hkginger

Thank you very much for both of your replies. Barb

Hi, please kindly advise me of what natural supplements I can take to alleviate OCD, anxiety, ADD and depression. I am a 41 year old mother who has two wonderful children. I am always the type of person easy to get worry and depressed. I now have two major anxiety triggers- 1) my son has chronic motor tics for 2 years now but under control for now 2) My older daughter has myopia and wearing overnight ortho-K lenes for 2 years to control progression but latest Nov retinal scan shows her retinas are thinned a bit, but no tear no holes. OD did said to me that she is fine and it is normal to have retinas stretch since she is myopic since young age. But since the appt, I have developed very obsessive thinking of the most worst possible outcome of my kids that my daughter may need eye surgery in the future, maybe retinal detachment and loss of vision etc... I cry a lot and my husband keeps telling me Dr said she is fine for now, but only God knows what will happen in the future... My obsessive thoughts is wearing me out...I feel anxious and keep thinking of the possible worst outcome... I am a Christian, I start keep reciting Bible verses, but seems like my brain doesn't believe what the OD said about my myopic daughter who is fine right now...so I am in anxiety and depression, hardly have energy to teach my kids or eat... I start taking Kirkman multi-vitamin for a month since I am low in Vit D. I also start taking a potent high quality omega 3. And Kirkman L-theanine 200mg at bed time but seems no help.. Thanks, Barbara

Back in summer and fall last year, I have posted for help with my 5 year old, who has chronic motor tics and possibly tourette. I am happy to report that my 6 year old's tics has been 98% gone. Thanks to Sheila's book,"Natural Treatments for Tics and Tourette's: A Patient and Family Guide" which gave me hope last summer and thanks to Chemar and other experienced parents who spared time to answer my questions. In summary, we have implemented diet change and environmental improvement since Sept 8 after we came back from Hong Kong. Changes included: Dairy 100% free, Gluten 100% free, cut sugar by 60%, no commercial baking food, cut artificial colors and preservatives by 90%, cut MSG 100%. Cut ipad time to two hours a week only. I give him probiotics twice a day, papaya enzymes at every meal. Move him out of the carpeted bedroom, use dust mite covers on all beddings and organic cotton top sheets. The main trigger for my son's bad tics was dairy!!!!! In Sept and October, his tics started to decrease but still had better day and worse days! By the end of December, I started to see consistency, most obvious motor tics including grimaces, neck turning and repetitive blinkings, etc are gone EVEN when watching TV. Now, other people can't notice he has any tics at all. I am very thankful to all your help! Barbara G (hkginger)

Hi Chemar: The reason I stop the multi-vitamin is because they are the chewable kind from Natures Sunshine, he starts taking them at the time we went to travel around the time he had more and more motor tics. I am not sure it is gluten free since he is on gluten free diet. I need to call the company to verify that. I am afraid to try out Bonnie's one many people on this forum use, I am too afraid it will increase his tics. Yes, I am considering magnesium. Today, I went to Whole Food, the "expert" there told me to use Natural Ionic magnesium with trace minerals from Trace Mineral Research, gluten free and Vegan certified. Label said is a natural source of concentrated Magnesium Chloride. I haven't try him yet. Chemar, I am scared to try new things on him... His level of tics affect my mood and I tend to worry if he tics more that day. Barb

My 5 year old son is on gluten free and dairy free diet, no color, no preservatives, no MSG for 1 1/2 month now, his motor tics decrease by 70% now. He still tics a lot but less frequent per minute when watching lego.com at ipad and TV so we don't let him watch much. So far, we only do diet change and remove him from his bedroom with carpet. Add purifier in his new room, with dust mite casings. I wonder if scratching a tic? And he still rubbing his eyes, wonder if it is tics. I only give him probiotics and papaya enzymes since 1 month ago. I am thinking to add Vitamin C, but can anyone recommend a Vitamin C for children that is free from all dyes, soy, gluten, dairy allergen? His blood work couple month ago shows high in Vitamin B, so we stop the multi-vitamin. We can't stop soy, as we are Chinese, but we use organic gluten free soya sauce...Thinking of trying rotary diet since we haven't get IGg those tests done yet. We haven't go further to see an environmental physician yet as he is improving a lot the month, I mean his tics are less obvious to others but not to me, as a mom of course. Thanks. Barb

