Giselle

Hi Alison, I'm so pleased for you that the tics are better in control. I'm not super familiar with your child but had you ruled out sprue/celiac issues? My son is super sensitive to gluten but we didn't go the distance with the celiac stuff. He has to be off all vitamins, minerals and enzymes for a week to do the test we'd like to do(it's for a lot of things not just sprue) so are waiting until summer. Giselle

I'm so glad you are treating with probiotics as well. I'm not super up on PANDAS and are only now doing the titres but he's had antibiotics while he's had tics and we didn't see any improvement in the tics while he was taking them so don't think so but am going to rule it out and also look at other viruses. I really think that you'll get a much better picture doing what you are about to do - a delayed food allergy test will really illuminate things and most importantly - the yeast test I believe will really help out. If he's been on antibiotics and having these issues I would bet my bottom dollar he has yeastie beasties. You are doing the right stuff and just wanted to give you a hug regarding the doctor - a lot of times it's news to them and they are a little reluctant to "cross over" to the more natural method - but stick with it. Sounds like you are getting your tests done which is way ahead of the game for most docs! Good luck and please keep us posted! Giselle

I guess everyone has to choose what's right for them, and not having TS myself (my son does) I don't think I'd want anyone in my brain but so applaud her right to choose. And would completely support anything my son felt was right for him. . . I think - it would be hard not to put my two cents in but in the end would want him to do what he felt was right. But I SOOOOOOOOOO wish we all could have done blood work, allergy tests, vitamin deficiency tests, yeast tests and food eliminatation before her operation to see if she could have been helped with alternative methods! I guess we'll find out all the things she tried before this operation. What exactly is Deep Brain Surgery? Do they put something in the brain - I assume because you say they can turn it off. I was just commenting to our DAN doctor that whenever I just lightly touch the back of my son's neck or the back of his hand or trace my finger over his forearm he completely stopped ticcing and that I had visions of strapping on a little device that would pulse ever so gently. He thought it was a great idea. Also when we are over at our friend's house the little 5 year old girl loves to run her fingers through Hoyt's hair while they watch TV - it's so cute, he's almost like her blankie because she sucks her thumb as she does this (he has super fine, soft, wavy hair so I can't blame her) but this also eliminates ALL tics! Maybe I should hire her to follow him around during any flare ups! Have a great day! Giselle

Kim, I'm singing your praises over at Brain Talk because your discussion of phenolics resonated with my current problem of getting Hoyt to sleep. I think he's having problems with them - his enviro doc had told me he did and given me a homepathic for him to take but I have been remiss in giving it to him. He's been eating cherries like they are going out of style, drinking pomegranite juice, eating cucumbers (his new favorite snack), tea, and I had upped his P5P because he was ticcing after a growth spurt and I believed he might need a little more (approved by his enviro. doc). At first after the P5P I thought I saw improvement but now I see that he got worse tonight. His dark circles have returned - which I thought was from staying up with all this not sleeping stuff but now see he has red ears, and is developing an ever so slight rash on his left cheek and of course the not sleeping thing. So his P5P is going back to normal, no cherries, tea, cucumbers or pomegranite juice and even more epsom salts baths and back rubs with the magnesium cream when he can't get a long enough soak. Thanks for posting this information about phenolics! So interesting!!! Again I'm indebted!!!! Giselle

Hi there, congratulations on getting lots of pieces to your puzzle. Regarding the fish oil - my son did horribly on them and we chose to go the flax borage route which has worked wonders. We believe the reason he did so poorly on them had to do with the choline involved. Why? When we did his neurotransmitter tests it showed super high histamine levels which are exacerated by choline and folic acid. Just a guess but with the already poor results of fish oil and suspected allergies I wouldn't be surprised if your sweet pea might have high histmine levels hence you wouldn't want to use fish oils or folic acid - just a lay person's guess. It wouldn't hurt to test the neurotransmitters. Once we addressed these my son's ticcing stopped except when super stressed from an illness, but even still is short lived. He also had lead, high copper, vitamin deficencies (B6, magnesium, etc). Good luck! Giselle

