CarolynN

Tracey, Wow and praise the Lord!! I am so excited the NAC is working for you too. It certainly has done amazing things for my son. I feel as if it has freed us up some on having to be so rigid with him. Thank you for letting me know that it helped him. It truly makes the time spent in posting the information so worth while knowing it is helping others. If you do find yourself where you think you need to add another little something, to help him out, I would certainly recommend trying the Potassium Bicarbonate. Thanks again for letting us know he is doing better. Carolyn

Donna, Thank you so much for your kind words. I can only give the credit to God guiding me through this whole process to be able to say I am where I am with the information I know. I am also so thankful for all the people who post on this forum because it has been such an amazing source of information. I wanted to just throw a quick thought out to you. I know you are making things from scratch. But there are certain products you might be using to cook from scratch, for example some chicken broth, that have MSG in them (it is listed as Autolyzed Yeast Extract). Now not all chicken broth has it, usually the all organic ones are fine, but my point is even in cooking from scratch MSG can still be getting in the diet. Also if you are using any soy sauce or "flavor type enhancers" like for cooking meats they often contain MSG. Bouillon cubes are loaded with MSG. Another strange source of what is actually called "free glutamate", it is the free glutamate that is in the MSG that causes the problems, is parmesan cheese. Foods that are fermented for a long period of time create this MSG property. Parmesan cheese is an aged cheese so these free glutamates get formed. That is also why soy sauce, although not MSG itself, still gets an MSG property because it is fermented for a long period of time and these "free glutamates" get formed in the food. Daniel has certainly had reaction to soy sauce and also to parmesan cheese when he has more then just a little sprinkle. But anyhow I wanted to throw that out there. God Bless and have a great weekend, Carolyn

Hi Mary, Thanks for the great information. I love hearing when other doctor's come to the same understanding! Right now I am giving him the NAC twice a day and potassium bicarbonate just once a day in the evenings. I could easily break it up morning and night too but we have to package it in little capsule for him, because what we have is just the powder. For some reason I have just gotten lazy in not wanting to "package it up" twice a day in the capsules. But my guess is it would be more effective to break the dose in half and give morning and night. Carolyn

Faith, I wanted to respond to you in a little more depth then before. You are correct Daniel's tics have been "under control" I would say since late February. Prior to that he was experiencing tics from all the junk at Christmas time and it just took a while to get out of his system. But it was during this time after Christmas I started realizing the sulfation correlation for him and he had started NAC and Potassium Bicarbonate back at the end of February/beginning of March. We then ran out of the NAC/potassium bicarbonate about mid April I would say. This is when I noticed just using the straight NAC his tics picked back up. One thing I wanted to mention to you is my doctor had told me when Daniel has an MSG overdose or high tics for some reason to give him a TOTAL of 100 mg of B6. He said this is what he does for people when they come in with MSG migraines and he said it usually will help get rid of the migraine. So during the time when I did not know he was not getting the potassium bicarbonate and the tics started again I tried doing the 100 mg total of B6. As a quick side note, you need to check what other vitamins you are giving and how much B6 is already in them. For example Daniel was already getting about 30 mgs of B6 in Bonnie's vitamins so I would open the B6 capsule up and take some out to equal what I thought would be about 70 mgs. The B6 I bought are 100 mg's. This way he was getting again a total of 100 mg's and not over that amount (Daniel is 7 years old and about 52 pounds). Anyhow the increased B6 also helped to decrease the tics. Now the thing is I don't know that you would want to do this everyday but more as an add needed basis. I don't know at what point you could be over doing B6. But I would say I was doing it at least once a week. The other thing I am wondering is what form of magnesium are you giving your son and how much of it? I found for Daniel Magnesium Taurate helped him more then Magnesium Citrate. I tried switching him last summer from Bonnie's vitamins, which have the Magensium Taurate, to Magnesium Citrate and found his tics greatly increased so I quickly had to switch him back to the Taurate. It makes sense, for Daniel, that the Taurate would be more effective from the understanding now in how it helps support the sulfation system. Have you considered doing Bonnie's vitamins? Also Faith do you remember how those Barbara Crackers (is that the name of them) increased his tics on two seperate occasions when he ate them. I thought about this after I posted to you my question regarding the environmental allergies. There has to be some correlation as to something in that product that bothers his system. Was it you that told me when you went to the Bahamas, or somewhere like that, his tics decreased. If it is you that told me this, then I would have to think environmental allergies have to be some part of the picture. Carolyn

Faith, I only have a quick minute and I will respond more later. But what I have to wonder is do you think it could be more environmental allergies you might be dealing with rather then foods. Perhaps could it be something like dust mites allergy or perhaps things like the chemicals you are using to clean laundry/the house etc. What do you think? Carolyn

