Tattoomom

I always bake a cake for birthdays and I have found that Namaste Spice Cake with Cherry Brooke Kitchen Vanilla icing is DELICIOUS!!!! It's similar to a carrot cake and can fool anyone! No one would guess it's gf/cf. So easy and GOOD!!!!

I second these 2 products! All I use is Organic Smart Balance and Earth Balance Spread or sticks. They are wonderful!

The pumpkin fairy is a great one. I've also heard of people using "The Great Pumpkin" coming to visit and taking the candy. This year, I bought my kids candy off of them! Aside from letting them have a few pieces of their favorites, I paid them each $10 in exchange for their buckets and they were able to spend their money however they wanted. It worked! And then I donated the leftover candy to a group that will be sending it to the troops in Iraq!

I wish I had some advice but I don't. I watched the video and I do see how it could be categorized as a tic but I'm no doctor! My son has tics that came out of nowhere last December. It's like he woke up with it. First it was throat clearing followed by eye blinking a few months later. The tics are still here but less severe since we've started working on his diet. *knock on wood* If I were you, I'd call the Neuro (even though he just had an appt.) because this is something new and as far as our doctors go, they always want to be notified if a new symptom/problem arises. Keep us updated!

We use Coromega, too. For Michelle who asked about it- It's a fish oil supplement that comes in little packets and can be found at any health food store or easily online. Vitacost has it for very cheap! http://www.vitacost.com/Coromega-Omega-3-Fish-Oil-Supplement

Yes, we have noticed that with our son. Some days, I don't see any eye blinks at all until a couple hours away from bedtime.

Yes! We love these brownies!! My son is gf/cf and it's so nice that there's a dessert he can have that doesn't taste like tree bark!

My son (6 year old with tics, less than a year) used to wet the bed all.the.time. until we put him on a gf/cf diet. Now, he never wets the bed! Good luck at your appointment today!

Hi Nadine. My son had the skin allergy testing done a few months ago. To see if your skin is reacting the way it's supposed to, the nurse first scratched his arm with Histamine. In almost everyone, this substance causes a skin response. So it's used as a positive control. Then they had him lay flat on his stomach and marked his back with a marker. Then beside each mark, the skin is then pricked (it looked like she poked and twisted) using a small disposable pricking device and a small amount of the allergen extract can enter into the outer layer of the skin. It looked painful and he did cry, but there was no bleeding. It tested for environmental allergies (molds, animals, trees, grass, pollens, etc...) After the scratching, he had to lay still for 15 minutes. They are looking to see if the skin will welt up, itch, etc... He did not have any positive results with the skin scratching, nor does he have an IgE allergies at all. But we did the further testing after IgG blood work revealed high IgG's to many foods. I agree with the other's who have said, sometimes you just have to search for what might be the trigger in your child, everyone's different. Process of elimination, I suppose. Tricia

Hi, I was just wondering if you found out whether or not you could mix it ahead of time? If so, can you please post the response on the board?! I might need to do that one day Thanks!

Any suggestions on a good multi or B vitamin complex?

I can't wait to see if anyone responds!!! I want to know, too! Tricia

Ok, here's the reply I got from the chemist: Maltodextrin can be derived from any starch-containing grain. It is not a “form of MSG”; maltodextrin is a carbohydrate, completely different than MSG, a salt of an amino acid. None of our products contain any added MSG in their ingredients. Yes, Juice Plus+® test below 20 ppm which is the limit proposed by FDA for gluten-free products. It is tested by an enzyme-linked immunoassay. Corn syrup is the source of sugar in the Gummies, correct? We declare the amount of sugar right there on the label, 3 grams for 3 Gummies, therefore, about one gram per Gummie. Right there you can see it is not 85%. If you take the recommended amount of Gummies for a kid in one day, it translates into 6 grams of sugar. When you consider the amount of calories that would be included in a healthy kid’s diet, 6 grams of sugar (equivalent to about 27 calories) is insignificant.

I emailed the chemist at Juice Plus+ this morning about which form of Maltodextrin is used in the JP+ chewables. I also asked him is JP+ was MSG free and whether or not it was considered gluten free. Will post his response when I receive it. Tricia

C.P. Now that one is over my head! I wish I knew but this is the first I've heard of it. I will definitely be asking our Pediatrician as she is a huge JP+ pusher. Ironically, our ds cannot handle the chewables, they make him so hyper!!! I've complained about this to her over and over and she could never seem to come up with a reason why. So he eats the gummies. I need to make sure the gummies do not have this ingredient. Thanks for the question but I'll have to get back to you on the answer. Tricia

