Calicat

Hi Nan, No problem! I know waiting to see results is so hard. I hope you have some good successes soon! Calicat

Lurker, that is exactly the kind of thing I would experiment with myself. When I was in my early 20s, I used to do all kinds of kitchen experiments, many of which ended up as horrible failures. I am considering doing natural egg dyes this Easter, with beets, onion skins, and blueberries. No mocking here Calicat

Hi Nan, As far as I know, when replying to a post you cannot change the subject line, because all the replies have to show up under the same subject heading. You can start a new topic if you want to use a new subject heading. As for the Kids Calm... First, I would definitely give it more time. After months of doing her entire "program" I feel my daughter really stabalized over time. Five days is not much. Also, as Chemar often points out, the various supplements, diet, and treatments WORK TOGETHER in a kind of synergistic effect. Even if you don't see a lot from magnesium alone, that doesn't necessarily mean it may not be an essential PART of treatment that works together with some other supplements. Another thought... have you noticed it helping her in any other way? The tics are not the whole story, as many of our kids have issues with sleeping properly, OCD, etc. If the Calm is helping the sleeping patterns, it is allowing the body to be more well rested, which leads to better healing! Not sure if you've been eliminating artificials such as colours, flavours, MSG, Aspartame, and BHT. (And pesticides, too, where possible.) I have found it is a VERY necessary part of our program to see success. Hope this helps and gives you some ideas. Calicat

I have ordered from Natural Candy Store, and they were very nice and helpful. I definitely recommend them. Also, they ship to Canada if you contact them first, whereas last time I checked, Squirrel's Nest does not. Also, Natural Candy Store has some SUPER natural coloured sugars/decorations/colours for baking. Calicat

Hi Jasminky, I remember a big discussion awhile back on this forum about kids who were fed primarily soy formula as babies. Some moms, if I remember correctly, thought there was a link. You might want to search the forum for info on this at some point. Calicat

We have given 500 mg once a day in the morning for months now. Is has been extremely positive. Great and noticeable tic reduction, especially vocals. Calicat

Hi Kim and all, My daughter has a few tiny moles (not raised), which will surely increase as her dad has many and so does my mother. She is also itchy a lot! Not all over, but in different areas of her body on different days. As for me, I have a few non-raised small moles, and one raised one under my hair on my scalp. Or maybe it is not a mole; not sure what it is, but it is quite red in colour. I have one tiny skin-flap on my neck. My mom has a few skin flaps and my grandpa did, too. I also have an area on my neck, about 1 1/2 inch in diameter, that has no pigment, so if I get a bit of a tan or a burn, you can see this area that has no colour at all. I have no idea what all of this means or could mean, but just thought I'd share my experiences of "skin things" to add to the data here. P.S. I had a significant benign cyst in my lower abdomen... can't remember exactly, but I think it was in/on/near ??? my uterus. It was about 15 years ago, so I don't remember the details. And now I have recently found a lump in my breast, which will hopefully also turn out cyst-like and benign! Calicat

Oh, one more thing... About your frustration with all you're doing and not seeing results/patterns emerge... You mentioned you have the taurine, but have not given any yet. Certainly it may not work for everyone, depending on their body's particular needs, but I have to say that taurine was the ONE supplement that gave instant results for us. I saw a huge decrease in one or two days (throat clearing in particular). So, I think it would be worthwhile for you to give taurine for a couple of days as a trial. If you see a huge decrease, YAY! If not, maybe it is not one of the supps you will need. For most supplements, I would recommend giving a much longer trial, but for taurine, it may be worth a quick shot in the dark just to see what happens. Good luck, Calicat

Hi ilovedogs, My daughter also has the throat clearing and eye winking/blinking, plus sometimes sniffing, though none at all right now (I see a single wink every few days maybe), thank goodness. I, too, am trying to figure out if there is a genetic connection or not. We have a couple cases of undiagnosed mild OCD in our family (I'd say mother and sister for sure, and maybe a couple other very mild traits in other people). So, you and I have lots of similarities. I wish I knew for sure if having only the OCD link, and not the Tourette link per se, would be enough to say it could be genetic Tourette syndrome. Nobody has ever given me a straight answer on this. And, now that my daughter has experienced tics, if someday HER child has tics, then would we say it is genetic Tourette syndrome? What if it those tics were only caused by gluten intolerance, or artificial additive intolerence, or pyroluria, or something like that? THEN is it genetic Tourette syndrome? That intolerance could genetically be passed to her own child, but is it Tourette? Sorry for being confusing, but my mind entertains a lot of what ifs. Calicat

Hi! My 6 year old loves the berry flavoured kids' vitamins by Progressive, and they are all natural. You could email the various companies asking for a sample pack to see if your daughter likes the taste before committing. I bet most would be happy to, and you may save a bundle of money. There was one brand my daughter wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole... can't remember the brand (it was some bear shaped one, maybe NuLife or something, berry flavour)... anyway, I hated wasting that whole bottle! I suppose I could've given it to someone else, but I tasted one and they really were yucky!

