Laurensmom

Hey man, I was here first! I think LJ's mom should change her name to "not the original laurensmom"!

What is the treatment for vaginal strep?

Hello LaurenJohnsonsMom, another Lauren'smom here - I'm glad you finally have answers. What a relief! Pardon me if this is a redundant question but how was it determined that Lauren had PANDAS? Did she have a positive strep other than her culture? I ask because my child had a strep culture, about a year after her tics came about. Her symptoms did come on rather quickly, with an eye blinking and a throat clearing that persisted. But, a strep culture was negative so PANDAS was ruled out. Also, what is vaginal strep guys? I'd never heard of it! And, how long can PANDAS be diagnosed, after an initial illness? Would strep show up in titers or??? My dd definitely sees an increase in tics when ill. Often just before symptoms of illness appear. LJ's Mom, I wanted to say I appreciated your willingness to find answers for your child. I knew immediately upon seeing you both on NBC that Lauren had tics. I was annoyed with the suggestion by Dr. Nancy that it was due to psychological trauma of some kind.

Deedee, I've mixed it with chocolate milk personally. Not the "Latitude PC" thing to do I'm sure, but I can't imagine a contradiction? Puritan told me the substance is made from corn husks - period.

Odd that you mention vitamin C, my dd's tics were waxing for a day or so, I gave her a daily multi, an epsom salt bath and 500 mg of C and it seemed to help?

I generally use no more than 500-1000 mg daily, and we take breaks. I'm kind of an "as needed" user. I am considering a b complex daily for my daughter based upon Bonnie G's recs. A bit of info here: http://www.homestead.com/westsuffolkpsych/Inositol.html Obviously, before you run out and try anything new, you should always consult your physician. If your physician recommends trying this, you might also want to mention the following information to him or her: 1. It cannot be taken together with Lithium, as it seems to block its action. 2. The chief side effects of inositol are gas and diarrhea. Some people get this for the first few days and then it clears up. Some of those taking it never have this side effect, and some only get it when they take more than a particular amount. 3. I have heard reports that caffeine lowers inositol levels in the body, so if you are a heavy coffee drinker, you might consider cutting down or eliminating this from your diet. Actually, stimulants such as caffeine can sometimes contribute to hair pulling, etc. 4. It should be purchased in powdered form, and taken dissolved in water or fruit juice. It has a sweet taste, and is chemically related to sugar. If you mix it continuously for about 2 minutes, and if it is allowed to stand for about 10 minutes after mixing it, it seems to dissolve better. If it still doesn't dissolve well (not all brands do), stir it up and drink it quickly before it settles. 5. Inositol is a water soluble vitamin, so although the doses appear to be large, it will not build up to toxic levels in the body. Whatever the body doesn't use is excreted. The average person normally takes in about 1 gram of inositol each day via the food they eat. 6. It can be built up according to the following schedule (1 teaspoon=2 grams, and be sure to use a measuring spoon) for an adult: Week 1 - 1 teaspoon/2x per day Week 2 - 1 teaspoon/3x per dayWeek 3 - 1.5 teaspoons/3x per day Week 4 - 2 teaspoons/3x per day Week 5 - 2.5 teaspoons/3x per day Week 6 - 3 teaspoons/3x per day A child can be built up to 3 teaspoons (i.e. 6 grams) per day over the same six week period. Dosages for adolescents can be adjusted according to weight. In either case, it is best to allow side effects to be the guide. If they begin to occur, it is not considered wise to increase the dosage unless they subside. Once a person has reached either the maximum dosage, or the greatest amount they are able to tolerate, it is best to try staying six weeks at that level to see if there is any noticeable improvement. If there is none by the end of that time, it should probably be discontinued. As with any treatment, those who are absolutely positive that it will help are only setting themselves up, and may wind up more than disappointed. Everything works for someone, but nothing works for everyone.

