A young mum from Penryn has spoken of the moment she woke up to discover she had Tourette's syndrome - giving her tics and swearing at friends and family.

Mother-of-two Hayleigh-Elizabeth Honey, 27, had no underlying health problems - but now launches foul-mouth abuse at people.

She constantly calls her husband a the 'c' word, tells her children to "f**k off", and sticks her middle finger up at people she sees while saying "have one of these".

Hayleigh 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.

"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.

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Hayleigh Honey at her home in Penryn. Photo: SWNS

She continued: "The doctor said he had never seen it before and sent me back out to the waiting room and phoned the neurologist before calling my back into the room.

"He then said he thought it was a viral infection and that it would pass, but a week later it hadn't so I went straight back.

"I saw a different GP and was referred the same day medical assessment unit at Treliske Hospital, there I had a CT scan - they didn't want to do an MRI because I would have to stay still for too long.

"They took my fluids and they did tests, and it came back clear."

Tourette Syndrome is a condition which affects the nervous system and causes people to have sudden twitches or movements known as "tics".

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.

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"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."

On one occasion, Hayleigh went to see her optometrist but soon found herself uncontrollably swearing at him.

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 fuck 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 tics, 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."

Hayleigh is married to Matt Honey, 27, the skipper of a pleasure ferry, and together they have two children - Luna five, and Zephyr, two.