Ausclare

Efgh, the failsafe website is www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info look up checklist of common mistakes which is down the bottom section of the homepage after the newsletter. There are no right or wrong fruits/veg for tics/ADD you have to find which ones are right by trial and error. It is a painful process for parents! At the back of the failsafe cookbook is a list of failsafe foods Pears, ripe,juicy and thickly peeled. Pears in canned syrup. Avoid all other fruits, fruit juice, cordials, dried fruits, fruit flavourings and toppings even when all natural. Fresh or frozen vegetables- potatoes (large white, peeled thickly), swedes, brussel sprouts, green beans, celery, chives, garlic shallots, parsley, leeks cabbagge, canned or dried beans except broad beans. I would assume it is not baked or refried beans. garlic, canned or dried lentils. iceburg lettuce, mung bean sprouts, chokoes. Avoid all other vegetables, especially tomatoes and tomato products, vegetable juices, vegetable stocks and pastes flavoured bean mix dehydrated vegetables with preservative and potato chips cooked in oil with antioxidants. These restrictions are needed in the first few weeks so that you totally eliminate all Salicylates, amines and natural MSG. After about four - six weeks you can start to reintroduce foods one at a time and with three days grace each. Some people take up to three days to react. If you introduce foods in combination or quicker, you will not be able to tell which one is the culprit. Trust me when I say no child will starve to death on the restrictions!!!! I can vouch for this by looking at the children who live on junk food and coke/pepsi and don't ever have a fresh fruit or vegetable pass their lips! You are doing it for such a short time these other children do it for years! Hope this helps LOL Clare :

Hi Caz, I agree with Claire about reintroducing the milk and wheat slowly and one at a time. Do you do the supplements with your young lad? I know it's hard to get them to take them when they are that little. I get my boys the low allergy Phillip Alexander multi vitamins called Formula Six, crush them and mix with rice syrup. The rice syrup is failsafe. I also limit my kids TV because I notice a big increase in the tics if they watch it everyday. We had them at a Steiner school, so they don't really bother with the TV much anyway. School holidays they watch more and if they go to their nana's its full on. Then I have to detox them from that! I think Marina must have gone on holi's! Lucky thing! Catch ya later Clare

Hi Suzanna, I don't think that the allergy tests can pick up the salicylates or amines. That's why it is so confusing to people that eliminate the foods the allergy tests show are the problem, but the symptoms don't go. I think thats why you have to try the elimination diets to get to the truth. Feingold or Failsafe (Sue Dengete) elimination diets are the ones to seriously look at if you are concerned. Good luck Clare

Hi Claire, Luckily we don't have much of a problem with Halloween, we don't celebrate it as much over here. If I was in your place and I had spent years arguing about the effect that stuff has on his system, I would probably be fed up with negotiating. Then I would try a different tact of not arguing, but let him eat what he wants and as much as he wants, as long as he lets you film the before and after effect. I took my oldest and worse case son to a restaurant once for lunch, just the two of us for a treat. While we were there a family of two adults, three kids walked in and sat at a table near us. I was impressed with the way the children sat nicely and behaved themselves, (and wished the same for myself one day!) I commented to my son about them, and as I did the waitress bought all the kids large glasses of bright red raspberry lemonade (soda). I asked my son to watch what would happen in about 20mins. Sure enough the effect on those children was so obvious even my son could see it. They were unable to sit still, had begun to be cheeky to their parents and became very unruly and obnoxious. I felt really sorry for them. Then I explained to my son that this was what certain foods did to him, and I think that even though he knew why he shouldn't have them, it took this picture to really sink it in. Since then whenever he has been to a "normal" birthday party and come home with the bag of lollies (poison!) he will have one or two and then hand the bag to me knowing that I will throw them out (before the other two see!). Usually even with the small amount he has, the tics are increased to really noticable. It may not work for your son, but it was just a thought. Love & healing Clare