Glutamatergic drugs exacerbate symptomatic behavior in a transgenic model of comorbid Tourette's syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder. McGrath MJ, Campbell KM, Parks CR, Burton FH. Department of Pharmacology, University of Minnesota, 6-120 Jackson Hall, 321 Church St. S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. We previously created a transgenic mouse model of comorbid Tourette's syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder (TS+OCD), by expressing a neuropotentiating cholera toxin (CT) transgene in a subset of dopamine D1 receptor-expressing (D1+) neurons thought to induce cortical and amygdalar glutamate output. To test glutamate's role in the TS+OCD-like disorder of these transgenic mice (D1CT-7 line), the effects of glutamate receptor-binding drugs on their behavior were examined. MK-801, a non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonist that indirectly stimulates cortical-limbic glutamate output, aggravated a transgene-dependent abnormal behavior (repetitive climbing and leaping) in the D1CT-7 mice at doses insufficient to induce stereotypies, and more readily induced stereotypies and limbic seizure behaviors at high doses. NBQX, a seizure-inhibiting AMPA receptor antagonist, reduced only the MK-801-dependent stereotypic and limbic seizure behavior of D1CT-7 mice, but not their transgene-dependent behaviors. These data imply that TS+OCD-like behavior is mediated by cortical-limbic glutamate, but that AMPA glutamate receptors are not an essential part of this behavioral circuit. Our findings lead to the prediction that the symptoms of human Tourette's syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder are elicited by excessive forebrain glutamate output.PMID: 10980239 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] http://www.whale.to/a/blaylock5.html SNIP Our knowledge of this process opens up new avenues for treatment as well as prevention of excitotoxic injury to the nervous system. For example, there are many nutritional ways to improve CNS antioxidant defenses and boost neuronal energy generation, as well as improve membrane fluidity and receptor integrity. By using selective glutamate blocking drugs or nutrients, one may be able to alter some of the more devastating effects of Parkinson's disease. For example, there is evidence that dopamine deficiency causes a disinhibition (overactivity) of the subthalamic nucleus and that this may result in excitotoxic injury to the substantia nigra.(22) By blocking the glutamatergic neurons in this nucleus, one may be able to reduce this damage. There is also evidence that several nutrients can significantly reduce excitotoxicity. For example, combinations of coenzyme Q10 and niacinamide have been shown to protect against striatal excitotoxic lesions. Methylcobolamine, phosphotidylserine, picnogenol and acetyl-L-carnitine all protect against excitotoxicity as well. Of particular concern is the toxic effects of these excitotoxic compounds on the developing brain. It is well recognized that the immature brain is four times more sensitive to the toxic effects of the excitatory amino acids as is the mature brain. This means that excitotoxic injury is of special concern from the fetal stage to adolescence. There is evidence that the placenta concentrates several of these toxic amino acids on the fetal side of the placenta. Consumption of aspartame and MSG containing products by pregnant women during this critical period of brain formation is of special concern and should be discouraged. Many of the effects, such as endocrine dysfunction and complex learning, are subtle and may not appear until the child is older. Other hypothalamic syndromes associated with early excitotoxic lesions include immune alterations and violence dyscontrol. Over 100 million American now consume aspartame products and a greater number consume products containing one or more excitotoxins. There is sufficient medical literature documenting serious injury by these additives in the concentrations presently in our food supply to justify warning the public of these dangers. The case against aspartame is especially strong. Kim, I believe this info relates to your post on ADHD. Your original article is here: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/news/050928a.aspx

Kim you have posted some great info here, thanks!

kick

Kick

Hello, I just wanted to say that even IF your son had TS there is an upside: http://p069.ezboard.com/ftourettesyndromen...picID=740.topic My name is gullydevi on the board above and I put this info together a while back after my dd was diagnosed. Also researchers are beginning to look at "tics" as a "marker" for related issues rather than the arbitrary TS dx criteria. I feel that a tic is a tic frankly. Kids with transient tics likely have many of the same "issues" as kids with the defined TS diagnosis. Also wanted to mention that TV doesn't personally effect my child tic wise, but she does seem to benefit from Inositol for OCD and magnesium for her tics? Best wishes to you. Your son sounds amazing and it sounds like he's thriving in spite of his challenges. How wonderful that is!

I have attempted to find specifics and can't sorry. But, I would imagine that the article may be generalizing? Perhaps good old fashioned healthy eating is what is being suggested? And, it can't hurt to take a good childrens multi-vitamin. You may get more comprehensive answers, but themz my .02. Also there is some good info here: http://www.worrywisekids.org/newsletter/12_05.html Best wishes, it's wonderful that your son was able to get the help he needed.