Claire, wanted to warn you about baking powder - it can also have corn starch (an anti-caking agent). The brand called HAIN uses potato starch instead. Watch out for icing sugar in recipes too, as that contains corn starch as well (for the same reason). I get corn free icing sugar through Allergygrocer.com - they have lots of excellent mixes that contain no gluten, casein, soy, corn, etc. You just tick off all you allergies and they only show you what you can buy. Their chocolate brownie mix is AWESOME!!! As are all their cookie and cake mixes. Excellent pancake or waffle recipe: 1 cup brown rice flour 3/4 cup potato starch 1/4 cup tapioca flour 1 tbls. gluten free-, corn free baking powder 1 tlbs. sugar or xylitol 1/2 tsp. salt for pancakes: add in 3 eggs 4 tbls vegetable oil (I use safflower or canola) 1 1/2 cups milk or subsititute of choice (I use rice milk, super lite) for waffles: add in 2 eggs 5 tbls vegetable oil 1 1/2 cups milk or subsitute of choice I have added in four tablespoons ground flax seed - super easy way to get extra, don't even taste it. I also add in a tablespoon of powdered rice protein sometimes (makes them a little heavier) and drum roll please. . . many times add in two tablespoons of cinnamon and 1/2 tsp gluten free vanilla. These are awesome!!! I get out my waffle iron, double up the batch and freeze them with wax paper between them. I let my waffle iron "tweet" twice (cook twice as long), especially if I use the powdered rice protein. We pop them in the toaster to reheat. I bring them toasted to baseball as sweet "crackers". One other note, once I forgot the sugar and baking powder when I was making pancakes and they turned out like tortillas! I liked them but my son never liked tortillas - even pre-gluten/allergy days so didn't make them again. I've often thought of adding cocoa (again gluten free, corn free) to try a chocolate type but haven't as I get requests for the other two so often haven't needed the variety yet. Of course they must be topped with REAL maple syrup - other stuff, as you know, is junk. Kosher.com has a soy and corn free margarine that tastes excellent called Mother - entirely made from canola oil and can be bought as a stick or as a tub - you can sometimes get this in regular markets around passover (coming up I believe as it is around Easter). I see that you called out for this recipe ages ago but only now just saw it so I hope there is room for one more excellent recipe. I'm telling you - everyone! even non-allergy people can't get over how light and tasty these are!!! Good luck, Giselle

Kim, thanks so much for helping me over on Brain Talk - that is very interesting about the topical magnesium/sulphur - you are such a font of information, where would we be without you!!!!! You are such a doll to go out of your way to respond to me, thank you so much. I hope it's not short lived but this is the first night he went to sleep easily. I think that Carolyn hit the nail on the head with the zinc - he was getting it too late for it to kick in. He got it a whole 2 hours earlier today and he nodded off quickly. Unfortunately I nodded off with him and woke up at 10:00! Luckily I taped Survivor! Thanks again, Giselle

Hi there, I think it's good that you are including characters that have TS. Perhaps you might contact the TSA and get a copy of "That Darn Tic" which has stories and experiences by kids with TS. One comment though is that each of your characters seems to have had a really hard time with TS and that's definitely not the case with all tourettes -most of the kids are really well adjusted and doing fine. Their friends know what TS is and don't care. Good luck, Giselle

Please let us know how everything went! Giselle

Hi there! Oh you simply must go on the rides - because of excitement it might increase tics but they will be short lived. We are close to Disneyland (California) and my son loves the rides - the faster the better as far as he's concerned (he's 8). He's not ticcing much at all right now and we were there last Saturday and saw no increase at all. I really don't think you should miss it because of the tics though as it is so much fun even if a few surfaced they'd be worth it and I truly believe they would settle down.. Bring along a little extra B12 and all will be fine. For us the main consideration for going to the parks is the lack of food that my son can eat (allergies) and we usually bring a long all snacks but have found that Disney is very aware of food allergies and can direct you to one of their restaurants that take them into consideration. We were able to go the Story Teller's Cafe and get a gluten,corn, casein free burger and bun and french fries specially cooked in olive oil as their regular fry oil contained corn and soy - they were amazing! I know many people who like Epcot but NONE of them are children. It's O.K. for them but the other parks are more fun. One thing you simply must not miss is Typhoon Lagoon - a very family friendly (no super radical slides) and super fun water park - we never miss it when we go to Florida! Have a wonderful trip! Giselle

Hi there, regarding the coment about "tics being from too much dopamine in the brain". We actually had my son's neurotransmitters tested and we found that he actually had abnormally LOW dopamine, seratonin, and epinephrine and super high norepinephrine, histamine and GABA. He ticced like crazy on fish oil and I believe it is because, as Daniel pointed out, that the fish oils contain choline and choline contraindicts histamine (makes the situation way worse). We have addressed his allergens, heavy metals, deficencies, yeast and his neurotransmitters. He isn't ticcing at all anymore and he was very severe before. I think tics can come from a myriad of things - finding each individual's puzzle pieces can be challenging but I don't think there is a one stop shop for everyone. Our solution to the Omega's was flax and borage. Giselle

