Tracey111

OK....I am done with the whole "just tics"....Kim, you said it all in your post to Judy!!!! I have written several times "where is Oprah"....so, I went to Oprah. com and posted a "tell your story". I wrote about tics and vaccines and my 6 year old. Also mentioned the web site ACN. What if we all wrote in and got some attention on this topic???? I forgot to mention PANDAS after vaccines.........so...how many of you have a minute to go to Oprah.com...because that is all it took!!!!!

I see the word basal ganglia AGAIN in these posts....and I go back to this post.....http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?act=findpost&pid=21276 What are these vaccines doing to our babies.....and WHERE IS OPRAH??????????? She seems to be the one who can bring attention to the real issues...or maybe Dr. Phil??????

Judy, I reported my son's tic reaction for the CDC. My doctor (very nice) immediately said "no" when we stated that the ONLY thing that happened before the tics was the chicken pox vaccine!!!!! I even started to doubt it....but it was 2-3 weeks after the vaccine and I swear there were NO TICS of ANY sort before he got that vaccine. I don't know which name brand we recieved, but it was in late July/early August of this year! Both of my boys received it, but only one reacted. My older boy probably didn't get the full shot b/c they almost had to tie him down to get it into him. I remember thinking that there was a lot of vaccine that didn't get injected.....but never thought about it again. Strange that they are 2 years apart and one was 12 pounds more than the other (at least 20% more body weight) and they both get the same vaccine!!!!!! FRUSTRATING!!! Why don't the doctors see it?????

Not only do I have questions about the vaccines and dates of them starting....I would love to see a study on the manufacturer of the vaccines and the number of kids who developed tics. I wrote about this in a post a while ago and Kim put an article in there about how some manufacturers had "less pure" vaccines. My nephews and my one son who has issues were all vaccinated by the same DR office. My older son had most of his vaccines in a different part of the state?????? I will never know!!!!

Judy, I am so sorry for you!!! The frustration can drive you crazy!!!! Look at your grandson and focus on the love you have for him!!!!! When you start to feel the frustration and the "tearing up" think about his best quality and zone in on it !!!!! I wish I could give you some advice on the DR. stuff, but I gave up on DR's and now I just go off what I research!!! My son's tics do not bother him, just me..........so I will do what I can to make them better and live with the fact that I did everything I could to help him! Good luck!!!

Every time you look into that child's face think about the love you have for your baby....not the tics that have come on. When it was happening to my son the first few times I would break into tears at the dinner table. I then told myself that I had to be what made him stronger (to deal with other children's comments). I would stare into his eyes while he told me a story (with head jerking like crazy) and the whole time I would be thinking of every reason that made him so special! It helps!!! Sorry you are feeling this way!!!!! Diet changes worked for us on the head jerking......we had already eliminated most artificials, but were high salicylate....once we reduced these the head shakes went away (1-2 weeks???).......I hope your child's do soon!!!!

I can honestly say that my son's tics started after a vaccine!!!!!! The ONLY genetic predisposition is with his cousin, who is my sister's son. No other history in our family!! Both of our boys have some LD/Dislexia/ADHD/TS/Tics/Stuttering history with all four of the boys. My brother's kids have no tics/TS. My parents have no history!!!! Here is that article by David Kirby....and look at the age they say that kids develop tics at!!!!! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/...s-_b_66007.html Despite these statistical pressures to drive the numbers downward, the associated risk for tics among boys was a real standout. Boys who received the highest amounts of thimerosal in the first seven months of life were determined by evaluators to be 2.19 times more likely to have motor tics at age 7-10 years, and 2.44 times more likely to have phonic tics, than boys with the lowest exposures. Any relative risk between exposure and outcome that exceeds 2.0, incidentally, is considered to be proof of causation in US courts of law. The researchers did not differentiate between "transient" tics, which go away within a year, and "chronic" tics, which can last a lifetime. Nor did they distinguish between "simple" and "complex" tics. I know the temptation is strong to think, "Well, it's just tics." But I suggest consulting the literature, which paints a more disturbing picture, especially if it's your kid we are talking about. Severe behavioral problems are sometimes associated with tics, as well, and "there is some evidence that temper tantrums, aggressiveness, and explosive behavior appear in preadolescence and intensify in adolescence." Finally, many children with both phonic and motor tics are diagnosed with Tourette's disorder, which frequently causes "aggressiveness, self-harming behaviors, emotional immaturity, social withdrawal, physical complaints, conduct disorders, affective disorders, anxiety, panic attacks, stuttering, sleep disorders, migraine headaches, and inappropriate sexual behaviors," the Encyclopedia says. (Interestingly, Tourette's disorder is three-to-four times more common in males than females, the same ratio as autism, ADD and ADHD). Now, if "simple" tics include head jerks and barking; and "complex" tics can entail biting, banging and screaming obscenities; and if thimerosal can more than double the chance of tics in boys; then Atlanta, we have a very big problem. HMMMMMMM.....how many people out there tracked the vaccine date and the date the tics started!!! My older son stuttered when he was about 4-5.....I still have not looked at his vaccine dates, but I know he needed vaccines to get into pre-school and pre-school is when the stuttering started!!! He outgrew it along with his asthma from childhood....which I also found several articles linking this to vaccines too young!!

