Tracey111

CP, These items are a HUGE distraction in a classroom. There are rules that they are to be off and out of sight, but they are on silent. I catch kids texting during class all the time. How can you be learning if you are SO concerned about what the latest gossip is? Oh, and now they have internet access on their IPODS and cell phones....that combined with wireless access in school allows them to check their my space accounts in the classroom (if the teacher is not "on top" of them!). They can text without looking at the letters/numbers. They do it inside sweatshirt pockets. My suggestion to parents would be that they check their child's detailed bill to see if there is any activity during school hours!!!!! I also have the problem of PARENTS texting kids during class. The student will ask to walk outside and call their parent!!!! You are so lucky that your daughter is not crazy about the whole cell phone thing!!!!

Faith, Make sure that you put the resource room and extra time for tests on the 504. This should help him for all of the "standardized" tests. If he trouble focusing in class make sure that you add "The teacher should repeat/rephrase/clarify instructions" on there. (I have even seen requests to verbally redirect the student if they loose focus on there!) If he has trouble taking notes (do his tics affect this??), you can require hard copies of all the notes. Think about all the things he would struggle with, make a list of what would help him, and then ask for it at the meeting. I think Florida is the same as other states???? Sometimes it bothers me that the 504 plans are not as detailed as the IEP's. I teach in a regular classroom with a high population of ESE kids. I deal mostly with IEP's, but have some 504's. If you can get your hands on an IEP accommodations form, it will have a whole checklist of items that you could write into the 504 plan. Maybe ask the person running the meeting to see an IEP accommodations checklist and then you can use some of those. His current teacher might even be able to get you one. My son was just evaluated by the school system and not eligible for ESE services b/c he is preforming only slightly below grade level...in the regular classroom....well, he has two excellent teachers and three reading intervention programs that are helping him. Where would he be without those. This is fine in Elementary school, but I know these kids can get lost in the HS classroom! Ask for everything you can think of!!! Sorry to go on an on, but the ESE and 504 kids are the heart of my classroom and I love see them be successful!!!!!

Hope, Can you tell me what type of blood tests they are doing? I am going to go to an allergist to talk about food allergies. I am just wondering what you doctor will be testing for? Thanks for any info.

I wrote the above post before reading all of the posts today. Mine was very self absorbed and off topic. I was just so shocked by what I found. Faith - I did not find a doctor writing a book with tics/cure, but I found a Dr. with a video about how vaccines kick up the immune system and then that causes issues with the brain. I think it was related to food allergies developing later. I will look for it and post it if I can find it. I have spent so much time that I can't recall what I found where. (The nuerologist also told me to stick to WebMD and the TS official site .........so that I don't get caught up in inaccurate blogging!!!!) What a wealth of information you guys are. I think you could all open up your own research clinic on tics and TS!!!! Bonnie could provide the natural medicine!!!!

The David Kirby Article: In the article, "Delay in DPT vaccination is associated with a reduced risk of childhood asthma," Anita Kozyrskyj, an asthma researcher at the University of Manitoba, and other scientists combed the medical records of 14,000 children born in Manitoba in 1995 (when many Canadian shots still contained mercury, by the way). They found that children who received the DPT (diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus) vaccine at two months of age were 2.63 times more likely to develop asthma (at a rate of 13.9%) than children who were not given the shot until after four months of age (5.9%). "We're thinking that maybe if you delay this allergic response until a bit later, the child's immune system is more developed and maybe you're not seeing this effect," Kozyrskyj told the Winnipeg Free Press, which just broke the story HOLY POOP!!!! My older son who stuttered was also diagnosed with childhood asthma....which has gone away with the stuttering.....oh my gosh!!!!! How many other parents have had asthma issues with the tics??????....(my younger son with the tics does not have asthma)....now I find the asthma on top of the tics/ADHD/stuttering too!!! OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!!! I am so shocked and never thought my older son was ever affected by the vaccines!

I can say that I REGRET the chicken pox vaccine. My youngest son's tics started three weeks after the vaccine and they have yet to go away (5 months later). He had NO SYMPTOMS of any types of tics before this......the doctor said "you might as well get the shot now, they will require it in school eventually"....what a dumb A_ _ I was for listening. (My sons were screaming in the office and pulling each other away from the nurse....wish I would have walked away at that point!!!!) I agree that genetics must play a part....my older son stuttered when he was 4 (but is fine now)....I am going to look back at the records to find out when the vaccines were. He had his kindergarten shots long before school!!! So, my story goes along with Kelly's. I can not seem to find the triggers of my son's tics. I am exhausted from all of my reading....and the fact that the doctor's think I am crazy for thinking that vaccines, nutrition, or vitamins could have anything to do with this, or contolling it. My nuerologist's comment on Friday was "If it was an easy fix to controll tics, everyone would be doing it". How many of those moms who trust the doctor (like I did) would take time to research this....that is why everyone goes for the medicine and not the natural stuff!!!! UGHHHH....Why isn't Oprah reading everything we see on this site????????? She could get some attention on this subject!!!

