Fish Oil

[starlygirl]

My son has a tic disorder, probably Tourette's, possibly PANS. Either way, his Dr. has highly recommended that he take fish oil (Omega 3 only with higher EPA than DHA). I'm only finding stories on the forums about fish oil exacerbating tics. Has anyone used it & found that it was helpful? Thanks!

[Chemar]

Omega 3 is very helpful for TS tics

but

there are anecdotal reports that many people with TS react negatively to fish oil with more tics, and they do better getting their Omega 3 from flaxseed oil

 

There are some that do fine with fish oil

But if you notice tics spiking, you may want to stop and switch to organic unrefined flaxseed oil

[starlygirl]

Thanks, Chemar. We just started the fish oil yesterday, so we'll see how it goes. Our doctor specified to use fish oil with a higher amount of EPA than DHA. I'm not sure what the medical reasoning behind that is, but wonder if perhaps those who've had trouble with increased tics may have been using oil w/ more DHA? The fish oils I looked at that were made specifically for kids seemed to contain mostly DHA. I ended up getting one made for adults (Coromega Squeeze) to get the higher EPA levels & he only needs half a packet per day to get the correct dosage.

[guy123]

Fish oil had no effect on my tics.

 

I have to ramp up the dosage slowly, though. The first few days I take fish oil (after a break), I get upset intestines and sometimes diarrhea a few hours after I take it. This goes away after a day or two.

 

Can you post the ingredients of the one you're taking?

[starlygirl]

Fish oil had no effect on my tics.

 

I have to ramp up the dosage slowly, though. The first few days I take fish oil (after a break), I get upset intestines and sometimes diarrhea a few hours after I take it. This goes away after a day or two.

 

Can you post the ingredients of the one you're taking?

 

This is the product I'm using with my son:

 

http://www.coromega.com/products/omega3d-squeeze/

 

If you hover your mouse over "ingredients", you'll see a list of what is in it. They make one without the added vitamin D, but my son's vitamin D levels are a little low also, so I got the one with added D.

 

I gave this to him for a couple of weeks & don't think I noticed much difference one way or another, but I was so nervous about the possibly of it making things worse that I stopped...I haven't used any supplements with him yet except for the fish oil & I'm paralyzed with fear by the knowledge that some supplements could actually make things get worse.

[Bigal]

My 10 year old son has tourettes. Most of the time the tics are minimal, but there have been two significant outbreaks. About two years ago the tics got a lot worse for a brief period of time. Blinking was the main tic. I started giving him Nordic Naturals Cod Liver Oil and the tics disappeared 9 days later. I attributed the tics stopping to the fish oil and for quite awhile I swore by fishoil.

 

Then this past winter his tics got a lot worse than they'd ever been. Some people on this board will remember that I was in a bit of a panic. That outbreak lasted about 3 weeks then abruptly improved considerably and then continued to slowly improve until the tics became barely noticable. During the outbreak, I switched to Flax Seed oil. I don't know if that mattered. He had tolerated the fish oil for quite awhile.

 

So we were continuing with daily flax seed oil, when my wife found some articles that talked about hormone disruptors in flax seed oil. I just did a quick google search and found this one:

 

http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2009/03/flax-seed-and-oil-phytoestrogens-phytic-acid-and-pregnancy-risks.html

 

We then switched to Chia seeds. He hasn't been taking them regularly though. It's a little harder because it's supposed to be a snack as opposed to a supplement in the morning.

 

Honestly, I really can't tell if any of these have helped my son. As mentioned earlier, I used to swear by fish oil. He was ticcing a lot and nine days after fish oil, he stopped. But then two years later his tics got bad again while he was on fish oil and three weeks later they stopped. I'm frustrated because I find it difficult to ascertain cause and effect.

 

Anyway, for now, Wyatt is on chia seeds.

[Chemar]

BigAl

this may not be a problem for you, but I have heard a few reports, including from one member here, that their child seemed to have an increase in OCD with Chia seeds

[Bigal]

BigAl

this may not be a problem for you, but I have heard a few reports, including from one member here, that their child seemed to have an increase in OCD with Chia seeds

 

Thanks Chemar. Wyatt hasn't had OCD symptoms, or at least we haven't noticed them. So for the timebeing, I won't worry about that.

 

Alan

[TessaKrista]

Omega 3 is very helpful for TS tics

but

there are anecdotal reports that many people with TS react negatively to fish oil with more tics, and they do better getting their Omega 3 from flaxseed oil

 

There are some that do fine with fish oil

But if you notice tics spiking, you may want to stop and switch to organic unrefined flaxseed oil

 

 

Do we know why many fish oils bring out more tics in many kids? What is the science behind it?

[Chemar]

It is related to dopamine/genetics/ liver if I recall correctly

 

Someone once posted a research article here explaining it

[sandyjj]

Omega 3 is very helpful for TS tics

but

there are anecdotal reports that many people with TS react negatively to fish oil with more tics, and they do better getting their Omega 3 from flaxseed oil

 

There are some that do fine with fish oil

But if you notice tics spiking, you may want to stop and switch to organic unrefined flaxseed oil

 

 

My son told us that the fish oil increased his tics and has never tried it again. He started a medication for the first time ever for the past 4 wks and no longer wants to be on the med so i will tell him to try the Flaxseed oil. Thank you for your post.