priorityman Posted April 6, 2014 Posted April 6, 2014 So I am a male who has what I would call moderate Tourette's syndrome. I don't have the stereotyped verbal outbursts of swearing or yelling, but do other odd things (tics) that can be obvious. My tics vary in type and severity. When I get stressed, excited, nervous, or tired they get worse. I can suppress my tics for a bit (usually 10-20 minutes) but eventually they come out. Sooner or later my tics become obvious to those around me. My tics vary but I have a staple go to tics. These are shaking my head, opening my mouth (think yawning without yawning), cracking my neck/knuckles and squinting my eyes. I also can give a small grunt, click my tongue or tend to sniff like I have a cold without having a cold. I have a few weird things as well. My weirdest thing is biting my seat belt. Weird I know, but if I cannot give my seat belt a good bite it drives me. Very rarely I can also hit my elbows against my couch or walls. This sounds odd and the best way I can explain it is having an itch that doesn't go away. You can stop from scratching it but sooner or later you just have to give it a scratch. Also most people do not realize I have Tourretes until they spend some time around me. The thing is I spent much of my childhood trying different medications to suppress my tics. While they suppressed my tics they would also make me very sleepy. I finally got a medication that does help, but definitely does not eliminate my tics. For the most part I have never felt ashamed of my Tourette's. After a few years of doctors appointments I was finally diagnosed and we found out my mom has a milder version. I'm very open and all my friends know about it and never say anything. Usually when I meet someone they ask me why I am doing whatever I a doing and after a quick explanation it usually doesn't matter. Where it does bother me is dating. For some reason I try and cover it up when I try and date. If I am sniffing I just say that I am getting over a cold. I try other ways to cover up things I do. I also try and cover up my tics when I am on a date or with a GF. I will go to the bathroom and go wild when in with a date. I have only explained it to my most recent ex-GF. At first she was ok with it and I felt free to do things around her. Later she started to ask me to stop doing things (I.e. Stop sniffing or shaking my head). She then at one point told me that what I did was annoying. It got to the point that she would grab my head to stop me from shaking it or pinching me if I sniffed or did other tics. I broke up with her because of it, but it has made me really self conscious around other girls I date or want to date. It really hurt because it was something that I originally had some difficulty coming to terms with. It was hard to have someone that I cared about scold me and physically try and stop me from doing. I am not sure how to bring up this topic to future girls that I want to date. Not sure when and how to bring it up. I don't want to have to cover it up but also don't want it to be a detriment to my dating life.
saltyfishhead666 Posted April 6, 2014 Posted April 6, 2014 So I am a male who has what I would call moderate Tourette's syndrome. I don't have the stereotyped verbal outbursts of swearing or yelling, but do other odd things (tics) that can be obvious. My tics vary in type and severity. When I get stressed, excited, nervous, or tired they get worse. I can suppress my tics for a bit (usually 10-20 minutes) but eventually they come out. Sooner or later my tics become obvious to those around me. My tics vary but I have a staple go to tics. These are shaking my head, opening my mouth (think yawning without yawning), cracking my neck/knuckles and squinting my eyes. I also can give a small grunt, click my tongue or tend to sniff like I have a cold without having a cold. I have a few weird things as well. My weirdest thing is biting my seat belt. Weird I know, but if I cannot give my seat belt a good bite it drives me. Very rarely I can also hit my elbows against my couch or walls. This sounds odd and the best way I can explain it is having an itch that doesn't go away. You can stop from scratching it but sooner or later you just have to give it a scratch. Also most people do not realize I have Tourretes until they spend some time around me. The thing is I spent much of my childhood trying different medications to suppress my tics. While they suppressed my tics they would also make me very sleepy. I finally got a medication that does help, but definitely does not eliminate my tics. For the most part I have never felt ashamed of my Tourette's. After a few years of doctors appointments I was finally diagnosed and we found out my mom has a milder version. I'm very open and all my friends know about it and never say anything. Usually when I meet someone they ask me why I am doing whatever I a doing and after a quick explanation it usually doesn't matter. Where it does bother me is dating. For some reason I try and cover it up when I try and date. If I am sniffing I just say that I am getting over a cold. I try other ways to cover up things I do. I also try and cover up my tics when I am on a date or with a GF. I will go to the bathroom and go wild when in with a date. I have only explained it to my most recent ex-GF. At first she was ok with it and I felt free to do things around her. Later she started to ask me to stop doing things (I.e. Stop sniffing or shaking my head). She then at one point told me that what I did was annoying. It got to the point that she would grab my head to stop me from shaking it or pinching me if I sniffed or did other tics. I broke up with her because of it, but it has made me really self conscious around other girls I date or want to date. It really hurt because it was something that I originally had some difficulty coming to terms with. It was hard to have someone that I cared about scold me and physically try and stop me from doing. I am not sure how to bring up this topic to future girls that I want to date. Not sure when and how to bring it up. I don't want to have to cover it up but also don't want it to be a detriment to my dating life. If I were you I would be honest and open with your dates prior to meeting. Let them know you have Tourette's and how it effects YOU as people will generically think if swearing outbursts. It's going to take a special lady to date you, but that's not a bad thing. If she can see you for what you actually are and accept you that way then you've got a special one. My son has autism and I'm sure one day he will be in a similar position of needing to be accepted when he's older. I sure hope there are some lovely ladies around to accept him too 1
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