Jeff

Hi Rebecca, I am 49 years old and have had tics all my life. Mine were never serious enough (or ever diagnosed) to warrant meds; however, they did affect me socially. The biggest triggers for my tics are lack of sleep, caffeine, and artificial colors. My daughters also have tics, and we've really seen the connection with artificial colors. Are you eating a lot of foods that have these colors in them (for example, Red #40, Yellow #5, etc). Have you ever noticed any triggers that make your tics worse? If you look through the threads on this forum, you will see that nearly everyone has been able to reduce their tics drastically using methods other than medicines. Good luck. Jeff

Hi Brett, Like ad_ccl says, be careful not to try everything at once. Even one change can be stressful... trying so many at once would be extremely stressful. If and when you do focus on his diet, don't feel like you have to eliminate all sugars and all candies. For us, sugar is not a problem.... it's just the artificial colors and flavors. Look for somewhere to buy all-natural candies, buy all-natural/organic cookies and cereals, etc. Even many flavors of Breyer's ice cream are okay (the black and white boxes, usually). Don't feel like you have to put a stop to all sweets - just find natural replacements. Most people who follow the Feingold program are not concerned about sugar, and are able to find many sweets and candies to satisfy our sweet tooths! Squirrels-nest.com is a good place to order natural candies on-line. She might be really busy this time of year, but keep it in mind. Otherwise, just go to an all-natural store, or go down the all-natural aisle of your grocery store and look for things to replace what your son is eating now. If you have a Whole Foods store in your area, that would be a GREAT place to go shopping. You can buy nearly anything there without worrying about artificial additives. If you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to try to help. Jeff

Hi Brett, Just wanted to add my two cents regarding tics. Both of my daughters and I have tics. We've never been diagnosed, but it's in the family. We have been able to keep them to a bare minimum merely by eliminating artificial colors and flavors from our diets. The artificial colors especially have a direct impact on our tic levels. If you read through some of the threads on this board, you'll notice that most of us have seen a connection with those additives and the tic levels. You mentioned that your son's diet isn't all that great. If he eats a lot of artificial colors and flavors, you might want to replace those with natural alternatives... For example, many cereals that we eat are loaded with that stuff (Trix, Lucky Charms, etc), and many "juices" that we drink (Hawaiian Punch, Kool-Aid, etc). We're also just coming off of Halloween, so there might be a lot of candy in the house that normally is not so available (Twizzlers, Skittles, M&M's, ring pops, etc). Read labels and look for things like "Red 40", "Yellow 5", etc. You'd be surprised at the number of children who react to those additives, and in so many different ways. Look for "all-natural" foods, or even "organic" - more expensive, and not always as good tasting, but the effects can be very dramatic. My girls' tic levels went from "bad" to "nearly gone" within a few weeks of removing those from their diet. It can be a big effort at first, but gets much easier. For more info, you can check out the Feingold organization website at feingold.org Best of luck... Jeff

A thought that came to my mind, because of the time of year, was whether the children are ticcing because of eating Halloween candy...? I know mine are, even though we limit it.. Jeff

Glad you found this site - you're sure to find something that will help your son, naturally. Chemar's link will give you a lot of great ideas on what might be triggering your son's tics. For my two daughters, the biggest culprit we've found is artificial colors in foods. We've been avoiding those for several years now, and our tics are no longer an issue. When they cheat too much, they do start to tic again, but mildly, and we can get things back under control pretty quickly with a clean diet. You might want to check your pantry and see if there's anything new that he's begun eating recently that might be a culprit (Hawaiian Punch, Trix, Gatorade, Twizzlers, Skittles, etc....) Check ingredients for things like Red #40, Yellow #5, etc.... Many children are affected by those additives. If you want to read more about it, you can find a lot of info at feingold.org. Best of luck, and keep asking questions! There is a lot of knowledge and experience here on this board. Jeff