My son't tics have been minor latley, but I bought more supplements anyways!!! (Crazy Lady here!!!) I have both of the above. I found a website that said 50-60mg is ideal for N-Acetyl....these pills are 600 mg capsules! I have not found anything on Acetyl Lcarnitine....any suggestions? GABA is something that I gave him before, but it was a mixed pill. I bought just Gaba at 750mg and think that he should be at about 250mg????? These are additions to the B/Flax Oil/Calcium Citrate/Magnesium Taurine that I have him on.

I read Michelle's post about her child and wanted to know how many other parents have all of these together. Why did I want to know????? JUST today I thinking about how LUCKY I am to be a teacher. What I have learned in the last 7 years has been incredible. So, I feel the need to share with you what I know....(since I can never share with how to help make the tics better!!!). If you have a diagnosis on ANY condition, let the school know about it. Get the 504 or IEP you deserve! Be SPECIFIC with what you want the accommodations to be. Think about how your child listens/reacts/processes info/and their best method of obtaining instructions/information. Communicate this to the person you are working on the 504 or IEP with! IF you think your request is unreasonable, ASK for it anyways....the worst they can do is tell that this is too much to ask for. A teacher is required to follow the things set out in this 504/IEP papers. Gently remind each new teacher that these papers exist (without upsetting the teacher by being pushy.... ....we don't want them irritated with our child b/c we were a pain in the behind!) Not to be the over reactive parent, but you better believe that if I end up with a 504/IEP for my child and a bad teacher who can not "reach" my child....the 504/IEP will be the ticket out the door into a better teachers room. (Is that horrible???) My son can not process directions! If I give him two sentences of instructions, he does not retain it. (Now imagine him sitting in a high school classroom where they spit out the directions from a list and expect the kids to do the work!) We now say the two sentences and then repeat the two key words to him (teeth/jammies). We then started to teach him to say what the two keys words are after we give him the sentence instructions. From there we are now teaching him to say those two words over and over in his head until the tasks get done (because he can never seem to complete the tasks without being told three times!) He now will cryl "THAT IS TOO MUCH" if I try to give him three things to do at once, or talk too fast.....I am proud of this b/c he will let the teacher know when they are giving too much at one time. We told his teacher about his processing issues and how we had to repeat the key words. They changed their teaching to include the two word repeat. They suddenly saw a difference in his understanding what the instructions were. At the start of the year he would sit there not knowing what to do. If you notice things like this while they are with you, zone in on them and figure out how to best handle them. Then talk to the teacher/ESE person! I have seen the product of a child who is passed through the school system without these supports and it is not a good picture. ENCOURAGE your child to express themselves to the teacher when they do not understand!!!!! I love these children.....they will tell me that I am using too many big words, moving to fast, or to explain it one more time! If a teacher ever ridicules your child for doing this, you have the 504/IEP to fall back on. It is a complete protection for your child and it does preserve their rights. Again, a good teacher will review these accommodations and try to make sure that they are meeting every one of them. I have to admit that my first 3 years of teaching, I thought children like my son were just lazy. I never had an understanding of how their brains worked until I lived it with my son. If I didn't teach, my son's forgetfulness and inability to listen to me would drive me crazy. I now realize that it is all with how children process information.....what works best for your child....once you find out what it is....communicate with the school!!!!! I have had that ADHD/LD child in my classroom who is willing to work until they get it! This work ethic always seems to win out over the disability!!!!! I am doing everything I can to teach my child to keep working until he "gets it". I have seen this type of child and they do find success!!!! It just takes them longer to get it down....and they usually have a 504 or IEP that requires teachers to give them extra time on assignments/tests! I hope this helps someone!!!!

