TOURETTE'S IS MUCH MORE THAN JUST TICS and a lot more than this blog

[scorpiodog]

I have been having trouble with my memory since beginning of 2012 and it is getting progressively worse, I can spend hours out and about and not remember where I’ve been or what I’ve done, also I could be shopping and go into a trance and buy things I didn’t want. I could give a lot more examples of my memory troubles.

When challenged, sometimes memories come back about what I’ve just done but they feel like old memories from years ago and they are fuzzy and unclear, this can be worrying and a bit scary at times but I found I just have to accept it or I end up obsessing over it.

Personally, I have OCD, ADHD, ODD, MISOPHONIA and probably more that I will find out about some time in the future.

I have found that my Tourette’s Syndrome and co morbs are on a sort of scale, if one eases off, another one takes up the slack so I never get a completely free day, for example if my tics are down then I find my OCD is a lot worse.

This is not always the case though, as I seem to get more days where all sides of my TS and co morbs are on a high and they can collide together and make things a lot worse than they would do on their own.

For example, I’ve had days where I can have intrusive thoughts which my OCD picks up on and carries it on, my ADHD and anxiety then makes it hard to communicate with my partner who usually helps and supports with my problems especially self-harming. My tics can then join in and make the communication even harder when the anxiety lifts it’s almost always followed by hyperactivity and my tics go through the roof and I become very childish and unsociable.

There are the rare times when my co morbs can actually help and become a useful ally against some of what I call the darker sides of my Tourette’s and other co morbs. I have recently had a very bad experience when it seems a combination of my co morbs possibly memory loss, zoning out, OCD and whatever else was going on got me into trouble.

The people involved had a very blinkered view of Tourette’s and wouldn’t accept help to understand that there is more to Tourette’s than tics, this meant I was treated unfairly with discrimination and derogatory remarks were made. This occurrence has had a massive impact on me as I have only been talking about my Tourette’s openly for about a year and all the help and support that brought me a long way was destroyed by one person in power that chose not to even try to understand.

Another problem I have recently found is that having a Tourette’s diagnosis can mean that every problem is automatically linked to Tourette’s as a co morb and other things might go undiagnosed such as mental health issues not related to Tourette’s but maybe caused by the stresses and strains of living with Tourette’s or just an illness or condition in its own right.

I am myself undergoing psychiatric tests and am now receiving more help as it has been identified I have mental health issues due to living in with Tourette’s as a secret for many years and also a recent discrimination has had the biggest impact on my mental health.

There is a great need to educate people, that Tourette’s is more than tics and change the general perception that if you have Tourette’s then you just jerk and swear.

[catherinem]

Tell me about it!! I do have a couple of blog posts that need to come out, one time/date specific but I've been stressing/ruminating/ocding about a family issue which in my head is major, but is probably quite small and will iron itself out, but my head has been way too full of this to do anything much else. Yes I have spoken to my CPN about it. It is dragging me down quite a bit.

[LittleClapham]

When I was originally diagnosed (they forgot the ADHD!) my professor actually said that the conditions do 'bounce' from each other and vary in severity from day to day. My conditions actually fight for the day's control! I'm having problems getting my mental illness treated but that's more to do with my Aspergers as I have been told that having AS means CBT won't work RUBBISH!