Solving our Tic Mystery (Premium)
My young son has a history of tics. Fortunately we have been able to control them with dietary changes, nutritional therapy, and avoiding triggers in the environment that we found through observation. We worked very hard to get to this stage. Fortunately he is a good kid and compliant with his diet, which helped our efforts. But 3 months ago a persistent eye blink started up that really had my husband and me stumped.
We tried adjusting his diet with no improvement, and then did some testing. It was the testing that gave us the answer we needed.
An eye-opening article, thank you. Could you share what testing reveals mold inflammation?
Hi — We will check with the person who sent this in and let you know what they did for the testing.
We heard back from the writer of this account. She said about the mold testing done:
“Hi—sorry I left that out about the testing. The first test we did was to check his HLA-DR gene status. He came back sensitive for mold. We then ran some of Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker’s labs that look for inflammation markers that tend to elevate when mold is present. See here: http://www.survivingmold.com/diagnosis/lab-tests You can learn a lot on his website, also.
We didn’t run every test – just C4a, MSH, VIP, MMP-9 and VEGF I think. But different doctors prefer different tests. Some, not all, came back elevated.
We’ve had to look for mold in our house before, and I’m sure it will not be the last time. Our mold issues haven’t been from conventional causes, like a basement flood or leaky pipe. Keep in mind that mold doesn’t have to be obvious to be harmful.
I’m also always on the alert for triggers like diet, other environmental possibilities, infection, etc. I’ve never found one thing that was the total cause of his tics, but when we are comprehensive in our efforts it sure pays off. Hope that helps.”
Does a pediatrician can order these test? Or I have to see an allergist?