Hi Monique, Only you truly know what your child is like, and the nuances of the behaviour you're seeing. That said, children have lots of natural differences linked to their personalities. Some kids ARE dreamy and have very rich fantasy lives. It's a sign of creativity and independence. Especially at that age, I see it as being within a normal range of personality characteristics. My daughter is a bit like that--always singing and humming her little songs, either ones we know or ones she makes up. She's doing it now as I type. She is also excellent at playing alone with all of her toys and making up intricate stories about them. She plays well both alone and with others. She's six, too. Anyway, I take this part of her personality as a good thing. Mine also exhibited little OCD behaviours at a young age, such as lining up her "little people" in a beautiful, straight line. The doctor said that's well within the range of normal, and lots of kids have some strange kid-like quirk. I know you're dealing with other issues with Danielle as well, but I wouldn't worry too much about that sweet, singing, creative, dreamy part of her. Read her "Frederick" by Leo Lionni, about a mouse that's a dreamer! And good luck with the rest of it. Calicat

Hi Michele, Here's one thing you could try for the handwriting/printing: get a small, tabletop sized white board and a few nice coloured low-odor whiteboard markers. Any time he has to do practice printing, brainstorming, spelling words, and so on, he is allowed to do them on the white board. I find kids really respond to it because it is novel for them, they love to erase it away afterward, and most importantly, it is very smooth and reduces "drag" compared with pencil and paper. Many kids hate to write because it feels hard for them and their muscles get tired. It is difficult to practise even more when it is already so unpleasant, so it becomes a cycle of less practice=less skill=more need to practice, but they don't want to. Hopefully, this breaks the cycle so they start getting some practice and retraining their brain to think, "Hey, writing doesn't feel so terrible after all!" Hope this helps you out! Calicat

Hi Nan, In my understanding of it, most environmental docs will be open to many kinds of testing as well as wholistic/alternative treatments, whereas an allergist is usually more mainstream. They test for "instant" allergies as opposed to delayed reactions, which likely affect many more children. I brought my daughter to an allergist, back when I didn't know her throat clearing was a tic and I thought it was simply allergies. She tested allergic to nothing at all. He didn't even suggest that the throat thing could be a tic. Basically, it didn't help me in any way. However, I am on a waiting list to see an environmental doc I have heard such good things about. Perhaps we'll get in around May. I will let you all know how it goes when the time comes... we've been waiting since LAST May!! She is so busy and there aren't enough like her around, and she likes to give her patients lots of individual attention so she tries not to accept too many at one time. Good luck, Calicat

CSP, Good for you! I think these issues surrounding materialism are so important for raising healthy, happy children. I'm like you... my six-year-old daughter barely knows what a Webkinz is (only saw one at a friend's house) and doesn't have any; she asks to play a game on the computer maybe once a month, and then it's something like Sesame Street or an art program or Reader Rabbit Math. She doesn't watch tv at home, but we do have movie night together every Friday with air-popped popcorn and real butter (no micro popcorn needless to say) and she watches her own videos here and there. She is such a well-spoken and thoughtful and HAPPY child that everyone has commented on it from the time she's been very young. For her, a little treat like a healthy sucker or a juice popsicle is a real treat, and I find she enjoys things more than many kids. I think too many kids have gotten so jaded at such a young age, and it is sad, sad, sad to see. Children deserve a childhood of innocence and joy. Remember how fun it was to give and receive valentines when we were young? Now, they could care less about some dumb little card; it is just another excuse to collect as much crappy candy as possible. This week my I went with my daughter's class on a field trip to a children's concert (Fred Penner, a Canadian children's entertainer). He is fun and insightful, and sings of things children can relate to (or should be able to). Well, my daughter and I had fun and sang along, but so many of the other kids in the class were kind of slumped in their seats with this bored look on their face, and some kept asking "When will this be over?" One of those girls is a Hannah Montana fanatic, and clearly this was not glitzy and fashion-y enough. Another kept saying, "Is there going to be a movie?" This is a bunch of SIX year olds! They were taken on a bus to a darkened auditorium to watch a fun, hour-long concert, and instead of being a treat, it was a drag to those jaded little minds. And don't even get me started on the lack of "concert manners" exhibited by these kids. Many didn't clap, they talked throughout, they put on their coats and stood up to leave while he was still singing the beginning of the last song! Kim and Emma, I am appalled at the direction this seems to be going, and scared as more and more rights are taken away. I agree that the closed-lip policy may really be best. I certainly don't discuss my vaccination choices with too many people. I think it was on Caryn's website that I found a very interesting documentary, about an hour and a half long, but well worth watching. It is a video produced by a young man who had been on serious meds--SSRIs I think--and had very bad side effects, like hallucinations. One day he ended up in his classroom pointing a gun at the kids. Now he is off the meds and his life has turned around. The documentary goes into the seriousness of such drugs as Ritalin and Prozac, the side effects that are hardly mentioned (like increase suicide risk), and the story of one mom who had her child taken away because she had refused to medicate. The power of the "state" is much deeper and scarier than I think we usually imagine. Calicat

