Tiger

Ronnas,
 
I am not totally up on this type of allergy testing and reflexology but I have read snipits of it here and there and some people swear by this type of treatment. It sounds like the arm resistence procedure is similar to the NAET treatment which a few parents on the Feingold site have written about. One person on the Feingold board came on to say good bye and that they would not be posting anymore since their child had been cured by using NAET. Anyway, as I say, I haven't had experience with it so can't claim success but have talked to others who have.
 
BTW, my son's tics are virtually gone right now with the help of B6, Zinc and a Cal/Mag combo. We are still treating yeast and metals on an ongoing basis and I feel this imbalance will take a long time to correct. However, I am convinced that the B6 and Magnesium are what is doing it right now since there were 2 periods that we slacked off (once with B6 and once with Magnesium) and the tics were creeping back again. As soon as I got back on track with the supplements, the tics were gone. He is watching TV regularly and tolerating foods that were once major triggers.
 
Heather

Hi Everyone. I just had to sign up to this forum to let you all know that Clerodendrum inerme has dramatically helped my sons tics .It is truly a miracle plant! We live in South Africa and I sent my husband to India in 2012 to source the plant which now grows as a bush in our yard. My sons tics began at age 3 (started with eye blinking, shoulder shrugging, got worse and worse...etc.) After years of research and tears,our prayers to Allah were answered when I came across the study on Clerodendrum Inerme for tics. My son is 10 years old now. And a 'normal' little boy in every way.We dehydrate the leaves, grind them fine and put the powder into capsules . We used to liquidize the leaves with water and strain, but he could not handle the bitterness. Right from the first dose there was a major improvement. In the beginning I would give him the juice twice a week, then once a week , then once a month. He can now tolerate all kinds of foods that were once forbidden. He will have 2-3 capsules every 2-3 months or so when I notice he is stressed about something or has gone overboard on junk food. A day later and he is fine again. I promised that if the plant worked I would share this amazing information and I pray for all the children and parents that you derive benefit from it.

Hi Tiger,
 
Sounds very similar to our experience of the NHS. They only did a blood test because I pushed for it and then told me to buy a blood sugar monitor and to get her school to refer us to the Junction for councilling.
 
We decided against this and I have been trying to look at alternative solutions myself since September. I do think we are making progress but I'm not sure if this is just a natural waning......
 
Might try the clams next !! 😜

Hi Kate
No PANDAS diagnosis, just lots of dismissive comments from GP & his paediatrician - they've never heard of it. Yep totally useless.
No diagnosis at all, quote:
'well your son was ill & sometimes children take along time to recover, this could explain the emotional outbursts you're observing & tics.....well they happen sometimes in childhood, just ignore them they should go away'
Can you believe we waited 6months to hear this.......18 months later with not much change the paediatrician refuses my request for a referral to a neurologist & I'm having to find ways to manage the tics & anxiety with no support at all from the NHS.
I truly hope you have more success.
Regarding your daughter & her brothers scarlet fever, I've read somewhere that children susceptible to PANDAS can react when people they are close to have strep infections. I've also read that some children has tested positive for PANDAS but have never displayed strep like symptoms, its seems to be a very complex disorder.
You might want to have a read of some of the post in the PANDAS section - I find it really useful.
 
`Tiger x

LOL i meant calms ---- anyone heard of clams helping with tics, you never know

Hi Everyone. So glad I found this forum. My son's first tic started when he was around 5 - he is 9 now. There are many contributing factors that could have triggered the onset. We suffered from longterm exposure to carbon monoxide and after 7 mos. of the exposure - right before we found out we were being poisoned - his tic started. He also had swine flu and tamiflu months before...so who knows..it was all too much on him. We've both suffered lifelong damages from the exposure - but it's too much to explain here. His tics used to happen every 6 mos. in the beginning after the first one - last a couple weeks and be gone for about 6 mos. I had no idea what they were - involved blinking eyes and making a face with the eyes involved, then breathing, inhaling noises, coughing, throat clearing, squeezing his hands and flinging his head back (the worst one he's had) - or a combination of that and some other upper body movements were his worst. He has also had Strep and I often wonder about PANDAS. I have tried a lot of different things.
 
