guy123

Sometime around puberty the thymus gland stops growing and actually stops functioning and in adults it has turned into a fatty piece of non-functional tissue. However prior to that time it grows rapidly (with the major growth occuring until about age 8, then slowing until puberty). It is responsible for the production of t cells which cause the immune response and also for the t-regulatory cells which suppress the immune response appropriately. I think the reason they say that IVIG is less helpful for older kids (close to or after puberty) is the same reason that some of these kids actually start getting better after puberty. Since there is not that constant production of t cells that can cause an autoimmune response, it means that PANDAS symptoms start going away. Also since there is no further production of t regulatory cells, IVIG can't promote the increased production of those (which would normally help to modulate the hyper immune response). That doesn't mean that the IVIG wouldn't help to repair the damage that's already done from myelin being stripped off the neurons. So it can probably help on that level still after puberty, but the effect would be slower and less noticeable than if IVIG were working on more than one level. This is just my observation from what I know about the thymus gland. I don't know if there is scientific data to support this. Pat Now that's interesting. So hypothetically speaking, IVIG would be useless on an adult, correct?

Good to know you've had a similar experience with Sativa and it's not just me. Did you notice that it made you worse just while the weed was in you, or did it last for a while afterward?

Makes sense to me, in theory. Ever since starting Clonidine, sometimes my urge to blink is a bit less, and I can "satisfy" it with a softer, regular-looking blink. Other times, that won't do, and it HAS to be the hard, scrunch-up-your-face-and-pull-down-your-eyebrows blink.

I have a bunch on my back. So does my dad.

Great, now I have another 171 pages to read... lol. Chemar, can you give examples of non-dopamine related tic conditions? Thanks.

I told him about my marijuana experience and how some weed made symptoms much better, but others made it much, much worse. He said it's not something he would recommend for long term treatment anyway due to other side effects like short term memory issues, etc. (side note: it's funny how docs will prescribe neuroleptics which have side effects of TARDIVE DYSKENESIA, but they don't like marijuana because of short term memory issues? Gee, I know which one of those two side effects I would rather deal with). I told him that was fine, I'm quite scared to smoke it again after it increased my tic which lasted for about a week, anyway. Then I talked about cycling off of Clonidine in the event that my body becomes unresponsive. I told him most people's natural inclination would be to increase the dose, but I don't want to do that due to side effects (headaches, drowsiness, sexual issues). I asked him if it ever becomes ineffective, if I could cycle off, return to baseline, and then start up with my 0.05mg dose again. He said yes, that would work, but if Clonidine became ineffective he would rather pursue another treatment option because it would be annoying to go through the cycling, having on and off periods where the tics get worse, etc. I said ok, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Honestly, out of my huge list of possible tic treatments, there are about 2 other ones that I would consider trying, so I'm going to try to make Clonidine work as good as I can. On that note, the last 4 days have been terrible. My tic has literally be going nuts, as bad or worse than before I started the Clonidine. This is out of the blue because for a MONTH prior it was being extremely controlled. On a severity scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being no tic at all, and 10 being constant, multiple times per minute, the last month has been an average of 4, which I was extremely happy with. The last four days have been a 7 or 8, and I am seriously getting pissed off. The last time it spiked up this badly was after I smoked the green marijuana, and that lasted for like a week. This time I haven't done anything out of the ordinary (I'm keeping excellent records of everything). I will be livid if Clonidine has stopped working after being on for only 2 months. This is also extremely uncharacteristic for my tic as before I started on medicine, it never waxed or waned, ever. It was always there. Always. Every minute of every day (unless I was having sex, then it went away). It never got worse. It never got better. The fact that now I have "good periods" and "bad periods" after starting Clonidine has piqued my curiosity and I consider it to be negative. Anyway, we talked about benzos and I told him that when I take Ativan (which is very occasionally, perhaps a few times per month) I notice no change in tic severity. I told him I wanted to try Klonopin, which is the benzo specifically indicated for tics. He said if Ativan didn't do anything, then Klonopin probably wouldn't either, but he wrote me a prescription for a trial (14 pills) and he said if it worked, he would renew it for me. I took a 1/4 pill last night before bed and noticed no change in tic frequency, but I got the usually benzo relaxation. This morning there was a bit of a decrease in tics (down to a 6 on the scale), but tonight it's back up to 8. I have a checkup with my GP next month. I'm going to ask for a slow strep test or whatever it's called (the 72 hour blood one). Because of my sudden onset at age 17, I don't believe my tic is genetic (no one in my family on either side has tics or TS), but must be due to exposure to something (toxins, strep, something to which I was horribly allergic, etc.). All I'm saying is genetic tics with an onset age of 17 would be such a statistical outlier that I would bet against it. Alright, Latitudes.org crew, what specific tests should I ask my GP to perform to check for PANDAS? Anything besides the slow strep test? Also, my neuro never wanted to perform any brain imaging or MRIs or PET scans or anything. Has anyone here had any experience with that? Was it useful? Did it help direct you to proper treatment or anything?

I don't think many marijuana dealers know if they are getting sativa or indica Do you know if the marijuana used in Marinol is sativa or indica strain?

Oh yeah, I forgot to include "gargling with citrus listerine" in my huge list. It made my throat feel better for a few seconds afterward, like you get one swallow after that that doesn't hurt, and then the pain comes back.

I have experienced both a significant tic reduction AND a significant increase (that lasted for days) from marijuana. Perhaps it depends on the strain (indica vs. sativa). Good luck. Marinol (THC extract pill available by prescription) has also been shown to be beneficial to people with tics/tourettes.