Hello there, I am so sorry to hear what you and your son are going through. I know how frustrating it is when you are trying to figure out a pattern of what is going on. I know for me it truly consumed my thinking for quite some time. But after praying and reading extensively I found my son's triggers MSG, Yellow Dye 5 and 6, Caramel Color, Red Dye 40, and High Fructose Corn Syrup. What I am wondering is have you taken out MSG out of his diet? The problem is it is in MANY common everyday products we eat. Including canned soups, flavored potato chips, soy sauces, gravy mixes, lots of fast food products, etc. This by far is my son's worst trigger. I noticed you said he had an episode after eating a hot dog. Do you by any chance know the ingredients in this hot dog? There are hot dogs that do contain MSG. Sometimes in hot dogs I have seen it listed as "hydrolyzed protein". Anything hydrolyzed is an MSG property. Here is a post I put together with all the hidden names of MSG and what to look for http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?...aded&start= . I can tell you with the reading I have done on MSG I think millions of people in the world are greatly being effected by MSG and have no clue that it is the root issue of their health problem. For example, MSG has been found to be the root cause for many people with migraines and also for people with fibromyalgia. I have read numerous cases of people who once they learn all the hidden names for MSG and avoid it like the plague low and behold their migraines or fibromyalgia goes away. You also want to avoid all Aspartame products because they have the exact same effect as MSG. God bless and have a great Friday, Carolyn

Hello Everyone, I wanted to update you with some information that I have found very interesting. I had posted not too long ago, here is the original post http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?...Carolyn+N\. , how N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) has been very effective for controlling my son's tics. Well I ran out of the original batch of NAC that the doctor gave me. I bought some from the Vitamin Shoppe, their brand, and was giving him 1200 mg a day (I always break his vitamins up by morning and night to keep it in his system the longest). Well I noticed that the Vitamin Shoppe brand was not controlling his tics the same as what I had been using from the doctor's office. I was confused because I was told by the doctor's office that typically their in not a difference in "grade" of NAC so the source should not have been too big of a deal. Well the mystery was solved for me about two weeks ago. I completely forgot that when the doctor gave me the NAC he also had mixed into it Potassium Bicarbonate. Potassium Bicarbonate helps to keep your PH balance regulated. Since I have been giving him the combination again, I have yet to see one tic from him. For him, not compared to the average American diet, he has had quite a bit of artificial foods the last two weeks. The end of school party type of things, going to Birthday parties, having people come over with treats that I have not made, going to restaurants and drinking Sprite with high fructose corn syrup. The long and short of it again....no tics. There is no doubt with all he has had he would have been having some tics by now. Even with all the other supplements he is taking. Why is this working for him? This is from my understanding, and again I may be completely off base, but this is what I can gather. If you read my original post above I explain that when your PH balance is high you are "high histamine". This means you have more histamine running through your body. More histamine means your sulfation system gets backed up in processing out neurotransmitters including dopamine. Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that ultimately is responsible for the tics. So by taking the Potassium Bicarbonate it is taking the burden off of the sulfation system in regard to the histamine load and allowing the neurotransmitters to be processed correctly out of his body. So what seems to be effective is having the NAC along with the Potassium Bicarbonate. The NAC is providing the extra boast to help the sulfation process and again the potassium bicarbonate is lowering the PH. Again it is hard for me to pinpoint exactly what percent these two products alone are helping Daniel because he is on a lot of other supplements. For example, I believe Magnesium Taurate and B vitamins have been very important for him too. He has been taking these for well over 1 1/2 years now so it is difficult to measure where he would be otherwise. I should also mention that about 3 weeks ago Daniel had a "tune-up" with the system similar to NAET called NEAT. He tested again positive to sensitivity to the artificial colors. So she "desensitized" him so this certainly could have helped him too. But I truly do believe the supplements are certainly working for him. The other thing I have found interesting is since he has been on the NAC I have not had to give him as much GABA for anxiety. It seems to be really helping with this end. Daniel was definitely starting to have very obsessive thoughts prior to the GABA and, if I remember correctly, I had been giving him 1200 mg a day. Now I am giving him half that amount and he is doing fine with his anxieties. I had read some there is some research being done on the role of NAC in helping with OCD. There is one part of the puzzle I have yet to figure out. I do not know how many mg's of Potassium Bicarbonate I am giving Daniel. I have a phone call into the office to find out but the doctor is out until Wednesday. His instructions were to take 1/4 teaspoon a day. When I find out I will post this information. Has anyone else every used or heard of potassium bicarbonate? God Bless, Carolyn