Are there any studies on the manufacturer of the vaccine and the level of "issues"? My older son has no tics. My younger son was vaccinated in a different office....and now has "just tics" (don't bother with trying to treat with vitamins or controlling food, according to my nuerologist...whole other issue!!!) My two nephews were vaccinated at the same Dr. office. One has TS and the other has ADHD/Dislexia/LD.....I am just wondering if there is a link...other than genetic predisposition. Also, I found a video by a Dr. Dan something that explained that the nuerological issues could be stemming from the immune system kicking up so fast and attacking the brain. I can not find that sight anymore...but it told me that the link is just not to thermisol, but to vaccines and the bodies reaction. Has anyone else seen that video. I found it when researching the "dans" (?)doctors.

He is six and weighs about 55 LBS. I saw 140 mg on a website for this form of magnesium for the rec. daily amt. for USA. It was 170mg for 7-10 years, and he is almost 7. It has to help!!!! Tonight my extended family really noticed it. I found him downstairs playing by himself in a corner and he would not tell me why he would not play with the other kids!!!!! We have talked about the tics with him, even though the nuerologists said not to. We have been hiding the supplements. This morninig HE ASKED about the tics (if they would ever go away!)and told me that a girl at school told him to drink water to get rid of them.....he has been asking for water all the time lately . I told him about the mag 2 and he has agreed to take it!!!!! We did three today and it did not upset his tummy....but I worry about internal side affects....can't find any on line...only diareah. I will post if it helps! I am logging it all...and it was so cheap, so it will be great if it works!!!!

Well said! I feel such frustration over people near me telling me that "it is what it is".....well how do I know what it is if I don't try and eliminate vaccine reactions/food allergies/etc. I am new to this and people around me seem to think that I am crazy for thinking the chicken pox vaccine he got three weeks before the tics could cause this, or vitamin deficiencies, or food allergies that were never an issue before the tics. Before they tell me TS, I will make sure that it is not something else attacking his little brain!!! People around me think that b/c his cousin has a TS dx, that it could be TS....anything else I am looking at seems like "nonsense internet stuff" to them...."don't go overboard with what you hear on there".....UGHHH.. My nephew has TS dx plus ADHD. His brother has dislexia and ADHD. My son, WHO WAS VACCINATED at the same Dr. office as his two cousins now has tics/possible ADHD/and learning troubles. My older son had his vaccines in an office on the other coast....but had some shots at the same doctors office as his cousins/brother stuttered for one year after the vaccines from that office. Hmmmm....is there more to it....is there one manufacturer vs. another that may be more harmful to kids??? Sorry, that was really off topic.....but very much on my mind if they ever give me a TS DX Tics/ADHD/and LD are rampant these days...........Drs. just seem to want to give a DX and not find out the why and how of it all. The parents on this website are amazing!!!! Your children are lucky that you care so much to do all of this research!!!

A friend of mine brought back tubes of liquid magnesium from France, for my son's tics. Her homeopathic doctor in France suggested 3 tubes a day for 15 days and then 2 tubes a day for 10 days....based on her description of his symptoms. Has anyone ever used this form of magnesium? Each tube is 122mg, so he will be getting 366 mg a day for those 15 days. I started it today, but am nervous about overdoing things, so I stopped his other vitamins for now. PS - It was VERY INexpensive compared to our liquid magnesium - 9 Euros for 60 tubes of 122mg. I am anxious to know if it will help decrease his tics that have flared up lately. Thanks for any input anyone can give me!!!!

I forgot to mention that the week of the bad diet, he started the sniffing tic, and I have not seen it since.

