Irena

Char, I believe it was a number of things. First of all I could see an immediate improvement after changing his diet, removing artificial colours, MSG, preservatives. I learned to read labels and I never stopped. We also withdrew foods he reacted to (we did Alcat test to find out what the offending foods were). After Organix (OAT) test we also started fighting candida using caprylic acid (Mycopryl by BioCare) and probiotics + other things like oregano oil, olive leaf, etc and healing his leaky gut (Permatrol by BioCare). And, of course, right from the beginning of our battle we started supplementation. Also, we changed all the screens into LCD ones. And I believe time helped, too. You can often read the tics are at their worse at the age of 9 to 12. It seems it was the case with my son, too. My son will be 14 in March. We are not so strict about the diet any more. As the tics are not real problem any more I don't insist on his keeping the diet all the time and he is only too happy to eat what others do. But I know it is not good form him. His skin starts itching and he scratches himself badly. I think it is worth reminding what his tics were when we started this natural path. He had eye rolling, blinking, head shaking, shoulder shrugging, arm twiches and some vocal tics (squeaks). When I look back I am more and more convinced that it all resulted from a damage of his immune system probably right after he was born. For some reason he was born aenemic. Despite this he was given all the due shots. I remember when he was 1 or 1,5 he started waking up in the middle of the night and cry and cry and nothing helped. It wasn't a normal cry. His doctor told us it could be that his nervous system was not mature enough and reacted to all what was happening during the day. Now I am absolutely sure it was the damage done to his nervous system by MMRII. But I didn't realised it then. Now I know this kind of cry is characteristic for a nervous system damage. I thank God with all my heart that the damage was not greater and he is not autistic. And I also thank God for Internet, this board and my, deficient as it is, knowledge of English which made it possible to find all the information about natural approach to tics still not appreciated in Poland. Irena

Hi, I haven't written here for quite a while although I still visit the site quite regularly. My son Stanisław, who's now almost 14, is doing great. He still has some very mild tics (like occasional eye blinking – very, very mild) but it is only me who sees them and I'm absolutely sure that all the others are convinced that his tics are the thing of the past. I do hope it will stay like this. We are still on supplements (multi, magnesium, taurine, Omega 3, P5P, follinic acid&MB12 and probiotics) but we skip them sometimes and it is not an issue. We also try to eat healthy. I owe you so, so much. Without this site and generosity and kindness of Chemar and Kim I would have not known where to start from and I wouldn't have even known that there were things I could do to help my son. Thank you again! I decided to write about my own recent experience with calcium and magnesium as these two minerals are so essential and almost all of us use them. I started having palpitations and anxiety. I thought it was stress and maybe late reaction to very stressful first six months of the previous year (Staś broke his arm while riding a snowboard, after several weeks he had an operation, the bones had to be put in place once again, because of that he could not write his exams with all the others, etc). I also thought these could be perimenopause symptoms (I turned 44 yesterday). Well, probably, it has been all of these. Anyway, I knew I needed magnesium. So I started supplementing it. I chose Solgar's combo of calcium and magnesium citrate as it had the recommended balance of 2:1. (plus Omega 3 and NOW Vit-Min +75 with high B vitamins) But it didin't help. I started showing another symptoms of very low magnesium. I developed arrhythmia (not only occasional palpitations but also those very annoying additional heart beats) and twitches of big muscles like thigh or stomach muscles. Apparently my body still lacked magnesium. Then I remembered that Peter Gillham (the one who developed Natural Calm) wrote something about relations between calcium and magnesium which differed from the 2:1 relation. Here is what he says: "Normal cells contain 10,000 times more magnesium than calcium. If the amount of cellular magnesium falls, however, calcium flows into the cell. With such an imbalance, calcium puts the cell into a hyperactive state. This can cause muscle contraction and lead to painful cramping. Muscles need magnesium in order to relax." And much, much more http://www.petergillham.com/product-line/p...atural-calm.php So I put aside the combo and started using only magnesium (Solgar's chelated magnesium 500mg) (plus Omega 3 and multi). Within a week things changed dramatically. I don't have palpitations or anxiety any more only a single additional heart beat from time to time (nothing comparing to what it used to be). My whole body and mind have calmed. I'm awaiting for the delivery of Natural Calm which I ordered a week ago. Sorry for such a long post but I though this may help someone who's been supplementing cal/mag and cannot see desirable results. As Peter Gillham says it is hard nowadays to lack calcium as very often it is added to foods like cereals or orange juice. I know it can be different with someone who does not eat dairy products but it is worth knowing that this 2:1 balance of calcium to magnesium may not work for everybody (Gillham recommends 3 parts of magnesium to 2 parts of calcium).