Hi, Kids Calm does not contain any calcium. The company does put out an adult version of the product with added calcium, though. Kids Calm contains magnesium citrate, magnesium ascorbate (I believe this is mag with vitamin C), Zinc, Stevia (all-natural sweetener), and natural orange flavour. 1/2 teaspoon will give you 85mg magnesium, 200mg vitamin C, and 2mg zinc. My daughter (age 6) uses just over a teaspoon once a day, as do I. It has been a life saver and sleep saver for us both. Calicat

Hi Judy, I'm glad you are having some success, and I know more will come with time. I think that is the standard ingredient... TIME. Time to try new things, time to let those things really work in the body, time to notice patterns and act on them... Just curious, maybe I missed something you said in an older post, but why is it that you think it's not a tic? Calicat

Hi Tracey, Don't give up! Our children have very different things that have triggered the tics, from genetics to environment to a virus. Or who knows... maybe a combination plays a role underneath it all? I am in that happy time right now where we only see a tic here and there (well, except for the sniffs the other night after a chocolate/coloured cupcake!) But I have seen them come and go, and each time it breaks my heart but also helps me solidify my knowledge on the triggers for my daughter. The last big one--I had mistakenly given her two foods DAILY for a week with carmine and artificial flavours, and the tics started building up. I removed them and the tics went away. So now I feel more confident that I am on the right track with taking the artificials out of her diet. You might wonder how I was so dumb as to let those two ingredients slide through... well, they were in the most innocent-looking of foods--grapefruit juice and Activia yogurt. I learned my lesson... must read every label! When I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off at the beginning of this journey, there was one thing I did that I think helped me pinpoint what would help my daughter in particular. I really focused on OTHER things/issues/symptoms particular to her, like the fact that she was always a kid who could not fall asleep at night like the other kids I'd hear about from my friends. No matter how tired she was, K would lay in bed for 45 minutes to one-and-a-half hours before falling asleep. This (and some other things) gave me a clue that she had a problem with serotonin, so that led me to magnesium, which has been, for her, an absolute boon to her sleeping, and tics too. I also looked to the fact that she basically never wants to eat most kinds of meat. She does like other protein sources such as yogurt, cheese, beans, and eggs. So, that led me to thinking she might be lacking in taurine, and sure enough, taurine was a BIG breakthrough in taking away vocal tics for her (throat clearing). On top of that, I give her calicium to balance the magnesium, and also because she's not a milk drinker. I give a multivitamin for basic insurance. I give fish oil (omega 3s) because she tolerates it and I believe it's important for everybody's health. Also, a digestive enzyme because she seemed to have a few minor digestive issues, like she was a rather gassy toddler until I told everyone I believed it was linked to apple juice and to stop giving it to her, and the gassiness went away! Also, she has stomach aches quite frequently. I was the same way. So, I'm not spelling out our program to say, hey... this works and you should try it. I guess I'm just trying to encourage you to look at the big picture of your child and see what clues lead you to particular supplements. I hope you are led to answers soon Oh, and about the doctors, check out Environmental Doctors. I am on a waiting list for one, but the office visits will be covered. There is just a one time fee up front of a couple hundred dollars in my case, plus any tests that are not normally covered. Calicat

