CBIT for Tics (Part 2)

Okay, so I promised I would write more about my experience with CBIT. CBIT is not a cure for TS, but is has helped me manage my tics a lot better. I have far fewer days that end in exhaustion and frustration, and I have managed to get rid of a lot of my previous tics completely. Don't get me wrong, I still have plenty of tics, but I now have fewer tics and the tics I do have are less frequent, less severe. One thing that's helped a lot is having a therapist who is so understanding and who is willing to re-work the therapy based on what works for me and what doesn't. We've had to make a lot of adjustments to the original CBIT protocols because #1 paying attention to the premonitory urge for me makes my tics A LOT worse (and paying attention to the urge is supposed to be a big part of awareness training with CBIT). So we have had to get rid of that part competently, and also re-arrange a lot of other things as well. With a lot of tweaking though, we have found what works best for me! All and all CBIT has worked better and has improved my tics more than any medication i've been on and the best part is NO SIDE EFFECTS!

So, today when looking back at blog posts I came across a list of my tics that I wrote down back when I was in my Junior or Senior year of high school (about 3 years ago). What i'm going to do is i'm going to paste that list here and i'm going to cross out all the tics that I no longer have. Some of these tics have just gone away because of the fact that tics come and go, but others have directly gone away because of the work I have done through my CBIT therapy. So here we go! Let's see how many tic i've gotten rid of!

1. Eye rolling to upper right corners
2. Fast blinking
3. Hard blinking/squinting
4. Hard blink and hold eyes closed in a squint as hard as possible for 3 or 4 seconds
5. Grimace with mouth combined with eye blink
6. Pursing lips silently
7. Pursing lips to make a slight and quiet kissing sound
8. Lifting upper lip
9. Pouting lip
10. Slight raising of lips into fast smile
11. Sticking tongue out
12. Chomping teeth
13. Opening mouth really wide (looks like a silent scream)
14. Twisting lips to the left or right side of face
15. Entire face squint (just-tasted-something-really-sour face)
16. Slight neck bend to left or right side
17. Neck turning which results in neck cracking
18. Violent head/neck jerking forward
19. Shaking head fast from side to side
20. Bending head backward
21. Shoulder shrugging, both at same time or one at a time
22. Pulling shoulders inward toward sockets
23. Cracking shoulders
24. Jerking both arms fast outward in front of me
25. Cracking elbows
26. Stretching arms all the way straight in front of me slowly
27. Tilting head backward while taking in a sharp breath
28. Tightening muscles in neck
29. Tightening muscles in arms
30. Arm contortions
31. Jerking both arms toward chest vertically pretty hard
32. Jerking right arm toward chest vertically pretty hard
33. Hitting chest pretty hard with right hand
34. Hitting stomach very hard  with right hand (sometimes so hard that I feel dizzy and start coughing and gagging as a result)
35. Pushing hands against face really hard
36. Hitting inside of elbows with hands
37. Hitting things (chairs, laptops, desks, tables, anything in reach, etc.)
38. Hitting eyes/parts of face or head
39. Making fists with hands and clenching them
40. Finger stretching and moving
41. Bending hands at wrists fast
42. Extending middle finger
43. Making guns out of my finger
44. Cracking knuckles
45. Tightening all muscles in hands and fingers
46. Tightening muscles in chest, throat and stomach so tight I am not able to breathe
47. Lurching neck forward
48. Tightening muscles in legs
49. Jerking legs outwards
50. Stomping
51. Rolling ankles
52. Standing up on tip toes
53. Kicking
54. Drumming on tables
55. Knee knocking
56. Separating toes
57. Raising big toe
58. Crossing over first two toes
59. Jerking entire upper body backward
60. Full-body jerking tics
61. Rolling neck
62. Scratching entire body all over really fast
63. Grabbing crotch area
64. Hitting back of neck and back with hands
65. Full-body muscle tightening, which causes me to slip down in my chair and hold the position
66. Rubbing feet together in bed
67. Jerking body upward in bed and just jerking all over the place in bed (fish-out-of-water tic) … Oh gosh I haven’t even gotten to the vocal tics!!!
68. Screeching sound
69. Forceful “Huh” or “Heh” sound
70. Bird-chirping sound
71. Whistling
72. Loud sniffling
73. Slurping sounds
74. Gasping
75. Taking in sharp breaths/breathing tics
76. Clicking in back of throat
77. Loud high-pitched noises
78. High-pitched tea-kettle noise
79. Hitting bottom of hands together forcefully
80. Hitting feet together
81. Forceful coughing so hard that it makes the muscles in my back hurt and gagging as a result
82. Clearing my throat
83. Grunting noises
84. Air swallowing
85. Biting my lips
86. Licking my lips
87. Picking my lips
88. Sucking in the side of my lip to make a pucking sound
89. Hiccuping noises
90. Squeaking noises

Wow! And if I add it up....drum roll please.....I have gotten rid of about about 36 tics!! Now that's not to say they'll never come back or start up again or become more active when I get stressed or am around others with TS, but in my normal everyday life I am living with 36 less tics! I'd say that's pretty darn good! The ones I am most happy i've gotten rid of are the ones that were painful such as hitting myself in the chest and stomach. I still have tics that get painful sometimes, but I have a lot less tics that cause me pain and they happen less frequently.

To be fair, I have added on some new tics since my Junior year of high school that are not on the original list such as nodding my head forwards, brilling (that's what I call at least, but it's when I make a sound like brrrr with my lips and also make a noise with my throat at the same time), a squeaking noise that I make when i'm also sniffing (my CBIT therapist and I call it the squeak-sniff), and some others, but all and all I am doing very well right now. I still have tics every day and they are still noticeable, but they are much more manageable and much less painful.

I am still continuing to work with my therapist on my tics in order to help them become even better than they are now hopefully. It's still a work in progress, but we have moved our appointments to be less frequent now that my tics are under better control and now that i'm more independent with doing my CBIT homework/ competing res ponces.  I will continue to update on how it's going and if anything new happens with CBIT :)