Hi Calicat, I am new to the whole tic thing, as of September. My son is 6. I can tell you that we had a poor week of eating the week prior to Winter vacation, plus no vitamin supplements. I emailed the teacher on that Thursday to see if she noticed a difference in him. She said she was going to email that day because he was so "off" all week. I noticed his tics were getting a lot worse. I started back on the cleaned up diet and the supplements (liquid magnesium, Focus Attention, and GABA Plus). I cleaned it up on Friday and he seemed better on Monday. He had two good weeks after that. This week his tics exploded again....school started and I had added milk and wheat gluten bagels into his diet. I threw the bagels out yesterday, and the school week is over. I am hoping to see an improvement tomorrow. Is it school stress or the diet is my big question? I wish I had more info, but I am new to this! So, I guess my response to you is that it took my son 3 days to "clear his system" of the lazy diet I fed him. Good luck...I hope that May passes and the tics are gone for you guys!!!! Tracey

Hi, My son's tics and emotional outbursts were very bad this week. School is back in session, I started giving him glasses milk (he usually only has it in cereal), and I found out that the bagels he had all week contained wheat gluten. I am only beginning to look at Gluten and Caesin....I am starting with vitamins and then taking more foods away. We have an appointment at his school to discuss the school's finding as to his learning and focus issues. We have nuerologist and pediatric appointments at the end of the month (to discuss possible ADHD...the nuerologist said the tics are "just tics"). It does not appear that these two doctors are going to have much openess to the "natural" approach.....but I have the appointments and have to start somewhere. I tried to find names of homeopathic doctors from this link, but the only one I found in my area was $300 for the first hour! So, I thought maybe I could get some allergy testing done. I found a website about Sage Lab Testing for Delayed Food Allergies...I am wondering if this is the Dr. Dan person whose name appears on this forum. Has anyone used this test before? If so, was it helpful....or better than something a local allergy doctor would do for us? Also, I am searching for a website to find the maximum amounts of vitamin supplements to give a child. I have bought Mag. Taurate, lots of B's, Ester C, D, E, Grape Seed extract, Calcium Citrate, GABA Plus, Attention Focus pills. I was going to take them to the DR. to talk to her about it....but know that the response will probably be to give him the daily amount that is recommended for children by the FDA. Thanks for any guidance you can give me.

Hi, My six year old son has tics off and on. A friend of mine suggested massage to help him relax (as stress seems to make them worse). Has anyone else noticed extra tight muscles on their child. When I try to massage his little leg or arm muscles, it is as if they are flexed as hard as he can flex them. I go in at night to see if they are relaxed and his legs and arms are soft. He seems to like the massage, but I find if very strange that it seems as if his main muscles are always flexed. He is a highly active child who is always running and jumping in and out of the house!!!!! Thanks for any support! You all are so good about responding to my questions, I wish I had more info/help to "give back"!!!!!!

How interesting about the shots and timing of the tics. My son's tics started about 2-3 weeks after he had the Chicken Pocs Vaccine....with no prior issues at all. They came on suddenly. Both the ped and the nuerologist told me it is "just tics". I am frustrated. Why then do they in the same breath tell you that the tics, learning trouble, and ADHD are all very related????? What caused the "chemical imbalance" in the brain............that they now THINK they need to correct with chemical prescriptions? I can also say that I searched high and low for a nutritionalist for pediatrics in my area and did not find one. I am thankful that I have the next two weeks off, so that I can read through all of these posts.....these parents know a lot more than any doctor seems to be able to tell me!!! Good luck and have a happy holiday!!!

I have not experimented with what is working and what is not yet BUT.....we give my son liquid mag/calcium, focus attention formula, and GABA plus (all from Nature's Sunshine Vitamins), and sometimes fish oil. I can tell you that when we adjusted his diet and added liquid magnesium and Carlson's fish oil, the teachers thought he was medicated. We later added the focus and GABA formulas and he seems to be doing better in school. For six days I have not given him any supplements and his focus at home is so POOR that it is driving me nuts.....I have not heard back from his teacher as to if she noticed a decline. I added the supplements back today, as I think they help him focus and calm down. His tics went away for two weeks, but have returned. I can not pin point the tics, but the supplements seem to help the attention issues! His tics appear to be the worst when he is trying to focus really hard on something. He sturggles with ready and he tics so badly while reading that I wonder how he can see the words. I went on vacation for a week over Thanksgiving and gave him no supplements....his tics disappeared, but he was off the wall....so I am gathering that the supplements are helping with focus and hyperactivity. I do not know yet how the fish oil works. I hope you find what you are looking for.

My brain spins when I read through all of these posts. My son's new nuerologist tells me that he "just has tics". She was more concerned about the ADHD. I am more concerned about the learning issues/focus/retention issues that I see going on! I "tried" a nutrition overhaul, but it exhausted me....and I didn't really know where to start on supplements. So, how do I figure out where to start? How do I test him for food allergies? Where do I find the best "menu" to fit his three issues? I went to fruit/veggies/meat/milk/oj/nuts only and the teachers thought I had medicated him that week because he focused better in class....it did not help the tics though. I gave him fish oil (but stopped it because of the tics), liquid magnesium, focus attention plus pills, and GABA Plus, and a multi. I stopped the multi b/c it had red #40 in it (HOW can they allow that????) I can only get in the gaba and attention formula lately b/c he is refusing to eat once he figures out there are "things" in his drink/food. So, where do I start to find out the best mix??? Thanks!!!