Hello and welcome to the forum! Wow!!! I have to say how impressed I am that, being 13, you are so smart to think about posting on this forum. I don't know if many adults would think to do what you are doing. So you should be really proud of yourself ! I just want to say to you that I completely understand where you are coming from. I am now 37 but I, at your very age, had the same type of thoughts and similar rituals. My parents did NOT understand me in the least bit. They had never heard of OCD and it was not until I was in my early 20's that I finally came to understand what I was dealing with. But the good news for you, that is different from my situation, is many, many more doctors now understand about OCD more then ever before. I certainly would mention it to your doctor and explain to him or her that you are certain you have OCD. Perhaps, prior to your visit, you could print off some general information about OCD to take it to your doctor just in case he or she is not 100% familiar. The other really good news for you is you know exactly what to call what is going on with you...it is OCD. Like I said I had no clue what it was when I was your age so it was difficult for me to even realize it was something that could be helped. I will certainly tell you that I will be praying for you and I would love to talk to you anytime. I am Christian and have seen God do amazing things in my life. Even with having OCD I have seen how God has helped me use this to my advantage because I get very focused in on things, where many people do not, and I am able to really get answers I am seeking. It looks like you are the same way because otherwise you would never have thought to start searching on the Internet for answers. The perfect example of how OCD worked to my advantage is with my son Daniel who is 7. He has something called Tourettes. This means he does certain movements and makes certain noises he cannot help. It was only because of my very obsessed thinking patterns of wanting to get answers for him that I became very driven to understand what to do for him by doing hundred's of hours of research. He is doing very well now, because he is on many supplements that I have learned help his situation. Again I truly believe my OCD greatly worked to his advantage to find these answers for him. Not only have I been able to help my own son with his tourettes but I have been able to help many other people with the information I have learned. And certainly I have to give credit to God in guiding me in finding answers out too. So my point in sharing this is just because you have OCD does not mean that you cannot accomplish great things with your life!!! In the long run it can actually help you get ahead! I also want to encourage you by telling you that my OCD got wayyyyyyy better at about the age of 14. So certainly don't give up hope because your body is growing and you are changing. These changes in you will settle down but certainly getting the right medical attention will be very helpful. So please do not feel that you are alone. Many of us here on this forum understand exactly what you are saying. I was also wondering do you have a school counselor that you might feel comfortable with talking too about what is going on or perhaps a youth pastor at a church? God bless you and I will be praying for you! Carolyn

Wendy, I am so glad you are getting answers. Not knowing information by far is the hardest so I am glad it is all coming together. I am still continuing to pray for answers and I am positive you will get to the root of all of this. Carolyn

Wendy, I am so sorry you are going through this very difficult time. I have been continuing to pray for answers for your daughter. I trust God will bring the answers forth. I was thinking about something I remember reading a while back. I cannot even begin to tell you where I read this because I read it at the beginning of my "search" for answers for Daniel about 2 years ago. But I distinctly remember reading how fluorescent lighting CAN, but certainly not always, cause major problems for someone with tics. This obviously includes fluorescent lighting at schools and at home. Also I remember reading that seizures can be brought on buy a flickering tv or movie screens. I also remember reading of a man who said that any flashing lights would bring on seizures. One time he had a police car pull up next to him at night, with its lights flashing, and he instantly went into a seizure. He also had to avoid fluorescent lights. I guess my point in sharing this is is she exposed to fluorescent light in your house. For example, in your laundry room or kitchen? Also do they use fluorescent light at school? For her this may have nothing to do with what it going on with her but it certainly could be part of the issue. I remember, after reading this, wondering with Daniel if fluorescent lights would bring on more tics for him. I went out in the garage and got a small fluorescent light we had and held directly in front of him. It did not bother him one bit. But at the time, this was way prior to understanding all the artificial foods he is sensitive too, it was a way to figure out if this was one of his triggers. I also wonder could someone has a delayed reaction for flourecent lights/flickering lights that may not show right a way? I have no clue but it seems some people do have delays in there exposure to something and then the tics coming forth. Also Wendy has she been swimming a lot? Do you use a pool shock system that would be high in chlorine? Wendy I will absolutely continue to pray for you. I am so sorry I did not respond sooner to you. I have had very little time to sit down at my computer the last few days. Carolyn

Hello, Yes, from what I have read this fits right into it. It is a very complicated system of the body. It handles so much coming at it. I was just reading some more about the sulfation system and liver in regards to a leaky gut. A leaky gut, usually caused by candida but there are things that cause it, make the sulfation system work overtime. The particles of food that should not have escaped the intestinal track, but now have, get in the body. The liver has to keep up with this. Sometimes it cannot and you start getting all kinds of problems because the system is being so overtaxed. Some people get neurological problems and some autoimmune disease from it. It is certainly something you want to fix. According to the book I was reading this in "Enzymes for Autism and other Neurological disorders" by Karen DeFlice this can be the root cause of sulfation issue...a leaky gut. Thanks for the good information. Carolyn

I look forward to getting your e-mail! That creme looks really interesting. I just saved the web page for my future reference. Let me know how you think it works for her. I know the whole pool thing is really hard when you live in warm, humid, or hot climate. Swimming in Arizona is just a way of life and very hard to avoid as it would be in Florida. We have a community pool and hanging out there is our summer for the most part. It will be interesting to see how Daniel does with the chlorine this year since he is steadily approaching the peak age for tics. He is almost 8 and 10 is typically the peak from my understanding. I am sooooo glad you found a doctor in which you are comfortable. I will be praying for clear answers for you. Just out of curiosity, was she getting an upset stomach being on the higher level of magnesium and that is why you backed off? Carolyn

