Jennifer

efgh, When I said my son used to "blow raspberries" I meant that he made kind up a spitting sound with his tongue, like little babies do. My son also has repeated words. Words from T.V. words we say or the last word of his sentence. I'm glad you found a naturpath!! I hope you get all your answers. I would definately do a hair analysis, amino acid test, blood chemistry panel and fatty acid testing. Allergy testing would be worth while as well if you could get one done that is as accurate as possible (ther aren't very accurate the skin test being the least). Also the thyroid is a good test to do too(T3, T4 and TSH) A stool sample for yeast. That's all I can think of for now. If anyone else can think of anymore tests please post them Jennifer

efgh, Our son attended school during first grade, the latter part of first grade was when he started developing tics that could not be ignored (that's when we went to the neurologist). I homeschooled him during second grade. His tics were so bad then, that I kept him pretty sheltered. He had a couple of friends he played with whom I don't think noticed anything out of the ordinary. When you've got a couple of boys playing they can get pretty rambunctious and alot of what he did was probably perceived as "playing" or being "silly". It is a little bit easier to diguise that way rather than in a classroom setting, especailly at that age. Our son didn't seem to be able to supress his tics out in public. This year because he is doing so much better I have him signed up for martial arts, he takes piano and we have a wonderful homeschool program in our area that offers really neat classes- so he's exposed to a lot of kids. I'm keeping him busy. When he went back to school this year the class was covering things he allready learned last year with me. So this year I'm much more relaxed about his academics. Not that I'm slacking or anything, but I realized we have a lot more time to focus on his interests. I pretty much went with the same curriculum his school was using. And best of all I'm in complete control of what goes into his little body. I just feel like I need to do this for a while. When I said that I've learned through hard lessons not to ignore my gut feeling I can think back to when he was as little as 4 and some behaviors bothered me. In my heart of hearts I didn't feel at ease, but everyone around me including his pediatrician kept tellilng me that they were just phases. When I took him to his doctor for eye blinking I was told that it was allergies, but I didn't feel good about that answer. Had I have known what I know now and brought to a natural physicin then all of this may have been a distant memory. I am fully convinced that his last set of immunizations (2 months before the onset of major tics) was the straw that broke the camels back. He had a reaction that required hospitalization. I didn't feel good about giving him his boosters, infact, he was behind-but I felt pressured by the school nurse. I guess it's just that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach that you need to listen to. I think God gave us moms a special gift that we ignore far to often. Jennifer

efgh, I told his teacher this year about his history she was very understanding. We are actually homeschooling again-it was too hard to keep up on his supplements and he was sneaking candy at school from the cold bar in the lunch room. Because our success is so recent I would rather see him tic free for longer before he strays too much from his diet. Just a gut feeling that I have that through hard lessons I've learned not to ignore. I've never said anything to friends. Claire, I'm waiting for his fatty acid results before I do the fish oil. We won't know for 6-7 weeks. With regards to T.V. etc. a friend of mind turned me onto some diodes that she has used for counteracting low level radiation that we get from anything electronic. I just got their brochure in the mail. The name is Jack Ritchason (661) 872-3200. You can request a brochure and they'll send you one. There are many different types from kinds you put in your pocket (left pocket) to bracelets and pins. The prices aren't too bad. Jennifer

If those of you haven't read it yet, click onto "News on fatty acids topic" and read Sheila Rogers' response. She offers some more good insight on omega 6's and 3's. Jennifer

efgh, Hi! We too have used Carlson's fish oi. We found it in a liquid form since the capsules are too big for my son to swallow. The taste isn't too bad I think they add some lemon to it. So it's quite pleasant compared to the old fashioned cod liver oil my mother made me take as a child . Jennifer

Chemar, Good luck with your move and the new school. It's a big change, but a good one I'm sure. I also wanted to ask you what brand of St. John's Wort you are using and if it makes a difference in how well your son sleeps? As you've probably read my son's tics are gone, but we still have the falling asleep and restfull sleep issues. Sam-e is working well for his moods, but doing nothing for the sleep issues and we can't use 5-htp- it wires him. Jennifer

Hello all. We are finally going in today for our fatty acid testing, we'll have the results in 6-7 weeks. I am very anxious to see the results. Like Claire said testing is the best way to go. I know with our son we knew through testing that he suffered from heavy metal toxicity, so we felt comfortable giving him the oil with that particular ratio. Not all nervous system disorders are caused by neurotoxins, but I think it is safe to say thay a large majority of them are. Some nervous system problems are simply due to an imbalance of vitamins..I think these are the cases I've read that got such amazingly quick results. According to Dr. Udo Erasmus who wrote the book "Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill " within the body itself the ratio at which the omega 6's and 3's are metabolized is 4:1. So if the omega 6's are supressed from heavy metal toxicity this is why body bio chose that specific ratio. I know that everyone has their own opinion on the matter, but if you consider the toxic world we live in it is hard to imagine anyone not being effected. I think we all have an accumulation of toxins in our system from the air we breath, the water we drink to the food we eat. I had a doctor tell me too that we get plenty of oomega 6's in our diet so with my son either he wasn't getting enough through his diet or something was supressing his omega 6's. Everything parents are doing on this forum and on other forums such as brain talk is considered anecdotal by the medical community, but this doesn't mean that our efforts are not working. Though the protocol we use for our children may bear many similarities to what other parents are doing there is not a "one size fits all". Jennifer