HI Caz, sorry it's been a few days, I work night shift and sometimes lose days! plus I'm starting a new business, which is going like a whirlpool. If your child is a fussy eater, as mine are. Read Sue's book and slowly bring in the veges that are low in Sals and amines. It is to stressful for everyone to suddenly change from one diet to another. There was no way mine would touch brussel sprouts or cabbage with a bargepole! So I used to make a soup with lots of veges, and vitamise it,then I would increase the yukky vege while decreasing the ones they wern't supposed to be on. I'd give them plenty of bread and promise them a great dessert if they ate first a couple of spoons then increased it gradually to half the bowl. In the meantime I stopped buying a lot of conveinience foods and started to make my own. Yep they winged, but it was either eat my stuff or starve! I also changed fruit bowl tactics and increased the amount of (more) yellow apples then red, and added pears while cutting out bananas. I promise you that when the time is right for you to try the diet properly, even though it looks like they don't get enough vitamins and minerals, amazingly they still survive and even seem happier for it. The main thing is to start practising reading the labels and trying to avoid the colours/flavours and preservatives. And get them used to your cooking!!!!!!!!! My kids were addicted to Chris's hoummus dip, I started making it, but they won't eat it (Chris's has 320 in the oil they use) I'm seriously considering buying his container and ditching the dip, then putting mine in it. In the meantime I'm eating it all by myself.mmmmmmmmm I'm not sure how accurate the test with casien and gluten will be if he still has intolerances with the other things that haven't been eliminated. Maybe Marina will know. My sick son has recovered from his Gastro with the help of homeopathic drops. His tics have almost disappeared again. Thank goodness. You said you have five little cherubs Caz, have any of the others got symptoms? Do you know of anyone in your family with it? We couldn't trace it back, but our families are in Scotland and England and we rarely have contact, so someone may have had it. I'll catch ya later, if you have any other probs, just write! I try to look at least every 2nd day.

Hi Arlin, I read your post and thought this might be a different angle you could try. I have had some success with myself, I don't tic though! I was recently given a business opportunity that was really abundant. But when I read through the paperwork I started to have heart palps and not be able to breathe. This had never happened before. I asked myself what the problem was as I was shocked at my reaction and Fear of success popped into my head. I did the EFT and the next day read through the same paperwork with none of the effect from the night before. ( except excitement) I am planning on trying it on my boys, it is non invasive and free. It's EFT therapy and Gary Craig offers it as a free download, with follow up information. I found it really weird and prefer to do it when alone. I think it is the singing Happy birthday bit that makes me laugh. Download and read through it, then print off the basic recipe. The whole manual is 80 pages, but I just printed off the 12 pages of basic recipe. It makes a difference how you phrase things, so if the symptoms don't go the first time, try rephrasing or dig deeper to find if there are any underlying emotions. You cannot lie to yourself! or it defeats the purpose. http://www.emofree.com/eftmanl.pdf Goodluck Clare

Sorry Caz, just couldn't resist! First download a free additive code breaker from Sue's site or the net. They are a must. I make our own wholemeal speltflour bread in the breadmaker, the kids got used to it eventually! They could have lettuce with Sue's chickpea dip, at the start I did use wholemeal flat bread, but you have to make sure the 282 preservative isn't in it there is a Lebanese one in Safeway thats OK. Some kids react to wholemeal flour. Boiled egg as long as they're fresh. Find someone who has chickens. The pear jam I mentioned was a failsafe recipe, but normally jam is out. You can make raw cashew paste yourself. It's a bit rich for my kids and they didn't like it. But I found out there is life after peanut butter! Plain chicken that you have cooked yourself. Sea salt is ok for flavour. Stay away from Cooked chickens in supermarkets, they are almost radioactive with seasonings! and ham or processed meats. Too many nitrates. Tinned Tuna and salmon were off the list, Butter is ok. Arrowroot is used to thicken stuff, but buy from the healthfood shop Lotus brand is preservative free. The supermarkets ones have 220 in them I think. Rice cakes with golden syrup. Sometimes I make failsafe scones with the jam or Golden syrup for topping or pikelets. Plain Smiths chips are failsafe I am pretty sure, white jelly beans are ok in Sues book. Most Arnotts plain biscuits are OK like Salada, clix and savoy, but maybe check with Marina. Sometimes the companies change the recipe. Sakata rice crackers are the only ones I trust. All the recipe's I use are in Sue's cookbook or The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney has 2 cookbooks out that I think are failsafe- Sue works a lot with them. I found a copy in the library of the first one and you can order it from the allergy unit. They have just released a new book, but I haven't got it yet. There are plenty of lunchbox slices and cakes in Sues book. Honey's out, but I use Rice syrup, golden syrup, pure maple syrup. My kids are ok with it, it is not as sweet as honey. There is a nice lunchbox potato slice, rice and cottage cheese pie, asian style salad. There is a pear chutney ( substitute for tomato sauce) these recipe's are in the RPA book. I can give them to you later if you need them. Don't forget to change your toothpaste. That usually has lots of colors and flavours in it. I use Weleda, the plant gel one or the calendula one is quite nice. You can get it from health food shops, but beware of the other brands because most of them have some type of aspartame, sorbitol or sacchrin in them. Of couse they always say they are natural! Since we changed diets. I now buy 10% at the supermarket and 90% of my drygoods through my co op, we get most stuff at wholesale prices plus 20% which includes GST. I was going through the health food shop, but it is too expensive, especially if you have five kids. It sounds really hard, but keep trying and eventually it becomes 2nd nature to check all labels. For inspiration check the difference in your childs tics! Ps, Check what pots your cooking in, I gave my kids aluminium poisoning from cooking in aluminium pots inherited from my grandmother. LOL Clare