Hi Lisa, One of my daughters' focus is really affected by Corn Syrup. Her brain seems to be all over the place when she's had too much. It's a difficult thing to eliminate because it's in so many foods and drinks; however, some of the biggest triggers for her seem to be soft drinks, Capri Sun, and any items where CS or High Fructose CS are one of the primary ingredients. We avoid items like that in the house, and have found alternatives for most of them. Jeff

HI LuluGirl, I've never heard of that reaction in particular, although it wouldn't surprise me. Caffeine can do that to some people, though. If you experience it again after eating red dye, then you may be on to something. Jeff

Decorah, One thing you might try right away is eliminating artificial flavors and colors from your son's diet. My oldest daughter started to tic around age 7 or 8, and hers became bad enough that the teasing started at school, and she was starting to withdraw socially. We heard that artificial flavors and colors can trigger TS-related tics. We discovered the Feingold program (feingold.org), followed the program, and within a few weeks her tics had subsided dramatically. We have now been on the program for 6-7 years, and the tics are no longer an issue. When we deviate too much, we see the effects, but we can clean up our act, and get back on track fairly easily. It's certainly not the answer for everyone, but it surely has worked for us. Changing our diet was difficult at first, but it has become a lot easier since the beginning. The biggest triggers for us are the artificial colors (Red #40, Yellow #5, etc.) If your son eats Trix or Fruit Loops, drinks Kool-Aid or Hawaiian Punch, snacks on Twizzlers or Skittles, etc, etc...., those could be affecting his tics. If you want any more info or details, let me know and I'm happy to share. You can also check out the website. Best of luck. Jeff

Robin, Any chance that your son is eating or drinking something new? Anything high in artificials or Corn Syrup? Jeff

Sounds like a really positive outcome. Thanks a ton to all 3 of you for making the effort. Who knows what impact you might have had on at least several individuals, if not the entire organization...?

Jenniebeth, Many people have found that their children react to the flickering of screens - such as TV, computer, fluorescent lighting, etc. Look at some of the threads on the Tourette's forum for more discussion about screens. Regards. Jeff

HI Kiamaria, Have you tried elminating artificial colors and flavors from what he eats? For example, in US we call them by number - like Red #40, Yellow #5, etc. I know that you have a different system over there for identifying them. In any case, many people have found great success in improving behavior, ADHD, and tics related to Tourette's, when they've eliminated those additives from their childrens' diets. See Feingold.org for info on one program. Best of luck. Jeff

Can't tell you how thrilled I am to hear that Sheila, Cheri, Cheri's son will be speaking at the TSA meeting - especially with the real-life success stories they have to offer. TSA is so much about meds, that this is a great, great opportunity to share some other alternatives. If you can open one more mind to the alternatives, then you'll have been successful. But I have a feeling that you will open a lot of minds. I thank you all for doing this, and I so look forward to hearing all about it. Jeff

Karen, Sorry the FG program didn't work out for you. Sounds like you gave it a good try, and I admire you for sticking with it even though you weren't seeing good results. I hope you and your daughter will soon find what triggers her tics. Jeff

efgh, The feingold program does eliminate BHA, BHT, and TBHQ from the diet. I don't know what the diff is between the 3. And yes, many people do react to items that are applied externally. Jeff

Hi again, We are always keeping our eyes open for new foods. In fact, many of our regular staples are not listed in the Food Guide. There are just too many products out there for the volunteers to be able to research each and every one. However, if not on the food guide, we certainly read the labels and avoid anything artificial, or with the 3 preservatives. We frequent the "health-food" aisles of the grocery store, and buy a lot of organic- or all-natural foods for snacky things. Certainly many of the products are more expensive, but that's just something we have to live with. Once we introduce something new to the house, we kind of monitor things to see if there's a reaction. Well..., it's more like, if we see a reaction, we go back and see if we introduced anything new to the house. We can usually pin-point something. Mostly it's just experience that comes with time. I remember that we tried to eat Cheerio's but were seeing a reaction even though the label read clean. We found out that they use BHA or BHT in the packaging, but don't include it on the label. Finding a replacement that the girls liked was difficult, but we finally found a line of organic products called "Cascadian Farms". I don't think they're in the food guide, but the girls do like them, and no reactions. One unbelievable thing happened just recently. Giving up Oreos has to be one of the hardest things a person can have to do. Finding an acceptable replacement has been until now impossible (most tasted yucky). My wife recently brought home an organic brand - something like Natural Horizons....? - I'll have to check - which actually are very good. My daughter traded one of hers for an Oreo at school the other day, and liked the organic ones better than the Oreo. That's a big deal! One very important tool, especially at first, is keeping a good food diary. Take note of everything you eat every day, and observe reactions. Remember, sometimes reactions are delayed and can appear 1-2 days after eating the trigger.

