Link Between Tourettes and Uncontrolled Binge drinking? help

hi everyone,

i am a 22 year odl guy who has been dealing with multiple tics since i have been 6 years old, i struggle with bad neck and jaw cracking tics along with nose grunting and blinking. I have always tried everything except for medication to help, but not much has changed. \

My question is, lately i have been thinking about my brain quite alot and i have always had a problem when i drink there is something missing in my mind that tells me to stop. when i drink i am never aware of ow drunk i am and once i start i cannot stop, i just want to know if anyone else has these problems, because i have tried to just have a few, but it doesnt work. Its like something in my mind cant stop, its the same with food i am i fit healthy guy but if i see some chocolate in the fridge i try so hard to not eat it ( just like i try and stop my tics) but eventually it is to overwhelming and i have to eat it

i know these seem like silly examples but i just want to know has anyone else made these links?

thanks so much everyone

I do not know if this helps a lot. My son's dad was a binge drinker and I noticed this past spring that my son (age 12) scrunches up his nose like his dad. But then I started to notice other little tics. As the days passed by I remembered that when he was 5 or 6 I took him to the doctor because he was constantly clearing his throat and the doctor decided that it wasn't his allergies or asthma but a tic. I thought no more of it then because within a matter of days he stopped. Recently I started to pay more attention to his tics and found out the list was long. I dug up old journals I had of him when he was 4 and 5. I recorded a few videos, reviewed several I did in the past two years and was surprised I never noticed it before. I made an appointment at Boston Children's and the neurologist confirmed he does have it. My son eats and he really can't stop himself. So, I have to push as many fruits and veggies as I can on him. He has been an eater since day one. I had to put him on a diet at age 3. The doctors are pleased with his weight and he gets exercise but it seems the minute I bring food in the house - he wants to consume everything all at once. I did read some study recently that indicated there are family members with eating disorders in the TS population.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health published this online. It is from The journal of Clinical Psychiatry 1990.

A controlled family history study of Tourette's syndrome, II: Alcoholism, drug abuse, and obesity.
Comings DE1, Comings BG.
Author information
Abstract

The behaviors associated with Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome (TS), including impulsive, compulsive, attentional, learning, conduct, and mood disorders, have often been described as substrates for the development of alcoholism and/or drug abuse. As the authors' experience with TS pedigrees indicated that alcoholism and/or drug abuse were common in relatives of TS probands, they examined, by the family history technique, 1750 relatives over 14 years of age in 130 TS proband and 25 control families. Significant, life-disrupting problems with alcoholism and/or drug abuse were present in 14.5% of the relatives of TS probands compared with 4.4% of the control relatives (p less than .00001). Among parents of TS probands, the ratio of affected fathers to mothers was 2:1. Marked obesity (greater than 100 lb) was present in 10.8% of the mothers and 3.2% of all relatives of TS probands compared with 0.8% of all control relatives (p = .01). In parents of TS probands, the ratio of marked obesity in fathers to that in mothers was 1:4.5. When the categories of alcoholism and/or drug abuse and marked obesity were combined, 17.4% of all relatives of TS probands were affected compared with 4.6% of all control relatives (p less than .0001) and the ratio of fathers to mothers with these disorders was 1.1:1. Among all relatives of TS probands, 20.8% of those with tics and 17.4% of those without tics had problems with alcoholism and/or drug abuse or obesity or both. This finding suggests that when the Gts gene(s) is expressed in this form it is about equally likely to occur in persons with and persons without tics. The similarities between TS and early onset, male predominant, Type II alcoholism suggest that in some cases, alcoholism and/or drug abuse in males and severe obesity in females are related, genetically controlled, compulsive behaviors.

PMID:
2365666

doodlebug623 wrote:I do not know if this helps a lot. My son's dad was a binge drinker and I noticed this past spring that my son (age 12) scrunches up his nose like his dad. But then I started to notice other little tics. As the days passed by I remembered that when he was 5 or 6 I took him to the doctor because he was constantly clearing his throat and the doctor decided that it wasn't his allergies or asthma but a tic. I thought no more of it then because within a matter of days he stopped. Recently I started to pay more attention to his tics and found out the list was long. I dug up old journals I had of him when he was 4 and 5. I recorded a few videos, reviewed several I did in the past two years and was surprised I never noticed it before. I made an appointment at Boston Children's and the neurologist confirmed he does have it. My son eats and he really can't stop himself. So, I have to push as many fruits and veggies as I can on him. He has been an eater since day one. I had to put him on a diet at age 3. The doctors are pleased with his weight and he gets exercise but it seems the minute I bring food in the house - he wants to consume everything all at once. I did read some study recently that indicated there are family members with eating disorders in the TS population.

I totally get it. Mine was cocain. My brain loved it to much. And I had no control over it. I was blowing $3000-$3500 paychecks in a weekend cause if the brain wants it there is absolutely nothing you can do about it because the brain rules all. I wouldn't stop until either I ran out of money or my dealer shut his phone off. If I tried to resist a tremendous pressure would build up inside of me till I gave in and when I did I felt like I had been holding my breath the whole time. It cost me jobs and homes. I had to couch surf for 10 years because I didn't have the capacity to pay rent first because my brain would tell me that if I did I wouldn't have that money for more blow. I had to drop all my friends and leave my city till my dealer changed his number as he does annually to finally be free of it. Not I am putting my life back together slowly. The worst part wasn't the money but blowing of my kids when it was my time for them. I pretty much missed out on 10 years of their lives that I can never get back! It is so much harder to rebuild a life than it is to destroy it!

It's all because the two biggest parts of Tourette's is
1: lack of impulse control and
2: extreme case of OCD

It is easy to self-medicate with alcohol. It's cheap, readily available and socially acceptable (to a point). Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant, albeit maybe not a safe one.
In the beginning it may bring relaxation and tranquility, but can eventually turn against the user, cause organ damage & become addictive. There are safer methods & treatments. Ask any doctor.

I drank excessively to quell anxiety & panic attacks. After awhile the alcohol and the situations that drunkenness got me into were causing the problems, not relieving them.

Quitting wasn't easy. Asking for help wasn't easy. It was a life lesson in how not to do things. I found mild, prescribed medications and therapies that worked.I learned humility.
Alcoholism is a disease. I don't know anyone that wants to be a binge drinker. One of the big symptoms of alcoholism is 'loss of control'. Will power doesn't work, I tried it.
Speak with your primary physician. They see this almost daily and know the best ways to help.