Feels good on my throat when it's sore. Probably best to avoid it if you're super mucusy, tho. But for me, colds are always a hellish sore throat for the first 4 days and then slowly change into the sneezy nasal congestion for the next 5-6 days. When my throat isn't sore anymore I don't care about eating ice cream.

I have tried a billion things for colds and sore throats and nothing seems to do anything to shorten the duration or intensity compared with doing nothing. Things I have tried over the years: - drinking colloidal silver - gargling colloidal silver (everyone on the internet swears this works within minutes for sore throats but I had no such luck) - gargling cayenne pepper in water (this relieves a sore throat sensation for maybe 10 seconds after you finish gargling. not worth it) - gargling apple cider vinegar (gross!) - a variety of Boiron products for sore throat (some relieve the sore throat temporarily while the pill is in your mouth, but this is because you're swallowing something sugary and not because of the ingredients. it's the same as if you ate a cough drop or Life Saver) - megadoses of vitamin C - normal doses of vitamin C - echineccea - the other one that you often see with echineccea that I can't remember the name of. it's yellow and sometimes it's mixed together in the same capsule. Something root or something - zinc - Airborne (just effervescent vitamins, no magic powers, see the recent scandal and class action lawsuit) - Cold-Eeze (zinc lozenge with a special type of zinc that supposedly defeats the cold virus and is proven in clinical trials, etc.) - taking multivitamins (which I usually took even when I wasn't sick as a preventative) - eating lots of fruit - taking a shot of vodka (sometimes reduces sore throat pain for a few seconds/minutes after you take the shot) - ColdFX - Some herbal vitamin supplement thing a lady at a the health food store recommended for me - various Elderberry products, including one with "viru-lock technology" or something like that The one thing I will not try is Zicam products due to risk of anosmia (permanent loss of smell) and the lawsuits. I'd rather be sick for a week than permanently lose my sense of smell. I have been trying cold cures every time I get a cold (which always includes a horrible sore throat) for the last 5 years. None of them do any better than doing nothing, with a few exceptions of momentary symptom relief, as stated above. Therefore, I recommend the following for colds (things that treat the symptoms): - chicken soup - pain killers if your sore throat gets bad (last time mine was so bad I needed vicodin) - ice cream - decongestants/cough suppressants (Dayquil, Nyquil) - staying hydrated - stay in bed and watch funny movies Good luck. Being sick sucks.

What is in the vitamins you gave him?

I am having overall good results on .05mg per day and I am considering discussing with my doctor reducing that to 0.025mg per day (1/4 of a pill) to see if that dose is still effective for me. Footballguy it's been a few weeks now. Have you noticed anything else from the clonidine?

Oh wait, here it is, on his website. Link to page: http://web.mac.com/charlesmansueto/Behavio...f_Research.html Direct link to article (it's a .zip file containing a .pdf file): http://web.mac.com/charlesmansueto/Behavio...tic%20OCD_1.zip

Here's an article about it by him, but this isn't the same study we're talking about. I'm annoyed I can't find it again. I know for sure I didn't pay for it and it was on his practice's website, I just can't find it now. http://www.ocdchicago.org/index.php/expert...e_relationship/

Oh no! The entire article is available for free on his website. Hold on I will post a link. edit - i can't find it anymore. weird.

You know what? I was thinking of Phenibut when I made that reply. Sorry. Phenibut is a GABA receptor agonist. Tolerance builds quickly and withdrawal can be horrible. I have used it occasionally (less than twice a month, and probably only 6 times total) as an anxiolytic and social lubricant, and it was wonderful, but I didn't notice any reduction in tic frequency. I have no information about longterm GABA use or withdrawal. I apologize for the confusion.

I do that on occasion. I don't know that I feel a compulsion to do it, I just... do it. lol. And I'll keep smelling it it for a few moments. It's really weird. But it's only something I do when I'm home alone. I don't do it in public. It's probably subconsciously checking the status of your health. For example, one of the strongest triggers of attraction between men and women is scent (in good relationships it is not uncommon for one partner to tell the other "i love the way you smell"), but the reason for this is it's your body checking out the other person's immune system. Studies have shown that essentially, if you are attracted to the way someone smells, then their immune system would be a good compliment to yours in the production of offspring. If you want to take it one step further, some people believe that the reason there are so many divorces today is because people are wearing so much perfume/cologne that they are masking their actual scent, and they are choosing mates (spouses) based on a scent that is not what the other person actually smells like. So the people aren't as compatible as they think they are, and after a few years of marriage, this becomes apparent and thus they divorce. I don't know how true that is, but it's something to think about.

I wonder how high anxiety evolved, however. I read something once suggesting that possibly OCD was a survival mechanism (for example, maybe the prehistoric people who were constantly paranoid of being attacked by predators took better precautionary measures and ended up surviving, while the more laid back prehistoric people who didn't care as much were lazy and didn't take as many precautions and were therefore killed). But for something as bad to your entire body as high anxiety, I wonder how that survived through the ages.

Careful with longterm use of GABA.

How do you know it's a throat clearing tic and not just something you are eating causing you to develop more mucus buildup in your throat therefore causing you to have to clear it?

(this may be incorrect) I believe tics and Parkinson's are kind of opposites. Parkinsons is lack of dopamine. Tics are too much dopamine or normal amounts of dopamine but overly sensitive dopamine receptors. There might be other causes for tics, too.

It's Charles S. Mansueto, Ph.D.

You've just given me something else to research

Interesting. From what it sounds like, anti-anxiety drugs will not increase immune system function, however. That would be treating the symptom.