lmcgill

He is great now, besides going gluten free and watching his diet, he is tic free. Please pray and believe it will pass by.

One word: RELAX! I am not saying to ignore the situation, because if you are like me that would be impossible! It was a long journey for us, but my sone started around 8 and he had numerous tics. They all started with the eye, then shoulder, nose scrunching, even hoping. We did everything including a GF diet, which he is still on, Grimwalds supplements which I think really helped. Anyways, he is almost 15 and no tics save maybe the odd eye one when he has gluten or chocolate. Bottom line, it will pass. Read my posts and you will see the journey I was on. I wouldn't want to go through it again, but if I did, I would be much better prepared.

I admit, I was obsessed with this forum while we experienced what probably the majority who visit this site do.....panic! We did lots of tests, took many supplements, did NAET treatments, every time hoping for a miracle to stop his tics. Looking back now, when he was about 8 was when they started. He had the arm jerks, shoulder shrug, eye rolling/blinking. He just turned 14 a couple months ago and he has not had body movements since he was about 10, and about the only thing he has now is the odd eye roll or blinking. For us, I think it was and still do think it was wheat or gluten issues. Ever since we took that out of his diet, he has been great. I suppose it doesn't matter to me if he just grew out of it or if the diet changes helped, but the story I want to tell is it gets better but as most people will say, it is a journey. I would like to thank all those that gave me hope, it was appreciated and now I feel qualified to pass that hope along. You can search my old posts and see my journey, when the posts started getting less was a direct time line to my sons tics. I shed a lot of tears and felt helpless and hopeless many times but it does get better, and you will be a stronger more loving parent because of this "journey".

Nice feel good story. This forum has helped me so much, my sons tics led us to a diet that has helped the whole family. Thanks for sharing.

If I could back about 3 years or so I would love to have someone tell me," if you don't stop obsessing with (insert child's name's) tics you will lose out on a big portion of the really good parts of that child's life!" Yes, they are tics and yes you will figure it out, and yes they will stop eventually. Our son is now 12 and he has doing great. We figured out what was the main cause, like you we have no history of family tics. He needs to be gluten free and we limit the games and TV he watches. Sometimes I wonder if he has just grown out of them, but like you I was scared, depressed, and obsessed about his tics. What a waste, he was doing fine, I was the one that needed help. Just love her as much as you can and relax and know that it will end. Maybe it will take some time, but it will end.

Similar story, although we did not ever get a dX on our son, the fact that my mother is very celiac and after trying so many things, we put him on a strict GF diet and it took over about a year for him to be (mostly) tic free. We notice now if he has gluten he will have a few eye tics like he did a week ago after some Starbucks salted caramel hot chocolate (yes, there is gluten in it). We are very strict with his diet, even a tiny bit will make him tic. We have followed the same routine for about two years now and the results are the reason: Natural Calm, 6 a day of Bonnies TS plus, and no artificial anything. I know our bodies are very different from each other, but I am glad I took the time to go through the process or as most call it; a journey. I still get a little anxious when he does a few tics, but now I know it will be temporary and adjust. Lenny

just the ts plus. We also do the calm in the evening.

We did so many things prior to gluten free, but even after we went totally gluten free, it still took about two months for us to see a more even tic sequence. I am stuck on the Bonnies supps. but have put him down to 5 in the morning and 5 at night. I also still give him the calm at night. This has been his longest stretch without tics, and even if he does have a few eye blinks I can usually find out he had something.

This is great to hear...can i ask if you are dairy free too?? We limit dairy, he couldn't take it as a baby, he only takes yogurt and cheeze, not any milk.

Hi Char, It took a long time to notice the full effects after taking him off Wheat/gluten. The only bad part now is that we notice the eye blinking tics will start within a couple hours after he has something, so we have made him so clean that even a little bit will show up in some tics. I also add that if he has milk chocolate he can get the same reaction. We have a clean diet now, it has not been that bad, in fact we like it!