Gina, I wanted to mention that it is said that the highest level of ticcing for most kids is between the ages of 8-12. TS gets worse before it gets better. Just wanted to toss that out as what your son is experiencing sounds typical for TS. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/...t/full/102/1/14 Based on data collected during the initial telephone follow-up and the in-person interviews, the worst tics occurred between the ages of 6 and 15 years (mean: 10.0; SD: 2.4). Figure 1 presents a histogram of these data by year. The level of tic severity during the worst period was positively associated with the patient's age during the worst-ever period. ... The natural history of TS and other chronic tic disorders is not well-understood. In this report we present an explicit model of the time course of tic severity over the first 2 decades of life. This model extends the findings of previous follow-up studies by offering age-specific tic severity estimates and by defining a period of maximal tic severity that usually occurs between the ages of 8 and 12. ... Ages 8 through 12 are likely to be critical. If medications can be avoided through this period, the patient may have a good chance of never needing them. Although anti-tic medications are available, none are ideal. Over the longer term, starting medications may do more harm than good, given their potential adverse effects and the difficulties associated with medication withdrawal. This is particularly true of the standard neuroleptic agents such as haloperidol and pimozide.33 Best wishes.

Kick

Once again "complementary medicine" is ahead of the crowd.

..... Tourette syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by motor and vocal tics--rapid, repetitive, stereotyped movements or vocalizations. Tourette syndrome typically has a prepubertal onset, and boys are more commonly affected than girls. Symptoms usually begin with transient bouts of simple motor tics. By age 10 years, most children are aware of nearly irresistible somatosensory urges that precede the tics. These urges likely reflect a defect in sensorimotor gating because they intrude into the child's conscious awareness and become a source of distraction and distress. A momentary sense of relief typically follows the completion of a tic. Over the course of hours, tics occur in bouts, with a regular intertic interval. Tics increase during periods of emotional excitement and fatigue. Tics can become "complex" in nature and appear to be purposeful. Tics can be willfully suppressed for brief intervals and can be evoked by the mere mention of them. Tics typically diminish during periods of goal-directed behavior, especially those that involve both heightened attention and fine motor or vocal control, as occur in musical and athletic performances. Over the course of months, tics wax and wane. New tics appear, often in response to new sources of somatosensory irritation, such as the appearance of a persistent vocal tic (a cough) following a cold. Over the course of years, tic severity typically peaks between 8 and 12 years of age. By the end of the second decade of life, many individuals are virtually tic free. Less than 20% of cases continue to experience clinically impairing tics as adults. Tics rarely occur in isolation, and other coexisting conditions--such as behavioral disinhibition, hypersensitivity to a broad range of sensory stimuli, problems with visual motor integration, procedural learning difficulties, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety, and emotional instability--are often a greater source of impairment than the tics themselves. Emerging behavioral treatments of Tourette syndrome are based in part on an understanding of the moment-to-moment experience of somatosensory urges and motor response. With identification of specific genes of major effect and advances in our understanding of the neural circuitry of sensorimotor gating, habit formation, and procedural memory--together with insights from postmortem brain studies, in vivo brain imaging, and electrophysiologic recordings--we might be on the threshold of a deeper understanding of the phenomenology and natural history of Tourette syndrome. PMID: 16970864 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] .... LINK BELOW .... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...l=pubmed_docsum More: RESULTS: Eighty-five percent of subjects reported a reduction in tic symptoms during adolescence. Only increased tic severity in childhood was associated with increased tic severity at follow-up. The average age at worst-ever tic severity was 10.6 years. Forty-one percent of patients with TS reported at one time experiencing at least moderate OCD symptoms. Worst-ever OCD symptoms occurred approximately 2 years later than worst-ever tic symptoms. Increased childhood IQ was strongly associated with increased OCD severity at follow-up. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...t_uids=16389213

Faith, I wanted to welcome you and to mention that many kids with TS have an increase in tics when school begins. It's a stressful and exciting time of year. Not to over simplify things, but I wanted to toss that out. Take care

