KJS

Cheri, I, too, get the daily and weekly news from Dr. Weil and find it very useful. I wrote to "him" about tics but didn't get a reply or see my question posted. Have you ever asked him about this? Karen

Claire, Wow, I can't believe I only saw your thoughtful reply today. Not sure where I've been looking but I guess it wasn't here. The various threads still confuse me. Easter & associated eating of junk food wasn't an issue with my daughter because we don't celebrate that holiday. Your suggestion to eliminate artificial ingredients is one that my family has discussed and we are going to give it a try beginning on May 3rd (after Passover). I am fairly careful about what I purchase anyway, shying away from such additives, but not 100% - yet. Yes, our trial of no screens included no screens at school. Shira's teachers were wonderfully understanding. Just not a trigger for her, I guess. I've been exploring an approach by an organization called HANDLE based on the west coast. Is anyone familiar? Website is www.handle.org. A NJ occupational therapist may evaluate my daughter to see if their approach might help her. After these two things we will consider making an appointment with a doctor Dara saw in Denville, NJ. He is an MD with a specialty in environmental medicine and will order many (most?) of the tests you've referred to in other posts. We continue with weekly cranio-sacral and massage therapy for relief and to maintain alignment and hopefully ward off other musculo-skeletal problems related to the chin thrusting. Thank you again, Claire, for synthesizing the voluminous amount of information contained in this forum. It's amazing. Karen

Dara, Congratulations! It sounds like you've emerged from a tunnel and it must be wonderful for you to be in sunshine again. People keep using the word "journey" to describe what we're all going through and it's such an apt description. I just went to a workshop yesterday on reducing stress in the family. The small crowd was all moms, and the main thing the speaker told us is to TAKE CARE OF OURSELVES! Right, like that's going to happen, each of us mumbled under our breath. But you're doing it and that's so great. I hope everything continues to go well for your whole family. Karen

Kim, Thank you for giving me a way to get started with the yeast issue. I will find and follow the thread, and search the net for candida. and Spring, Thanks for mentioning the book. Karen

Kim, Vent away! I find it helpful to hear from people who can muster up so much indignance. I think it helps others to feel good about 'alternative' practitioners. I think it was Andy who asked which doctor is practicing real medicine and it's an excellent question. Good luck finding another doc who is interested in working WITH you & your family. Karen

Andy, and others, I am trying to follow all of the testing & supplement & detox information but finding it overwhelming. We just finished the "no screens" protocol as our first step toward trying to find triggers (screens don't seem to be a factor after 12 days) and I'm trying to figure out the next step. So many people speak of yeast - is that a logical next step for us? Karen

Just reporting in - no white spots or white lines on my daughter's nails. Karen

Claire, Thank you for your comments and suggestions. I am still overwhelmed by the notion that there is support out there for me (and, by extention, for my family)! Bit by bit I am finding and reading the various threads and trying to plot a course of action, as Andy suggested. Our family schedule is quite hectic right now so it may be another couple of days before there is even time for screens. Karen

My daughter did receive a TS diagnosis back in October and I'm not yet able to ascertain whether or not it is accurate. I am hoping that reading the postings here and doing other research will help us help my daughter regardless of her diagnosis. Karen

Hi Everyone, Yes, I'm a newbie, so I'll be thrilled if my post even makes it to the big screen! My 11 year old daughter is on day 9 of no screens and I'm sad to say that we haven't noticed a change in her tics. Does anyone have a suggestion for how long we should continue? She has bought into the idea of doing this until Sunday so that will be about 12 days of no screens. Thanks, Karen

My family is new to all of this. In fact, this is my first posting (I just got a lesson in how to do it!). Our 11 year old daughter has 3 tics right now: eye-rolling, shoulder shrugging/chin thrusting, and a vocal tic that sounds like mild, repetitive throat-clearing. We're at the end of week one of the "no screens" protocol. My husband and I haven't really noticed a difference but we didn't tell our daughter that. I asked her if she noticed a difference and she thinks so, maybe a little. This has her motivated to try it for another week, thankfully, since I've read here that it can take longer than a week to reach a baseline. We're very hopeful that this will turn out to be a trigger for her since it seems relatively easy to deal with - we're happy to change to LCD screens both at home and at school. I'm skeptical of mainstream neurology & pediatrics because the practitioners I've seen are very "medical model" and I'm not! They haven't been very supportive of our efforts to explore alternatives to medication so I need to find alternatives to them! I've been getting a bit lost in the various threads here but eventually I'll read about DAN doctors and other options. We've started taking our daughter to my massage therapist who is skilled in cranio-sacral therapy among many other modalities. She likes it so we'll keep going. Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences. You know how lonely and overwhelming this can be and I feel like it's such a blessing that I found this forum so soon into my journey. Oh, what does it mean when something is "bumped"? Hopefully yours, Karen