It has been three weeks since we came back from Hong Kong. My 5 year old son's tics increased a lot during travel- grimaces of all kinds, neck turnings, shoulder shrugging, eyes blinking and itchiness and arms moving.. In HK, my parent's house has mold on wallpaper, dust mites, TV/ipad and eating MSG food every day... Since we came back, we made many changes and I am glad to say his tics decrease by 50%. Here are the changes we made: 1) 100% dairy free 2) Gluten free except in my organic soy sauce 3) MSG and other artificial additives cut 90% 3) Use dust mite proof casings on pillows and mattress in his bedroom 4) carpet at bedroom was washed at the time we were in HK and I now vacuum three times a week and dust on alternate days and wash all sheets twice a week and install a non-ionized air purifier at bedroom. 5) No use of centralized heat nor A/C (since ducts are not cleaned till October), open window every days. 6) Take papayaenzyme before meals 7) has enough sleep 11 hours a day 8) Cut electronic devices to half an hour every 3 days. As the result, his tics, (esp neck tic, burping and finger drawing in the air tic) when performing tasks like speaking and playing reduces by 60-70%. He still tics a lot when reading quietly and watching ipad and TV and iphone. We went to see GI, PED and traditional allergist lately. PED ran some blood work since I begged her to and results showed he has high Vitamin B a bit, low on Gamma Vitamin E but good range at other vitamin E. NO deficiency in Magnesium, and shows a bit low globulin, but other proteins are good (PED and allergist didn't think this low globulin is any issue, allergist said it may not be measured correctly in the test). Stool test is not back yet and skin test showed NO allergy at all... My gut is dust mite and dairy really trigger him more tics. I read about the blood test to test for sensitivities and delayed allergy but the allergist said they are NOT valid tests at all... What do you recommend me to do next??? I really think more tests need to be done. Also, should all bedding be 100% cotton? The dust mite proof duvet cover is not 100% cotton? Sorry, maybe it is not important, I don't know. Barbara

My 5 year old son with tics always wake up from his bed sniffing, saying his nose is dry the past few years, despite what season it is in NJ. I was very ignorant not thinking there is anything wrong with the environment until now we knows he has tics disorder. He also often tell me his nose is stuffy when he lie down before falling asleep. Now I suspect he may be allergic to the air inside the bedroom, maybe dust mite, dust, anything in the air... We have carpet that haven't been cleaned for 5 years-- I know it is terrible!!! My husband has scheduled someone to use organic green products to clean the carpets while we are traveling outside the country. I am researching to buy allergy proof products to better the environment at the bedroom. 1) What brand of air purifier do you recommend that is HEPA filtered and free of ozone (ion generators)? I read someone use rabbit air. I hope to use sth that is easy to move around from room to room and effective to cut down mold and dust and dust mite in the air... 2) Which website do you order allergy proof pillow and bedding etc from? Should they be cotton? My son will see a allergist, hopefully he will test him for allergy to dust, dust mite and mold and food in Sept. Thanks. Barb

Chris, thanks. I did searched and picked up a couple of names last week. But then as I looked up the reviews of those physicians, they have very good and also very bad reviews. And insurance doesn't cover too. I appreciate, Chris.

Do anyone can refer me to see a Dr for Tics disorder in New Jersey/ New York area? My son has many motor tics, I do know he has GI issues as he is burping often and say "tummy ache" after meal. Cutting down 95% diary and corn already. It is overwhelming to see a list of Dr and don't know who to pick. I know I am looking into allergy test, metal test, yeast and parasite test, check for acid reflux etc. Besides pediatric GI, what Dr is experienced to find causes for Tics? Thanks,Barb

Thank you Lyn. Just I will be traveling for a month with my son... before seeing any specialist.

Klm, I can feel your pain. I have a 5 1/2 with multiple motor tics...Keep me posted how it goes... Good luck.

Thank you very much for your reply

A Naturopathic Dr told me to give my son Nature's Sunshine's Probiotic Powers for my 5 year old who has motor tics- because my son had silent acid reflux at infancy and now has been burping a lot lately. My son does have burping and gassy days here and there the past 5 years! I did remove all diary and almost all sugar from his diet for 4 days already with Nature's Sunshine's vitamins and omega-3. This probiotic products include Bifidobacterium bifidum,infantis and longum, lactobacillus rhamnosus, acidophilus (grown on milk), Streptococcus thermophilus. The idea of the DR is to heal the gut from all the diary first and it may strengthen up the immune system and may eventually help tics. My son seems doing well with multi-vitamin and omega-3. I am afraid to add probiotic. Anyone has experience with probiotic and the effect on tics? Thanks. Barb

Chemar, thank you very much for your info and links. Very much appreciated. Barbara

Summary: My 5 1/2 year-old has tics started from eye blinking many months ago (I didn't pay much attention) to now neck turning left and right and up with shoulder shrugging and grimacing. I think his gut is not healthy- He was born with silent acid reflux and thought grew out of it by 1 1/2 with help of medicine, milk formula didn't work for him at infancy. And he has been telling me he feels tummy pain after meals many times the past 6 months although PED didn't think much about it since he is still happily playing. He burps often on some days throughout the past few years, I always think he can't tolerate some food etc. WIth the rise of this new motor tics, he burps a lot too-during eating, sometimes throughout the day and lying down before sleep. Maybe gut issue!!! My questions are: 1) Are these testing my son need? vitamin deficiency test, metal test, food sensitivity test. 2) What other tests I need to find out if he has gut issues, like yeast or candida etc. 3) What kind of DR or professional will give me these tests? My PED only want to refer us to neurologist, but I know neurologist don't care to find cause for my son's tics. 4) Anyone find a good DR in NEW YORK and NEW JERSEY? Please reassure me, is good vitamin and cutting off diary and sugar and junk food a good start? Sorry, as a worried mother, I don't think too well due to lack of sleep right now. Thanks, Barb