You are sooooooo welcome ! I really appreciate the kind words. I am very happy to be able to help you and I am praying for you and your daughter. It was Chemar who posted about MSG that opened my eyes up to the number 1 trigger for my son. If she had not posted this, I would have no clue what was setting him off. So you never know what is the one piece of the puzzle may help change the direction for someone. It has been amazing to me, in the past year and half plus since I started studying this, how many people in my everyday life are dealing with tics, ADHD, Autism, or OCD. I love the fact that I can pass this information on and help people start their own journey of discovering there is a whole other way other then standard medicine. I am sure you will be doing exactly this for many people in your own life over the years. It gives people hope in a situation where perhaps before there was none. God Bless and thank you again for such a wonderful message! Carolyn

My Rose, Just a heads up on something for us that made the whole magnesium cream less messy. My husband figured out if you put 3 Tablespoons in about 4 ounces of lotion and let it sit over night in a bowl the salts disolve most of the way. Before we were adding water to the epsom salts and microwaving it. It did come out very runny doing it that way. But the lotion overnight seems to be a better system for us. Carolyn

Beencouraged, Thank you so much for your kind words. It truly does humble me to know how God uses us in each other's lives. It is so awesome and exactly what He calls us to do. I was thinking of a few more things that may help you. Have you heard of something called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)? For those that suffer with OCD, it can be extremely helpful from what I understand. It basically teaches you how to challenge your fears with truth. Well where I am going with this is there are Christian Counselors that teach this. I found quite a few in my area by going on my insurances website and then I went under the counseling section. Then I was able to narrow down my search by selecting Christian Counselor and Cognitive Behavior Therapy. I was searching this out for my son Daniel. My son Daniel is doing real well right now so I am not pursuing this for him anymore at this time. But certainly will keep it in mind for down the road if necessary. I don't know if you have read any of Chemar's posts but her son has had really bad OCD. She said this CBT training has taken him a real far distance in healing. I completely know this type training of putting truth over your fears is exactly God has taught me. Not to let my fears run wild but start challenging them with His truths. Very quickly these fears become exposed for what they truly are. They are falsehoods and nothing less. I can promise you with all the amazing amount of fear that has run through my head over the years not one of them have come to pass. So what does this tell you of the track record of OCD thoughts? They are not at all accurate in determining truth. They are the exact opposite. This is why it is so important to understand God's truth's because He is the truth so you know you are in the right spot. I would say for me one of the biggest things that helped me is to start a journal. I would write down those things that God showed me to challenge my fears and then I could go back to reference. I would also write down scriptures that helped me. Otherwise, I found myself falling in the same trap over and over. That trap was a thought would be "defeated" in my mind and I would be riding sky high that it was gone. Then something would happen where I would be reminded of that emotional feeling of that fear and all of a sudden I would find myself trying to get back out of the fear. So by writing it down I could go back and reference what it was that helped me defeat the fear in the first place. It would help me get my emotions back in order. The other thing to keep in mind is making sure you are getting the right nutrition. Staying away from artificial food dyes and MSG is really important. My son has tourettes and anxiety, I have posted quite a bit on the forum regarding what we have found that helps him. There is no doubt when he has artificial foods going in him his anxiety goes up. I have found especially yellow dye number 5 and 6, caramel color and the MSG are bad offenders. Also high fructose corn syrup and red dye 40 is really bad. It took me about a 6 month journey to figure out what to feed him. I did a post regarding the hidden names for MSG a while back on the forum. Food companies are very tricky in hiding it under various labels http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?...aded&start= . So eating a nice healthy diet and getting adequate exercise is really important. Here is the list of foods that he eats that is MSG, dye, and high fructose free http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=2976. It is hard to figure out what to eat but I tell you the difference in changing my son's diet around has been absolutely key in helping keep his body in order. Another thing to consider with OCD is candida. Candida is an overgrowth of yeast in the intestinal track. What happens is the candida releases