hear about what you are going through. Did they diagnose you with TS based on it developing after your stroke? It means so much to me to have people like you share your story with me. I started my channel as a personal outlet, but it has come to mean so much to me to hear stories from others and know it's not just me alone in the world

Thank you

Best wishes with your diagnosis! It's been interesting to me to see the huge range of tics and how they manifest in others. There are good days and bad days. I think the hardest part for me has just been that things didn't really "explode" until after I had a few children, so learning how to cope with it after already being a parent was somewhat of a struggle. The other challenge is just the way it constantly changes. What I deal with one season or even one week or one day may not be the same thing the next day or week or season. I've definitely struggled with learning to roll with the daily punches! I'm getting there though :-) I love that - what sentences do you tic in sign language? I just started ticcing "ignorant" in sign language. I'm hoping I don't tic it in front of someone who actually uses sign language!

@@MelodyLittle I often tic "Love you" or "go die" so two very different things. But sometimes they are ass randome as other tics just weird word chains that don't really make sense. A friend of mine is deaf and he kinda loves it that I tic signs because he never hears my vocal tics and kinda wanted to know what kind of things I say :D.

Aww, that's cool that you have a deaf friend who connects with you because of that :-D

LOL, Tourette's: Collector's Edition. I know we talked about this some last year when my head was exploding over stuff that, in hindsight, was kind of obvious. Honestly, I think a lot of it for me had to do with the homeschool experience - not that I was secluded so I didn't know I was weird, but the homeschool community I grew up in was different from the average public school. There weren't really any bullies, and being "different" was natural, I guess? I'm sure there were kids who wanted to be "popular," but there were loads and loads of kids who were happy to be unique and it wasn't seen with a stigma, at least from my perspective (could also be kids wanted to be unique because homeschoolers tend to have large families and you gotta stand out from the sibs SOMEHOW, hahaha). So knowing I was "weird" wasn't an issue in and of itself that seemed like it needed treatment or consideration.

@@MelodyLittle that's actually a really fantastic environment. I wish more kids grew up like that, embracing their uniqueness.

@Snapple and Cats - right?! I had SUCH a great childhood experience, which is a huge part of why I had such a hard time with the 2014 neurologist's "psychogenic seizures due to a conversion disorder from a traumatic childhood." Like, dude, no. I didn't even have bullies growing up.

My seven-year-old does one thing that I'm suspicious about, but unsure at this point. The five-year-old just started clearing his throat and has been doing it for the past month, so there's a definite maybe there. It could always be something else, but that's a pretty classic "starter" tic. I'm just keeping an eye out for things while also not hovering or being obsessive about it. It bothers me that it's a thing that I could pass on to them, that it would be "my fault," but at the same time at least I'll be able to help them navigate if it does become an issue, right? Aww, are you expecting? I had a friend give me some ginger lozenges specifically for morning sickness that definitely helped. I also find that it helps to eat lots of little meals. When you wake up in the middle of the night, eat a couple crackers or a piece of toast or something, just so your stomach always has something in there. I can't swallow pills when morning sickness is really bad, so I don't attempt that either. The other thing that helps me when morning sickness is an issue (which fortunately I'm done with that for this pregnancy!) is to eat "comfort" foods, basically whatever I think I can keep down, even if it's not nutritious. I usually have a couple weeks where as long as I'm putting SOMETHING in my body, I call it a win - I make up for the nutrition part once I'm over that hump :-) Weird, but homemade fried rice also helps for me, because I put a lot of ginger in it, lol. Ginger and peppermint are your friends! Sometimes even just sucking on a peppermint candy helps!

The thought is that it is passed down through genes, so yes, it is considered hereditary. However, that doesn't mean one of your parents necessarily has Tourette Syndrome, as environmental factors are also considered to play a role (things like your environment growing up as well as conditions when you were in the womb).

Thank you so much for your reply! I wish you the best in all that you do. I also want to thank you and all other tourettes sufferers that post these video's to educate people on this condition, you are all brave!

Hi there :-)