Caryn

Faith, It is our belief that Ian's main tick trigger is corn, and by that I think I mean processed corn products in particular. I wonder now if I give him regular corn on the cob six months from now if that would trigger ticking? I'm not sure. We began the elimination diet while visiting my in-laws, as that was where we were when we got the results back. We tried to eliminate as much as possible, but we never did a complete elimination as it was too hard (not my kitchen---too many corn and wheat eaters in the house) We saw a reduction in ticks while away, but Ian was NEVER tick free. When we got home I literally cleaned out the kitchen, gave bags of food away to my parents and brother and started from scratch. I researched good brands that we could buy that were both gluten and corn free (not an easy task) Namaste makes flour mixes. I gathered recipes off the web by doing searches with only the ingredients I listed. Then I had to relearn how to cook, and let me tell you, there were nights that the boys wanted to eat twenty minutes after suffering through dinner. Corn is in everything-- far more processed products than wheat. (Ketchup, juices, vitamin pills, just about anything ready made, most gluten free products, it is even in Kelloggs Rice Crispies!!!!) It has many hidden names that it goes by as it is the main source of sweetener and thickener in the USA, actually out-producing good old-fashioned table sugar these days. I researched corn allergy suffering web sites and found one with a forum. Some members were so intolerant of corn that they were using baking soda and water to brush their teeth!!! (It is also in shampoos, conditioners, body soaps, deodorant) we could get real crazy here if we wanted to completely eliminate it all together, after all the skin is our body's biggest organ. In our case we did not go to that extreme. Instead we just took it out of our food. My son's ticking stopped the day after the complete elimination diet and has not returned since. My neighbors joke that my husband and I are going to become "after eight" eaters. Tonight he is going to get me a greasy burger with fries after the kids go to bed. I hope this helps to clarify things. Also, conversely, It is in all but one baby formula sold in the US. When Ian was an infant I nursed him for about a year, then switched him to formula. He had a severe reaction... now I wonder if it was really the milk, or a corn-based formula that did it? Just something for you all to think about. Ian can take regular old milk (although he doesn't like it) and all dairy products without any trouble. Today I went without any vitamins for him all day, just to see what would happen. No ticks. (Although he was a bit edgy today.) He is much calmer and happier with the supplements. I did give them to him just now, as they are great for helping him get to sleep at night (must be the magnesium in them.) Also, for the record, we did have a titer test done on him in February to rule out Pandas. His levels came back in the normal range. I have read that some kids react seasonally to Strep outbreaks by ticking for four to six months and then being tick free (usually in the summer). This is in the back of my mind. I am not 100 percent convinced that his original outbreak wasn't due to a strep exposure. (He complained of a sore throat two weeks before ticking and four weeks before the titer test.) Then I got strep myself about two weeks after his titer test. Ian has not been on antibiotics at all, for any reason. I suppose we will just have to wait and see what happens this winter. P.S. Thanks Kim for Clair's thread. I read through the first part of it, and found COMPLETE agreement with #14's response in regards to our son's ticking and behavior on CORN (we only did Alcat test, not scratch test): 14. NT Bowen, corn, gluten, and dairy. Minimal TI- lots of facial grimacing, tensing (arms and whole body), jumping, echolalia. Significant behavior difference with CORN eliminated. We have a "true" corn allergy shown on a scratch test. When completely eliminated (which is very hard to do), diarrhea, asthma, and "drunken" behavior as we call it disappeared. His eyes would get red, pushing people, completely unable to control his behavior, woke up unconsolable from naps. If he gets corn, these things return immediately...we always know when a mistake has happened. Our son has had behavioral "outbursts" since before he was two, and they always seemed to come out of nowhere. He had problems last summer in day camp and last fall in preschool with pushing. He always had problems with diarrhea on and off, and I can completely relate to the "drunken" behavior description. We used to call it "cuckoo" time. He also had crying fits at times and they evolved into fits of shouting "I hate myself" or "I hate you", but all of that is completely gone now, even without the vitamins. (Prior to eliminating Corn and all other allergens from his diet the vitamins were very helpful with mood and tics, but they were never completely eliminated.) And BTW, here is a good site for those out there that have tested positive for corn allergy/intolerance: http://www.cornallergens.com/new/basic-cor...lergy-steps.php

Hello all, We have just begun an elimination diet for our four year old son. He has been ticking since January (blinking, head nodding, teeth grinding, sniffing, lip licking, grimacing, etc...). It wasn't until after we got the Alcat results back and discovered what he really was intolerant to that his ticks waned. He is currently not ticking at all (for about 1 week)-- three weeks into the Alcat elimination diet. We have him on a no wheat, no corn, no egg yolks, no dye, no preservative diet at the moment. He did not test celiac, and he can have milk--which was a surprise to us. New diet is expensive!!! Love the organic food, just not the prices. This is all so new to us. I would love to believe we have conquered the beast, but I know that this is probably far from over. According to the Alcat, we can reintroduce offending foods after six months on a once-every four days rotation basis. Does anyone have any experience with this? My husband thinks that the offending foods may always cause a reaction-- even six months from now. I know that is probably true for the dyes and preservatives (Thanks to Kim's response from an earlier post), which we have eliminated completely from the entire family diet. What about foods like wheat, corn, and eggs? Also, Faith had posted a while back that the Alcat has an 80 percent accuracy rate. What might be inaccurate? Has anyone gone back and had another allergy test done a year later? Did the results come back the same or different? I would appreciate anyone's thoughts here. Also, I am looking for a good doctor in the Chicago area that can help us long term. (Do I want a DAN doctor? I have heard so many talk about them in this forum).

I read Kim's post on Soy. Wow, Wow, Wow! Kim, you have really researched the topic well. I felt compelled to post the info on my blog for my friends and family, as everybody these days knows someone who has a baby that my be contemplating soy formula. My four-year old son's tic disorder began last December and didn't wane finally until just this week. We ran the gamut on natural treatments, and are currently doing an elimination diet based on the Alcat test results we got four weeks ago. His preschool teacher is amazed at his progress, and said he is a different kid now. He used to be fairly aggressive and had trouble making friends at school prior to treatment, but now he is much calmer, happier, and social. His test results showed a high intolerance for tartrazine (commonly known as yellow #5 or E102 if you're from the UK) in addition to wheat, corn, and egg yolk. We eliminated all processed foods and have him on an organic (as much as possible) homemade diet. It has taken a very long time to get to this point, but he is finally thriving, able to sleep at night, no ticking, happy. We have even begun to lessen his vitamin doses. Does anyone have any knowledge of tartrazine and TS? I read that is is linked to OCD, and that it is an ingredient in some stimulant drugs for ADHD or ADD (for example: Dexedrine) http://www.healthyplace.com/medications/de...amphetamine.htm and the side affects of this drug can be the development of tics. This has got me thinking.... As I'm sure all of us do when we are armed with a small bit of information-- Could the prolonged ingestion of tartrazine have triggered my son's tic disorder? After all, food coloring is in so many foods, especially foods marketed for toddlers and preschoolers-- rainbow goldfish, fruit snacks, juice drinks, I even found it in canned peas!!! It is also in INFANT antibiotics (this being the red dye #40). I plan to continue researching this on my own but would love to hear all of your thoughts.