toxins that literally go to brain and can cause problems. I know many people with tourettes and OCD have found out they have candida. If you go to the search engine of this forum and type in candida, you will see all kinds of postings about what people have done to treat it. I know Chemar, who knows soooo much about OCD and tourettes, used something called Candida Clear by Now to help clear up her son's candida. I have used it too for my candida and it really works well in getting rid of it. The thing to keep in mind when getting candida out of your system is, as it dies, it will give off toxins in the body from the dying yeast. So you want to do it slow and easy. One of the biggest suspects to having candida, although by no means the only, is someone who has been on anti-biotics in their life. The anti-biotics are VERY candida friendly. They set the intestinal track up because they kill off the good flora in your intestinal system that allows the candida to start taking over. Another thing to think about is magnesium deficiency. This is a VERY common problem. The best kind of magnesium to go on is one that ends in "ate" and not "ide". I have my son on two products that have magnesium taurate in them. One is called TS-Plus which is a multi vitamin that a woman named Bonnie Grimaldi produced for people with tourettes and the other conditions like OCD. The other is just additional magnesium taurate on top of what is in Bonnie's products that I get at the store Vitamin Shoppe. Bonnie Grimaldi also sells just the magnesium taurate by itself. On the forum you will read so many people who have used magnesium with a lot of success. Here is Bonnie Grimaldi's story about how this was all developed http://www.bonniegr.com/Interview%20with%20Bonnie.htm . She has quite the story to read with her son and what she has done for him Most people in America are magnesium deficient because of our diets. There are also some really good natural products to take to help with OCD. The best thing to do, especially if you are on a prescription medicine, is to find a really good naturapathic doctor to help with balancing vitamins and medicine. One of the products a lot of OCD sufferers have found helpful is Inositol. My son Daniel is on GABA for anxiety. This has really helped him. Chemar's found a really good balance for her son and her regimen is listed in this post http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=687. Another thing that is very important is getting some good Omega's in your diet. We use a product through Nordic Naturals for my son Daniel. You want to make sure you don't just buy any Omega's because you want to make sure they are safe fish from cold water and tested for mercury levels. Nordic Naturals is a really good brand and also Bonnie Grimaldi carries her own line of Omega's you can read on her website. By the way I have e-mailed her personally with questions and she has gotten back to me. Her personal e-mail is under the order information section I believe on her web page. I hope I did not overwhelm you too much with all of the nutrition information. I just thought I would throw it out there for you to start looking at if you are interested. It is A LOT to take in and you cannot expect to understand it all right away. It has taken me a long time to get to the point of understanding it but a journey again that has really helped my son. So if you want to start making those changes don't be too hard on yourself trying to do it all right away. Little steps at a time will make great big progess in the long run. The main thing is to realize there are answers. Absolutely the most important thing is understanding God's truths in the Bible and who we are in Him. I can not even begin to put into words what this has done in my life. There is no vitamin or drug that could ever replace His truths. But of course making sure your body is healthy and getting what it needs is also key. We live in a much different world with the foods we eat that God never intended. For example the MSG and artificial food dyes. These things just spur the nervous system to a level, in some people, that cause there bodies to react very negatively. So be hopeful in Him and continue to ask Him to set your fears straight. He ALWAYS has for me and I know for any other person, genuinely seeking His truth, He will certainly do the same. Do you have a good Pastor that might be able to help you on this journey of healing or do you belong to a Bible study with people who can support you along the way? My husband has been very helpful in my OCD journey. A lot of times I will tell him what is "weighing me down" and just sharing with him, even though I know he does not truly understand what is going on, helps me release the thoughts. My favorite Psalm is 139 because it speaks so clearly as to how He knows every thought and every anxiety. I have read this over so many times and it has brought me much comfort so I thought I would pass this along to you too. Have a blessed day and know that He is with you every step of the way in this journey of life. Even in the times when He "feels" distant He is there. What an amazing thought, that for us as Christians, we have His awesome wisdom to guide us our entire lives !!! Carolyn

