My youngest child had tics. As with yours, they would come and go, changing to different things.
The most enduring tic was squeezing his eyes tightly shut quickly, and then opening up his eyes wide. This would happen every couple seconds.
Another tick was he'd crinkle up one side of his nose. He had a throat clearing tic.
He could stop them if he forced it, but he was struck with a severe desire to repeat the tic. Like, he said, if you have the urge to cough, sitting there not coughing.
So my son's tics weren't involuntary, like sneezes or muscle twitches. They were voluntary but almost compulsary.
He's now a young adult and they stopped around the age of 17.
Nothing much helped - limiting caffeine or sugar didn't help, extra sleep didn't help, etc. They did seem to be in the fall around the start of school, and then just after Christmas.
Best wishes.
It would have been interesting to have noted these behaviors and then seen if there was a pattern related to things like moving, new schools, friends, or even parental disagreements.
I do think that anxiety and not knowing how to handle that is possible. A visit with a therapist is a good idea. Hopefully, they don't tell him to "tough it out", but can give coping skills.
If this is anxiety related, you might try ordering "don't pop your Cork on Mondays". Its " A very informative and wonderfully entertaining handbook for children that explores the causes and effects of stress and offers young people practical approqaches and techniques for dealing with stress factors in their daily lives." It can be found here - http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Pop-Your-Cork-Mondays/dp/0933849184/ref=pd_sim_14_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=02Y12J9TDX6CJDJ6JQMC
along with other very good books that might be helpful.
And, ya, at his age, try not to bicker in front of him. In about 5 more years he can tune it out. This is a very sweet age. Enjoy him. Don't spoil it for him.
Thanks so much for your input. We do restrict his sugar intake, as we always have just because it's unhealthy. He never gets caffeine and a normal amount of sleep...but like you said,...doesn't help anyway! We are taking him to a therapist on Monday...wish us luck!
Sandman, Thanks so much for the input AND the book recommendation! I will be looking into this today! My husband and I have made up a list of things we will be changing to see if this will help him out at all. The one main thing I have been told to do is NOT to say anything to him about it. I can vouch for this because when I harp on him about it, it just makes it worse and he cries and says he's not normal, and he has mental problems or maybe he's autistic. Which he is not. Thanks again!