laurena82

Interesting figure......I just read this am that they estimate 4% of US kids have food allergies.......!

Huh.....my (jaded ) mind has a hard time believing that McDonald's and frozen factory produced quiche has "fresher" farm eggs than my local mom and pop cafe.......but obviously there is "something" different ....(LOL....my jaded mind would think they found a way to put *less* actual "egg* in it somehow...! ) ANYHOW....my first time reading this thread......just to join my experience with the others: My middle son (not TS son) had definite egg allergies. When I first fed him eggs (age 12 months)....within about 10-15 minutes.....he got hives from his chest up, his eyes were all swollen shut, etc etc.....it was clearly an ALLERGIC reaction. We had to avoid eggs for him....but he did eat other things that had eggs in them without noticeable dificulty. When I was making pancakes for breakfast, I deleted the eggs (very flat, but you can eat them), etc.....but when making cookies, for example, I left the eggs in....he ate the cookies with no noticeable problems. He also had MILK allergies....similar thing.....cows milk (and goats milk...tried that also) gave him hives all over (esp chest up over face)......but as he got older, I'd add some cheese onto things, and it didnt seem to cause a problem..... HOWEVER.....when he got old enough to talk with me and think things through better....like early elementary (maybe second gradish?).....he had noticed that if he had ice cream or a grilled cheese sandwich, the palms of his hands and feet would get really itchy....... ANOTHER interesting aside re: food allergies...... back in the day that I was dealing with all of these food allergies....and older gentleman shared with me how whenever he ate TURKEY, he would get this HORRIBLE metallic type of taste in his mouth....that he just couldnt bear to eat more than a couple of bites of it because of this metallic type of taste he'd get.......he also was HIGHLY allergic to PENICILLIN.......in working with an allergist.....he learned that the REASON for the metallic taste in his mouth with the turkey, is because commercially raised turkeys are fed such HIGH does of penicillin, etc while being raised (turkeys are VERY susceptible to illness....we raised them years ago...I know this to be true).....and he was so highly allergic to the penicillin, he was sensitive to the amount in the turkey meat.... .....this was hugely interesting to me, as this same middle son of mine is HIGHLY allergic to cows milk (and goats milk as well...tried that one, hoping for no reaction ).........ANYHOW......when son was born, of course I didnt know of his milk allergy. I breast fed, but that first night, of course there isnt all that much milk there yet, and (I had a home birth with him.....didnt have nurses taking care of him....just me and my husband after the midwife left....and my husband had fallen asleep after the "hard" work of birth LOL !!).......so, I figured I wouldnt get much sleep with the baby wanting to nurse every hour, so I'd just mix up a bottle of this powdered formula and feed him , so I could get a good stretch of sleep that first night......... ......well....let me tell you.....he had been FINE at nursing....but that bottle....he gagged and wretched, and gagged and wretched.......he absolutely refused to drink it......finally fell asleep after gagging and wretching as I kept trying to feed him this bottle..... ...................he nursed exclusively again until 6 weeks later.....I left him home with my husband when I went to 6 week checkup with midwife.....car broke down, and I was delayed getting home......told husband to go mix up a bottle of that powedered formula to feed him since I was delayed getting back......... HAH!....again!.....gagged and wretched....wouldnt take it........fell asleep without it! Skip ahead to when he was 6 months old, and I started him on some baby cereal, that I had mixed a bit of cows milk in .....where it dribbled down his chin turned red and hives......then his entire face/chest etc had hives......!..... Ah, yes......cows milk allergy (also explained how he always had blotchy/itchy skin that came and went while totally breastfed......turns out it was mild hives.......that was from the cows milk protein coming through MY diet........hah!....I was trying to be such a GOOD nursing mom by drinking lots of milk (that I really DONT like....!)......... So when that gentleman told me about the terrible metallic taste he'd get when trying to eat the penicillin/laden turkey......ah ha! LIGHT BULBS went off! How cool....!.....No WONDER my son *knew* not to drink that cows milk formula!! ! !! The other experience with food allergies and this son..... One time when he was probably six-eight months old, sitting on my husband's lap as husband was fininshing up eating, he gave son his spoon to play with.....spoon husband had used to eat his cereal (with milk)....but he had wiped the spoon clean before giving it to son.......son played and chewed on it....and got some blotchy hives around his mouth/face from just whatever few invisible molecules of milk were left on that spoon! And it's funny....this son NEVER then, drank milk. I bought orange juice with calcium, and he got calcium that way. He also got into the habit of putting apple juice on his cold cereal instead of milk. (hah....and , his youner brother...not allergic to milk....would some days eat milk on his, other days eat apple juice....and ond day, at about age 3, the younger brother is looking at picture on cereal box and says, "mom....how come they always show MILK on the cereal?".....LOL!....as though it's completely normal for the rest of the world to put applejuice on it as welll!) But,...funny thing.....these two are now both "vegan".....and the milk allergy son still prefers apple juice on his cereal........he tells me that while he doesnt dislike soy milk in any way......"I've just never gotten used to that creaminess, and it's hard for me to want to drink it"..... ! Oh well....long winded.... But I did want to add to thread that: Yes, ......my experience is also that you can have true "allergy" (e.g. hives/swelling) to eggs, but be "able" to eat in other products (although there probably ARE lesser symptoms....e.g. the itchy palms.....that perhaps no one is aware of??? ?? ??) and.... The story with the bad/metallic taste when given something the person is highly allergic to....(e.g Turkey/penicillin; formula/cows milk)... quite cool in a way.....that it's nature's way of telling my baby NOT to drink that cow's milk!! !!