First I want to apologize. I truly feel bad that I did not see our post earlier. I just saw that you posted back on April 24th. In recent weeks, I have not been recently following the OCD portion of the forum. But I wanted to encourage you now from one OCD sufferer to another. I too am Christian, have been since 1993, and I UNDERSTAND EXACTLY what you are talking about with the intrusive thoughts about God. I struggled and struggled with this until God opened my eyes up to a huge reality that I had not consider prior. What do you think is most important to God....the ugly thoughts you are trying to control not coming in your head, which they are never ending, or do you think it is what God sees in your heart for the love you have for Him? Of course the answer is what is in your heart that matters to God. Prior to me understanding this, I would try to fight back thoughts of Him so badly to the point where I just felt like exploding. But God so clearly told me it is not those thoughts that matter it is the fact that I have accepted Christ as my Savior, I trust He rose from the dead, and I know He is my Lord. HE LOVES YOU IN SPITE OF WHAT HORRIBLE THOUGHTS YOU CAN COME UP WITH ABOUT HIM. You cannot hide your true heart from Him. That's what I love so much because our yucky ugly thoughts, we can come up with in our imagination, do not change our heart for Him and He knows this. He loves us in spite of ourselves. I can absolutely guarantee that the more you try not to think these thoughts the more you will think these thoughts. It is completely the nature of how our brains work. I am going to give you a really dumb example to illustrate what I mean. If I told you that thinking of a dog holding an umbrella would absolutely offend God, even though in your heart love Him, what do you think is going to happen. How can you not think of a dog holding an umbrella. It is impossible and it is by the very way God designed us. So don't you think that God understands, since He created you, that it is impossible for you with the fear level you have to not think about these things. How do you think you can get around His design of you? You cannot. You have to accept that you can only change these thoughts with the truth of who you are to Him. The truth is HE LOVES you and I believe in my heart that you think because you are having these thoughts He has turned from you. This is sooooooooooo far from the truth. The truth is once you have accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior you are His and nothing can change this. Christ's sacrifice was not partial it was complete. That means for us, as Christians, we can rejoice that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews chapter 13 verse 5). Notice that scripture does NOT say if you have unpleasant thoughts you are having a hard time controlling, then I will forsake you. NO it says nothing of the sort is says NEVER WILL HE. It is His righteousness that holds on to us. It has nothing to do with us other then the first step of faith in Him as being the Savior of the World and the Lord. This scripture is very key too Ephesians 2:verses 4-9 "But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, though faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast." So what is this scripture saying. It says very plainly it is by GRACE you have been saved. Grace by definition is being given something that we do not deserve in the first place. It also says it is NOT by works. Your trying to fight back thoughts is WORKS. You are trying to do something that God is saying has already been taken care of for you. You are forgiven because of Christ's blood not because you can control those unpleasant thoughts you hate. Also let me ask you another question, why did Christ die for us? It is because we are all fallen people. All of us have sinned. We are all in need of Christ's sacrifice for us. The book of Romans Chapter 3 verses 23-26 says so clearly "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice, because in his forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus." What is this passage saying NONE of us are PERFECT. You are expecting of yourself to be perfect when the very reason that Christ HAD to come is because we far from perfect. Please trust me when I say God knows your true heart on this matter. He knows the very reason you are struggling with this is because of your reverence for Him. Don't think anything less then that. Once I accepted the fact God knew my true heart and it was not a matter of battling these thoughts back, low and behold the thoughts just did not matter anymore and they went away. Not because of any other reason other then God showing me that they simply don't matter to Him other then Him saddened for you that you are not living in the freedom for which He died and rose for you. So the very nature of you battling these thoughts tells me, just as it does God, that you understand this very concept of His Righteousness and Holiness. You have such reverence for Him that you bear not think these thoughts. If you didn't have this reverence you would not even be considering these thoughts as problems. So in and of itself these thoughts show your true heart for Him. Don't you think this actually shows God how much you truly love Him. I do. Because I know this is exactly why I hated these thoughts so much because I truly love Him and it hurt so bad to think such horrible things. Let me finish with this. One VERY important thing that I don't think many Christians truly wrap their heads around is the fact we are under a different covenant then what was in "The Old Testament". When you read the Bible in the Old Testament and even some parts of the new, prior to Christ death and resurrection bringing in the New Covenant, you have to keep in mind that these people were still under the sacrificial system that God originally had set up. Christ's death on the cross and resurrection took that Old Covenant away Colossians chapter 2 verses 13-15 "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ, He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; He took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross". So when you read the Bible you have to think "ok is this talking to people prior to the New Covenant of Christ's sacrifice or is it talking about people who are still under the old sacrificial system." This is absolute key in discerning the Word of God. The whole point of the Old Covenant was to show our need for Christ's sacrifice. To show we could not do it on our own. But by God's grace He gave us Christ To die for the whole world's sins and all we have to do is accept this fact. Read John chapter 3 verse 16. A while back I did a post to a woman who was desperate to get rid of OCD thoughts. If you scroll down in the post, I talk to her about what God has shown me in how to handle this whole world of OCD http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=2623 . In post #6 I specifically address my battle with fear of thinking yucky thoughts about God. As a side note, did you know that the great reformer Martin Luther battled this EXACT SAME thing you and I have. You should read his story. He very MUCH anguished over battling yucky thoughts of God and concerned that if he died without asking forgiveness he would go to ######. So his life was consumed of battling back the thoughts asking for forgiveness and doing this over and over. God showed him though it was by Grace he had been saved not from the battling of the thoughts. It was through this experience that Martin Luther started sharing with the world the Grace of God and world of Christianity was moved forward in one great big step. Look at how God used this for His glory and to share Christ's love literally with millions through one man who battled these same type of thoughts.. He can do the same with YOU! May I recommend one other thing to you and that is a CD series by a wonderful man named Bob George. Please do not let the name of the series scare you because it is such an amazing learning tool. It is called "Victory over Depression". I have listened to it several times and was not depressed at the time just. I was just in a cycle of horrible OCD thoughts. But it is soooo uplifting in sharing how we can get out of bad thinking patterns with God's truths. The first of the CD's is a little long but the rest are just great. Here is where you can get them from http://store.silaspartners.com/merchant.mv? . I know this is long but please hang in there. You are worth the fight and God will fight for you! Carolyn

