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Young Mum Woke Up To Discover She Had Tourette's

Young Mum Woke Up To Discover She Had Tourette's

Hayleigh-Elizabeth Honey developed tics overnight and an inability to control her speech

Rebecca Shepherd

Rebecca Shepherd

A young mum woke up to discover she had developed what seems to be Tourette's syndrome - causing her to inadvertently swear at friends and family.

Mother-of-two Hayleigh-Elizabeth Honey, 27, suddenly began to suffer from involuntary sounds or movements know as tics, which have included calling her husband a 'c**t', telling her children to 'f*** off', and sticking her middle finger up at people and saying 'have one of these'.

Hayleigh, from Penryn, Cornwall, had no underlying health problems, but woke up one day in September and found herself shaking and she quickly developed muscle spasms and an inability to control her speech.

She said: "This is completely new, I had no idea this was going to happen. I've never had anything like this before.

"It all started in one day, I woke up with shakes that I thought nothing of because I hadn't eaten yet but it didn't ease off.

Hayleigh with her husband and children.
SWNS

"Around lunchtime I started having shoulder twitches, and when my husband got home at about 7pm I was hitting myself and shouting out random phrases.

"The next morning it was so bad I could only speak with a stammer, I couldn't talk properly, so I went straight to my doctor."

Hayleigh's doctor at first thought it could have been triggered by a viral infection, and told the mum-of-two to go home and wait for it to pass. But a week later Hayleigh's tics had got worse so she returned for more tests.

She saw a different GP and was referred to the medical assessment unit at Treliske Hospital, where she had a CT scan.

SWNS

Tourette's Syndrome is a condition which affects the nervous system. It is only officially diagnosed after suffering with tics for a year or more, so currently Hayleigh is waiting to see if the symptoms pass.

She continued: "The only thing they could put it down too was genetics or chronic anxiety, I wasn't stressed at the time but in the past I have suffered with mental health issues.

"It's hard to tell because at that time there was nothing stressful in my life, no more than any other mum. Now I'm learning to live with it, I have to wait and see if it goes away on it's own or if this is my life now.

"My tics are changing every day, I get new ones depending on what songs I listen to or who I talk to."

SWNS

On one occasion, Hayleigh went to see her optometrist but soon found herself uncontrollably swearing. She said: "I went in and explained and said I had a tic disorder, he said that was fine and then I told him to f*** off.

"He was fantastic, he laughed it off and said he played rugby last night so had been called worse. Another one I've started is sticking my middle finger up at people and telling them to 'have one of these'.

"I've only done it to my sister, my husband, and my kids. My two-year-old hasn't noticed, my daughter finds it funny mainly.

"My husband ignores all my ticks, I never had to apologise to him. I call him the 'c' word more than I tell him I love him and it doesn't bother him."

Featured Image Credit: SWNS

Topics: UK Community, Community, UK