devotedmom

So, I thought I would post on my daughter to offer another perspective. My daughter is 10, she tics, and she has pretty dramatic allergies. She has had some type of tic or other for over a year. We have been "fiddling" with eliminating her allergy meds for a few months now. We got serious several weeks ago. She went med free in early November. She was previously taking Flovent, Nasonex, Singulair, and Claritin. On her "new" program she was taking Quercetin, Kids Calm, Vit-c, a multi-vitamin, Nasalchrom, Vit-d, and she was off dairy. These dietary and supplement changes did not happen all at once, but slowly and one step at a time. Here's the deal, at first I would always "hope" I was noticing some positive changes, but then things would seem to go back to how they always were (which, of late, has been the worst she's experienced). I was becoming consumed and overwhelmed from all this investigating and trying. Ofcourse, it would be worth it if it turned out I was helping her. I know that my job as a parent involves making tough decisions and I was totally committed. Here's where the problem came in. My daughter was not herself anymore (and I mean that in a bad way). She seemed to be getting depressed and sad and she was also physically miserable because her allergies were out of control. Every time she turned around I was shoving something down her mouth, or making her drink something funky, or explaining to her why she wouldn't be able to have or do this, that, and the other. We made a decision that we had to stop that course of action. Step one, we addressed her allergies. We give her Singulair, Claritin, and Quercetin. These brought her allergies under control pretty fast. Step two, we allowed a more relaxed diet. Step three, make her feel like herself again. We decided to just let her be and stop worrying and looking and watching. This approach has not caused any issues. She has actually decreased the tics and she has been sooooooo much more happy. She's herself again. Tics, no tics, whatever. It was just not "right" for our daughter to try so hard to lessen the tics. This probably isn't the case for most, but it's a different perspective to keep in mind. thanks

Hi, I have been searching through the posts to find which "clean" multi-vitamin people use. I've see someone mention Progressive vitamins, but beyond that I can't find names too often. I was hoping some of you would list the specific multi-vitamin you have found beneficial for your child. I'm having trouble. I've bought three in the recent past only to do more research and find them to be "un-clean" for some reason that I missed. I will definately research the brand before purchase, but I would LOVE a gentle shove in the right direction. Also, I will be starting my daughter on a version of Quercetin soon and am curious which brand people purchase. I've been told about d-hist, which contains Quercetin but I'd love to hear other reliable brands. Thanks so much.

Hey Julie, I just wanted to add my two cents in case it could help you at all. As for the frustration you feel, I can definately see myself in that. I am usually the type that is cool and calm when it comes to my child. I'm her number one fan, supporter, etc....however, I have suprised myself in how difficult I'm finding all this. My daughter has tics for over a year, but I've only recently decided that it's important to figure out why. Seeing her tic can make me want to cry or scream or wish it away. It's just fear, fear, fear. I'm afraid for my child and how she'll be treated and I want only the best for her, like everyone. Fear can make you act a little whacky, but it's only because you love your child so much. With that being said, sometimes I've just got to give myself a little slap, pull on my big girl pants, and get it together. As for your husband, I can't say that my husband is quite like that, but he definately takes a back seat when it comes to figuring all this out. He lets me do all the "leg work" and he just sort of says "it'll be fine" a lot. For the diet, what's helped me be able to make some changes is to research certain foods and then tell my husband some facts and ask his opinion. For instance, with dairy, I said "Did you know that humans are the only mammals that continue to intake dairy after infancy? Doesn't that seem strange?" or with MSG I said "Did you know they link MSG with all kinds of neurological disorders like Alzheimers?". Those real facts influence my husband a lot. I don't know if your husband would respond to something like that, but maybe it's worth a try. I can't really say what's a good place to start, because I'm in the early days myself, but I just made a list of all the things that could offer help and I'm just slowly making my way through them. I make sure I give everything a fair shot. I figure all we've got is time so I can just keep trying and tweaking until I've managed to help. I hope you have great success in your attempts....and remember, your husband may find it easier to deal with this by pretending it's not really happening or it's no big deal. That's fair, because we all deal differently. Sometimes one spouse has to step up when the other one can't right then. Good luck:)

Faith, I just wanted to say thanks. I haven't found the d-hist locally but will be ordering soon I think. As for the Natural Calm-I did what you suggested and for the juice we used natural lemonade, which worked great b/c the flavor is already sour. She drank it with no problem and it made a huge difference. I gave her 1 tsp. two nights in a row but she became very sleepy and had some tummy issues so I think I'll be dropping down to a half teaspoon nightly. Thanks for your suggestions. BTW, how much Natural Calm do most people usually use?

I do have Natural Calm, it's the flavorless kind; however, I found the taste off-putting and didn't think my daughter would tolerate it. She is very sensitive to tastes (and swears something is totally going to make her puke ) I looked at the d-hist reviews. It sounds exactly right for my daughter. Is there anywhere locally that it can be purchased, or do you find you always have to order it? Locally we have: Vitamin Shoppe, GNC, and a store called The Natural Grocer. I also have every normal drug-store (ie. cvs, walgreens, walmart). Thanks so much for your input.

We give her 120mg of Attentive Child, which is Magnesium Aspartate. This dose was based on her size: she is a small 10 year old. (she only weighs about 54 pounds). I did want to note that she has been off dairy for 9 days and she has shown some pretty obvious improvement. Her eczema has cleared and her tics have decreased. She still shows signs of nasal and eye allergies. We give her Nasalcrom for the nose and Alaway for the eyes and these both help a lot. They both wear off and have to be given twice daily. When those wear off she begins to tic more because her allergies start going again. I would love to control her allergies better, but previous experience with allergy medications (zyrtec, claritin, nasonex, singulair) have had positive results for allergies but negative results for her tics. Ofcourse, I've never tried any of those when she was on a restricted diet (ie. non-dairy). Has anyone had success with removing dairy and then been able to give an antihistamine with no ill effects?

Thanks for your response. Does anyone on here know about which prescription meds seem to cause additional problems? We are being proactive and taking steps we find could be helpful: Magnesium-she's taken this for over 2 months, with no real change in tics. Epsom Salt Baths-Lovely for calming any child. Recently we are attempting to remove all dairy-too early to tell on this, but she had signs as a baby that I never recognized until I started reading more about food sensitivities (ie. eczema, early onset of allergies, frequent ear infections, more than average fussiness). I've learned a lot from these forums so far. I did read that the Flovent could cause tics to increase. That is the only medication she is still on because, frankly, I'm scared to take her off of it. I'll keep reading and learning from everyone! Thanks so much.

Hello Everyone, I had a question and was curious to have input. My daughter developed motor tics that involved her fingers over a year ago. Her tics have been constant since they started. They do not wax and wane. They are not too severe. They do transition from time to time from one type of tic to another. Currently her tic involves frequent blinking and flexing her nose. She does have allergies and asthma associated with those allergies. Beyond that she does not display any other symptoms. She does not seem to have any behavioral issues or anything really besides the motor tics. She has been on the following medications in the recent past: Singulair, Flovent, Nasonex, Zyrtec or Claritin as well. We have attempted to control her symptoms and now she is only taking Flovent. Any suggestions on what to look into? I haven't found much advice regarding tics without other symptoms.