(((((((((((hugs))))))))))) to you! Boy, can I relate....yes, it is a GREAT feeling to actually IDENTIFY what's causing it......then, to know that it can be eliminated or SIGNIFICANTLY reduced by just "healthful choices" instead of pharmaceuticals with all sorts of side effects, etc........that's a GREAT feeling.... .....but then....the overwhelming reality of trying to DO this in our society....! No wonder there are so many food allergies...we're being sensitized to so many things because these common things (soy, corn, wheat, dairy/whey, etc) are in EVERYTHING !! !! !! The elimination diet...while miserable to go through....is, in my opinion, THE way to "diagnose" food allergies......because.......!! as you clearly saw with the "danish" episode........if you've avoided stuff for awhile, THEN add it back.....you GET the EXACT symptoms it's causing....only GREATLY amplified......... ......it just leaves NO DOUBT in your mind that the food causes that specific symptom. We did that food elimination thing as a family when my son had the TS/tics going on,.....and, as a by product, my husband learned that his frequent headaches were caused by corn....I learned that my irregular heart beats were caused by corn.....and I also saw the dramatic worsening of my son's asthma/wheezing with corn......... I probably would have NEVER made that association otherwise...... BEST WISHES! and enjoy the holiday season

For what it's worth, my son did go on traditional allergy shots, and didnt seem to make TS symptoms worse. Also, for what it's worth, we had tried the sublingual drops with an environmental medicine MD prior to that....and I didnt see much improvement. She treated him for all the trees and molds, etc,...but also for the food allergies....it was supposed to "neutralize" the reactions to the foods.....unfortunately.....we didnt see it happen. HOWEVER....when we completely eliminated the food allergens from his diet....it DID greatly reduce the tics..... So, this is only one person's experience. The reason we later did the "traditional" allergy shots was because he had wheezing/asthma symptoms, too. His asthma did get much better after ? 3plus years of allergy shots......who can say if that's for sure the reason? As for how long you remove the food then when to try reintroducing....I'd say you remove completely for a week, then reintroduce one at a time every 3 days. IN those three days, IF that food had been causing a problem....you will see the problem reappear (often DRAMATICALLY increased) once you've had a couple of meals (in the same day) back on that food. So, if after 3 days of the reintroduction, there are no increase in symptoms....that food is probably OK. If there are symptoms, then remove it again, and see if symptoms remit again. Allergies and tics are SOOOOOO frustrating and difficult to figure out sometimes...esp since the TS has that "waxing and waning" deal...so sometimes you THINK it is better because you did XYZ....when really......sigh...it was just time for that symptom to go away, but another is arriving in its place... BEST WISHES! You'll get good support here....