Pear Jam sandwiches or pear jam sandwiches!

Hi Andy, I have tasted water that has been through one of the Wellness kitchen filters and it is delectable! They also make one for the whole house and bathroom filters. I am currently saving for one. Here's the website. I forgot to see if they have them in the USA. I hope so. Anyway there is plenty of info on the site for you to compare. http://www.wellness.com.au/ good luck Clare

HI all, Just to let you know don't feel bad if it looks like things arn't improving or look to be getting worse. My middle son who had the best response to the diet (the homeschooler) started to show some loud tic noises the last two days. I started to feel like a hypocrite and couldn't understand what had happened. Well last night all was revealed He was up all night vomiting and this morning is stuck to the toilet! I didn't think I would ever rejoice in that! But I know that was the trigger for the tics this time. There was no fever, which had put me off the trail! I'll keep you posted on how long the tics take to go again. Marina and Caz, Great that you have both found this site, it is so great to have somewhere that we can release our anxieties and know that others are in the same boat. Whenever I was really at my wits end, I would read through some of the posts and sure enough the answer out of the 1000's of answers here would pop up on me. It is so good not having to rely on the medical profession for info and I am a great believer in taking responsibility for your own health anyway. I asked one of the Dr's at work the other day how much of their 5yrs medical course was devoted to nutrition. Answer- 1 semester in yr 3. That should explain everything! LOL Clare :

Hi Heather, I've copied this off my post on the allergy thread. It took me ages to figure out that some processed food in the health food shops are just as bad as non-organic stuff. You have to really read every single label to make sure there are no hidden additives, such as antioxidents and "natural colors and flavours" these can be just as obstructive to tic relief as conventional food. For instance the colour annetto is a natural coloring that is plant based. They usually put it in icecream and yoghurts to make them look more creamy looking. They can get away with classing the food as organic because is is plant based. In Australia the code number for this is 160b/ 160a. I would highly reccommend that you that you by a code breaker booklet or download one for free from the net. If you can get a copy of the Sue Dengate book or look up her website, www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info It's also called the Failsafe diet, it explains really well about salycilates and amines and natural msg. These were the culprits that were really affecting my boys as well as artificial and natural coloring, flavours and preservative (antioxidants). I also found it really hard to find a practitioner natural or otherwise who was really educated on these things. Even the naturapaths were a bit blurry on the subject and don't seem to understand quite what an effect these things (sals/ amines) have on people with very low tolarence thresholds. These intolerances won't be picked up on normal allergy testing. You could try a kinesiologist or some EFT. Hope this helps. It is like Feingold I think. Thats just what I've picked up from reading Jeffs posts. I went with Failsafe because she lists typical Aussie brands of food that are ok to eat. She also has a page in the cookbook which compares Aussie and American words. EG our cordial is your Kool aide, so it would be suitable for you guys. I also get posts from the Failsafe forum, and I think there are a few overseas people using it. Love & healing Clare