Oh Faith, I am so sorry to hear that. I know how hard it is. I have done the same thing with my daughter, calling it "allergies" or explaining that "your body just doesn't do very well on artificial stuff" because I didn't want to draw attention to the tics. Luckily, she mostly complies and most of the time prefers her healthy stuff to other kids' junk. She does say, "There is a LITTLE junky stuff I like." My problem is more that other people around me (dad, grandparents) don't quite get it. They won't read labels, etc. They'll give her junky chocolates as a treat for Valentine's Day, and I read the label and there's vanillin in them. I just don't see why they couldn't get her a basket of fresh cherries or some organic chocolate or something like that. It is such an uphill battle. Last night my we were at a birthday gathering and my mom served chocolate cake from a mix, and I gave in and said K could have one cupcake (with coloured sprinkles to add insult to injury!!). Sure enough, she started her sniffing tic on the way home. Mildly, but noticeable. Seems better this morning. I think K can tolerate a small amount of the artificials, but when it builds up over a number of days, hoo-boy! Those tics come back! I have now seen it a number of times. I wish this world was not a world filled with junk. I wish all the parents and companies around us would realize that these children are our future and we should be feeding those little bodies with high-quality real food. I wish there wasn't peer pressure everywhere and a culture of treats = junk food. Why CAN'T treat = cherries or mango or blueberries or lasagne made from scratch? I hope your son gets on board with you. If he is ticcing right now, why not make a deal with him... he complies ABSOLUTELY for two weeks and then you see where you're at. If tics have reduced significantly, then maybe he will have the motivation to continue. You could also promise him a toy if he gets through the two weeks. Take care, Calicat

All I know is that when my daughter went off her enzyme pill, tics started coming back within the week. Once I put her back on the enzyme, tics tapered off (although I have seen them here and there... I think partly/mostly due to slip-ups with her having artificial ingredients). She doesn't even take the recommended amount, which is one with each meal. I wanted to go easy because she started when she was five, and the bottle said ages six and up. So she takes one each morning with her other supps and breakfast. I believe it is NuLife KidZyme, but I'm too lazy to get up and go to my cupboard to check right now. I'll repost later if I got it wrong. It is possible that the enzyme helps in her case with the supplements, not just with food digestion. Calicat

Hi emma1, I'll mail you privately tonight or tomorrow to share some of my great finds (to keep the thread on topic) Talk to you soon. Calicat

Hi Maryann, It is your right, and I honestly believe, everyone's responsibility to take an active role in their own health. I rarely go to doctors, but when I do I certainly consider them a part of my health team--which includes other types of doctors and MYSELF; doctors are not dictators or gods. You have every right to read and learn and ask questions. The state of health in North America would be so much higher if everyone did this! So be strong!! As for asking a nutritionist, you can try, but they are often pretty mainstream. My dad went to one about his IBS symptoms (irritable bowel syndrome) and she basically printed some stuff off the internet that he already knew, and talked about Canada's food guide. Yeesh. He was severely disappointed, as he hoped someone could point him in a helpful direction, share some insider facts... not give a rundown on what he found on the internet easily himself. I'm sure there are some gems out there, but you should probably prepare for the fact that they won't tell you anything new. Calicat

Or, just throwing a brainstorm out here, maybe the two groups are actually much the same, with the same genetic "thingy" going on... but maybe there is just more out there environmentally that can allow that genetic glitch to "show". Nowadays, our bodies have so much more thrown at them--pollution, pesticides, artificial ingredients, genetically modified foods, irradiated foods, cleaning chemicals, flame retardants in our bedding and sleepwear, plastics out the wazoo, and triple the immunizations from 30 years ago.