Awesome Kim - thanks for posting all this!!!! Giselle

Hi Carolyn, I think the trust issue is something we both share as we've had to be the "grown up" to infantile parent figures. I've always had to be in control because no one else was. I was pretty O.K. dealing with going under when I had my wisdom teeth pulled (I was 19) but I had what I think you are describing about going under when I had a hand operation as at that point I had my son and I was terrified, like you, that I wouldn't come out of it and he needed me. So I think I know what you're going through. I did have the hand surgery. I had a huge consultation not with the surgeon but with the anesthesiologist who really assured me of the safety - he told me about ether of the olden days and how that was what people didn't wake up from as they didn't have control over amounts etc. He assured me that today it is much different - I don't remember all that he said but I felt much better (even though I was still scared) and here I am to write about it. It's definitely a control thing - or lack of control - vestiges of our past. I definitely found that once I "let go" and it all turned out successfully that I was more at peace with the world in a weird way - it was nice to know that I could let go and nothing bad happened. Please keep me posted. Merry Christmas, Giselle

Hi Carolyn, what specifically are you afraid of in regards to the anesthetics etc? Of being "under", of it causing more tics? I think if you addressed why you are afraid you might get a better handle on your treatment - you've come so far with your fear of trying new foods that this might be another thing to conquer. Two things that come to mind about your teeth - any stress on your body creates more tics - my guess would be that you would see an improvement in your tics if you remove the wisdom teeth and I know when I had my wisdom teeth done it was over so fast and I saw improvement instantly (mind you two of mine were impacted). I'm a control freak about my body and had a lot of difficulty "letting go" to let them put me under but am so glad I did. The whole letting go of control and trusting and having a positive outcome (as opposed to a negative one - I think we've had similar issues with parents, my mother is an alcoholic) was actually a good thing for me emotionally.