Hi Kim, I looked up the information on the Internet regarding the Methylsulfonymethane (MSM). Wow that was a long word to type ! It does look interesting! I will run it by the Naturopathic Doctor I am seeing next week. See what she thinks about the MSM for the use for tics. She is a real good doctor and if she does not know the answer she will be real upfront with me. How awesome it would be to come up with another sulfur supplying supplement that could help others. Let me know what else you find out Kim. Just in case someone else wants to read about it, I found a fairly detailed website on MSM at this site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylsulfonylmethane . Have a blessed day, Carolyn

Hi Andy! Thanks for your input. I did some research tonight regarding the chances of a yeast overgrowth with Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) and what I found was very interesting. I actually found articles saying that it helps cure the overgrowth. I was really surprised to read this. But here are the articles http://www.davidwheldon.co.uk/NAC.html and http://www.fungusfocus.com/html/nac.htm. Now with this said I know Kim and Faith had both posted articles in the thread with information about Autism and NAC. These articles stated that NAC in a person with gut issues could cause more problems. Again it is so confusing when there is different information coming at you regarding these supplements . I found another really good general article on the supplement at this website http://www.wholehealthmd.com/ME2/dirmod.as...A4D3&tier=2 . What I am finding fascinating is how much it seems to help with the respiratory flu!!!! When I posted that note about the warning with sulfur, I put that in because I don't know if it is something that could potentially cause an adverse reaction in someone who has sulfur issues. I was thinking about the person on the forum whose child had problems with Epsom Salts Baths. Most people do not have this issue with sulfur but obviously the potential is there. I was just wanting to be proactive and make people think. Perhaps someone on the forum would know if someone with sulfur issues would know the true risk for someone with sulfur issues using NAC. Have a blessed day, Carolyn

Kim, Thank you so much for your information! Prior to Daniel being born, I read so much in several older books about vaccinations and the one I was mainly concerned with was the pertussis. So you are exactly right that is why I only did the DT and not the DpT. The problem is, looking back on it now, I did not use the Internet hardly at all then and did not research it from the current information that was available on the Internet regarding the DT. I went off of the advice of a doctor who told me not to be concerned because they had changed the shot. But it looks like he was wrong. I would NEVER had done this had I known mercury was in it . So I have learned something completely new this week from you. I really appreciate it and it makes me wonder if I should have Daniel's metals tested. I seriously thought this was not an issue for him up till now. As I stated before in another post, my other two children have had zero vaccinations and I am sooooo thankful! I will update the post once I talk to my naturopathic doctor regarding any chance of mercury moving from the body into the brain using the Acetyl Cysteine. I plan on calling the doctor's office who suggested I use it and also run it by the other naturopathic doctor I have an appointment with on May 6th. Kim, I still have not read up on the MSM but will hopefully tonight. Carolyn

Hi again Kim, I wonder what the record has been on the forum for the longest thread. We may be soon making a record breaker with the length of this one ! Since I read you post regarding thimerosal, I have been on the Internet a lot tonight. You are correct I was told there would be no mercury in his vaccinations. He had his done in 2001 and 2002. What I found on the Internet is the manufactures stopped putting thimerosal in the DT since 2001. My question to you is is this correct in what you have found out too? I am now pretty concerned that perhaps it was in there and I was given bad information. The other thing I am wondering is is it possible, lets assume they did take the thimerosal out since 2001, since Daniel was vaccinated at the beginning of 2001 could he have had an "old batch" that still had it in it. I had his vaccinations done through the county since I only wanted the DT and not the DpT that the doctor's office provided. I wonder how I could even begin to find out what lot number he had been given to see what exactly was in it? Regarding the possibility of mercury going to the brain and the use of Acetyl Cysteine, I found an article tonight on Diagnose Me.com which did refute this claim. For some reason, when I went to attach it in this post it kept asking me for a password to access the article and I could never access it again. But the article stated the claims that mercury could go to the brain with the use of Acetyl Cysteine was unfounded an based on the research of another amino acid and not on its own research. I am going to call the doctor that told me to start using Acetyl Cysteine and ask if he is at all concerned regarding this aspect. He is such a conservative Naturopathic Doctor I just cannot see him having me do something for Daniel that could cause any kind of long term problem. But anything is possible. I can say that Daniel has been on high amounts of the Acetyl Cysteine and I have seen no problems on the surface so far. I did find tonight a lot of other articles that stated using Acetyl Cysteine is very good for getting rid of Mercury in the body and lead too. I found most these articles on sites that were addressing silver filling detoxification. But only one of them did mention the same blood brain barrier concern with the mercury crossing over into it if you still have high amount of mercury in your body. Isn't all so complex! One thing says one thing and another thing says another I will research the MSM and post back to you after I have time to read up on it. I look forward to understanding what this is all about. Thanks again for the vaccination information. I am really curious as to what you think Daniel's chances are that he did have thimerosal. Carolyn

I had to stop giving Daniel any Rotisserie Chicken from the grocery store because it has MSG in it. It is hidden under one of the various names. I can guarantee you, unless you purchase one from an organic/all natural source, it will have it in it. So avoid these because it will increase tics in those who are sensitive without a doubt. Carolyn

