Roll call for Dopers who have or have had tics – and what were they?
The only bad one I’ve ever had was at around age 10 or 11: the need to scrunch up my face several times an hour. Compulsive hair-twirling wasn’t as big a deal, but it left me kinda funny-looking most times. Neither lasted very long, thank god. Around adolescence there was throat-clearing for a short while, and intermittently since high school there have been some much more discreet vocal tics.
The only tic the past couple of years has been compulsive mouse clicking, which obviously is not much of an issue. Of course, thinking about tics is usually what brings them to the surface, so by tomorrow I’m sure I’ll be scrunching my face and clearing my throat non-stop.
I have Tourette’s so I’ve had a variety of tics since I was about 6. They change over time. Some that I can recall:
-Eye blinking
-Jerking my neck (like a single rapid nod)
-A funny clicking noise; basically clicking my tongue.
-Another vocal one, almost a throat-clearing sound.
-Tensing my bicep (can range from just tightening the muscle a bit to looking like I’m doing a curl).
-Scraping my foot on the ground.
-Tensing my leg - exactly like the bicep thing, only it’s my leg.
-Pausing during speaking. A weird one. It’s not that I’m thinking about what I want to say, I just literally can’t get the word out for a second.
Thankfully never had coprolalia (uncontrolled swearing). I curse when I want to 
Girlfriends have confirmed that the tics go away when I’m asleep, they are also far less present during sex, tend to be more present when I’m stressed.
Only thing it’s ever prevented me from doing is modelling for art classes - I thought about doing it in college until they got to the “And you have to hold absolutely still for hours” part. I used to joke that I’d be a lousy brain surgeon until I saw a piece on Tourette’s on CNN years ago, one fellow is an open heart surgeon with a pretty astounding physical tic (it looks like he’s giving baseball signs).
I sent a message, since I need to watch how often I mention this stuff on the boards. I had so much happen I don’t want to alienate everybody by always mentioning it. I sent you the relevant stuff. When I was young there wasn’t anybody around to discuss this type of problem. The internet is great for connecting on stuff like this.
I sent the message to both of you.