anjelictwins

Thanks so much for your reply! I welcome any suggestions or opinions anyone has to offer. Honestly, her diet is on the poor side although I live with my Italian mother who cooks dinner for us every night while I'm in school lol so she its not like she's eating fast food every day and I try to limit her from as much sugar as possible. My problem is I'm a picky eater myself so I have sympathy for her. I clearly need more direction as far as diet goes as well as any other things you all have found helpful. My main goal at this point is to just get the licking to a minimum. I'm just so worried for her health due to her licking. I read a bit on the vitamin supplements which I am terrible about reminding her to take. Although, I think that may have been for the better because as I realize now the ones I have are a generic flintstones vitamin that have lots of artificial colorings in them. I think if I get the right supplements I have to force myself to remind her to take them. I need direction and would be so grateful for any suggestions (or opinions!) anyone has to offer! I dont get offended very easily lol. Again, thanks so much for replying! Ann

I just found this board and thought I would try posting. I tried reading the pertinent information but there is so much I dont feel its answering my specific questions - so I'm sorry if I post a repeat question! I have a 15 year old son and twin girls who will be 9 in December. My son was diagnosed around age 7 with mild tourette's. His was really mild and the tics were mostly blinking and other facial movements, maybe a shoulder shrug here or there but nothing major. We tried prescription meds while he was in middle school but he didn't find they actually worked so we stopped them. I didnt want to try them unless the tics bothered him. Nutrition wise, I have always tried to keep my kids away from red dye and even though I'm about to finish nursing school and do have some knowledge of nutrition it is definitely not nearly enough!! With my daughter, she started out with licking things - even walls! This was probably some time around last summer so I knew long before her diagnosis that she also had it. She was finally diagnosed by a doctor a few months ago with the ADHD/Tourette's/Anxiety triad which really do seem to fit her perfectly. I have an identical twin (my daughters are fraternal) and both of us exhibit these same triad of symptoms as well as her father's side of the family (so she was doomed from the start!!). The doctor never mentioned specifically it was genetic but in our case, I really believe there would be no other cause. She is on Adderrall, which I feel she needs and does well on (we have tried other ADD meds) but it does worsen her tics. The doctor also mentioned taking Melatonin to help her sleep and she is also on Clonidine at night. With the Melatonin, I tried it myself and I swear it gave me severe PMS symptoms even though it was that time and I feel my daughter also has similar side effects - is that crazy? So we just stopped it. My daughter's tics are considered mild, and they are, but the licking is, at the very least, unsanitary!! Her twin sister ended up with meningitis last September and I really feel this was due to her sister's licking of everything. She is literally like a 9 month old right now, every single thing she picks up goes right to her mouth. I realize we are supposed to ignore it but this has become so unhealthy and potentially dangerous that I just can't. Going to nursing school, I live with my parents right now and they are pushing me to take her to a therapist or something to alleviate this licking. I have tried to explain how she can't help it etc. but they really dont understand. I'm not sure if they are as concerned about her health as they are about their embarassment. She has never had any blood work done other than her usual CBC probably a couple years ago. I'm sure her regular pediatrician would help me out with any tests that should be performed but I dont know where to start. I'm going to nursing school full time (done in December!!!) and the kids are starting school this week so I really have almost no time for anything else!! I wanted to mention are her eating habits with possible associated sensory issues. She is so "picky" that there are very few foods she will eat. She is a real trooper and will try her vegetables (we have to force her to take a couple of fork fulls a night which she may or may not gag on) but she has a very limited diet of things she will actually even touch. She even goes through periods (although they are short as I refuse) of saying she HAS to have soda (pop), she's almost obsessive about it. So I feel as though food elimination is very difficult. In school, she is having a very difficult time. Behavior wise, the Adderrall helps tremendously (although the tics get worse). Many of her letters and numbers are still being written backwards and the school is concerned she is still exhibiting this behavior. She seems to have a left-right confusion. And, of course, she has issues with tags on her clothes; owns a million pairs of shoes but will only wear one pair due to the way they feel on her feet. There's probably more things I can associate with sensory but that's all that comes to mind right now! So, I'm lost in the world of Tourette's and sensory issues and I feel there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Any advice would be so appreciated. I myself have ADD (probably a bit of Tourette's too!) so I readily admit my time is not well spent although I am going to try to read through as much of the info on here as I can. I'm sure I left out some piece of pertinent info! Thanks so much! Ann