I need some help understanding my ds's tic. To refresh, he originally had a throat-clearing tic that lasted from Dec 06-Feb 07. He then replaced the throat-clearing with rapid, heavy eye blinking. The eye blinking was way worse than the throat-clearing ever was. He started out blinking all.day.long. I'd say he blinked 95% of the day when this tic started in Feb. and it waxed and waned until recently. Fast forwarding to the present, we have eliminated gluten & casein from his diet and added more magnesium and digestive enzymes and his eye blinking has diminished tremendously! We took away his Playstation but have continued to let him watch TV/movies on our (CRT) and it hasn't seemed to affect him. He also uses the computer some (LCD) The blinking went from 95% of the time to 5% of the time. These past few days, I haven't noticed any blinking at all until my husband brought home a movie he's been wanting to see and as soon as he started watching the movie, I noticed him blinking! So weird! Why did that movie make him blink when the cartoon on before that didn't? I have noticed that he can go all day with no blinks and then the minute he gets overly-excited, or nervous, etc... he will blink. He had a doctor appt. last week (nothing to do with tics) and as soon as the dr. came in the room, his blinking was off the chain. We left, and they were gone. Is this usual for tics? I mean, I know I've read that tics can get worse under stress etc... but can they go away and only come out during stress or anxiety? Would that still be a TS type tic?

I'm a distributor for Juice Plus+. It's not a new product, it's been around a while. Basically, it's 17 different fruits, vegetables, and grains in capsule form. Juice Plus+ Orchard Blend® contains seven of the most nutritious fruits around: apples, oranges, pineapple, cranberries, peaches, acerola cherries, and papaya. Juice Plus+ Garden Blend® contains ten nutrient-dense vegetables and grains: carrots, parsley, beets, kale, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, tomatoes, and barley and oat fibers. I by no means think it's a wonder drug that can CURE MS,Cancer,Etc... but I DO think it's a good supplement to add to your diet Here are some things JP+ claims: · Juice Plus+ stops oxidation by 75%! * If oxidation hits your chromosomes, you develop cancer. If oxidation is taking place in your heart, you develop cardiovascular disease; in your joints, you develop arthritis; and in your skin, you develop wrinkles! How can you slow down the oxidation process? Eat your fruits and vegetables and take Juice Plus+ every day! · Juice Plus+ reduces DNA damage by 66%! * If you have healthy DNA reproducing your cells, you will have healthy new cells. But if your DNA is damaged (due to oxidation), it will reproduce damaged cells. · Juice Plus+ enhances immune system function! * Autoimmune disorders such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, AIDS and ADHD are probably the fastest growing group of diseases in America today. A strong immune system is crucial. Juice Plus+ strengthens the immune system within 80 days. · Juice Plus+ lowers plasma homocysteine! * Bad nutrition leads to high levels of homocysteine in the blood. High levels of homocysteine lead to a greater risk of heart attack, stroke, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's disease. The good news is that Juice Plus+ reduces high levels of homocysteine up to 37%. · Juice Plus+ promotes cardiovascular health! * Taking Juice Plus+ helps maintain a normal blood flow and the elasticity of arteries even after eating a high fat meal. · Juice Plus+ nourishes the body! * There are over 12,000 phytonutrients (vitamins, minerals, enzymes, etc.) in any given fruit or vegetable. Juice Plus+ is packed full of all the phytonutrients found in the 17 fruits and vegetables that are in Juice Plus+. Personally, I recommend it if you can afford it. I think it's a good product! I'm sure your Aunt can get you some literature on JP+ research since she sells it. Tricia

Hi Faith The amino acid supplements that he was taking that seemed to make his eye blinking worse were Adrecor & Travacor. Those have not been used in weeks. But the short time he did use them, the eye blinking was terrible. Thanks for the info. on tyrosine! I had no idea and since those were products recommended by his Pediatrician, she must not know either, that tyrosine can trigger tics. I don't know if it's the GABA Calm or Coromega fish oil that wass causing him to have bad days? I have not given him either supplement in the last few days, and he is doing great! But honestly I have a gut feeling that gluten and casein make his eyes blink. His eye blinking has basically diminished since we started removing the foods! And we've been using Peptizyde daily with great results! Now I know why people advise that you to not try too many new things at once, or it'll be hard to figure out what works or doesn't work! I'm just going with the fact that he was eating a lot of wheat and dairy when the eye blinking tic appeared and so I tend to blame the foods, since he was not using fish oil or GABA Calm at the time. Now, I just need to decipher if those are new triggers? I'm going to try adding back the fish oil by itself to see if that makes a difference. So confusing! lol

I am still waiting his tests, probably next week. If you see my earlier post it mentions the type of allergy product, I can't remeber right now. Just dissapointing for me, he has been doing good for a long time. His blinking was severe today. Sunshine sent me a PM that said the little ceasers pizza was high in gluten and maybe had MSG. I gave him a epson salts bath tonight so maybe tomorrow will be better. I just hope it doesn't turn into twitches. I also stopped the allergy pills this morning. Lenny Lenny, My son has high IgG antibodies to gluten,wheat and casein. We knew this before he started having tics but always found the elimination diet extremely hard and never felt there was a big enough reason to go gf/cf. Now that he has the blinking tic, we have cleaned out our pantry and started replacing our diets to a more gf/cf. It's hard and were not 100% all the time yet, but I have to admit, that since we've removed the offenders, his blinking has went from 95% of the time to 5% of the time. *knock on wood* not to jinx it. I would definitely try to do a elimination diet if I were you. It seems like I remember reading a few of your posts with you saying the tics got worse after your ds had pizza or milk. Those could definitely be making it worse. Just my humble opinion!