Karen, We have been on FG for about 5 years. I know what you're going through as far as the difficulties of following the program. We started out trying to comply very strictly, and I remember how overwhelming and depressing it could be, but at least for us we knew it was helping with the tics. As we got more experienced, we relaxed the rules a lot, and we now follow a much less strict version of the program. It's not nearly as difficult for us now, and our tics are very much under control. In fact, true FG-ers would probably say that we really don't follow the program. We find that if we keep our meals at home very "clean", our tic levels remain mild, even if we go off-program occasionally. We tried using all natural shampoos and toothpastes at first, but we didn't like the products so we now use "regular" products. We have found that for us it's more important to eliminate the colors and flavors, as well as the BHA, BHT, and TBHQ. We also are careful with corn syrup and too many salicylates. As long as we don't overdo it, we're okay. I know that we are very lucky in that sense. Some who follow the program are unable to deviate at all without seeing some severe reactions. We let the girls make their own decisions when they go to birthday parties or have celebrations in school. We encourage them to take a small piece of cake, and to try to avoid the most colorful icings, or to sample a few items, but not pig out. This has worked out very well for us and for the girls, as they don't have to feel "different" by eating their own foods. As they get older, they make more mature decisions, and as they get bigger, they can tolerate more infractions. Like I said, we are luckier than many. And our reactions are merely mild tic'cing, which certainly is not as serious as life or death, or severe behavioral problems. If we do overdo it, and start ticcing more, we can usually determine what caused it, and we have peace of mind knowing that we can clean out our systems and get them back under control in a short time. Our breakfasts, lunches, and dinners are about 90 % "approved" items. I think that's what keeps us on track. We are also fortunate that we haven't had to eliminate the hard things, like dairy or gluten, or wheat. That would certainly be a different story. Our girls have been doing this since they were younger, so they have grown up with it. Trying to start at age 12 certainly would be more of a challenge. I would recommend that you do your best to keep a clean diet in the house. If you start to see results after a few weeks, then maybe your daughter will begin to believe in it, and will see the consequences of eating too much of the wrong things. It's certainly possible, as others have said, that the FG program won't be an answer for you. But it certainly has helped us, as well as others on the board. By the way, we started the program when my oldest daughter was about 7 years old. She began to tic very badly - nothing as debilitating as what others have experienced - but she had tics in her hands, shoulders, and face (frequent nose scrunching, mouth opening). Her body was in constant motion. When she'd sit on my lap for books, she was constantly twisting, tensing, and moving. Children were teasing her about the facial ones, and she was starting to withdraw socially. It was devastating to watch this happening to our little princess. Believe me... I know the pain that you are all feeling. At a really low point, we read an article that mentioned a link between tic'ing and artificial colors. We thought back a couple of weeks and realized that she had been eating a lot of Twizzlers, Reese Cups, and gummy bears during that period. A light went off, and we started down that road. Within a couple of weeks the tics dropped way down. When she'd sit on my lap for books, she was as still as a rock. We were believers. We have followed the program ever since, and the tic levels have never gotten back to the level where they were when she was in first and second grade. Yes, we make sacrifices with regard to what we eat or don't eat, but for us they are small sacrifices considering the results we have seen. Sorry to go on so long! I hope it was helpful. Jeff