Kimmie, I am the last person who would recommend smoking as I hate it (my mother died of lung cancer) but your boyfriend's attepmts to quit smoking combined with the excitement of dating you and meeting your family may have resulted in increased tics. Read this: http://www.tourette-syndrome.com/tsarticles.htm Maybe nicotine patches would help... Irena

The first two things I can think of are strep and candida. One of the indications that throat infection is of bacterial nature (strep) and not viral one is bad smell (very characteristic). With my three sons it has always been for me an indication whether I should see a pediatrician (in case of a bacterial infection antibiotics are usually needed) or just wait till the body overcome the virus itself. The difference is usually also in the look of the throat. If it's bacterial infection there is usually some whitish coating or spots. If it's viral the throat is usually very red, even purple. With candida being the problem, one of the symptoms is also bad breath. If it really is candida it would be probably accompanied by white coating on the tongue. I don't know whether this will be of any help as this is only my common, unprofessional knowledge.

Hi Marianne! Big hug from yet another part of the world - Poland. I'm glad you have found this place. Finding it made all the difference for us. My son is 12. He had some occasional tics (blinking) in his preschool years but it was only two years ago that I noticed that he had tics. Now he's pretty well and I am learnig not to allow tics dominate our life and my relationshiop with my wonderful son. C.P. I also used to tell my son to hold his breath when he was getting his guitar out of the car boot when I was dropping him for an electric guitar lesson. I don't do it any more because.... I told my older son (tic free) to do it Irena

Thank you, Kim! You're great! I'll try to do some reasearch on my own. Now at least I know WHAT to research. Thank you again! Tomorrow Staś is coming back from a 5-day school trip. Do you remember how last year you advised me to let him go (you even consulted your son)?. I'm a bit anxious about what state he will be in after 5 days of eating wrong foods. But he was so excited about it. He loves being with his friends and they like him very much, too. So this year I didn't even consider him not going.

Kim, In Staś' amino acid test they also tested ammonia. It was within range although close to the lower borderline. He never had his ammonia tested from blood. Well, to be honest I never paid any attention to it. My biochemical knowledge is very limited. And my dr never really discussed the amino acid test results with me. She just assumed I needed to order SOMEWHERE the recommended amino acids. Kim, maybe I should open a new thread for this question but since you're reading this... I know you use enzymes on regular bases in order not to worry too much on "forbidden" food. Which Houston's enzymes do you use? Is it Peptizide? It breaks only proteins (and they say it can be even regarded as an alternative to GF/CF diet). Is that enough? I use Superenzymes by NOWFOODS. Mostly because...they are available in Poland. Please, have a loook at them http://thecatalog.com/2964.html I value your knowledge and I would appreciate your saying what your opinion is. Maybe I'm crazy but I worry about betaine HCL being obtained from molasses. With his yeast overgrtowth (hopefully under control) I don't like things like molasses. But it is just betaine HCL, not molasses itself, isn't it? Thank you for your help. Irena

Hi Itsme, My son's amino acid test results were almost identical with yours: deficiency in all the essential amino acids which come from food and our body does not produce itself and a very high level of taurine. As for taurine I switched from magnesium taurate (about 5000mg of taurate to get 500 mg of magnesium from magnesium taurate) to other form of magnesium (citrate) + one 500mg capsule daily of taurate. I didn't give up taurate. I decided that it was too important. As for the amino acids he tested low I practically don't give them to my son (except for 250 mg tryptophan each morning). Why? Like your son, my son is doing pretty well, too. I don't have money to have the amino acids custom made (I would have to order them from the US - I'm in Poland). And they would mean so many more pills and he already takes loads of them. As all the deficient amino acids are the ones you need to obtain from food I decided I needed to focus on improving his absorption. I give him enzymes before almost each meal. And we treat his gut and fight candida to improve uptake of nutrients from food. (His beta-alanine level was very high and they suggested it was due to yeast overgrowth).

