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So if it is an inbalance of nutrition it is good and if it is something neurological it can bring on or even hasten the aligment? Please explain, Marie

Well I just got back from the eye droctor who told me that he is perfectly normal. Just sensitive is all. Gave me advise that "twitchiness" is a stresser thing and once you find the stressor...the twitchiness will end. I am closing in on week two on the supplements and changing the household environment to reflect more family love less outside intervention (TV) and the personality thing has been a great success. He is very happy. Even received a call from his teacher and she said whatever you are doing...keep it up because he is very happy and she notices minor tics when they do flash cards and when on the computer. Other than that he is a normal 6 year old. So now the only outward sign of any issues are just the tics. Most eye and neck. I will try the homeopathic remedy on the weekend so I can observe. It is evident through much discussion and tracking, that his "blinking" started shortly after his brother was mauled by a neighbors dog. THe neighbor was a physco woman who resented that her dog had to be muzzled and caged so she stalked my family with this dog and even tried to run my older son over with her car. Police and the courts could do nothing and we lived in fear and anger for about a year or so. No outside play, etc. So I think anxiety was started then and he is stuck at a level that is much greater than normal, so when normal anxiety is presented abnormal reactions occur. He is much better now than three weeks ago, but I am hoping to wake up from this nightmare. I don't know what scares me more, that there are no traditional remedies, this homeopathic stuff or is this the new way of life for him? I just need help. Alison you were right when you said this SUCKS. It really does!!! I have never felt so helpless in my whole life. But I do feel that the path that I am taking is worth it. As a family, we all played tonight instead of letting TV entertain us. Last Friday we brought a puppy (full grown it will be about 10 pounds) into our home and we have seen/heard the laughter, the love and felt the hope that healing will result. With God's love, our determination and help from every source we can find (that is you good people) I am hopeful! To all, have a good night and cherish the time well spent! Marie

Hi Allison, I just got back from the nutritionist who gave me some homeopathic remedies for my son. I asked about the increasing of tics and he said that it can occur. If it does, he will stop the treatment and alter the dosage or remedy. So good luck to you and me too! Keep me updated, as I will you. Marie

Hi Allison, I have an appointment with a nutritionist today. When we spoke on the phone he was very positive about homeopathic remedies, but I have not tried it as of yet. He explained that homeopathy is actually ingesting ingredients that promote the actual cause, but in a very watered down state. So I guess that it could very well aggrevate the tics, kind of like allergy shots. Maybe the dose is to strong? I also read about a condition called Bleithospasm (spelling) it starts as blinking and gradually increases with light sensitivity and can cause facial tics. This condition too has no quick fix and points to alternative medicine, more specifically nutrition. I am going to take him to the eye doctor on Wednesday, if I find out more info I write back. Marie

Good advise the point is well taken. Marie

Gina, Thanks for the post. Today it has been hard for me since my son was exposed to computer class yesterday and now is tic-ing a little more. We would all like a crystal ball to see into the future, becuase that is what we are all fearing. So thanks for posting and painting a nice picture. Marie

Hi Purple, Welcome, I just completed no screens and saw great improvement. No cure, but great improvement. Vitamins, supplements and a balanced makeup is what I have read here for both the mind and body. I have a 12 year old who joined in on the no screen to help out his brother and it yielded a closer family. Changes made from the normal are hard, but can be helpful on a multitude of levels. We introduced board games, card games and models. I have to tell you that you will have to be the one to initiate the motivation and find other activities in a manner that is upbeat, otherwise they will think of it as a punishment. That is what happened to my son when a movie was shown in school and he was not allowed to watch. Oh boy was I the enemy that day! Also, think about anxiety. Because he might not show outter signs that does not mean that something inside has not turned up the heat and normal stimuli just might make it worse. I for one get stuck from time to time and I suffer panic attacks after the stressful situation is resolved. Tics are an outter sign of what is going on inside. Find a good doctor who believes in and is knowledgable in nutrition and keep reading and posting. GOd Bless! Marie

Hi to all. Well the 7 days of no screen ended yesterday. I let him watch an LCD TV in his room with the lights on....he requested to be alone while he watched and sure enough he blinked but not as severe as before. Mothers always notice more. The great thing about it was that after a half hour, he shut the TV and wanted to play the games with me that I was using to keep him away from the TV. THe silver lining here is my relationship with him, it has actually grown stronger for it. I can't help but think if he did not tic and things remained the same, what would the future be like for him and I? Allison, things do happen for a reason. Marie