Yeastie Beasties! Yuck! But they are conquerable. First why are they there? I believe two fold: First diminished immune system (I believe from antibiotic use as a result of compromised immune function due to vaccines but obviously hotly debated). The gut is a person's biggest immune system and the biggest user of seratonin (more on that later). Second - allergens and food sensitivities really rip up the tum making it ripe for the yeast moving in, not to mention our sugar rich American diets. Once the imbalance occurs it is actually quite easy to kill them - religious use of Nystatin. You will be able to actually see the difference in your child after the Nystatin. Hoyt had been in a kind of fog before (we didn't even realize it and thought he was kind of a nutty professor type - after about 2-3 days on the stuff he came into a lucidity we didn't even know he was capable of!) You will get to the point when you can see the yeasties coming and going by their mental sharpness. I was just at our DAN doc and he commented on parents talking about the fog of yeast; how parents get to the point where they can tell when the yeast is getting stronger or abating. But using Nystatin all the time is like putting Raid on the ants in your kitchen but not doing anything about why they are there in the first place (food on the counter, dishes piled up, open food in the pantry). But for sure tip the balance in your favor quickly with using Nystatin - religiously followed with a chaser of probiotics. Be careful though, and go through a compounding pharmacy. The regular liquid Nystatin they make for kids has flavoring, sugars (probably corn) and DYE!!!! yellow AND red! Hoyt is able to swallow pills so we had the compounding pharmacy put the powder in capsule form. Probiotics - I thought using the stuff we get at the health food store was good enough. I was using Jarrow's and getting 3.5 billion organism in him per pill. Our DAN doc laughed. He said he'd have to take about 29 pills per day to get what he wanted Hoyt to get. He takes 90 billion a day now, and gets it in three pills. The product we use is Metagenics Ultra Flora IB - you get 30 billion organisms per pill - great stuff - down side is it needs to be refrigerated, but if we go out I have ice packs and a little cooler which works nicely. Avoidance of allergens: I have become a food Nazi. Hoyt is allergic to gluten, casein, soy, corn, bananas, citrus (except lemons), almonds, tomatoes, and all the dyes. I have found on-line grocery stores that help with foods and have found lots of recipes that we love. It has been the hardest part of this whole journey but we do not faulter for ANY reason. Not for birthday's, or because we forgot to bring things, or because we're later than we thought so let's just stop for something. I find people who are trying to help their kids with problems like "Tourettes", ADHD, OCD, etc. pretty much unwilling to do what is needed when it comes to changing their diet. I was reluctant too but finally decided it was all or nothing. As a result we have been richly rewarded. The few times I've slipped up I saw it right away - he ticced. The whole importance of the allergen avoidance thing hit hard when I actually thought about the test that he took to determine his allergies. It is a delayed food allergy test. It tests for the bodies anitbodies against the particular foods. ANTIBODIES to FIGHT the food! When I give him something with corn in it - his body mounts antibodies against it -like it was a disease! That just really struck a chord with me. His body has to fight it and hence it compromises his immune system further. I really think what our kids have is a hyper-sensitivity to their own immune systems; that they over produce antibodies and it is that to which they react - hence the reaction to Strep. It's not the Strep, it's their bodies' over-reaction to it and the resulting antibodies attacking important things like their own basal-ganglia! Just a theory but by not stressing their immune systems (with things like food allergens) they really benefit. We also started using a product (I'm virusy so take it too) called Lauracidin. It is a brand name for a lipid called monolaurin which is found in saw palmetto, coconut, and BREAST MILK! This product is made from coconut. It is anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and key to yeast - anti-fungal! It is truly amazing and really works. We used this in tandem at first with the Nystatin and would try a few days off of the Nystatin to see how it was working. Depending on what he was eating the Lauricin usually would be enough. If he ate a lot of sugar we would see him fogging and do a couple of days back on Nystatin. But by doing everything else he hasn't had Nystatin for months. Everything else: What we did was boost Hoyt's immune system, up his seratonin, and keep vigilant about his allergens. Boosting his immune system: He takes all the vitamins that he was deficient in: B6, zinc, magnesium, vit. C. He gets his B6 as P5P as he has difficutly both synthesizing his B6 from foods and breaking it down once he gets it - I actually think this is the genetic component of his "TS" but the P5P works brilliantly. He also takes B5 (he used to grind his teeth until we used this). He gets Omega 3,6, and 9's but from borage and flax as his high histamines prevent him from getting them from fish (too much choline). He gets extra calcium and B12. He takes L-carnitine and glutathione to help him with the food break down/utilizing fats - which really helps. We had his neurotransmitters tested and found that he had very low seratonin (biggest user of seratonin is the enteric system -tummy/digestion) - you know when you're nervous your stomach feels it as well as your brain. He was also low in dopamine, epinephrine but high in GABA, histamine and norepinephrine. We are giving him 5HTP, SAM-e, Rhodiola Rosea, glycine, taurine, theanine - from these we saw the hugest decrease in the tics as well as OCD behavior. When firefly told about his success with L-carnosine I asked Hoyt's DAN doc what he thought. He thought it was really great and super safe so we added this. Not only did it make him super sharp I just found out that it helps with yeast! Killing it that is - it is an antioxident as well - such a win win and Hoyt was doing really well before we added it but since then he is absolutely super! Oh, another super easy sign for the yeasties going up and down is their sugar cravings. When Hoyt's yeasty all he asks for is waffles, cookies, super sweet fruit. When he's not he thinks my cookies (allergen free) taste too sweet! I hope this makes sense - it is so second nature to me now that I almost have a tough time explaining it. I don't think Hoyt will ever have an easy time with yeast and will always have to be vigilant to it rearing it's ugly head but I think we've come a long way. I know you can do it too! Good luck and please if you need clarification please don't hesitate to ask.

Yikes to the upping of the copper to zinc ratio! My son has that already - but we are supplementing with L-carnosine after asking his DAN doctor who believes it is very effective - Hoyt is doing really well on it and I'm taking it too after seeing such focus and attention benefits in my son. But thanks for the heads up - so far his ratio hasn't risen but gone down from the P5P supplementation but should it I will know why. Thanks, Giselle