To Marina, We did the basic failsafe diet and it took about 12 days to see an improvement. The 7yr old showed the most miraculous changes. His black eyes disappeared and he became a lovely calm and helpful child. Before that I would be wary of looking at him the wrong way! The tics decreased a lot too, but it took about another month to really see a difference. I did end up taking him out of school, this helped a lot. We now homeschool him and his little brother. The older one who also has TS wants to stay there. He has a great supportive teacher, but I think she is leaving next yr, so hopefully he'll want out too. It is really hard to control the diet when other kids offer corn chips and such. After doing the basic diet, we had changed to completely organic/biodynamic food anyway and this included meat. I am lucky that we live in the Yarra Valley in Vic. There are a lot of like minded people so I have good access to wholesale prices and I joined a food co op. I have almost got the shopping down pat and I reckon I would spend the same amount on organic as others would in Safeway for all the artificial stuff! We still stay failsafe most of the time, but I have to admit that the last couple of weeks they have been eating more fruit and it is beginning to show. I had decided to start back to basics this weekend. The supplements I use are Phillip Alexanders (Formula Six) they are low allergy no gluten, milk colours or flavours Multi Vitamin You can get them direct a lot cheaper or order through a naturapath. 02 99812225 or 0299827135. I use half a one per child and crush them. They each get 1 teaspoon of taurine mixed with it -MUSASHI brand. 1 teaspoon of vic C powder - MELROSE. I am also trying to get them onto Melrose Barley grass powder, I use it and its fantastic, but it tastes gross and they won't have a bar of it. So I give the GRANTS liquid chlorophyll instead spearmint flavour. If the tics are really bad neck crunching ones, I give them Comb 5 (5 phosphates) MARTIN & PLEASANCE tissue salts. Also great for leg cramps during pregnancy! I don't know if any of them are failsafe, but I'm torn between a rock and a hard place. We did the diet alone but we needed the supplements to make it miraculous. I have also got Sandra Cabot Liver Cleansing - Livertone plus powder, but I haven't tried that with them yet. I'll try to answer more questions later, but I don't want to talk your eyes off! Good luck Clare.

Welcome Caz and Marina, I can hear your accents in your posts! To Caz, Find another GP! I haven't been able to find a decent one yet, so we avoid them unless I need a referral for anything. If you have to use antibiotics, ask for the adult capsules instead of the kids one which will be filled with colours and flavours. The Dr should be able to adjust the dose. They do it for me, but my kids are a bit older. Having said that I've now learn't to avoid specialists as well. I recently had a horrible experience with a childrens allergy specialist at the Royal Childrens Hospital Melbourne. My boys are 5, 7and 9. The little one is the hardest to reason with but he shows the least symptoms and I cannot get any supplements into him. He is pretty good on the diet though. Luckily he likes pears! He is supposed to start prep next year. My 7yr old has always had problems right from birth although if only I had known they were intolerances, life would have been a lot easier. He started with reflux, constipation and the worst excema. I still didn't understand because no one else in the family was like it. Finally I found a pead after 3 attempts and numerous blood tests and drugs. He prescribed neocate formula and we had some peace. The excema cleared up within a week and no more vomiting. He stayed on that for 2 yrs and then changed to oat milk, then soy. He has always had dark circles under his eyes (allergy shiners ). He also has a great personality and can be very loving, but we would only see glimpses of this ocassionally. This year he started ticcing so badly out of the blue. It was really frightening to begin with, and he was really bad with the uncontrollable shouting out. He couldn't say a sentence without shouting half of it. This kid never does things by halves! He was going to school at this time, but I dreaded picking him up, because he had held the tic in in the classroom and then said he waited until the playground was really noisy before he would let some out. It broke my heart. The teacher didn't notice anything, but when he came home, it would sound like someone was being tortured. After looking on here for help, I noticed that diet was a big issue, then one day one of the other mums at school told me about Sue Dengates book. We haven't looked back. I have to admit that if they are sick or feverish,or under a lot of stress (like having to tidy their room!) the tics return a little bit, but they usually resolve once the virus has gone. I'll continue on the next post.

