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Hi, everyone. I don't know how to begin. I'm basically here to ask if anyone here has or knows some one with a similar problem to mine. Ever since I was about ten or eleven years old I have experienced the strangest tics (I'm going to call them tics because that is what my psychiatrist calls them). I start bursting out laughing for no reason at all. Back when I was in school it was extremely embarrassing as the class would be doing something like taking a test and I would practically start laughing so hard I would roll out of my chair.
It's very difficult to explain how this happens. It's like when you think you're going to cough or sneeze. You may or may not be able to hold it in. Sometimes it was like I was having a conversation with some one. I would start moving my mouth and/or waving my hands as if I was talking to a person. I never once had any visual or auditory hallucinations. I was hospitalized when I was 15 when my tics went from being laughter/giggling/smirking etc. to being violent and angry. I also had the laughter etc. along with that.
I was diagnosed in that hospital with paranoid schizophrenia of all things and put on risperdal which did absolutely nothing to help. I switched from this med to that med for about two and a half years until I gave up when I was 17. I abruptly stopped taking my meds around that time, which was definitely a big mistake. I continued to have anger/laughter/conversion etc. tics except by the time I was 19 they got so bad I couldn't go more than twenty minutes without screaming, throwing or punching something. I would also run around in circles yelling and some other stuff like that.
It was around that time I went to a psychiatric crisis clinic where I was diagnosed with OCD and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD is a whole other story). I was given anafrinil and abilify which seem to suppress my tics but certainly don't make them go away. That is currently what I am taking and I still, at the age of 24, walk around in circles laughing, giggling and carrying on uncontrollably. I get confused during conversations that I am actually having with people and get distracted very easily. It's hard to go through an entire day at work without gritting my teeth angrily (which is terrible because I have to deal with a lot of customers), slamming something down on the counter, or giggling for no reason.
I also forgot to mention that I quit smoking around the age of 18 and started again while entering the psychiatric crisis clinic at 21. It was like smoking made the most violent and extreme tics stop...what the frigg? Now I am reading on a few internet sites about tic disorders that nicotine patches may be considered treatment for tourettes but it's still being researched. Can some one relate?
Thanks for reading!
Since this medicine isn't helping enough, I think it would be good to get a complete new diagnosis. Read the Obsessive Compulsive section of the attached article, it might give you a better idea as to why they labeled you OCD. OCD isn't just about being a neat freak. That article does mention that some 30 percent of kids with Tourette's also have been identified as having OCD or ADHD. You might find this second forum thread interesting too. Good luck to you.
OCD seems to get bundled into a lot of the mental and physical diagnosis that doctors hand out nowadays. My son has Tourettes Syndrome (which you might want to look into for your verbal and motor tics) and he's also been diagnosed with OCD.
OCD doesn't always mean that you're constantly cleaning, washing your hands, or that you have to flip light switches on and off 5 times in a row. Those extreme examples are just the ones that the media has made popular over the years. It the same with Tourettes; most of the people don't walk around cussing uncontrollably, they just have strange little tics, twitches, squawks, movements, etc.
If OCD is not your #1 primary disorder (which it sounds like it's not), it can show up more as a minor mental thing, where you simply obsess a little more over smaller things that normally wouldn't be an issue with other people.
For example, my son is obsessed with the weather. Or I should say, any possibilities of bad weather. When most people see storm clouds forming and it looks like it might rain, they make a mental note to remember their umbrella and maybe think about if they left their car windows down.
He on the other hand, goes into a mini crisis mode where he gathers flashlights and starts monitoring the weather channels. He becomes temporarily obsessed with the upcoming storm and there's nothing anyone can do to FULLY take his mind off of it until it's passed. He's aware that he "worries" about it more than most people, so he tries to "deal with it" and hide his anxiety ... but you can tell it's bugging him and he can't stop thinking about it.
His obsessions and compulsions mostly tend to show up like that .... more like an average kid that is maybe just a little hypersensitive or over thinks certain things. He's at that age (12 years old) where it's hard to tell if it's a "tweenager thing" or truly part of the OCD disorder.
There was an interesting series on VH1 last year called "The OCD Project." You can probably google it on You Tube or VH1 and find the episodes. It dealt with pretty extreme cases of OCD and was set up kind of like a reality show / treatment show, but you might want to watch it anyway just to see if any of it applies to you.
The maddening thing about OCD, Tourettes, Schizophrenia, Depression and other brain related disorders is that the doctors just don't have any easy fixes or answers for them yet. Patients often get misdiagnosed because the symptoms overlap so much ... and each doctor seems to want to try a different regiment of prescriptions to try and control them. Also the medications seem to work well for awhile, then all of a sudden they'll stop being effective and it's back to square one.
Based upon your description above, I'd also look into Tourettes a little more (for your tics), and definitely keep following up on the Schizophrenia, Manic, Anger and Depression issues. Those sound more like the major issues that could effect your day to day life if not treated properly.
I have a cousin with Schizophrenia, who was eventually institutionalized because he kept thinking he was well enough to skip his medications. Like you, he hadn't had any hallucinations or major issues with it ... until he started skipping his meds, and then unfortunately he had a full blown meltdown.
Also, I'd say keep web surfing. There's tons of info out there and support groups that focus on the different conditions you've mentioned.
And lastly, make sure you have someone close to you (friend, relative, etc,) that you see often, and that you can trust to tell you when you're having bad days. The worst thing about Schizophrenia is that you often can't tell when it's getting worse and when you need to seek treatment.
Good luck, and I hope this helps answer your question.
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