Hi, I just want to say that my son's stool test didn't show any candida, either. It was only an organic acid test that showed a very high level of d-arabiniol, yeast metabolite. Even if your son does not have a yeast issue (although it is true that stool analysis results cannot be trusted in this matter) anti-candida treatment will not make any harm if you use natural remedies like caprylic acid and probiotics or even nystatine as well as anti-candida diet.

Thank you, Yesterday I stoppped giving acetyl-L-carnitine (after two days) as he had noticeable increase in tics (today they got back to normal, rather minimal, hardly noticeable level). I can't think of any other tic trigger so most probably it was it. Maybe I will try L-carnitine (not ALC). His vocal tics aren't big problems, practically not noticeable to others. They are sporadical, quit sounds and probably it is only me who takes any notice of them. I really need to change this attitude, this urge to "fix" things. Although I've been much better recently in this regard than before (or is it just that his tics are so much better again?)

Is it important what form of L-carnitine is used? I thought acety-L-carnitine is better as usually it is this form that is said to improve functioning of the nervous system. But I read that ACL increases dopamine release http://www.smart-drugs.com/info-alc.htm . What is your experience?

Hi, Kitty I live in Poland. I also wanted to find Natural Calm somewhere in Europe but they don't have it here. Well, actualy I found an Internet shop in Russia which had it but as Russia is not in the EU I would have to pay duty charges anyway, just the same as if I ordered from the US. The problems I had with customs office when I ordered Bonnie's supps discouraged me from ordering anything from the US although everything is so much cheaper there! I don't know what makes Natural Calm so effective (many people report it is effective). It is powdered form of magesium citrate (and gluconate?) soluble in hot water. Or mybe some special technology is used. Anybody knows? As I cannot order Natural Calm in Europe I decided to order Kirkman's Magnesium Citrate (also powder form) and I hope it will be equally effective. I also wanted to reduce the number of pills Staś needs to take now, that's why I decided for a liquid form. Kitty, these are the sources of supplements in Europe I use: www.cenaverde.com (Holland-based, they store many American brands: Kirkman's, New Beginnings, Douglas Laboratories, Klaire Labs and others) British www.nutricentre.com has many brands. I recently disovered British BioCare. www.biocare.co.uk I use their Bioacidophillus (probiotics), SpectrumZyme (enzymes) and some other products specifically designed for fighting candida and gut healing. I buy them at eBay's Vitamins for Life shop. I also buy American NOW FOOD products in Poland. I'm sure they are available also in the UK. If your duty charges are not very high and not too complicated it may be a good idea, as kkver said, to order things from the US they are usually 50% cheaper. Irena

I know that vit. D is one of those which can be harmful if overdosed. That is why I always buy calcium without vit. D. Staś gets vit. D in his multi. But that is probabaly the amount needed to absorb calcium in the multi. Shall I be afraid of calcium supplements containing vit. D? Again I am trying to find replacement for the supps that I order abroad. There are loads of calcium supplements in Poland but they all have vit. D. Maybe I shall assume that the amount of vit. D is balanced with the amount of calcium if they come together in one supplement and there is no risk of overdosing it? Does calcium need to be chelated as well? We've been using New Beginnings' Chelated Calcium so far. But most supps here seem to have carbonate (or lactogluconate - this is chelate, isn't it?). Thank you, Irena

As I understand magnesium malate is a compound where magnesium is attached to a malic acid molecule. I have three questions: Is magnesium malate a good form of magnesium? It is available in Poland (Now brand) but I haven't heard any of you use it. Does malic acid in magnesium malate have the same properties as malic acid alone, i.e. aluminium detoxification? Is malic acid a safe aluminium detoxificator? I remember some time ago I read something that stopped me from ordering it but I can't remember what it was! Any input?

Today, I came accross this article. It is so shocking it is hard to belive it can be true. Have you ever heard about fetal cell cultures being used in vaccines? Have you ever come accross some medical or scientific sources of such info? http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/...ics/me0044.html