Hi, I'm just trying to find other Aussies who may be able to help with Aussie TS sites. The ones I've found don't have much info or support. I really think we need one like ACN! thanks Ausclare

Hi Lizzy, You stated that your son had previously shown signs of tics. It's possible that with the stress of the bereavments, it has decreased his body's coping skills. I agree with Chemar and would try to remove as many stress factors as possible to start with. Eg homework and backing off from making him go to social things until he works out where he is in himself. If these tics are new and severe, he will need time to readjust to his situation. I am not suggesting that you keep him a recluse, but I have known some people to push their kids into situations that they are not ready for (as in getting back on the horse senario). This exacerbates the symptoms and makes everyone miserable. I found when my son was ticcing really severely, that he didn't like me making a big deal out of it. I would usually wait for him to bring it up and let him talk about it, eventually if I just let him talk without interfering, he would expose what was really worrying him. I also tried to calm down our environment by not having to much going on at once. Eg changed from having TV on all day, to playing relaxing music and sitting down doing more activities with him.. I found drawing allowed him to release some of his pent up stuff and I could see by the way he drew, the subject and the colors whether he was relaxing. Sometimes the tics would get better, then they would come back with a vengence. It is very frustrating for people who love them to stand around and not worry or want to take it on themselves. Please read through as much as you can on this site. The first time I found it I was in tears after years of feeling that it was my fault my children were like this. There is so much information here that will improve your quality of life. Goodluck LOL Ausclare

Hi Heather, I think all plastic wraps have it in them, I haven't looked into that, I just try to avoid them all and use greaseproof paper where possible. If I have to store stuff in the fridge, I use glass/ china bowls with a plate over the top. The same goes for the microwave. I really try to avoid using mine, but if I do, I use other plates to cover the food, not plastic Apparently our Ikea stores have really good glass containers with seals. I have to find time to get to one. With plastic drink bottles all plastic leaches chemicals, no matter how much the companies tell you they don't. This is especially true if they are heated. ie- if left on the seat of a warm car in the sun or if you pour hot liquids into them. I know it sounds paranoid, but the more I read the more I find to be outright lies or carefully worded reassurance put out by companies to sell their products. I would really like to find out the TS rate in the Amish communities and the third world countries who don't have access to all this stuff. LOL Clare

Hi Heather, Thanks everyone for the advice on the yeast, I'l be looking into that one next! The antioxidents I was talking about in processed food are different to the "good ones' we get from eg Vit C and bioflavoniods. I found this website which will explain it a bit better wwwscieng.murdoch.edu.au/teach/env222. Or type in Food additives and contaminants under search. As a quick overview, these three antioxidants are in any food that needs certain vege oil in the processing, They prevent the oil from going rancid. I have seen it listed a lot where they use GM canola oil. Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) 321 Initially developed as an antioxidant for use with petroleum and rubber. Causes cancer in mice and rats and possible reproductive failure. Found in polyethylene wrap and can transfer to food when touching the food for any length of time or when heated. Not permitted in Australia for infant or young childrens food. If you need any more info on this stuff let me know. LOL Ausclare Butylated hydroxanisole (BHA) 320 In Australia not permitted in infant or young childrens food- found in gum and dairy blend edible oils, potato chips, biscuits, and some dips. tert- Butyhydrquinone (tBHQ) 319 As above for 320. I know it sounds scary, but many of the general public really don't know whats in our food or where they get these chemicals from.

Dear Citygirl, I really sympathise with you. It is really frustrating to eliminate foods and then have little result. It's great that you have gone organic. By this do you mean fruit/ veges/ meat and wholegrain cereals? It took me ages to figure out that some processed food in the health food shops are just as bad as non-organic stuff. You have to really read every single label to make sure there are no hidden additives, such as antioxidents and "natural colors and flavours" these can be just as obstructive to tic relief as conventional food. For instance the colour anetto is a natural coloring that is plant based. They usually put it in icecream and yoghurts to make them look more creamy looking. They can get away with classing the food as organic because is is plant based. In Australia the code number for this is 160b/ 160a. I would highly reccommend that you that you by a code breaker booklet or download one for free from the net. If you can get a copy of the Sue Dengate book or look up her website, www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info it explains really well about salycilates and amines and natural msg. These were the culprits that were really affecting my boys as well as artificial and natural coloring, flavours and preservative (antioxidants). I also found it really hard to find a practitioner natural or otherwise who was really educated on these things. Even the naturapaths were a bit blurry on the subject and don't seem to understand quite what an effect these things (sals/ amines) have on people with very low tolarence thresholds. These intolerances won't be picked up on normal allergy testing. You could try a kinesiologist or some EFT. Hope this helps. To Heather, I didn't do the yeast test on the boys because I was eliminating so much other stuff and an "expert! " told me that if you can eliminate the intolerance foods, the immune system will automatically be able to correct a yeast imbalance. I did do a heavy metal test and found to my horror that they had extremely high levels of aluminium. I had guilt for ages as we had always cooked in aluminum pots that were handed down from my deceased grandmother! So much for sentiment! They were out the door very quickly and since I now cook in some really great stainless steel I can't believe the different taste of the food! I haven't had them retested for the levels yet, because it was so traumatic for the first blood test that I couldn't put myself through it again. I would have to sedate them to do it. It is annoying because I don't know if their bodies have expelled the stuff yet. I do give them lots of vit C and we eats lots of bioflavinoids wherever possible. These are supposed to latch on to heavy metals and excrete them. To Claire, I would love it if you could bump this up onto a separate thread with my other post I'm not sure how to! Thanks Clare.