Hi Mommy11, welcome to Latitudes - please read all that you can here before deciding whether or not to go on medication. I can attest that it has been a long road but well worth it as now my son (7 3/4) is not ticcing at all and hasn't been for quite a while now that we've got everything right. There are several tests you can have done that will illuminate various deficencies or abnormalities, as well as allergies and once you address those various things the tics can come under control. My son's did! I, like you saw meds as a last resort. I stuck to this thinking and actually used the tics as my guide - they would get worse when something was out of whack or he ate something that he was allergic to. I saw it first after he ate a neon red ice cream and cone - he looked like he was having a seizure almost he was ticcing so much! I figured if something can make them worse - then something could make them better! I was right and he's doing sooooo well now it is truly amazing. I think what strikes me the most from your posts is the urgency. Remember that these tics aren't hurting him (although they can get to that and my son's did) but you are starting sooner than we did. They are just disturbing you (it is always worse for the parents!!!!). It is horrible to see your child tic - but again I urge you to be patient and have the tests and try some of the things you read about here as there is more than hope here - you can lick this - we did! A couple of really easy things to help. Don't talk about them to him or in his presence - it only makes him more self-conscious and as a result tic more. Give him some epsom salt baths - most of these kids need a lot of magnesium and this is a harmless way to get it. And be vigilant about ALL the dyes and artificial sweetners. Please read all that you can here, ask lots of questions, be patient, and I'm sending you lots of hugs! You've come to right place and have courageously followed your intincts to heal your child (not band-aid him). All the best and welcome, Giselle

Hi Carolyn, I'm not Andy, obviously, but I just wanted to applaud you! Your progress is truly inspirational. Thanks so much for sharing! Giselle

Hi Firefly, wow, that would be great - he is super thin - he's as tall, if not taller than his classmates but only weighs 52 pounds. The boy who is closest to his height weighs 95lbs! Here in California the law is that you have to be 6 and weigh 60lbs to get out of the booster seat. At this rate he'll be 10 before he's out! Maybe not with the Carnosine I read somewhere else there was another explanation for their thinness. That when they are on the neurotransmitter blockers (the regular traditional medicine stuff) they get chubbier because what's being blocked also stops another cycle - I'm sorry not making much sense. I'll go look for that - but not tonight I've been burning the midnight oil too many nights in a row! I'll look for that article and keep you posted on Hoyt's Carnosine progress! Giselle

I am a believer in it. He is so much calmer but as you said in an alert way. I think the anti-oxidant quality is helping him too. He seems like he has more energy - he's not waking up as tired as he usually does. He's also not sleeping as long. He's almost 8 and he has needed 12-13 hours religiously! It is hard to facilitate this as there is homework, bath, story - but we do. I feel like a race horse in the evening. He gets up at 7 so must be in bed by 6. Throw in a chiropractic appointment and it's just this huge race. Well since he's been taking this he has been waking up earlier - at first it was 15 minutes but now its at a 1/2 hour. That is huge for us! We can get in extra story time in the morning - a must as he's in second grade and has to read to us which takes a while. So if nothing else that has been great! It's all coming together so nicely! Thanks so much, Giselle

Hi Carolyn, yes, that's what our DAN doctor does too. Chronic diarrhea, allergies, etc. It has worked very well - and my son did have those things when the tests were done so it wasn't lieing. They see Tourettes as a "disease" unto itself rather than a symtom of other things being out of balance. Such a shame, Giselle

Hi Patty, Bonnie's Vitamins are wonderful for a lot of people and I applaud her for her pioneering vitamin therapy for TS. My son, unfortunately, didn't do well on her vitamins (or several others we tried). I am now armed with why, which I didn't know when we started them. My son has high histamine - we had his neurotransmitters tested and found out lots of stuff which we are addressing with great success but having high histamine means that folate (folic acid) is a no no - it just makes things worse. Almost all multivitamins, including Bonnie's, have folate. That was a great piece of information when we found this out - it explained so much. Another no no for histamine is choline. The fish oils didn't agree with my son either (possibly due to choline) but could be a lot of reasons. We have him on flax seed and borage which works wonders and gets him his omegas. Another thing we found out was that for whatever reason he doesn't break B6 down very well (it might be the reason he's so out of whack in the first place) and he takes P5P which is one step closer to being broken down. He's thriving on that. We essentially follow Bonnie's lead in that vitamins are integral to his health and diminishing tics but we've had to give him separate vitamins so that we aren't giving him the things that make him worse. He ends up having to take a lot of them but they are more individulized because of his own physiology. Perhaps that's why some do well, and some don't. Getting a great DAN doctor, Environmental doc or integrative doc who do these kinds of tests will really help you cut to the chase and eliminates the trial and error (and wasting of time and money) that is involved without one. I don't know if I read it here or at Brain Talk but one person said "they tried diet and vitamins and they didn't work" and I can see why. Each of these guys has different issues and there isn't a one fix all. For example I was desperately trying to find out what types of foods might be triggers for my son. I suspected gluten, casein and soy. I was eliminating all those but he wasn't getting any better, maybe even a little worse. When I finally had a delayed food allergy blood test done I had a huge "Aha" moment (well, I actually cried tears of joy) because there, right before me was why. He was allergic to corn! When I had taken gluten out of his diet I replaced it with corn! No bread? Corn chips and corn tortillas. No wheat cereal? O.K., then corn flakes! No crackers - pop corn! Poor kid! No wonder he was still doing horribly! When we took the corn away (and bananas, he was allergic to those too, which included arrowroot flour, part of the banana family) it was amazing. Over half his tics totally went away! It just pays to have some of these tests done - and all of them were paid by insurance because our doctor didn't put it down as Tourettes -which in fact was true. They were allergy and chronic loose stools - all the allergens were ripping his poor gut up. It just so happens that it helped his tics as well. I see his tics as a symptom. Like a runny nose - get rid of the cold and the runny nose goes away. Good luck, read lots, ask lots of questions, trust your intuition, never give up and WELCOME! Giselle P.S. My son is almost tic free now - he only does a few finger crunches now and again if he's super stressed out. He used to tic about 40 times every minute, mostly phonic but many times with painful neck, jaw and back tics. He also has OCD - also gone.

