edsonr

if you're in the US try toptropicals out of florida...you can purchase online. I got a plant from them over the summer. good luck!

@cova interesting, and really great you guys found something very low impact and low risk that worked wonders! I will have to put this on my list of things to try. Thanks again for the info!

@cova I know all those helpless feelings, still going through it now. Im happy for you and your family that you guys found a solution!! I hope to get there eventually. My son who just turned 5, also started in december.....then cleared up in mid march after he was ill with a fever where we treated him with ibuprofen. He was tic free for over 2 months, then the tics came back in june...and were still in a battle with it. Hes been flaring the last week or so, a crazy hard 2 leg jump tic....im suprised he hasnt complained about soar legs. Hearing success stories like this keeps my spirits up and motivated to solve our puzzle...thanks for sharing!

@cova do you mind sharing what kinds of treatment your functional dr used on your child?

@Kath04 I know this is an old post, but curious if you found a doc in area? Also how are things going?

@shelly76 How is your son doing? Any good news or discoveries?

Thanks for the update Mert! Sounds like my son, tics changing daily and appears to be more when idle. Hope things go well on your vacation!

I recently learned of something called the Nemecheck Protocol that is mainly used to treat autism, I was wondering if anyone here has tried it for tics? In general the protocol sounds harmless... avoid omega 6 no pro biotics add inulin fiber add olive oil omega 9 add fish oil omega 3 The idea is to treat something called SIBO with inulin, then the oils to help the brain heal itself by reducing inflamation.

After a terrible Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday with tic activity, we saw some promising results starting Thursday. A nice reduction of tics, maybe cut down by half. I hope the trend continues. What did we do differently? We'll we've cleaned up his diet all week, cut down on sweets, and have been supplementing with collagen powder...though none of that seemed to make any immediate impact, the one thing we did Wednesday night was up his Magnesium, instead of 1 in the morning and 1 at night, he had 1 in the morning and 3 at night (gummies, each with about 83mg per as magnesium citrate ). That evening he slept a solid 11 hours, and Thursday we saw great improvement. He didn't tic until about noon at the playground, a couple, and in the evening he would still tic, but not nearly as much as previous evenings. Going forward we're going to do 1 mag in the morning and 2 in the evening. We've also noticed a slight change in mood/behavior -- he wasn't as cranky as we've seen the last few days, and he was more joyful and a bit refreshed. It got me think about how magnesium get's flushed from the body and started to look into magnesium relationships to other vitamins and minerals. I did learn that vitamin D requires magnesium present to metabolize and 'activate' vitamin D in the blood stream. So the more vitamin D intake, the more your Magnesium get's "used up". I'm also wondering if it's coming out in sweat as well. After learning that, I'm probably "reaching" here, but I do wonder because of the sunshine and heat we've had, plus the fact I hid the kids tablets to promote more playing outside, that maybe he's being depleted or requiring more magnesium. Since about end of May we've had good weather, hardly any rain, and my son has been spending lots of time running around outside. I'm wondering if there's a real connection here. I do still think he may have some underlying gut issues that could be the main cause, and will get some testing done this summer. I would love to hear someone with experience or better training on how these vitamins and minerals work and how it could re-trigger a tic bout.

Thanks @maryangela -- I will inquire about that.

Update: My son progressively got worse....increase of tics over the course of 9 days. Last night during dinner he was ticcing every few seconds....i know he was tired because he was falling asleep eating in his seat. Oddly he did have 10 hours of sleep the night before, but no nap. He hurt his leg a bit ago where he couldnt walk for a day, and had a limp shorlty after...the stress could trigger things. I also gave him IBProfin a couple times last week, but felt bad after reading the label....high fructose corn syrup and dyes added. Maybe that stuff is still in his system? Moving forward, the changes we are making is logging everyday his consumption, activities, supplements, and how bad his tics are morning/afternoon/evening. I also purchased collegan powder, ordered better probiotics, and some calcium. Ive told the wife to try to reduce his sugar intake in general even natural sugars. I want to see how he does with a week or so with less sugars. I also stopped claritin, wasnt sure if he was getting a reaction from that. Im still thinking possible leaky gut...I have a consultation with a dr who does alterantive medicine on Monday. I might go that route to get guidance on supplements, and maybe do some testing to check for bad yeast gut issues, heavey metals, food sensitivities. I hope we can get him back on track, im starting to worry as his bday is in less than a month, and he'll be starting kindergarten in sept. Would be great to have things under control by then. If anyonr has any input on other things to try, Im all ears. I do wonder if I should just go to his regular pediatrician instead to get some of these tests done.

Thanks for the info @maryangela.

Hello, just wondering if anyone has any recommendations on L-Glutamine supplements for children (brands, dosage)? I have a 4 (soon to be 5) year old with tics, and I wanted to see if this supplement would help. Thank you!

That's great hear that things settled down. I was curious because my son (who will be 5 in july), had some major tics that started in december. We had cleaned up his diet and by mid april he appeared tic free. About a few weeks ago we started to see a lot of facial tics re-emerge, and so far it hasn't seemed to improve much. We did let his diet loosen up a little and we're trying to clean it back up again. Wishing the best for your child!

Thanks for that info. Well keep us updated on how it goes with the pediatrician, I know how you feel because ours wasn't much help either.