Anyone have a good flax oil supplement they would recommend? It's for my 6 year old. He can swallow small/medium sized capsules. Or should I use the oil? I'm starting to wonder if the Coromega fish oil is a trigger for him.?

Our Pediatrician told me about GABA Calm. I haven't determined yet if it helps or not. http://www.vitacost.com/Source-Naturals-GA...ored-Sublingual She also recommends Calms Forte- http://www.vitacost.com/HylandsCalmsForte-100Tablets

Hi Lenny Faith- I do live in a big city. Yes, my son is 6 and we have used a Holistic pediatrician since he was 3. My main reasons for switching from a conventional medicine doctor to holistic was the benefits of homeopathy drugs, knowledge in alternative treatments and tests, etc.... They are both certified in Holistic medicine as well as being a conventional Pediatrician M.D. so it's the best of both worlds The urine neurotransmitter test looked for: Epinephrine (LOW), Norephinephrine(OK), Dopamine(OK),Serotonin(LOW),Glycine(OK),Taurine(OK),GABA(OK),Glutamine(HIGH),Glutamate(OK),PEA(OK),Histamine(OK) and the amino acids prescribed were- Adrecor- https://www.neurorelief.com/index.php?optio...6&Itemid=47 Travacor- https://www.neurorelief.com/index.php?optio...3&Itemid=47 I do use magnesium and it does seem to help! We give Floradix cal/mag liquid. C.P.-We do use Juice Plus as a multi... any suggestions on a good multi-vitamin? Wonder why the amino acids cause the tics to increase if they were prescribed to treat the tics?! We do use epsom baths on occasion as well as use Kids Calm and or GABA Calm.

Hello! I've been lurking on this board for a few weeks. I've decided it's time to post! Here's my son's story: It all started the week of Christmas '06. He had come down with a stomach virus and was throwing up/fever. Ironically through it all, he was constantly clearing his throat. I mentioned it to his Pediatrician and she blamed it on the illness. Fine. He continued to clear his throat off & on until... The new tic appeared. The week of his birthday (3/2) he woke up blinking. His eye blinks are very sharp, very heavy. He blinks all.day.long. He's not clearing his throat anymore but the blinking is severe. So we went back to the doctor and she blamed it on allergies. His eyes were red and itchy and he had inflammed follicles on his lower lid. She gave us a prescription for Patanol drops and sent us on our way. At that time, I made him an appointment with his Pediatric Opthalmologist because he wears glasses and for months had been complaining about wearing them. She agreed that his eyes looked inflammed. He also passed the eye tests so we are weaning him off the glasses right now. She did not think the blinking was connected to the inflammation, she thought it looked like a habit/tic. Anyhoo- the blinking continues and it is bad. Some days are worse than others, somedays I think it's gone and the very next day it's terrible. After researching tics, I've realized he has had a few habits in the past that I just thought were quirky and they were so short lived, I never bothered with them. He has went through a time where he picked at his skin on his thumbs with his fingernails. He's also chewed on his shirt collars at times. And now he makes noises while eating like "mmmmmmmm". :shrug We have no family history of TS. My great-aunt had a eye blinking (tic?) that was passed off as nerves. But that's all we know. We've seen a Ped. Allergist and our son has NO allergies. We saw a Ped. neurologist and he basically said, "Yes, these are tics. Hurry up and wait." I should mention that our Pediatrician is alternative/holistic and although she is a regular MD, she focuses on the alternative treatments. She recommended NO TV, NO Computer, NO video games because I mentioned to her that his eye tics seem worse while he's in front of a screen. I totally took away everything for a week and his eye tic seemed a bit better but he was so devastated! I hated to see him so bummed so I gave back TV & computer time. The computer is a LCD screen but the TV is old CRT. He's begging for the Play station, and I haven't given it back yet... Here are the things we have done so far--- -PANDAS blood work- NEGATIVE- he's never had strep throat. ever. -IgG blood work (although old, from 2004) revealed high IgG's to wheat,gluten & casein. We are currently changing his diet to eliminate those foods but we need to re-test. -Urine Neurotransmitter test- revealed slightly low serotonin and extremely low epinephrine. She prescribed 2 different amino acid blends but they made his eye blinking much worse so I stopped. Things I do on my own--- -Juice Plus+ -Floradix Cal/Mag supplement -Probiotic -CoroMega fish oil - and just ordered Houston's Peptizyde, gave him 1/2 capsule last night before dinner and by bedtime, his eye blinking was much worse! WHY did the amino acids and now possibly, the Peptizyde, make the eye blinking tic worse?!!! He goes this afternoon for his 6 year well check at the Pediatrician and I am going in with a list full of questions! Any advice for me? Tricia