I’ve been resting at home after a minor operation on Friday to change my pacemaker battery. As a result my sleep has been a bit disrupted by pain and discomfort in my chest. But last night it was disrupted by something very different – “Iron Ore”

Well “Iron Ore, Yeah!” to be precise, and some other intense vocal tics like “Trapezium” and “Breaded chicken”. Moments after falling asleep I’ve been waking myself up, ticcing loudly. But my vocal tics haven’t been the only involuntary activity causing bother. Not to be outdone, my motor tics have got in on the action, throwing me out of bed at regular intervals.

My sleep used to be disrupted in this way by my tics on a regular basis, but over the last few years this has lessened. Last night was a dramatic reminder that their pattern can still change suddenly. Anna, my overnight support worker, was brilliant, getting up to help me each time it happened, and eventually climbing into bed with me and sleeping next to me to prevent me from chucking myself out.

Hopefully this won’t last and my tics and sleep will settle down again soon. In the meantime, though, I’ll take all the practical steps I can to minimise the impact of both sorts of tic, and have a dictionary ready to explain the meaning of any strange new vocal ones.

So for starters:
Iron Ore – a rock or mineral from which iron can be profitably extracted.
Trapezium – a quadrilateral with one pair of sides parallel, or a carpal bone below the base of the thumb
Breaded chicken – recipes available here.