Browndog, Just reading the family history with mild tics and allergies(itchy mouth)....there are definite correlations between allergies and tics. Dr. Robbins or other environmental MD's would most likely be your best/most comprehensive bet.....but if you feel too isolated from that, etc, you could start by doing what I did with my son 15 (plus) years ago..... I first took him to a good chiropractor who practiced "applied kineosology"......this is muscle testing....where you bring sample foods that the child eats regularly, and he tests muscle strength to the foods. You can then identify ones that negatively impact (similar to electrodermal testing of energy fields), and then you do an elimination diet of actually removing those foods from his diet, and looking to see if the tic situation improves. Put the foods back to see if tics return. Others here have good advice re: other avenues to explore.....(supplements, etc) It seems like so much is trial and error..... ((((((((((Hugs!))))))) and BEST WISHES!

Makes you wonder if the allergy is to molds or something, rather than the fruit itself? My experience (with my son) 15 plus years ago with "food allergy drops" (by environmental MD....Paula Davey...one of the pioneers) was that I didnt really see any effect....whereas completely eliminating the food DID show a great effect. (just my experience, though) BEST WISHES!!

I see an update on this story: http://www.wvec.com/news/Family-seeks-cure...r-72836702.html

Hi JDmom, DH-dear husband, DS= dear son, DD=dear daughter....you get the idea re: Maybe this came off sounding different in person....but, reading it, I think, "holy cow, that guy sounds condescending!". If you got the feeling that he was condescending/arrogant/etc....., I would encourage you to look around for a different neurologist....honestly, you have a few years ahead of you in dealing with a neurologist.....so, best to have one you are comfortable relating to. On the positive side,....the rest of the remark makes it sound as though your son's tics arent very severe......so, that is a very positive thing! In my son's situation , eliminating food allergies reduced the motor tics by about 90% I'd say.....it was HUGE. Of course....avoiding all of these common allergans (corn, milk, wheat, eggs, chocolate...) was very difficult.....and, ...sigh.....it did nothing for the vocal tics. So, in our case, the only reason I decided to try to meds was to see if they would help the vocal tics. Regarding stuttering....PLEASE tell the stuttering boy's mom that not all speech therapists are the same! Mine saw a speech therapist for five YEARS (K through 5th grade) with NO improvement....and I was told it just WASNT POSSIBLE for him to get better..........THEN....I found a different speech therapist who had additional training in DYSFLUENCIES.........we started the end of May...by Sept.....he was fluent except in extreme situations....and by the following spring....he was COMPLETELY fluent all of the time! Honest! Regarding stutering: if there is one thing I would scream from the rooftops....it's that you need a speech therapist who's taken additional training in DYSFLUENCIES !! !! !! The other two questions you asked re: catapres side effects....the main one he had was tiredness....and he was able to take the minimal dose at bedtime, so it wasnt much of an issue. Occasionally, I"d give him half a pill in am also if he was especailly bad and having tics again...but that was rare. It wasnt effective enough to remove the vocal tics, either, but it did as well as the food allergies re: removing motor tics....and after a few years of the food restrictions....it was just too difficult to maintain, so I "gave up" and used the catapres... Since your post makes it sound like the tics are relatively minor,.....(and the neurologist isnt even sure he wants to treat them with drugs?) I would DEFINITELY look into food allergies as being causes, and also others have had good luck with supplements. In our case, I really didnt see much improvement with supplements.....and he was on huge amounts of them, prescribed by an environmental medicine MD at one time.... There is something called "tardive dyskinesia" which are "permanent" side effects SOME psycotropic meds can cause (catapres doesnt)......anyhow....I would be VERY hesitent re: using those unless you felt you had no other recourse. But, on the positive side......I honestly can say that my son WASNT teased re: motor tics.....and , if /when he was, he blew it off, and hence wasnt bothered by that However, the fact that the vocal tics made him unable to talk fluently, and unable to get words/sentences out, etc.....that was a HUGE issue for him..... Anyhow....best wishes with everything.....you can get TONS of support here.....and my best advice is to start by looking into food allergies, and perhaps try some supplements, also. Regarding the food allergies.....dont completely trust the skin tests and IGE blood tests if they say "negative".....my other son tested "negative" to corn on both of them....but with the actual elimination diet....corn was DEFINTELY the cause of his hives/allergies. The BEST way to know how foods affect you, is to completely remove the food from your diet for a week, then add it back at numerous meals for a day or two....and see what happens that day and the next. IF it's causing a problem to you...you will get that problem....and it will be MORE dramatic than it "usually" is.... BEST WISHES!!