Hi again Mary! Sounds like you are on the right track with getting the supplements in him. We are using the Nordic Naturals Omega 3-6-9 Junior. Prior to him being able to swallow the pills I would use a corn in the cob holder and poke a little hole in the capsule and squeeze it into "Simply Lemonade" brand lemonade. You literally cannot taste it mixed into the lemonade. It would just be a small amount of the lemonade maybe 2 to 3 ounces at most. Regarding how he was doing prior to adding the Acetyl Cysteine and Apple Cider Vinegar, the answer is he was doing very well as long as he did not have artificial foods in his diet. He could tolerate only very small amounts. My whole goal was to be able to loosen the reins so to speak. I just wanted to let him, for example, go to a birthday party and eat a piece of cake without having tics afterward. I was just wanting to give him the ability to eat some artificial because the reality is there will always be school parties, halloween, Christmas and birthday parties. I was in this wave of continually telling him sorry you cannot have that when everyone else was in a social setting. It is not that he did not understand why he could not, he understands the tic relationship to the foods, but after a while when you are 7 it is hard not having anything special at events. So back to life prior to the two new supplements. As long as I stuck to a very rigid diet he was doing just fine with the Bonnie's Vitamins, Enzymes, Omega, Glycin, and additional Magnesium Taurate. But again I just wanted to free him up a bit and once I understood what was really going on within his body with the sulfate ions I knew my doctor would have a suggestion of what to do for him and that is when we added the Acetyl Cysteine and Apple Cider Vinegar. Per my earlier post, I cut back on the Acetyl Cysteine for him just shy of two weeks ago. I cut it the amount in half and am only giving him 600 mg a day (which according to many articles on the Internet is still a high amount) and I am seeing his tics increasing with this cut back. I know for a fact it was working, and seeing that his tics are increasing while I am decreasing the amount shows me it that much more, but I am just wanting to run it by another Naturopathic doctor since I am giving him such high amounts at the 1200 mg a day. It really does seem like an amazing product for all it does it even helps in some cases of cancer in reducing tumors. From my limited knowledge of apple cider vinegar I think it would help to a point with seasonal pollen. I ran into a woman at Trader Joes grocery store and she told me she has horrible allergies. She said she has taken apple cider vinegar for years and it has seemed to help her. When I was buying more of it the other day for Daniel the sales clerk was rattling off all the amazing things it does for people including helping with digestion. I really cannot see how it could hurt matters for your son it would only help. The problem is it is one more thing to get in him. If he can swallow pills you can try the brand I am using for Daniel because it comes in capsules. It is "Natural Factors Apple Cider Vinegar" brand. I also wanted to tell you, since it looks like your son is sensitive to yellow dyes, avoid anything with caramel color. You will get a very similar reaction to the yellow dyes. Caramel color is in root beer, ginger ale, a lot of cereals, and I have even seen it in some "all natural products". It is in a lot of different products. Also avoid Red 40 and High Fructose Corn Syrup (Daniel seems to be able to tolerate regular corn syrup but some may not), and all MSG products. Make sure you study the names of the MSG because there are many. Here is a post I did about the various MSG names http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?...aded&start= . If I did not answer your questions all the way, please let me know and I will clarify some more. Have a great weekend! Carolyn

Kim, Thank you so much for posting this. I have a list of questions about Acetyl-Cysteine that I will be running by a different Naturopathic Doctor in about a week. The fortunate thing for Daniel is he had very few vaccinations and none with mercury. He also does not have any fillings so he would have no mercury from that stand point. So I really don't think mercury should be an issue for him. I at least hope I am not missing something that could be a potential source to which I am unaware. Also I am giving him very good probiotics and enzymes that should be keeping any yeast in check. It is so good to be able to, as a community, try to figure this whole puzzle out. Certainly you want to make sure what you are doing for your child will ultimately be of benefit to them and not a detriment. Thanks again for being up on so much. Both you and Faith seem to find some very good articles. Carolyn

Maryann, My understanding with probiotics is they would not necessarily "go bad" they would just loose their potency being left out. But A LOT of probiotics are sold not being refrigerated. My gut level guess is you could still use them and they would still be rather effective. Could you call the manufacturer and ask? Carolyn

Hi there! Just wanted to tell you to hang in there. My son, Daniel, has been on Bonnie's vitamins for well over a 1 1/2 years. They certainly have helped him a lot along with dietary changes and many other supplements I have him on. Here is a link with all the supplements I have Daniel on http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?...p;mode=threaded . Anyhow, I am just guessing it very well could be Yellow Dye #5 or #6 that triggered the tics in the Lemonade along with the High Fructose Corn Syrup. My son Daniel had some yellow dye last Friday and I am still seeing slight tics. He is WAYYYYYYY better then he would have been a year ago, prior to all the supplements and dietary changes, but the Yellow Dyes seem to be the worse for him and also MSG. I can say no one else, at this point, would even notice these tics but my husband and I but they are there. When Daniel's tics start up I can give him a very clean diet and all his vitamins and it still takes a solid week to get out of his system after the artificial "overdose" has occurred. So 3 or 4 days is not enough time to completely rid the body from my observations. I think what happens is the dopamine spikes, because of the artificial toxins not being able to cleared out of the body correctly and the dopamine has to come back down and it takes time. I also think what happens is the sulfate ions, which I also discuss in the above post, have to rebuild themselves after an "artificial overdose" and this takes time for the body to rebuild. If they are not functioning correctly then you get a build up of neurotransmitters like dopamine and hence you have this cascade effect and the time needed to heal the body back. I also am trying to cut back on one of the supplements I have been giving him which is the Acetyl-Cysteine which you can read about in the above post. I have been giving him half the dose for about 1 1/2 weeks and I am realizing I may have to up it again if the tics continue to build. Anyhow just wanted to throw in my 2 cents worth. Carolyn