Decorah, You are in good company. I am also new but for the lack of experience, I can tell you that your love for your child is paramount. We all have been brought together by fate, and together we will overcome our fears for what life has in store for our children. My older son is an asthmatic and my younger son tics. They are people, who like me and you, are not perfect. I never had tics or any health issue, but in school I was made fun of. Children are cruel even if you are perfect. So get the notion out of your head that your child will be teased for his tics. Some children are over weight, others lose their hair before 18 and some are just beautiful. The thing that makes the most difference is the love and self esteem that they get from their family. Love them, love them and love them every time they tic. Do not fear it. I feared it for three weeks and that was three weeks lost of love I should have been providing but lost due to fear. Medical help is great, but remember nutrition is best. Think out of the box. Medical doctors are taugt to provide help from pharmacutical companies and not anything about nutrtion. See a nutristionist or an MD with a nutrition background. The more informed you are about your childs makeup the better you can aid him/her. Medical doctors will stop symptoms and not the cause. Their time is to valuable to investigate every problem that come that comes accross the desk. Case and point my child had asthma and received a course of antibiotic for over four years before I went to an allergist and was diagnosed with asthma. It took maybe 4-5 doctors and a case of pneumonia (spelling?) and spitting up major blood before anyone real doctor took notice. Even my brother in law, who is an MD, perscribed antibiotics for an asthma attack. There is no over night miracle, environmental changes and a full work up of your childs inner feelings, as well as his/her nutritional defeciencies will yield the information that you need to help them cure or at least cope with tics. If you need to than cry, if you need to than yell when no one can hear. But remember people like Chemar, Claire, Allison and me are here going through much of the same and ultimately life goes on...tics or not. I have used this site for info and support. It helped me knowing good people are here for me. I am here for you too! God bless you for the long road you must travel, but it is worth traveling. Marie

Hi Everyone, 2:30 this afternoon marked the end of the 6th day with no screens and the 7th and final day. Well Tuesday proved to blow up in my face. All was good on day 3 and 4 and I thought I had figured it out, but Tuesday proved me wrong. Because of the weather, the school had a movie in class and he wasn't allowed to watch ..yes because of me and the no screen trial. Well needless to say he came home so mad at me that his eye and eye roll tic returned. He refused to go to school on Wednesday and today was not his worst tic day but also not his best. So what TV elimination told me is that anxiety is the biggest trigger of all. I spoke to a nutritionist today who told me that anxiety is the root. What happens on the inside will show up on the outside. If the anxiety causes the tic and the normal stimuli, such as TV, etc, will add to the stimuli of the anxiety causing more and more tics. Sounds sensible. He advised amino acids, some homeopathic treatments, family counseling and of course the vitamin treatment that he is already on but perhaps more powerful. But the urine test will be the first start and that will be done on Tuesday. I know it will take 12 weeks before the vitamins actually take full effect. But like most newbees, I was hoping for that overnight miracle. I must share a bit with all of you though. My 12 year old gave me probably the most valuable piece of advise that anyone could have given me. He said, just let him be him and we will figure out the rest. Such clarity...let him be, slow down and figure it out through time and love. We all will find a solution or a way of life...but just give them the time, support and love so that they can just be! Marie

Hello, First I want to thank everyone who posts here. Before finding this site, I thought I was very alone. My son just turned 6. For a couple of years he blinked. No big deal. He was always sensitive to light and it semmed that watching TV or brite sunny days or brite lights strained his eyes. Turning 6 made all the difference. Stress of his first year in school, the Holiday Play he was in and just Christmas in and of itself made for a tic feast. He started to role his eyes, bend his head up and down slowly as if he has a crick, mostly when when watching TV or when very stressed or excited. I called his DR. and was diagnosed over the phone as chronic motor tics. I was not happy with an over the phone diagnosis, so I went into see the Dr. who made his jump on one foot and alternate. Made him touch his finger to his nose a few times and said he's fine, but has chronic motor tics. I can medicate him so that you can be at ease, or he can just tic... I did not opt for the medicine, I opted for the life. Since my household is somewhat stressful I restructured the environment. Heal the heart and the rest will follow approach. I noticed that he would have frequent errections and that bothered him for months. Since his diet was all dairy- cheese, milk and macaroni with parm cheese, I figured that the hormones in the dairy was a direct link. Two weeks without dairy cured that issue and he is now more comfortable. I started soy milk and fruit smoothies made from vanilla soy milk and ice with some banannas which is good. I went the health food store and was advised that a B complex would help with relaxation and that Omega 3's were good for the brain and eyes. So I am two days into these supplements. I am now 18 hours without screens and today he is much better than yesterday. Tuesday I have an appointment with a nutritionist and hopefully he will guide me. I am awaiting a packet from the Childrens Hospital to see if he would qualify to be seen by the ped. neurologist, but the nurse said it is quite likely not complex but she'll have the Dr. rate him anyway. So its wait and see. I am open to some suggestions, I am hiding my fears, tears and pain and have no shoulders to cry on. So thanks for those who posted that allowed for hope to be seen from this worried moms' eyes.