Gluten Free and Tics

[Jetocurly4]

Curious if anyone out there has a child with Tourette and decided to try a gluten free diet and if they noticed any change. Any information is appreciated. Thanks!

[Chemar]

Hi

yes there are many posts here on the benefit of gluten free diets.

 

Not everyone finds it necessary as some people do seem to tolerate gluten with no adverse effect on tics.

 

But for others, even those with no clear gluten intolerance, it does seem to help a lot.

 

I would suggest you take a look at the Helpful Threads pinned to the top of the board as well as do a search on gluten, as you will find a lot of info.

[Jetocurly4]

Thank you so so much!

[my2sons]

We have done gluten and dairy free, also no preservatives or artificial ingredients. It has been 4 months and we have seen 95% improvement in tics.

[Emik]

My2sons, how long until you saw the improvement? Was it within the first couple of weeks?

 

 

We started Dairy free diet back in July and then latter (as of Aug 14th) also excluded Gluten and Eggs. This was done based on the IGg results for food intolerance. However, we still haven't seen any improvement. We have also eliminated the food additives/colors/flavors for a long time now. My daughter's tics started the day she turned 9. The first two years they would appear only for a couple of months and then she would be virtually tic free for the rest of the year.

 

 

However, this past year they have been almost constant - no relief. Her tics include eye blinking, eye roll, shoulder twitch, finger movements. She will be 12 in September, and starting high school this year. I read a lot about CBIT and was really hopeful on that, but at this time she is not open to this idea. I need to be patient and let her be ready.

 

I am not sure what else to try - nothing seems to work. Her tics seem uncontrollable for almost an year now. She is on a good multi, and also takes the mag/cal/zinc combo, algae and m.s.n according to her homeopath that we saw this summer.

 

 

 

I appreciate any comments or suggestions.

 

 

Best regards,
Amy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cara615]

Is it possible that she is not 100% dairy and gluten free? I ask because we too saw amazing improvement when we removed dairy, gluten, corn and sugar but we did not see it until 100% of the offending foods were removed so even a tiny cracker with dairy in it would cause the symptoms to show themselves.

 

We also did a 6 week antifungal regimen with grapefruit seed extract to kill yeast. This was helpful as well. in addition, we give our son a methyl B complex and NAC (N acetyl cystiene) which is an amino acid.

 

We see a holistic physician and discovered that our son had a corn, gluten and dairy intolerance as well as yeast and a methylation dysfunction. That is why we add what we add as far as supps go. We also go glutamine and probiotic for gut health.

[cara615]

One more thing, our son has had a similar history with tics as your daughter. He is 5 but his tics started when he was three and would come and go and would be gone for long periods of time. This past March they came on full force and were severe. So severe that I thought he would not be able to attend Kindergarten.

 

Well, we started the diet changes in May and finally in August when I removed the last of the allergens (dairy) his tics subsided 90%. its been a HUGE change for us and each day gets better.

[Emik]

Thanks Cara. It's very possible, especially with the gluten and the eggs that we excluded from her diet just a few weeks ago. I'll watch carefully. Thanks very much for posting, I am glad you see improvement and it gives me hope. It's definitely not an easy journey.

[my2sons]

Emik, it' s intetesting that your daughters tics began when she turned 9... my son's tics started days after his 9th b -day and so did his cousins. I have also read of others saying this. Hmm. Our progress with diet and tic improvement has been similar to Cara's but maybe slower and more gradual. But my DS is older so he has had more time to create the gut damage so it makes since it would take longer to heal. I read on the Web where a docyor advised a mom that neurological damage caused by gluten intolerance or celiac takes the longest to heal. It can take a year to 2 years to heal...longer if the damage is really bad. We just hit the 4 month mark and we are at about 95% improvement.

[my2sons]

Also, i agree with Cara, i suggest a good probiotic and possibly an antifungul like Candida clear or grapefruit seed extract to aid the gut in healing. You need a probootic with about 25 billion live active cultures of multiple types of bacteria.klaire labs had a good one. Now makes candida vlear.

[logismum]

I'm agreeing with what the other ladies have said re gut health etc at least this was really important for my son. we did a anti candida diet and anti fungal and now do a daily probiotic. It's good to look into every area of health that you possibly can. My son also has issues with having heavy metals present so we are currently slowly removing them.

 

so i'd say def investigate

 

- Allergies and not just food ones

- Intolerances

- Gut health

- heavy metals

- Any other possible health issues ie pandas/lyme (for my son we found out he has Pyroluria)

 

My son is also colour/additive, gluten, Cows milk/butter, egg and corn free as well as some other things.

 

His tics are also 95% improved since they came full on in January this year. His sister just said to me yesterday "Remember when Logi had tics?" I thought that was a good indicator into how much things have improved. Really only i notice the ones he does have as i'm looking/documenting.

 

I highly recommend getting Sheila's book if you haven't already read it. Amazing info on getting the investigating happening and some really inspirational stories!

 

Best of luck

[cara615]

Just remember you have to read EVERY label to make sure the allergens are not included. Its hard work but it gets easier once you get into a routine and know your "go to" brands.

[Emik]

Thanks so much for replying! I read somewhere that some people saw improvements within the first week of the diet, so I was a bit discouraged. It is comforting to know that it takes time and is a gradual process. We will definitely inquire on the gut health and other possible issues and read on Sheila’s book.

 

 

Jetocurly4, I am so sorry to jump into your post, we just started the diet so your post came in the right time:)

[msimon3]

We tried eliminating gluten, dairy, and corn, and none made any lasting or significant change.

[logismum]

It won't help for everyone, It helped for my son but thats most likely due to the fact that he had gut issues and people with Pyrolle do better on gluten/dairy/additive free diets.... it's all trial and error i guess. msimon3 did i just read your child ended up having Lymes disease? Which most likely meant no matter how clean the diet was it wouldn't have helped? I def think it's important to rule out any underlying conditions too