Just tics without other symptoms

[devotedmom]

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.

[Chemar]

Hi

 

if your daughter's tics "transition" from one type to another, that could be waxing and waning as well..as one tic wanes, another waxes.

 

The vast majority of people who have tics, whether TS or another tic disorder, only exhibit the tics without any comorbid symptoms

 

Allergies can trigger tics.

 

Some of those medications you mention have been documented here as triggering more tics, but I forget which were ok and which not so a search would hopefully bring up the info for you

 

If your child has environmental allergies, there may also be dietary allergies or sensitivities that could be contributing to the tics. Lots of info here on that as well

[devotedmom]

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.

[faith]

how much magnesium do you give and what type? just wondering. you could try upping it a little.

[devotedmom]

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?

[faith]

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?

 

If you feel the Attentive Child helps her, then by all means stick with it, however I would like to point out that sometimes things that have a good effect for attention, sometimes have negative effects on the tics. If this product contains magnesium in the form of aspartate, perhaps try a different form, as sometimes people find aspartate being more of an exitotoxin rather than a calming. so maybe try a product that is magnesium citrate or another form. avoid oxide as it is poorly absorbed. Also, it might help to up that dose a little, 120 mg. is pretty low, you could give 3 to 400 as long as it doesn't have an laxative effects.

 

Only suggestion I could give for the antihistamine is maybe try a more natural product, there is one called D-hist jr. that you could google, it is made of quercetin and some other supplements. you could experiment to see if it helps. I think the no dairy trial is a good one, and may very well help, but you'll have to experiment to see what effects the antihistamines have.

Edited November 24, 2010 by faith

[devotedmom]

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.

[faith]

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.

 

 

I'm sure you could find it at the Vitamin shoppe or the health food store...if they don't have it they could probably order it for you.

 

You could mix the Natural calm with a very small amount of boiled water, and then add some natural fruit juice, just a splash so she doesn't have to drink too much, I know my son doesn't like the sour taste either. If you could find capsule form, you could open the capsule and hide the powder in a tablespoon of apple sauce.

[devotedmom]

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?