Well Okay then, we are even, my post brought me to tears writing it! Never give up hope. I have come to realize that most of the stories you hear on the internet are mostly there because they are "sensational". Once you figure out what is making your child tic, then it doesn't really become a story after that. I am just thankful there are people like the ones on this site exist. They don't get paid for there information expertise, they just do it because they want to. I remember hearing a doctor say he had a "mild form of torettes" and to deal with it, he could care less that I was trying to hold back my emotions. He totally blew off the fact he could have something else going on inside his body, I did, and I didn't give up. My mom was and still is extreme celiac. His tests didn't show much of an issue with wheat, but once he was taken off it, he just continued to improve. He has other issues, he will need open heart surgery at some time to fix his aortic valve, we will cross that bridge when we have to. For now, I have my God to help and give thanks to and two kids (twins, boy girl) that I live for.....isn't that enough?

Hi all, It has been a long journey for us and our son. He started tics when he was 7, he is now 11 and is doing so good. We were coming back from the Oregon Coast today and was thinking about this same time 4 years ago when he was going into grade 3 what a difference he was. His words will never leave me: "daddy, I am going to be in a new school tomorrow aren't I?" His tics were bad, body jerks, arm movements....his whole body moved with uncontrollable jerks. He is now calm and I am so much better as well! This site has done wonders, we did the blood tests, we did the NAET, but finally we found out what the main issue was. After we put him on a gluten/wheat free diet, everything started to become clear. We still keep his diet clean, still give him Kids Calm every night, still give him Bonnies supps. twice a day and as of today I can say he is doing wonderful. Thanks all for you help, and for all those that can't sleep and are depressed and cry for your child on a daily basis, there is hope and things will get better, love them and hold them and tell them you love them every day no matter what they are like. I had that sick feeling in my stomach for years, wandering when he got off the school bus how he would be, oh how I wish I could have those days back, but I can't. I had the darkest days of my life the last several years, between God and my endless search for help I feel I am now prepared to help others by telling them there is hope and it will get better. It may not be gluten free, but it will be something that you will find that is the root cause. Lenny

We have always given him Kids calm, (about 1 tsp before bed) and he is taking 12 bonnies, 6 in the morning and 6 in the evening. The calm is completely harmless and is part of our evening routine. He has a twin sister that also takes it, makes her feel important too! I know now when he has had some gluten, he gets a bit of a wild look to him and starts blinking or eye rolling. He also seems to blink when he plays his Wii or he DSI. I do not think he has Tourettes, we at least not the genetic type. We know of none in both our families. Hey, I don't want to go back to 2006, I was a mess! But after IGg testing, NAET treatments etc etc, I feel we are under control. That feeling in my stomach when I knew I had to see him at the beginning and end of each day, is mostly gone. I know now, that when he does tic, it will be over in a few days to a week. The bonnies vitamins take a few weeks to a couple months to notice much, but they do seem to work. Like I mentioned, going totally GF has been what I think has made the most difference. We are in Vancouver BC, and we find it very easy to get GF products, restaurants are excellent too. Don't give up, I promise you it will eventually get better

If there was a script to write about my son it would be very similar to yours. I was obsessed, depressed and had that feeling of helplessness. He started when he was 8 and turned 11 a couple months ago. You can look at some of my older posts, but he is so much better today. He is still on Bonnies pills and we still give him "kids calm" at night. Our breakthrough was when we put him on a gluten free diet, my mom is extreme celiac, so there is a history. He did not test positive to the celiac test, but I found out that gluten/wheat can affect lots of different parts of the body. His tics are some eye blinking and eye rolling every once in awhile now. No one else knows, his body tics seem to be over for about 2 years now. This is a long journey, but this forum will make it shorter and less painful. Don't worry too much, I wished I could of saved all that energy in tears and anxiety looking back.....and I am supposed to be a tough guy! I had my God to help me along, I just kept remembering something I read that "He will never give you more than you can bare" and I was at that brink many times. I don't want to go back to the beginning, I felt compelled to write to you even though I want to forget those years, even as I write I find myself wiping tears from my face....a combination of emotions that include feeling sorry for your situation and emotions of relief that things do and will continue to get better. He knows now what makes him tic, video games and foods are his triggers. Take care, Lenny

