Chemar

Hi mylittleangel (what a lovely name! ) so sorry for that hard time your lil one has had so early and thanks so much for sharing your story. I really is astonishing how wide a range of illness does come from dietary intolerance /allergies as well as nutritional deficiencies my son has Tourette and so I am conscious that total eradication of his tics and OCD may be unlikely, yet the dramatic improvement in his quality of life since adopting a diet suited to his needs, supplemented with the extra things that benefit him. it tool a while to figure the pieces of his health puzzles, and we are always on a learning curve.....but once you get on that right track it really is encouraging I am so glad you have seen improvements and hope you will find many answers to bring more healing

hi myrose sorry you are all ill I dont know the antibiotic your dd was rx but the Z pack you got is ZITHROMAX=azithromycin

you are welcome I know chlorine as in pools, bleach etc is very different from that compounded in food eg sodium chloride=salt but still, we keep my son's intake of all things chlorided as low as possible. he does tic more when eating very salted food soooooo my son has a pretty high calcium intake in his diet and his daily multi-shake, and so we are not all that rigid anymore on the ratio as he seems to be fine as it is. I think the only time one really has to be very diligent on that is when the calcium intake is very low. the transdermal magnesium via the baths and creams also has a more systemic route of action so again not a concern to have to worry about balancing the calcium as long as the dietary/supplement source is sufficient for the child's weight/age

I havent heard of that before but it is magnesium CHLORIDE *not* magnesium sulfate which is what is in epsom salts and creams personally I would not go near this, based on the frequency of reports of chlorine being a tic trigger! Chlorides just tend to make me nervous also that price is very HIGH!! considering that a large carton of epsom salts is under $3 at Target and it is really easy to make the cream yourself dissolve about 1/2 cup of epsom salts in as little hot water as possible and then mix with 1 cup of a pure cream or ointment. you can even blend it with olive oil or coconut oil

my husband uses it for a longtime viral illness and says he immediately feels the difference if he doesnt not take it. He has tried many but says the best and only one that he actually feels the benefit from is Sovereign Silver avoid those with high ppm...that does NOT make them better!! there are very mixed reports on it and I was skeptical, but hubby really seems to need it.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/136133.php

Hi Abbe yes, "whiplash" tic was one of the worst my son used to experience sadly exposure to tic triggers can have reactions that last a while...one of the reasons that we are so diligent to avoid them totally whenever possible. best you can do is just keep up those epsom baths, and rub the cream into back of neck (if he doesnt like the cream, try a warm cloth soaked in epsom solution...wring it out and place on the back of his neck. Make sure he is getting enough magnesium supplement as well when my son went into these major tic waxings we would head straight to our acupuncture therapist as honestly that still has the #1 calming effect on his tics, second only to magnesium orally and via epsom salts

I am not aware of magnetic mattresses or pillows...my son has a cotton filled futon with woodframe....we eliminated his coil spring after learning of the negative effects of the metallic coils re electromagnetic fields while sleeping however, re magnets themselves...our acupuncture physician once gave my son tiny magnets to attach to earlobes (adhesive) and this helped very much when he had some very intense the ocd/tic blending. somehow pushing on the magnets seemed to calm him

Acetyl L carnitine is simply L carnitine that has been acetylated ie acetyl group added. some people feel this is the better form while others disagree. it is a case of trial and error to decide which works best for the individual carnitine as well as taurine are recognized as being tic reducers for people with TS. The carnitine stopped a screaming tic that had severely disrupted my son's life as well as helping him with eye blink/roll tics he takes taurine as a separate supp with his magnesium but the combo magnesium taurate is also excellent

we never used acetyl L carnitine only regular L carnitine at 500mg per day taurine and taurate are the same amino acid...taurate is usually the compounded form as in magnesium plus taurine=magnesium taurate

my son has both TS and Crohn's and could not have any steroid treatment for the Crohn's for that reason Thankfully he developed a natural diet/supp plan that has helped it go into remission without drugs my husband has TS and did have a prednisone burst for pain after a back injury and it had horrible effects on his tics triggering levels he has not seen since early childhood (he is in his 60s now) the tics are still elevated even tho the steroid burst was many months ago

hi have you considered swapping the acetyl L carnitine for regular L carnitine? taking taurine as well should not be a problem. many take them together not knowing what is in the homeopathic meds I cant comment on those many of our kids are reactive to fish oil so you may want to use flax and do a trial on the fishoil maybe only when your child's tics are more stabilized I dont know if there are any warnings about any of those supplements reacting with topamax, but your doc should know about that

so sorry this has happened Abbe it was dramatic reactions like those that finally convinced my son to never have another morsel or drop of any junk food or food with chemicals in it I would agree on the Epsom salts bath to help calm things and also increasing the magnesium/B6 intake if he has allergies, you may want to give some of his benedryl to calm the allergic inflammation that could be contributing to the increased tics...sorry but I can remember whether he was on it before for allergy or if you had just been testing the reaction to it