I don't have any answers or personal experience....but my nephew had this issue. He is 15 now, but I remember my sister always talking about his GI issues when he was little. She had to pick up from school all the time...thought he was faking it to get out of school/not go to school/etc. When he was finally diagnosed with TS she discovered that the stomach issue was a tic. It was usually in the AM or while he was at school, I believe. I just recall the frequent stories about it and they came in waves....I hope this helps... Is there something stressful at school that would increase his tics?

I gave my son Floridax liquid magnesium when we FIRST researched tics. What it did help was his ADHD. When I ran out of it, the teacher asked if we changed anything. Maybe I will try it again.

I looked up kids calm and it looks like magnesium/C/ and zinc. I give my son magnesium taurine now. What is different about the kid's calm? I do not give him C or Zinc YET!!!! Thanks for any input.

Nicola, Can I ask if the tics at age 4/5 started after your child was vaccinated? I see a lot of parents write in about tics after vaccines. My son does the eye blinking. He had the head jerking for a little while. We eliminated the head swinging when we changed his diet....all thanks to this forum. I hope you find info here that it helpful!!!!! Read on!!!! You will learn a lot from these parents!!!

When I looked up L Caritine online, it mentioned that you need vitamin C to properly absorb it. Vitamin C is not one of the supplements that my son is on. Do you give vitamin C with this supplement, and if so, how much C? Thanks. My son started a sniffing tic and I want to see if this works on it.....he has not had much red meat lately and I also see that red meat is high in LCaritine?????

Judy, I just went through your original post. I noticed that he had the chicken pox booster shot around the time the tics started. My son's tics started 2 or 3 weeks after the chicken pox vaccine (at age 6). I posted earlier this week about basal ganglia dysfunction.....they listed Huntington Syndrome (?) under this and I just looked up Chorea because I had never heard of it. It is a form of Huntington??? I just find it interesting that under Basal Ganglia Damage/Dysfunction they don't list vaccines, but they list drug overdose?????? These vaccines are damaging some portion of the brain....why can't they see it? I think that this forum is SO imformative. We live it, so we research it and put it together. It is not text book, as every case is slightly different. It takes trial and error, so I think we are the experts here b/c they are the only ones who take the time to figure out exactly what works! I wrote in several months ago about how the Dr's need to come to this site. Glad to see someone else agrees.

Hey, I give my son Magnesium Taurate by Cardiovascular Research Ltd. I also give him calcium citrate, B vitamins, and organic flax seed oil. His tics are still present, but much better these days. Also, I eliminated artificial colors, flavors, and went low salycilate. All of this came from this forum. The head jerks and huffing out tic went away. He now blinks and started a sniffing tic this week, but they are under control. Also, my nephew has TS and I do recall that when he was in elementary school he has vomitting issues that would come on suddenly. My sister thought it was GI the whole time. She finally realized that it was a tic. She medicated for tics later, but only when they became severe and dx as TS. He had very severe tics though!!! I hope the info on this site helps you find an answer!!!!!