This is some of the best news you could get! The fact that he is responding to some supps. and diet changes would suggest that transient tics is much more likely than clinical tourettes and they will get better over time. Even if it is tourettes, diet seems to help that too. I know since we have been on Bonnies Supps. and put our son on gluten free, he is so much better. He just seems to have some facial tics such as eyes and eyebrows lately mostly (I think) from his video games. Lenny

Our son has a very similar story, he is on Bonnies still, as well as Natural Calm, but cleaning up his diet and doing gluten free has stopped all his body and limb movements for over 2 years. His first tics were just after he turned 8 and today he turns 11. My mom is extreme celiac, with much different symptoms then my son. He still gets some eye tics such as blinks and eyebrow movements, but this seems more to do with playing video games. We did NAET, blood work, etc and I cannot say if the NAET treatments were successful or not. As far as diet now, eggs showed up as the worst on his Igg test, and even though he was supposed to be "cured" with NAET, his eyes will get black circles when he has too much. This is still a journey, but the road is a least a bit more familiar then it was 3 years ago! Lenny

Dear Lenny, I am new to this so please pardon me if I am not doing this right. I am a mom to an almost five year old boy -- precious and perfect! Two weeks ago today, I picked him up from his preschool and noticed him blinking, rubs his face and then wipes his nose with his sleeves. Thankfully, no vocal tics. We had our pediatric opthalmologist appointment yesterday and we were told he has 20/25 vision. I was broken. I had hoped to get him glasses and that would be it. Like yours, we have no family history of TS or even facial tics that both grandmas can remember. His teachers in school says he is more advanced for his years and has not exhibited any OCD or ADHD behavior. He can be rowdy at times but no more rowdy than any boy his age. I am so touched when you said that these tics made you love your son even more because that is how I exactly feel. I too pray for this to go away but until then, I remind myself that when I was pregnant and I was offered a test to see if the baby is going to be normal, I rejected the test and said what difference does it make? Even if he turns out to be less than perfect, he is my child and nothing will chance that. Thank you for the encouragement. I will be praying for your son too and all the parents who has to see their children go through something like this. I cannot lie, it has and to some extent still is a living ###### for me. I still get that funning feeling in my stomach that goes up to my throat when I notice he has strange eye rolls or blinks. But it always goes away and it never is as bad as it was almost 4 years ago. He is getting to the stage in his little life when he is taking a little more control of his actions when he knows it could cause him to tic. The part that I don't like is that he is probably doing it more for me then himself. He knows that playing his PS3 and other video games will make his eyes tic, but he still wants to play them and I don't blame him. He is still relatively mild, just some eye things every once in a while but not much else. We keep him off gluten/wheat and give him his natural calm and Bonnies Vitamins and any other body type tics he has had have not come back for over 3 years now. Has he grown out of it? I would like to think so, will it come back? I hope not. Am I ever going to stop caring, loving and praying for him? ###### no! In so many ways I feel he has blessed me and my family more then I can explain in words. Even as I get ready for church this morning, I am wandering if he will come down blinking or eye rolling, he watched a movie at school yesterday on a old tube tv and played his DS and some PS3 at home. His eyes were a little "wonkey" last night, but not steady or that bad. Today he will likely be better, if he is not, then I can usually trace that back to some food he has had, and then it will take a week or so. I use to be so scared of the future for him due to the unknown, now I have a good idea of how this will play out, and that has made a lot of difference of how I handle it. I think we both have a good chance of this ending or being very mild as our children get older. I know others on this board have so much more they have to go through, those are the people I am praying for now. Lenny

