Hello everyone,
I'm another newbie although I have been "lurking" for a week or two. A quick introduction. My son has been diagnosed with TS. He is 7 and his symptoms started 15 months ago. His tics came on fast and hard and we went through the "is this epilepsy?" or what stage. After a sleep-deprived EEG and a review of our family history, which includes tics, he was diagnosed by a pediatric neurologist. We have not medicated as of yet. His tics have been, until now, mild. But they are intensifying and my daughter, age 5, is starting to show signs of facial tics. Neither of my children have had any of the accompanying issues yet of OCD or ADD. But I realize that these conditions may present themselves in the future. It has been a whirlwind of emotions for my husband and myself. The emotional ups and downs that I have read from so many other parents.
Before trying meds I'd like to try alternative treatments. I am fortunate to know another family that has used alternative treatments to treat a tic disorder with their child and they let me know about Latitudes. I have the back issues and have been digging through them. The information overload is hard to handle. Some of my concerns include; how to get my pediatrician to understand all of this and how to get going on some of the avenues of treatment. I went to one of these health food stores and looked at the vitamins and I just turned around and walked out. I was overwhelmed at the choices and I am very hesitant to start giving my son "up to 20 pills a day" when the products aren't uniform or prescribed. Does he need a nutritional workup first, so that I know what he lacks before I start adding things? This seems reasonable and yet I'm not sure how to find out what he lacks? What kind of doctor specializes in this type of analysis? Both my kids are good eaters, we already use a lot of organics in our cooking at home and I am not aware of any allergies in either of my kids. But I realize, after reading Latitudes, that they may have allergies and I am just unaware of their existence.
We already know that stress and emotional upheavals cause tics. (This seems universal across the board. ) And we try to keep life simple for my son. He also increases his tics if he is sick or exercising. I think he just feels free to release when he is running around. I guess we feel that we have a window of time, when my kids are young and not under too close scrutiny by their peers, to try to find some methods to help them before we have to try medical intervention. I'm just very leery about the vitamin protocols I am reading here in that I feel so unqualified to be a "prescriber". Any good links to information on this topic would be especially appreciated. We also use some, although not a lot, of typical household cleaners. I have bleach in the house and PineSol. What are the experiences of others out there on this issues? If I get a vaccum with filters, pull up all synthetic carpets and use air purifiers in the, will this make a difference? When he is exposed elsewhere on a daily basis?
I know I am asking a lot of questions. I have so many more. I don't have a goal of stopping the tics. There are so many and so often. But I would like to reduce them, understand them, and inhibit an increase if I can. My son is a beautiful boy, so happy and loving. He's not sure why this is happening and I don't have any answers for him that help. But he is not the strongest kid on the block and I think ridicule by his peers will be so difficult for him. I also have my own set of anxieties and fears which I need to deal with. Reading this forum and knowing others are out there with similar concerns is so helpful for me. Thanks for reading!
I don't have much experience with using this board so I apologize for typos.
Decorah