I've been writing down everything as things change with him - to keep an eye on what's working or not - and what's triggering if possible. A few months ago my friend told me about Elderberry syrup. I bought some - take a teaspoon with a couple tablespoons of grape juice (tastes great if you make it yourself) supposed to be extremely strong immune system booster - used in other countries as a replacement for antibiotics and to treat illness, chronic fatigue, fibromayalgia, etc. I could go on and on. There have been studies on it also - you can look it up. We have been taking a teaspoon or two (or three if getting sick) every day for the last couple of months. I noticed his tics waned down to almost nothing - just a little hand tic when reading or stressed out, etc. Then I had us stop taking the elderberry syrup for a week as we had stomach problems and for some reason I thought it might be linked to it (I had just made my first batch of elderberry syrup from dried elderberries and it was around the same time we got stomach problems which developed). During that week with no elderberry, a new tic developed with him making a strange face and sometimes licking his lips and doing something with his nose. After that week I started giving him (and myself) the elderberry syrup again as usual as we started having some other issues with a cold developing. I realized the elderberry syrup did not cause us any stomach problems. Since I started him up again the tic is completely gone and has stayed gone - he has had no tics that I've seen for the past few weeks or a month maybe. This is a huge huge deal as I have tried all the vitamins, magnesium, supplements, etc. and they haven't done anything noticeable. I will update if anything changes...OH by the way - the tics that he has had over the past 8 months or so have been consistent and nonstop everyday - something happening with them. It has been the LONGEST stretch of nonstop tics as when he first started having tics they would only last a couple weeks and go away for about 6 months.
If anyone else tries this - please let us know the results..I would love to know if it helps others!!!!! If you want a recipe to make it yourself, I can give you a link to the recipe. Or else you can buy it from a natural health store, organic store, but some brands have a lot of alcohol in them to preserve them and the taste isn't the best. Depends on the brand anyway. ...So far - the past month to two months - nearly no tics - lately I just give him 1 teaspoon a day. All the normal triggers for him are not triggering them as of now. I am really happy for that.
 
Take care everyone! (Also - since doing this with the elderberry syrup - I haven't been giving him anything more than a regular vitamin and sometimes forget also)

Yes I do think that when triggers are clear and they are bothersome in the way they increase the tics, then avoid those things
 
But always be careful that the child does not think they are being "punished" for ticcing and therefore losing certain things they like.....balance is key and being honest with kids can pay great dividends

I think being up front with your kids (to the extent that they get what you're telling them) is the best thing. My son knew he had to deal with restrictions that other kids didn't have to deal with, but we always let him know that the changes were in his best interest. We also tried to compensate with other kinds of rewards when it was possible and appropriate to do so. Halloween was hard. But more for us than him, because we thought he would feel different. But he didn't. He still trick or treated with his friends, brought the crap home, and we subsituted it for other things that made him just as happy. Kids are more resilient than we suspect, I think.
 
The ironic thing is, feeding your kids good stuff usually ends up being a non-issue for them. The habitual longing for the junk goes away eventually, after it has been substituted with a healthier "habit" -- healthy eating.
 
My wife would probably not have been as thorough as I insisted we be as we worked our way through things. She's rolled her eyes on more than one ocassion. But she was the one who, in the end, did most of the hard work: shopping and preparing meals. So I really do recognize the importance of teamwork when dealing with kids' health concerns.
 
One thing I can say with confidence, and I'm sure I'm not alone. Poor diets affect lots of kids adversely, whether the parents pick up on it or not. Over time, I've seen kids my son has contact with develop issues who seemed to be perfectly fine when my son was having his issues. It's not easy to have a healthy diet nowadays. And bad diet will get kids sooner or later.
 
Finally, with regard to tv… my kids watch tv. Probably too much. I'm not proud of it. Lots of folks I know have never let their kids watch tv period. Tics has nothing to do with it for them. They believe tv adversely affects a child's development. Those kids are all perfectly normal, if not intelectual "high performers." They are not social outcasts. I know your children have two parents, and when each has a different opion, negotiation is part of the picture. But don't feel you're doing wrong by not letting your children watch tv. You're probably doing them a big favor.
 
Good luck!
 
Chris
 
 

Recently I put my children on a GF/DF diet. When they have gluten it effects them. My son will tic and my daughter has gastro issues. I have also determined over the past 2 years many preservatives, artificial colors effect my kids. This Halloween was the first year they were GF/DF. One of my son's friends told him how on Halloween night he leaves all his candy out and the Candy Fairy who takes it and leaves a present. Needless to say this Halloween the Candy Fairy started coming to our house.