Here is a study from 1998 which took a mainstream school population in the UK and used the DSM criteria to determine prevalence. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...p;dopt=Abstract The aim of this study was to ascertain accurately the prevalence of Tourette syndrome (TS) in a mainstream school population. All year 9 pupils (aged 13 to 14 years) in a mainstream secondary school were investigated using a two-stage procedure. Standardized questionnaires were completed by parents, teachers, and pupils. Class observations were also carried out to identify tics. Those pupils identified as having tics underwent a semistructured interview to determine whether they had TS according to DSM-III-R criteria. Data were available from at least one source (parent, teacher, or self-reports) on 166 of the 167 pupils in the year. Five subjects were identified as having TS according to DSM-III-R criteria, yielding a prevalence estimate of 299 per 10,000 pupils in this age group. The results of this study suggest that TS in the community as a whole is more common and milder than those prevalence estimates and descriptions of the disorder based on TS encountered in secondary or tertiary health-care service settings. So .... 299 per 10,000 or about 3 per 100 students in the UK have TS (based on this impartial study) in essence, it's about 1 in 34 i.e. 1 per classroom. I would venture to guess that US figures in an impartial study may be similar? I think I'm calculating that correctly?

Loved Ross Green's book. And, our local library had a wonderful video presentation of Mr. Green's approach, and my husband and I watched together. Another fantastic book for raising younger kids is "Raising Your Spirited Child" by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka

Great info, thanks so much. Does anyone know if Garlic (a natural antiviral/antibiotic) is helpful with some of these issues?

Chemar ~ Dr Tanya Murphy is at the forefront of research into PANDAS and my son was a patient there when he first manifest his tics, but he tested negative Chemar do they do a strep test? I was impressed as when I went to see my childs dr. for tics the first thing our ped did was test for strep, the second was a food alergy test.

Just adding that my daughter seems to benefit from magnesium as well.

My primary goal is to make sure my son stays a happy, well adjusted kid and that TS does not make him depressed. That of course is an excellent goal. So, I got up this morning ready to start by omitting milk products, dyed foods, wheat, eggs, juice drinks, etc from his diet as well as the family. I thought we would tackle this together. I had no idea what to fix for breakfast or to pack for his lunch. I thought we would try this for two weeks and see what happens. Does anyone have a food plan to share or a website that I can go to for what to give my son to eat? If you feel there is merit to the idea of cutting these foods, you may want to try a "zone" type diet for your family? http://www.zoneperfect.com/nutrition_getting_zone.aspx I don't know that I'd rush into it as it can be a bit of an adjustment? You may want to start slow by eliminating one food group at a time? I am also intrigued by the supplements but again do not know which to use or how much to give him. He also suffers from a mild case of OCD. We currently have him taking a half a pill of Zoloft a day for the OCD in hopes that if it alleviates some of his stress the tics might decrease as an added bonus. The Zoloft seems to be working well for the OCD. He says he does not have any "thoughts" anymore. As to if it is helping the tics-I do not really know. So taking into consideration he is on Zoloft does anyone have any suggestions about the mulitvitamins, magnesium, vitamin c, etc? I plan to clear all this through his psychiatrist. I'm glad that the Zoloft is helping. Inositol is a natural supplement found to be very helpful for OCD if you ever decide to go another route. My son also loves to play Playstation and computer games so I dread trying to put a halt to that. Any suggestions? I thought maybe I would sit down with him and aks him which he would rather-video games or no tics and put him in control. I am going to ease into this but I am game. I look forward to ckecking in with this group on a regular basis from now on. I would definitely put him in control, and tell him that every kid is different. As others will note, tics for HIM may have nothing to do with tv/video games? But, you can certainly see if he wants to experiment? I'd say the more you can let him lead and give HIM choices the better. I always tell my daughter "the tics don't bother me, unless they bother you." You can also share with him some of the stories you read and ask him if he's willing to alter his diet to see if he has a reduction in tics? Just to be clear, haven't read the ACN book as of yet, and I am a bit of skeptic on some of these solutions. And, as such, my perspective may differ from some? But, I respect any parent who's primary goal is "to make sure my son stays a happy, well adjusted kid" and I think that's the case for all of us.

We have an alberta clipper in the twin-cities today, I was really enjoying the warmer weather, personally. Though, I can do without global warming.