Hi Michele, I hope this comes across in the spirit it's intended, and that is one of just sharing some thoughts I had while I read your post. I am a teacher, and a mom of a child the same age as yours. May I ask if he's still in kindergarten, or in grade 1? I know that I have have no idea how he actually acts in the classroom, or what his ADD symptoms are. I just wanted to say that the symptoms of lack of focus, poor printing, poor gross motor skills, and so on, are not too unusual for a boy of that age. With a couple of years of maturity, those things tend to improve. Honestly, often I wish our schools were set up with more respect for the developmental stages of young children, like they are in some European countries where they don't teach reading until age 7, and yet those children's scores quickly surpass North American children's scores within a couple of years. Children 6 and under, I believe, should do a lot of PLAYING. My daughter just turned six in December. She is the youngest in her class of grade 1 students. Fortunately, she is able to handle the academics and the classroom structure. But, I do feel a certain guilt that she sat through full days of learning for the first four months of grade one as a FIVE year old. It seems ridiculous to me that an energetic, happy, exploratory child of that age should be stuck in a desk!! Sorry about the tangental rant I guess I just wanted to say that your son may be reacting in a rather normal way to these expectations on him, when all he wants to do is run around and have fun! I did want to encourage you to try some "therapies" in addition to the supplement program. Have you worked on his attention span at home? I certainly don't advocate extra homework or anything like that, but there are activities that I believe are developmentally appropriate. Do you read him chapter books? By age six, their listening abilities are much in advance of their reading abilities. If he has a strong background in being read to every day (10 or 15 minutes a day) from books that have challenged him (reasonably sophisticated sentence structures, use of interesting words, etc.), then he should be able to transition to chapter books nicely (if you haven't already). Start slowly and work up to a good 15 minutes of reading aloud at a time. Because of the lack of pictures, this is a great way to get a child to learn to focus intensely, because otherwise they will miss out on what happens in the story. This focus translates well to the classroom. By the way, radio dramas and books on tape are also good for this. I also highly recommend games as a way to teach focus. The right games are a super tool because they can be very engaging to the child, but demand the child's concentration to win. I am not so much talking about traditional "roll-and-move" games like Snakes and Ladders or Candyland... these require no decision making on the part of the child, and therefore do not demand concentration. I mean high quality games such as Labyrinth, where you must move pieces on a sliding board to help your pawn navigate dungeon paths to reach certain treasures you need. Thirdly, I believe music can be a tremendous tool in this way. In our house, we listen to a lot of "family" music, which often has sophisticated music coupled with entertaining, family-friendly lyrics. By singing along together and learning the words to countless songs, the brain automatically focuses. As a side benefit, you can really expand a child's knowledge of the world around them through high-quality songs. Like: "Though I work in science/I don't truly understand/When I woke up I could fit/In the palm of Aiden's hand/ He sees the opportunity to bind me up with wire/ he makes me the conductor in his railroading empire" from The Hipwaders. (In this song, the father has inexplicably shrunk to toy size, and his son Aiden is "playing trains" with him.) In just a few of the lines, it introduces the words palm, opportunity, conductor, empire, not to mention imagination is demanded to imagine the daddy shrinking to fit in a toy train. Through listening, learning, and singing along, the child expands their vocabulary. Then, in the classroom, if the teacher brings up a concept they know about, they are instantly more engaged because it is familiar and they can build on it. Taking music classes in rhythm, movement, voice, or piano can also aid tremendously in focus. (I am also a piano teacher.) Anyway, sorry... hope this doesn't sound lecture-y. And perhaps you are already doing much of this. I just wanted to share some ideas. Granted, none of them are quick and easy answers. They all involve a daily or near-daily time committment, not to mention patience, as results are cumulative and long-term. But I really do believe they change the way a child concentrates and thinks. Also, I would tend to be cautious about screen and media time, especially any that is too fast moving and stimulating, like MTV or many video games. When the brain is used to that type of stimulation, it is very hard to sit in a desk and focus on chalk marks on a board. I hope this in some way gives you some ideas that are helpful. If you want any specific suggestions on books, games, or music, I would be happy to help! I am very into those three hobbies and have a LOT of information I would love to share. Calicat

I just wanted to reassure you that, in my case anyway, the little tic episodes that crop up here and there are nowhere near what they were before my daughter went on the supplements. (In our case, it is not Bonnie's supplements, but our own combination.) Each time it happens, by heart just starts flopping around inside my chest... but so far, it never becomes even an tenth of what it was at its worst. Also, it seems to last no more than a week or two at that lower level. Mind you, I don't just wait it out; I try to be proactive, taking out offending foods, reintroducing supplements we had stopped, etc. Hope that makes you feel a little better! But, it does bring up an interesting point. I feel like I notice a subtle reduction in how well some of the supplements may work over time. I am thinking in particular of the magnesium citrate (Kids Calm). I can comment best on this one, because it is one of two supplements that we both take. It still helps tremendously, but after about half a year of taking it, I feel both her and my sleeping is not quite as good as it was when we first started taking it. (The sleep issues are one of the main reasons both of us are on it.) So, why does this happen? How does a supplement become less effective for a person than it was before? Is it possible that the supplement corrects some issue in the body, which then, over time, brings to light a new issue? Does anyone have some insight on this? Calicat

Hi Carolyn N, Nice job of summing things up! I know your post will help lots of people who are searching for a place to start. Calicat