Our son is a couple months from 11 now. He started the famous eye blinking at 8 and did the body jerks (arms, legs and some head) a couple months later. They waxed and waned for about 4 months then stopped. He still has some facial tics, mostly some eye blinking, then nose twitching and eye brow furrowing but the jerks never came back. Even now his tics are so minor no one but me seems to notice. He goes for months with nothing, the last week he has had some eye brow furrowing, but he has been playing games on his Game Boy and this seems to be a problem. This has been a long journey for (mostly me) us. Since this started, we have now have him gluten free, clean foods, Kids Calm and Bonnies TS Control vitamins. This program seems to work and he is about %95 tic free. Even when he does get a tic, it is only one and they typically last for a week to 10 days then stop. They will start back if he has anything with wheat or food with either artificial stuff and or chocolate. I have found Natural Remedies Tic Tamer to really settle the tics down a lot when he does get them. I believe he is growing out of the tics, he seems to have the less often and less severe the his original ones. I absolutely hate these tics, and even today with his eye furrowing, made me feel very depressed and mad. I have come to realize this is my problem. He gets upset if he sees me upset about his tics, but I don't think they bother him that much. He would rather play his games and eat candy (sometimes) and knows they will give him tics. I want him to be a kid, so I don't want him to have bad memories of these precious years. I am so glad he is getting a little older so he knows what will give him tics now. A little background: No family history of tics or TS He is very bright, no other commorbid issues. Never had any vocal tics yet They bug me way more then him His tics have made me love him more then I ever thought I was capable of, and I pray that one day he is over them. Until then, I have learned to take one day at a time. I use to have those butterflies in my stomach just waiting for him to get off the school bus hoping they would be hardly noticeable. I travel a lot and still ask my wife every night "how are his tics?" Not sure why I decided to write this, just felt compelled and hoped I could offer some help. I feel like I went through the darkest days of my life since my father passed away 11 years ago and will leave you with this: He will get better and so will you. Lenny

We just do gluten, but limit his dairy to cheese and yogurt. Junk food is mostly Whole Foods stuff now, it is amazing how he doesn't even ask for the junk anymore. We ended up starting the Bonnies just after he had his last body tics two years ago. The next phase was gluten free about a month after. I can tell when he has anything he shouldn't now, he will get a eye or nose or some other minor facial tic that take about a week to subside. Lenny

Hi Krista, we live in Vancouver, actually just a little south of there by White Rock. Our son started eye blinking then shoulder/leg arm jerks, then some neck jerks etc.....this happened when he was 7. He is now 10 and has been mostly tic free for 2 years. We went to a Dr at Childrens Hospital that specialized in TS, but did not help at all in my opinion. We did the natural route, had him tested for lots of things and currently he takes the TS plus as well as Natural Calm Mag. Our biggest breakthrough was putting him on Gluten Free diet and removing all artificial everything. He has some eye blinks, but I am thinking it may even be light sensitivity. I use to post here a bit, I am so glad to say he is doing great, thanks to the people on this forum. He went back to school today, could have been an issue with all the stress etc of starting again after a busy summer, but he was good. Two years ago to the date he had his last body tics, it was his first day at a new school, I remember some tears that day. Just after that we started Gluten free diet for him and that has changed him. When he has some, he will get mild eye blinking or nose twitching, but no major body jerks. Please feel free to send me a personal note, I would be happy to discuss in more detail. Lenny

Just had to tell you this post has hit home to me. Our son turned 10 in Febuary and his tics were the bad when he was 7-9. His last tic (eye blinking) was fairly bad in January when his class had their late Christmas concert. Since then he has been tic free. You can read my previous posts, but he is gluten free along with no artificial things plus he takes Bonnies Sups and Natural calm. So far it works, but this has been a long journey for me and we are still on it. It is so nice to hear these types of stories....gives everyone some real hope.

We did see an improvement with tics, I just can't be sure why since we were doing the diet as well as Bonnies all around the same time. As far as what he was treated for, it seemed like almost everything! I have his book, I should look into and see. The whole thing just got a little wierd when the NAET Dr. tried treating over the phone, or through my wife touch our son while touching her, or emailing us telling our son was not cleared yet, but then let us know hours later that he was now cleared?? Too strange, but I am not going to say I was sorry for doing it. He was not treated for radiation. Should he have been?

He had some donut holes at school last Monday. He has been so clean so this took him a little back. I am thinking about taking him into NAET for a tuneup. I still have a problem with the whole thing, sort of all hocus pocus if you think about it too much! Overall he is very good, we still keep the diet in check as well as Bonnies and Calm. How about you, you in a "good place" these days?