You mean like OCD? no, he didnt have that. He DID have some ADD tendencies....particularly the "distractiblity" part.......I'd say he outgrew that as well, though. His main issues were motor tics, and vocal tics. And the most distressing of the vocal tics was the stuttering, which was very severe. It still amazes me how he's completely fluent now. The motor tics were probably worst around age 6 - 11, I think.

Hi JDmom: Yes, yes and yes ! Not only that, but by age 18-20, he had WAAAYYYY less tics than at age 5...in fact, I never see any anymore (he's 24 now). I posted a bit of history on Lele's thread back on Sept 5 and 6: http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?...=5176&st=15 Our neurologist also said many kids "outgrew" it during adolescence....and, I also thought he didnt know what he was talking about.....but, I am so happy he was right! I think he quit the catapres by about his freshman year in HS...and really didnt have any tics to speak of ...and, like I say, none that I notice now. He also had a huge problem with stuttering....which is considered a "vocal tic", but when I found a different speech therapist at about 5th grade level....within a year, he was quite fluent.....and he has no problems with that anymore, either. {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}} and best wishes! I am so glad there is this message board for moms to get support at these days!! !! !!

About 5 years ago, I was still working in public health, and giving immunizations was part of my job. Things keep changing (yes...more and more vaccines developed....this was pre-Gardisil days, ), plus more and more become "required" for school, etc.....so, this info is 5 years old: However,....at that time, "varicella" status for schools needed to be EITHER : evidence of vaccine, OR date of disease. There was/is still alot of "wild" chicken pox out there....and if a parent gave the date of disease, that was taken in lieu of vaccine status. (and, since virtually no one takes their kids to MD for "diagnosis" of chicken pox....they just get it, you know it and deal with it....not to encourage dishonesty , but I guess you could say he had it on some date....just a mis-diagnosis on your part...) ALSO....there is (from the CDC) a "catch up" schedule.....for kids who have had NO immunizations, ....or way behind in them......there is s specific schedule of how soon you can give the shots after each other, and how many total you would need, to have full immune status.......and, I remember looking at those and seeing how if your child is older, and THEN get these 'catch up" shot schedule,......it is totally alot less shots then if done in the preschool years. I dont remember specifics of these things...but I'm sure the info is available online someplace.... Hope this helps...

I'm in MIchigan, and a parent can still sign a waiver that it is against their religious/philosophical beliefs to have the vaccines, and that is filed with the school. As I recall, you get that waiver form from the school. Hope this helps!

Either that....or they were at some REALLY incompetent neurologists! They did mention in the clip that she had been to a bunch of doctors...including neurologists...and,...yeah...no where was "tic" mentioned til the TV doctor mentioned it.... Will be interesting to see how it turns out... You would have thought the neurologist would have wanted to try some big guns psychotropics on her....??.....they used to use thorazine for intractable hiccups (I think they still do!)....

{{{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}}} to you ! Houseguests are stressful enough.....without the negative health impacts in your situation.... As for smoking........(a little off topic here).....but it still never ceases to amaze me how many folks **still** smoke..... I"m over 50, and when I was a teenager (common age to start smoking?).....already everyone **knew** it was bad for you.....heck...they had taken the ads off of TV and put the "hazardous to your health" onto each package............. and as time has gone on......we've only learned MORE and MORE how bad it is for you...... why dont we just take a slow acting poison that guarantees us emphysema and bumps up our cancer risk significantly? I can see folks who started smoking WAY back when it wasnt known to definitely do these things....and get hooked,...as it is VERY addictive on many levels.... but still......geesh..... oh well....(off of soapbox). (I work at a hospital, and it still blows my mind to see all of the employees huddled outside smoking......I mean.....we're there watching all the COPD patients gasping for breath.......and its BECAUSE of the smoking.....) whatever.... Hope things get back to normal soon for you...... {{{{{{{{{more hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}