hi and welcome for some, especially when real deficient in them, the supps can work really quickly but others may take 3-6 weeks to see a notable effect. antibiotics kill off the "good" microbes as well as the bad and so if taken without restoring the good, candida albicans ("yeast") fungal overgrowth can occur and that is a BIG tic trigger

my son cannot go near vanillin (artificial vanilla flavor) nor titanium dioxide(whitener). it is also possible that the high amino acid mixture could have been a trigger. some amino acids stimulate dopamine which can lead to more tics in susceptible individuals (eg those with TS) I dont see tyrosine listed but it is likely in the "Branched Chain Amino Acid Blend" the vitamin D may have come from fish??? many D's are derived from seafood as it is a "mega men's" vitamin there may also be androgen boosters in there?? (I confess some of those ingredients are unknown to me) and again for those with TS, increased steroids=increased tics also, some people have found soy allergy sets tics off

Amy those are a problem!! they have a bunch of artificial things in them including the dye and flavoring which are known to be tic triggers for most kids. Caryn will have lots of info for you re the gluten induced tics in those with celiac disease

came back to mention Sheila's book and found Caryn already had here is link to more info on the book http://www.latitudes.org/book.html

Hi Amy welcome to Latitudes/ACN from what you have written it does sound like your son is having symptoms of OCD along with tics but obviously this is just a guess based on what you have written and not a "diagnosis" many things can cause this in young kids, not just Tourette often the best way to determine why this is happening is to begin a process of eliminations usually (tho not always) Tourette Syndrome is genetically inherited so there would be others in the immediate or distant family with tics. OCD frequently (tho again not always) accompanies TS many kids have what are called "transient childhood tics" that seem to appear and then disappear without clear cause or cure acute or chronic Strep infections (not always manifesting as strep throat tho!) can cause tics and OCD too For more info on that do see our new PANDAS board here too. There is also a related condition of PITANDS where it seems other bacterial, viral, fungal or microbial/parasitic infection can trigger neurological symptoms including tics and OCD many kids with untreated allergies (food or environmental) can display tics and other disorders that appear neurological/immuno etc yet once the allergies are identified and treated there is enormous improvement there are a number of other things that have been implicated in tics and neuro issues for kids including the childhood vaccines, heavy metal and other toxicity, photosensitivity etc and we discuss many of those here too I hope those may give you some pointers into what may have triggered this in your child most of us here have decided to use natural/alternative ways to help our kids rather than prescription medications, and we have found that a careful diet free of artificial and chemical food additives along with correct supplements really helps. A unifying theme seems to be that magnesium helps a large majority of people with tics, and parents here often give something called Kids Calm or the Natural Calm magnesium drink there is LOTS more info on all this in many threads here maybe start with those grouped in our "helpful threads" sticky http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=2459 I have documented what has helped my son in this thread http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=687 many of the things you describe of your child remind me of my own. he does have genetic Tourette with OCD and some other stuff which started when he was very young. he is now 19yo and doing really well on his nutritional treatment plan so do be encouraged that nomatter what your child's dx there really is much reason to be hopeful that you can provide very helpful interventions I know our other members will share their experiences too...we have many and varied ones here. the boards are quieter over the weekends but pick up again during the week so do keep checking back for replies

Hi footballguy it seems many people with neurological disorders also seem to have allergies comorbid generally just means more than one illness or disorder occurring simultaneously...sometimes linked but not always

I havent used Reishi but have used Maitaki mushroom supps with very beneficial effect when I was detoxing and recovering from extreme pesticide exposure

we had a hard time getting rid of candida. went on the diet recommended by Walker and Trowbridge in The Yeast Syndrome ( their good recipe section sure helped with that! ) did not use Nystatin or probiotic supplements but instead used kefir and stonyfield farms natural yoghurt as probiotics and first used capryllic acid (Solaray's caprylate) and then best of all Candida Clear supplements by NOW in conjunction with Monolaurin (lauric acid) It wasnt till we introduced those last 2 antifungal products that we finally saw a dramatic improvement. I have heard mixed reports on Nystatin...some very positive and others not so.

you could try applying an antifungal cream(the ones used to treat female yeast infections) and see if that stops the itching

you may also want to have her tested to see if this is Candida albicans infection

OCD, anxiety, explosive behavior, rages, fears/phobias etc are all recognized and well documented to be common comorbid disorders with TS and other neuro conditions and many of our kids have these. It is also not unusual for the child to control these in social settings and then release them big time when "safe" with family We have many threads here stressing how these are things that the kids cant help and should not be considered "bad" behavior many of our kids find those issues even more bothersome than the tics, and many of us have had much success with natural/alternative treatments while others have found meds beneficial for this good info on Leslie Packer's site TS Plus http://www.tourettesyndrome.net/conditions.htm

Lyn have you tried Inositol at all? It is a B vitamin and safe and can really help with some of the intense mood stuff. Best taken with B6 (we use P-5-P) and methylB12