5 year old son has Tics and I am in despair

[Anks]

Hello I am new here and I am sure I will find help here. I have a 5 year old son who started to blink and slightly nod his head 6 months ago.

He has now started a small eye movement and slight head turn. I am seeing a good homeopath for him but hoping I can find more info to help him.

 

I want to know how I can find a good environmental DOCTOR nd what is biofeedback? I also see someone mention Bonnie supplements.

 

It is overwhelming for me to see all these options so I would Appreciate it if anyone can tell me where to start. I haven given him homeopathic mess for the last 1 month....sometimes it seems to work and other times I wonder. I also started him on fish oil 2 weeks ago.

 

Any suggestions will help a lot. I know I can help my son if I can get answers here.

 

Thank you

Hope to hear from you soon

Anks

[Chemar]

Hi and welcome

sorry it took a while for your first post to show. There is a bit of a delay with initial posts due to our forum anti-spam feature.

 

I would suggest you start reading our helpful threads http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=2459

 

The methods for treating tics really is very dependent on what is causing them...so that is the best point to start at. Treating tics caused by Tourette Syndrome is different from those caused by allergies, or infections, or environmental triggers etc etc.

Personally where I have respect for homeopathy, I would first suggest knowing why he is ticcing before just giving him homeopathic remedies. Homeopathy is different from supplements, and so it is important that you ensure your son has a good diet, free of artificial ingredients and that he is getting the correct supplements. Most people have found magnesium seems to help with tics, but again, you need to first find out why these tics started.

 

hope that helps a bit

[Anks]

Hi and welcome

sorry it took a while for your first post to show. There is a bit of a delay with initial posts due to our forum anti-spam feature.

 

I would suggest you start reading our helpful threads http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=2459

 

The methods for treating tics really is very dependent on what is causing them...so that is the best point to start at. Treating tics caused by Tourette Syndrome is different from those caused by allergies, or infections, or environmental triggers etc etc.

Personally where I have respect for homeopathy, I would first suggest knowing why he is ticcing before just giving him homeopathic remedies. Homeopathy is different from supplements, and so it is important that you ensure your son has a good diet, free of artificial ingredients and that he is getting the correct supplements. Most people have found magnesium seems to help with tics, but again, you need to first find out why these tics started.

 

hope that helps a bit

 

HI,

Thank you so much for your response.

I am still trying to find out the trigger. He is a little shy and keeps things to himself so my homeo doc and I decided that he may be anxious and treating his personality a little which is actually helped. But I also see that for few days he is better and then for few his tics are more intense. I was trying to really rack my brains to see if there was a pattern and I did think that the past 2-3 times a flar up happened, I think he had had some sugary dessert and it's almost alwys leading to constipation....it makes me wonder if there is some yeast infection also involved. He had had a cold before this started and had been given anti-biotics and I saw this happen 2 weeks later....still wondering if I ma right. Any information here will help. Thank you!

[blakes_mom]

My son had the same exact symptoms(blinking,head knod,looking sideways ect. He was diagnosed with pandas. Pandasnetwork.org will give you some good information on this diagnosis.

[Anks]

My son had the same exact symptoms(blinking,head knod,looking sideways ect. He was diagnosed with pandas. Pandasnetwork.org will give you some good information on this diagnosis.

 

Hi

Thank you for your message. I read the symptoms of PANDAS and except for the tic part he is not showing any other symptoms.

How did he get diagnosed and what is the treatment?

[blakes_mom]

Most kids are diagnosed by symptoms alone.In my sons case his strep antibodies were extremely elevated telling us that he had a recent untreated strep infection which triggered the pandas symptoms. Sometimes the other symptoms are so mild you dont really notice them. My sons first episode was mainly tics, but now that he has had repeated episodes I am noticing other symptoms also, such as fidgety,slightly anxious,(chewing on shirt,biting nails) more tempermental ect. The treatment that has worked for my son has been antiobiotics. The first 2 episodes were quickly halted with bicillin cr an injectible antibiotic. The 3 rd episode has been more difficult but he is currently tics free after a tonsilectomy and adenoidectomy along with long term antibiotics.I will warn you that it is extremely difficult to find a doctor that is familiar with this and willing to treat. Let me know if I can help in any way.

[Anks]

Most kids are diagnosed by symptoms alone.In my sons case his strep antibodies were extremely elevated telling us that he had a recent untreated strep infection which triggered the pandas symptoms. Sometimes the other symptoms are so mild you dont really notice them. My sons first episode was mainly tics, but now that he has had repeated episodes I am noticing other symptoms also, such as fidgety,slightly anxious,(chewing on shirt,biting nails) more tempermental ect. The treatment that has worked for my son has been antiobiotics. The first 2 episodes were quickly halted with bicillin cr an injectible antibiotic. The 3 rd episode has been more difficult but he is currently tics free after a tonsilectomy and adenoidectomy along with long term antibiotics.I will warn you that it is extremely difficult to find a doctor that is familiar with this and willing to treat. Let me know if I can help in any way.

 

Thank you for writing

My son did fall sick (cold) before the tics but I did not see a doc till it would not go away....after that the doc gave him an antibiotic and his cold was cured....but after 2-3 weeks I saw the tics....which doctor did you see? I am in Philadelphia area and I am lost for what to do. so far it has been almost 7 months and he blinks with his roght eye mainly and 2 weeks ago started almost like a staring thing with head turn....sometimes he does all this less and sometimes more....where can I get a strep test and what else can I do? I am so lost

[Chemar]

a good place to start to learn about PANDAS is that link that blake's mom gave above http://www.pandasnetwork.org

 

we also have a PANDAS forum here and again the "helpful" threads pinned at the top may be helpful http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=3928

 

anytime tics start after an illness it is definitely worth looking into the possible PANDAS (or as it now seems referred to as PANS)

 

Try to just not panic and take it one step at a time! otherwise you will get too overwhelmed.

remember your son has tics...he is not facing a terminal illness. I know it is hard when anything is wrong with our kids, but others also had to help me get my perspective back when my son's tics first started.

Deep breath and one day at a time...you can't help your son if you are in a mess yourself

(((hugs)))

[blakes_mom]

I found 2 treating physicians in your area.They are Dr.Agustin Legido at St.Christophers ped assoc and Tamar Chansky both in Philadelphia.You may also want to post on the pandas forum for help finding a treating doctor in your area. There are other illnesses that can cause pandas so there are many things to test for.Pandasnetwork.org has a section on helpful labs. I would focus on finding a knowledgable treating physician in your area as a first step.

[Cj60]

Anks, just sent you a message with the name of an environmental practice a little north of Phila. - Chris