Jan

I have visited this site often since my son started with eye tics and shoulder shrugs when he was 4 and have gained so much information, comfort and reassurance from other parents on this forum who know exactly the anxiety and stress we all go through. I am so grateful that I found you all. His tics have come and gone and I believe we've managed well with diet control. He is now 9 and over the last 4 or 5 months has started strong vocal tics and more OCD symptoms. We are in the process of getting him tested for PANDAS and I am looking into finding a good immunologist/environmental doctor to help identify further triggers. I can't say I don't feel distraught and anxious some days, but I don't feel lost or isolated any more because of this forum. Although my son has lots of understanding at home and among immediate family, he is finding it difficult now at school and in other public situations. I have explained to him that other children experience these 'hiccups' in their nervous system and that he is by no means the only one, but we don't know anybody else who suffers from any kind of tics and he keeps saying that he just wants to be 'normal' and gets distressed. Is there any kind of forum where children with tics can communicate with each other? Or any kind of publication/ information aimed at children that anybody knows of? With grateful thanks Jan (from the UK)

Thank you for your posts. The toothpaste thing is interesting, we use a bicarb of soda toothpaste because I read that some of the ingredients in regular toothpaste weren't all that good. My son is good with his vegetables and eats fruit willingly - is regular in his movements etc. Doesn't drink enough during the day at school though I think. I'm really hoping he picks up when we start Bonnie's vit program as he looks pretty awful at the moment - his eye tics are off the chart, which affects his mood, he has a bad rash around his mouth - all of which has affected his mood badly. I feel a bit alone in this as we are waiting to see our paediatrician who we haven't seen in a year and when we did see him last he did not seem to know much about using diet/detox/vitamins/yeast elimination (all things I've seen mentioned on this site) and wasn't very open and seemed pretty sceptical. Don't feel he is much help. Does anyone know of a good place to start looking for a health professional who really knows about all this stuff in the UK?????

My son's eye and facial tics have returned - set off I think by a pollen allergy - I am going to try Bonnie Grimaldi's vit and supp program. However, for some months he has had a small cluster of small white pustules inside each nostril - not painful, but definitely odd. He also gets lots of mouth ulcers. Sound familiar to anyone? Thank you!

Sorry - last post was from me but I wasn't logged in properly! thanks again for your replies. Jan

Thank you so much for your replies. I've looked at the bedwetting thread and might follow up on the B6 and zinc supplements to boost seratonin levels - does anyone have any experience of using these supplements? Reading...when reading, my son puts his hand up to his face and he splays his fingers across his eyes while ticcing - he says the page looks a bit bright and that starts him "blinking". I have read something in Latitudes about Irlen Syndrome/Scotopic Sensitivity - does anybody know anything about this? Could it be a possibility? Despite this problem, he has an above average reading age - but getting him to read is really difficult - of course, he just might not like reading - his Dad didn't at his age! Thank you.

My son's facial tics and shrugs appear, thankfully, to be under control by watching his diet very carefully. However, I have noticed that when he's reading, he starts ticcing quite significantly - does anyone know why this might be? Consequently, he avoids reading like the plague because he doesn't want to be "blinky", as he calls it! I don't want this to become problematic at school etc. Also, he is almost 8 now and still wets the bed pretty regularly. We've taken him to the doctor and made sure that this isn't a medical problem. We've tried a blanket alarm system and this did have some success, but it has started up again. I am considering trying the Feingold diet to see if I can isolate a particular dietary cause. Does anyone have any experience of this? He has also suffered periodically from various rashes and has a particularly resistant one around his mouth at the moment - he looks quite washed out and run down too - I'm thinking that maybe his immune system needs a boost - he takes Echinacea already - but I've read about Golden Seal and Astralgus as good immune system boosters. Sorry this is so long! I'm always so reassured when I visit this site - thank you so much to anyone that can help me.