Hi Firefly - I bought Jarrow's L-carnosine. He takes Thorne for almost everything else and when I asked them if they make carnosine they told me they don't and have no plans to do so. Other of Jarrow's products are fine for him (except the vegetarian capsules as they have maltodextrin in them - he's allergic to corn) but this one uses a gelatin capsule so is fine. The other brand he does well with is Solray - very pure. Anyway it cost $49.99 for 90 capsules 500mg each. He's taking 2 a day. It's still not as expensive as his Calm PRT for his neurotranmitters which is $100 for a month - yikes! But super worth it! He is doing amazingly well already with only a few finger crunches a day. I decided to try the L-carnosine to try to get him in the black again. He has no buffer and a late night or the sniffles really take their toll on him. It's too early to tell but he usually reacts really quickly if something doesn't agree with him and we saw no signs yesterday or today. One thing he did say made me wonder though - he said he felt really mellow this morning. I thought "oh goodness, what does that mean?" I don't want him all dreamy at school - and he said it was like he felt really calm. Maybe it was the L-c? He tends to be on the anxious side so being calm can't be bad - maybe I should take the whole jar! Giselle P.S. I thought I'd posted the link to this thread over at Brain Talk but when I went to go look for it couldn't find it - must have not hit the submit button. Anyway, I redid it so it's there now.

Hi Fuschia, Welcome to Latitudes! Boy is this the place for you. Please take some time and read the posts here as there are a whole bunch of things you can do for tics! There are several tests you will have to have that can really pin point what's going on in your body. People have found by finding out their allergies, treating vitamin deficiencies, treating neurotransmitters, and avoiding food dyes and artificial foods that their tics completely disappear. And if not disappear completely, their tics are greatly reduced. My son had very debilitating tics, including the neck whiplash tic, lots of vocal tics and the list goes on and on. We found he was deficient in B6, calcium, magnesium, and Vit. C. He had a copper to zinc ratio that was 2 to 1 where it is supposed to be 1 to 1. His neurtransmitters where out of whack as well and we are giving him some of the building block amino acids to help with that. And he had very high levels of yeast and bacteria in his gut. We have been rectifying this. The difference is truly amazing! His vocal tics are completely gone and his motor tics are an occasional finger crunch once or twice a day - mostly in the evening (tired). But that's it! It is wonderful for him as no one even notices and therefore we are very happy. Other people have different deficiencies or issues but the tests reveal that and they are dealing accordingly and having success as well. It takes a while to soak all the information up so go slowly and ask questions. This method (more natural) is a little slower and has a little trial and error so is not as quick as popping a pill - but the rewards are great. The tics are simply a symptom of something out of whack in your system. Covering the tics with medication many times is just a bandaid - healing what's wrong really works. People here also have advice on finding a great doctor who can help with these more alternative remedies. We use an Environmental Doctor as well as a DAN doctor (DAN stands for Defeat Autism Now) and not that tics are part of Autism it's just that DAN doctors are able to order and understand many tests that regular docs don't - as well, they are more up on how nutrition plays a part in all this (vitamin deficiencies, etc.) Good luck and welcome! Giselle

Hi Firefly - when you say expensive you aren't kidding. Just bought some today after seeing my son's DAN doctor who thought it was a great idea. He just had his first capsule a few minutes ago. I will keep you posted! Giselle