Hi there Gina and Diane, I haven't logged on for a while, because I have finally got my three boys tics 99% of the time under control. I don't think I could have worked it out without this site. I believe that most of the modern day "Tourettes Syndrome" diagnosis has been miss diagnosed. I have 3 boys who have all developed Tics and OCD symptoms in the last 5 yrs. I have been looking at the dietary link for the last 2 yrs almost to the point of being obsessed. ( maybe thats where they get it from!) My research and experimenting with my kids diets show without a doubt that it is food intolarence related. Salycilates and amines and some natural msg are included in the list. We now have a completely organic/ biodynamic diet with most of the food being made from scratch. I also give them supplements daily which include Taurate, vitamins and we mineralise wherever possible. I use a lot of seaweed products to do this. Purified water is also very important. On the topic of heriditary genes. I am still not convinced that it is a specific gene problem. I think that it is more an inability of the body to digest and absorb certain vitamins and minerals. The body's ability to absorb works like a domino effect eg some vitmins need certain amino acids to be useful, if the amino acids are not working/ being absorbed properly then they cannot absorb the vitamins in the right ways/ amounts this then affects the next mineral etc in line. This leads to deficiences in a lot of the minerals etc that the body needs to function properly. By working on the intolerances and building up the immune system and decreasing any food (non organic), toxins such as dust mites, pestisides and environmental hazards, the body can start to heal itself and start to reabsorb these vital nutrients. I have also found a link to the liver, adrenals and pancreatic enzymes. I can explain that later if anyone is interested. Someone asked me why all of my boys have the same problem. Well they all came from the same parents, so it stands to reason that if one or both of the parents had a problem with absorbing nutrients this would be passed down. It does look on the surface as if it is genetic, but no-one has yet been able to find the specific gene. I have had such miraculous results from this that I am in no doubt it works. I know some kids have a problem with TV screens and to this I still stand by the vitamin/amino acid/mineral deficiency theory. Some of these minerals are needed to make the synapses on the nerves work properly. If they are deficient then the body cannot adjust itself to abnormal stimuli, this results in tics or epileptic fits. My oldest son went on a school camp a few months ago. He was almost tic free before he went, he had the occasional grunt and eye tic, this was nothing compared to what he used to do. On arrival home from camp, he was unable to stay still, could not sit, his arms and legs were flailing about and the he almost had every vocal, facial tic that he had been through in the last five yrs. His teacher who had gone on the camp was in tears with sadness. He was also in tears from the pain of cracking his neck every few minutes etc. It took me 10 days to detox his body from the food that was the average persons "normal diet" and he had mega amounts of supplements, which he asked for because he knew they worked. He has now gone back to pre camp state and is really good about not eating the wrong foods for him when all his friends have them. I hope I haven't droned on too long and I really encourage you to try the Feingold ( I haven't) or the Sue Dengate (Fed Up) diets. We did the Sue Dengate one because we live in Australia and it was easier to source the food. But I believe they are similar. Good luck and if I find any more amazing things I'll let you know! LOL Clare