Not sure where to post this, but came across site that lists specific brand products corn free/gluten free/casien free.....may be useful to those with food allergies: http://corn-freefoods.blogspot.com/

I'm glad for you! Sometimes...I think it isnt even so much that 'alternative" practititioners practice "alternative" whatever-it-is-that-they-practice...... it's just as much that they CARE....and TAKE THE TIME to actually DO the more thorough evaluations....LOOK for ALL possible things, actually TALK with you and actually LISTEN to what you're saying, etc etc..........KWIM? anyhow....glad you feel good about it all...

I came across these links on another site:

Thought: Is it possible to go to the Dr. Garcia or whoever for the appliance (since you feel more confident with his particular appliance), then do follow up with a local TMJ physician? I mean...what if you did live near Dr. G....got the applicance.....then wound up having to move across the country.....since you're wearing it the rest of your life....I"d think you'd be figuring on finding a local TMJ physician to follow up with.....I'd think Dr. Garcia or whoever did the original appliance would, in that case, be helping you find a local physician to follow with.....that's how the medical field works in other situations when you move.....? Best wishes!

Yea!! Pretty weird how this stuff works......but, who's gonna argue with success? Glad to hear it...

This was an "environmental medicine" physician (MD) I went to (Paula Davey....she was one of the pioneers of EM movement, actually). She used "electrodermal screening" to identify "allergans", then which level of the drops would "neutralize" the reaction......supposedly over time it did desensitize you as well...but you could do food allergies as well with this..., which you cant with traditional allergy desensitization shots. The idea, was supposed to be that you took these sublinqual drops ? three times a day (dont remember), and it would be "neutralizing"your reactions you got from eating the offensive food. I do know some people who claimed success with this. I didnt see it in my son. If we COMPLETELY ELIMINATED these same offending foods from his diet.....his motor tics decreased by at least 90%....but if we gave him the foods and used the drops...which was supposed to have the same effect of elimintating the tics caused by the foods....he still had the tics and I didnt notice any dramatic decrease. I had a friend with other symptoms from food allergies (fibromyalgia and arthritis type of stuff) who DID have success with these types of drops, however. He did go onto traditional allergy desensitization shots a couple of years later, and I didnt notice any increase tic type symptoms with that, if that was your other question. Best wishes!

That would depend a little on the growing season where you live. I'd guess sometime in July (when tassles start coming out....) til after harvested. (october/november).