THIS SITE IS SO AWESOME!!!! I wish Doctors would get on and research. You guys are like free research assistants for them...but I guess it would fall on deaf ears. By screaming, I mean crying LOUDLY to a point of not being able to breathe and yelling at me when I would try to calm him. There was no muscle weakness that I noticed. My son is very active and all muscles. I know that there was a sore throat this summer but it never got to a point of needing to go to the doctor. We had a night of vomitting (July) 4 weeks BEFORE the vaccine....and one other vomitting problem near that time. Both times I feared it was the stomach flu....but no one else in the house got it......any info on vomitting and strep? I called the doctor asking her to test for Strep based on what I read about PANDAS. They called back and said to come get the prescription. I am going to take the names of the tests that you suggested with me. QUESTION - When I had both of my children I had to be on an antibiotic for some "strep" in my body. The OBGYN said that some people just have it present in their body. I still don't understand what that was....is there any relation with the "strep" and the "strep" you are referring to? If so, how many moms on this website had to have that same antibiotic and are now having issue like me??? QUESTION -Is it too late for the blood tests. The tics have been here for several months and the sore throat was at least that long ago. The tics are slowing down a lot, would the tests show anything????? I read through my prior entries...no where did I mention that my NEPHEW (My sister's son) has Tourette's. He did not have problems until 3rd grade. I have thought that genetics is involved.....

I wanted to ask you if you have ever looked at Magnesium or amino acids? I found Magnesium deficiency when looking at tics and it appeared like my entire family needed magnesium. I bought my youngest son liquid magnesium and it helped with his focus...but not too much with his tics. The amino acids were also listed all over the place for tics. Sorry I don't have experience with it, but these are two supplements that appeared a lot in my research of changing my child's diet. I would google it, just to find out what you see.....it is linked to a lot and has done wonders for my son's focus in school.....

Thank you all! I am getting ready to sign off and get some sleep.... The Chicken Pox mentions Strep A (virus/bacteria???) and I put the PANDAS link with it because of strep A an tics. Does the vaccine contain a similar live "strep throat" bacteria? I have no clue on this and that is where I came up with the question of a link? I am a finance major...far from ANY FORM OF medical knowledge!!!!! OH, and now that I found this link, I do recall a sore throat, but I have no clue what part of the summer that was........I do recall getting a flash light to look at his throat, but found nothing.. When I looked up PANDAS, I saw several symptoms my 6 year old son is having: He was vaccinated at the beginning of August. Two weeks later he came home from school two days in a row and got in his bed SCREAMING like crazy. I could not calm him down and he cried for an hour each time.....he used to be a laid back child. Since August his temper is so quick and fierce. He gets so mad SO easily, and I can't calm him down. The next week the eye tics began. I made an eye doctor appointment because he was holding everything about 2 inches from his eyes and ticcing. HE said the eyes are fine. Pediatrician called them "transcient tics", after she researched them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! His tics got progressively worse until two weeks ago. They were so bad that head jerking was involved and the teacher emailed me a few times saying that she could not find any pattern of stress to trigger them. We went away for Thanksgiving and they started to subside. This week they are very minor. So, it has been 3 months with a peak about two weeks ago. I do not see OCD...but last night he was obsessed with some medicine I put on him....my husband had to come in the house this AM before they left because he was so upset and needed to know how long the medicine would stay on! He could not fall asleep last night, as he kept calling me in to ask the same type of question. That is not like him. He has also been asking me to hug him several times before I leave the house and this week he has started running outside to say goodbye after I hug him a few times....this is new and not like him either (seperation anxiety???) Those are his symptoms....does this sound familiar??? Thanks for telling me the type of tests to get, it will save me some time when my doctor calls me back.

I am home sick from work today because I was researching tics and the chicken pox vaccine all night. I have come up with PANDAS, thanks to some of these websites where informed parents help out un-informed parents. I have not read enough on it to determine if there is a cure, or even what the entire "PANDAS" is. My 6 year old son has all of the symptoms of PANDAS (the tics are the main symptom, and I am just realizing that he has been obsessive about thing lately). These symptoms started 3 weeks after he got the vaccination. (Now I sit here is tears remembering how his older brother was pulling him away from the nurse and they were both screaming about getting the vaccine!!!!) Has anyone had experience with this a PANDAS diagnosis? I want to call my doctor to get tests done, but I am overwhelmed because I have been researching tourette's for three months and now I have all this new information!! Can anyone help?