[Where to begin? 7 year old son and tics]

Does your son eat many candies, cereals, etc. which have artificial colors in them, like Red #40, etc...? Once we removed those from our diets, our tics nearly disappeared in about 3 weeks. We've since been able to tolerate some of that stuff with minimal effect, but we learned how "toxic" those colors can be. Once we identified that as our biggest tic trigger, we were able to manage the tics very well and got through the tough adolescent years.

Jeff

[I think I have chronic tics?]

My tics are made worse if I consume too much caffeine.. I can tell when I've had more than my usual dose of coffee. My daughters and I are also affected by artificial colors in food and drinks. Once we removed those from our diet, our tics declined dramatically. We could eventually allow some of them back into our diet, with moderation, and keep the effects to a minimum.

Read food labels for items such as Red #40, Yellow #6, etc.. any of those numbers..... Take those out of your diet completely for a few weeks and see if that helps.

Jeff

[My 7 year old suddenly developed tics]

Jane, I know your pain. Our girls started at about age 7, too. Based on our experiences, I would suggest that you immediately try to remove any artificial colors from his diet. Twizzlers, Skittles, M and M's, Trix, Lucky Charms, etc... etc... All those colors, like Red #40, Yellow #6, etc... can trigger the need to tic (among many other behavioral reactions).

Find as many substitutes as you can that are all natural. Do that for a few weeks, and you might see some dramatic improvement. We did.

Best of luck.

Jeff