This afternoon I let out a gasp of frustration and shouted, ‘Arms, stop being dicks!’ Moments later I apologised to them, but they’re really behaving badly at the moment.

The other day I mentioned my new elbowing-things tic: walls, tables, doors, the bath, other people. It doesn’t happen all the time, but in some ways its sporadic nature makes it particularly challenging. I’ll be fine for hours before suddenly elbowing a load of stuff – hard. I’ve got some protective pads but they’re not brilliantly comfortable.

But I’m going to stop moaning now and will buy some new ones online…

Right, I’ve done that. Now I’ll tell you about the other frustrating things my arms have been doing for the last two days: they’ve been thumping my chest. Anyone who knows me will know this is nothing new – it’s been happening for years. But in the last few days the frequency has increased so that it’s hard to fit anything in between thumps. Will had to hold my arms still while we were watching TV earlier, and help me drink. He’s also had to brush my teeth for me. I’ve needed help with all of this in the past so I’m confident things will settle down again soon.

One of the challenges of Tourettes is that it’s unpredictable and things can change out of the blue. But even though it can be difficult when a new tic arrives or an old one intensifies, I know it won’t always be like this, and that as well as things getting worse they can also suddenly get better.