Lurker recalled something about stuttering/tics/reading. I started to research and basal ganglia dysfunction came up. So here is the first article I found: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001069.htm Definition Basal ganglia dysfunction is a problem with the basal ganglia, the deep brain structures that help start and control movement. Causes When the basal ganglia cells are damaged, there may be problems with the ability to control speech and movement. Difficulties with starting movement, sustaining movement and stopping movement are all possible when this area of the brain is injured. Conditions that cause injury to the brain can potentially damage the basal ganglia. Such conditions include strokes, metabolic abnormalities, liver disease, multiple sclerosis, infections, tumors, drug overdoses or side effects, and head trauma. Numerous brain disorders can be associated basal ganglia dysfunction, including Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration, multiple system atrophy, Wilson's disease, and dystonia. Symptoms Symptoms vary and may include tremor, slowing of movements, difficulty walking, rigidity, involuntary movements, muscle spasms, increased muscle tone, and tics (uncontrollable, repeated movements, speech, or cries). OK....do they consider vaccines as potentially damaging to the basal ganglia? Drug overdose will do it! What is the link here? Movement issues are listed as being associated with the basal ganglia damage, why isn't TS listed (based on the sentences under causes.) So, the above article defines it and tells the symptoms....here is another article that I found: http://www.neurologyreviews.com/jan00/nr_j...angliasynd.html This one talks about all of the issues with basal ganglia dysfunction......ADD, OCD, all of the issues that we talk about here and then some.......isn't that part of the media hooplah right now....the increase in the number of kids with these types of issues (austism being the front runner).....does the basal ganglia damage come up a lot with the austism/vaccine issues? What is it that is that is creating the huge increase in ADD/TS/OCD/Austism? UGGHHHHHH....... Can anyone give insight on any links to what we talk about and "basal ganglia dysfunction"? (KIM???)

Where would a sniffing tic fit in the facial/vocal tic catergories? I have read that TS has to have a vocal tic present. I have only had a huffing out tic. The sniiffing is new. I am coming up on 7 months of tics. Funny how I say "I".....I actually mean MY SON!!!! Hmmmmm, as I obsessed with this or what????

Thanks for the info!!! It is something I could start researching.....something new to obsess on

How do I determine if it is a sniffing tic????? My son is sniffling a lot lately (so am I), but he never needs a tissue. When I ask about it, he says he has something in his nose. He never wants a tissue. It is so frustrating!!! The only "vocal" tic he has had was a huffing noise out of his nose....this one is different. Has anyone had one similar to this?

Types of neurotransmitters: 1- Excitatory - neurotransmitters that make membrane potential less negative (via increased permeability of the membrane to sodium) &, therefore, tend to 'excite' or stimulate the postsynaptic membrane 2 - Inhibitory - neurotransmitters that make membrane potential more negative (via increased permeability of the membrane to potassium) &, therefore, tend to 'inhibit' (or make less likely) the transmission of an impulse. One example of an inhibitory neurotransmitter is gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA; shown below). Medically, GABA has been used to treat both epilepsy and hypertension. Another example of an inhibitory neurotransmitter is beta-endorphin, which results in decreased pain perception by the CNS. This was the part that I read over and over again! It is all very complicated, but I saw the GABA part and found it interesting. I saw other interesting things, but could not understand it all. Also, I have written in about my son ticcing very badly when reading. His tics come on instantly when he reads, is trying to tell a story out of recall memory, is questioning what happened in a book, or telling a story about school.....it is very strange and I am trying to track it. I now say to myself "he is recalling some story" and see that he has his blinking tics increase. It is also when he is over tired, but the reading tics are the strongest. It must be related to one portion of his brain????? I will discuss with the nuerologist, IF we ever go back there...it was not too useful!!!

Thanks!!! I noticed in this thread that you listed "air fresheners" also. I just put one in my house outlet by where my son sits at the dinner table (I HATE the smell of dog in my house!!). I am guessing that I should get rid of this???? ??? Thanks.

Thank you all. Now I don't feel so crazy. ALSO, Home Depot now sell a paint that has no fumes and NO VOC's (?). It was $35 a gallon and I debated it, but they didn't have the color I wanted.......they said there is no other on the market like it. The color is a powder!!!! So, for your Spring Painting....you may want to look into it. Thanks again!

I found the list under google. It is great b/c it lists the none/low/moderate/high/very high food by category and then alphabetically. The one I printed was not off of an "official" site, but it had all of the stuff off of the other sites. You will be amazed at the things listed! I even eliminated pepper! It shows all of the spices and their salycilate levels. I hope it helps.

My son's eye blinking tics started to increase on Sunday night and were really bad on Monday. I painted his room on Saturday and did the doors on Sunday. Both windows were open the entire time. There were some fumes, but not bad. He slept in there Sunday night. Am I crazy to think there is a link???? Has anyone ever seen something like this increase tics. I can not identify any diet changes that would cause it...and as always, I am looking for that "WHY"???? Thanks for any input.