Thanks for the replies. To looking also, I have found a site for aluminium levels at GMTV Your Health powered by medicdirect.co.uk.htm. some of the levels are: <2.2 Slight risk in renal impared patients >2.2 Risk of toxicity in kids >3.7 High risk of toxicity in kids and needs to be fixed >7.4 High risk in all patients. Known to be neurotoxic Side effects are renal impairment, Alzeimers and dementia. Memory loss. Can affect bone growth in children or cause some bone disease in adults. Found in deoderant, water supplies and cooking utensils. Hope this can help. Now I have to find a good homeopath to get rid of it. I'll consider chelaton as a last resort. Thanks Ausclare

Hi all, I've got the results back for the serum heavy metal tests and they were all clear except for Aluminium, which to me looks like its off the scale. My local Dr wanted me to ring the specialist to check what the dangerous levels are. Can't get onto her and the lab that took the test won't give me the information directly. All the children range from 2.8 - 3.0 mmols and the base on the fax sheet was (<0.8) obviously they are high, but I can't work out what high is. If anyone can help with the theraputic levels and what is classed as high I would be most grateful. I need to know what effect this is having on their system and if it affects their learning ability, because sometimes they're extra smart and sometimes extremely vague. If you have any natural suggestions on detox that would be great too. Thanks Ausclare.

Hi Vicki, just a thought, your car doesn't have any of those smelly chemical air freshener things. Some kids are sensitive to the chemicals in them. Even if it says natural smelling NEVER TRUST THE LABEL! I am unable to trust any labels, even in the health food shops. The worst problem Australia has with it's foods is an additive in bread number 282 Calcium propionate It's supposed to be responsible for giving children ADHD symptoms and as they eat it everyday unknowingly, they are usually diagnosed with illnesses they don't really have. Apparently America uses it a lot as well but Europe rarely does. hope this helps LOL Ausclare

HI Debra, This doesn't have anything to do with your school qu, but I noticed that you wrote your son was four years ahead in maths and quite behind in reading/writing. I have just finished reading a book by Sue Dengate called Fed Up, she helped her children go from way below average to above average in most subjects. One of her kids had a similar senario as you have described above. By changing their diet by trial and error over 9yrs, she finally found a solution and has now written about it. I rekon this will save me about 7yrs of heartache. The diet is not easy, but it depends on how far you want to go. I think you can get the book off Amazon.com. Otherwise she has a website www.ozemail.com.au/~sdengate. goodluck Ausclare

Hi, I'm kind of new to this forum stuff, but there is so much info on this site for you. I would suggest that you read through some of the links on the Tourettes site, that one has some amazing help. I'm convinced that a lot of the problems on this site are caused by Diet- food intolerances, heavy metal and environmental toxicity, and unfortunately hereditary traits. Yeast infection is also a big one. I cannot find a family link to my 3 children having Tourettes, but I am now looking into the allergy factor. Trying to find out if past family members have had slight allergies/intolerances which somhow have become magnified in this generation along with the environmental influences. In Australia alone our governemnt allows 350 legal additives in our food, these include colors/ preservatives and flavours a lot of them are deamed ok, but for a minority that is fast turning into a majority it has outlandish effects such as OCD, ADHD, Oppositional Defience Disorder, increase in Autism and Tourettes symptoms. I'm currently having my children tested for heavy metals especially mercury, which is still being used in the UK for immunisation. Maybe you could start there? A lot of it is trial and error and is very frustrating, but I truly believe there is something natural out there that can help. I really feel for you, as my children all have some form of OCD with their Tourettes symptoms. If you read the other threads, you'll see that it is not uncommon and there is some excellent info on types of drugs and their effects. If you need anymore info, just say. Good luck Ausclare

Hi there, about the mango's. I looked up the food chemicals in fruit section of the RPA hospital in Sydney allergy unit book. It says that mangos are Moderate in salicylates. Perhaps you could experiment with other foods in the higher catergory to test the reaction. Fruit high in salicytates are: apricot Peach Blueberry pomegranate boysenberry redcurrent Blackberry strawberry cherry watermelon cranberry rockmelon/cantelope Apple- Jonathan/granny smith Guava loganberry nectarine There are some even higher in salicylates and the other chemicals that can cause problems are Amines and natural MSG in foods: the MSG fruit/veg are Tomatoes,grape,plum,prune,raisin,sultana/broccoli,mushroom,spinach If you are interested in more info just ask. There are a lot of foods that are affected. see ya ausclare