My experience (or non experience ) with NAET: About ?10 years ago, after pretty well throwing in the towel re: treating my TS son's food allergies by avoiding the foods (only thing that really helped....we had been to environmental medicine MD and gotten "neutralization" drops --sublingual-- for food allergies,....those didnt seem to help, although completely avoiding the offending foods DID help.....I started traditional allergy desensitization shots for him,etc) HOWEVER......I was still VERY interested in "alternative"/natural etc treatments..... .....and I learned of NAET. I read a book about it (written by the originator of it, as I recall?) and learned of a training program for it,.....and was considering going to it. IT was in California, and would involve being there at least a week,...alot of expense for me at the time.....but I lived in a rural area with no NAET practioners ANYWHERE around....and, I was seriously considering it....to go, learn the techniques, and do it. While trying to decide about this, I found the name of an accupuncturist about a 3 hour drive from me (nearest NAET practitioner) who used it. I called and talked with her about it. SHE TOLD ME....that she had trained in NAET, used it,....but then she told me about something else...much simplier....that she had since trained in, and used with (she felt) just as much success.......and encouraged me to look into it instead........it was called "TAT"..."Tapas Accupuncture Technique" (or maybe: Tapas Accupressure Technique". It was developed by an accupuncturist, and had shorter training sessions......I think the one I went to was two days. I googled it up after reading this thread....there is a site about it, and she does still offer workshop (the one I went to was in Toronto...fall of 2000). I see on her website, she now offers teleconferences to teach the entire technique, as well as has CD and DVD's specific to allergy treatment: http://store.tatlife.com/index.php?main_pa...;products_id=42 (try looking the whole site over....I think much of the info for doing it yourself is on there for free) It is MUCH simplier, you (hah! ...it sounds so bogus....) basically THINK about the offending thing, and use these particular accupuncture places for your hands, etc on the person. ANYHOW......I came home and by then, my TS son's TS was basically controlled by then, in fact, I think he was off of the catapres even by then....and he was a high schooler not real interested in this weirdo stuff......... HOWEVER, my youngest was 10 years old then.....and an enthusiastic/intersted kid in general. HE had recently had alot of problems with allergies and we were suspecting the house cats, among other things. Both of my older sons had rated high to cat allergies when tested with skin testing, and we had been keeping our cat outdoors and out of the bedrooms as much as possible (because we couldnt bear to part with her), which seemed to be enough to help their allergies. And so my 10 year old son wanted me to treat him for cat allergies, so we wouldnt have to actually get rid of the cat if that turned out to be what was causing his problem. And so , I did. Then, a few months later....he went for skin allergy testing. He tested positive to all the common things, just like his brothers did,...dust, mites, molds, some trees, dog.......but.....hah.....COMPLETELY negative to cat. Coincidence? who knows.... anyhow....that's my experience. If I were you....I 'd look into TAT anyhow. As I recall, it was either $150 or $300 for the two day course......but it was excellent, and they were very clear at explaining it, having you practice with each other to, etc....you most definitely went home able to practice it. Honestly, I think alot with techniques like TAT is (honestly) suggestability. The mind has HUGE capacities. PERHAPS the fact that my 10 yo's mind completely "believed" that this would remove any cat allergies was the way it worked. (or ...maybe not....) Anyhow....I wanted to share that experience with you. BEST WISHES!

I think someone mentioned nuts....how about trying different nuts for snacks? They have a lot of calories, but the fats in them are fairly healthy...also give protein is good. Also, not sure what is in the "rice dream" products ("frozen ice cream" type stuff that uses rice and has no dairy/soy/corn....I remember that much)....my kids had the rice dream ice cream bars and LOVED them.....very delicious. A bit pricey compared with regular grocery store ice cream bars....but a good special treat for a child with food allergies, I think. (Tofutti is another brand with yummy frozen "ice cream" treats...only uses soy...but no dairy or corn sweetners) It IS so difficult to eat out, etc with the food allergies.....and, from what you're describing....you're not 100% sure that the diet is even helping that much? I'd do as the others suggested also....try one thing now and then...see what happens.....then you'll know.......maybe see what's of most interest to your daughter to be able to eat again, and start with that? Food allergies are SOOOOO hard to fathom at times.....my (19 yo) son (no TS with him) had a HUGE problem with hives from corn....he completely eliminated it (very difficult, when in college, dorm food, etc etc....but he did it) plus took allergy shots for the corn pollens for 6-8months....his hives went away, he went off of the antihistamines....then retintroduced the corn....and...huh....he's FINE with it now.....and...this has all happened in about a years worth of time....? very strange...... so, I guess trial and error is really the only thing that will tell you for sure what's going to happen to YOUR child... BEST WISHES!!

Then vaporizer, moisturizer, drinking extra water, etc...good suggestions. My initial ???? was if possibly home heating petroleum by by-product fumes (e.g. from gas/oil furnace, etc?) had a problem allergy wise?

Tina, My experience with elimination diets has been that when you add the one food back, (you need to eat it at more than one meal) you see the results very shortly after the second meal of it, up to the next day or later. And....the symptoms you get are what it normally causese...only MUCH more dramatically. ????I'm wondering if the gaba calm has any of the things you'd been eliminating in it? You'd hope not, but it is very common to use corn starch as an agent in tablets, or maybe something else you had been avoiding....and it's this "inert" ingredient that might have been causing the increased ticcing? Anyhow....if you do have the symptoms with dairy, I"d think you eliminate that again...for at least three days.....then try adding a different one. Corn was a huge one for us. And it is in EVERYTHING....often unrecognized (e.g. many things say "food starch"....but that's corn.) I would think you could call your doctor for better clarification on how to proceed as well.... BEST WISHES!!