I hate Halloween

[rissakaye]

Wondering if anyone else is feeling the same way.

 

My ds had been doing so well just being dairy free. No tics for a good stretch. We had not taken him completely off of food dye, but since most of what we eat is fresh/homemade, I hadn't worried about the very minute amounts he sometimes got. Food dye just really isn't much of an issue around here.

 

And then Halloween.

 

Since ds couldn't have the chocolates, I was letting him have the candies. Yesterday he came home from school and his vocal tic was in full force. It's still going today. He can mask it with gum chewing, so compared to what some tic kids deal with, his is mild. He's frustrated because we had such a good stretch without tics.

 

My guess is it is the food-dye or the hfcs. He hasn't had any candy since Sunday afternoon. I'm hoping that once we get a few more days of his regular diet back in him, we'll get back to where we were. Food dye and hfcs aren't very much a part of his regular diet anyway.

 

Marissa

[Chemar]

There are healthy candy sites that do not use dyes or artificial sweeteners, flavors etc (eg www.naturalcandystore.com

 

Honestly my son learned so early on what even a small slip would give such a big set back that he voluntarily gave up the junk food.

 

imho Food dye is a poison...there is very good reason that it is banned in Europe and UK etc!!

 

I hope things stabilize again quickly for your son

[rissakaye]

Today is day 4 after the dye and hfcs and ds's vocal tic has virtually disappeared. I know if he eats dairy, by day 4 the eye roll tic will be gone. So, best guess is it's the dye and/or hfcs.

 

Ds is actually really, really good about giving up what doesn't help him. Not that there haven't been a few tough moments. I'm good in the kitchen so I'll usually whip up something that convinces him the world didn't end and we go on with life. I re-looked at all his normal foods. He's eating dye-free and hfcs free with his normal foods. I actually hadn't done that purposely, but I've always tended towards scratch cooking and real ingredients. I had also heard/read about Feingold diet when the kids were very little and I was never inclined to buy much that included a lot of dyes. Halloween was the one time of year when we did allow it.

 

I'm just glad that today he's back to his happy, non-ticcing self.

 

Marissa

[massachusettsdad]

My son has gone from occasional head rolling to full-brown vocalization (throat clearing, grunting) and complex tics like he is dancing the robot and other dance moves.

 

It seems to have gone off charts in the last week, generally worse day to day. He is 8 years old.

 

I joined this site today as a result of it -- and I too was suspecting Halloween was the culprit.

 

Myself, I am allergic to wheat and several other foods. My son was dianoised with an egg allergy years ago but grew out of it (according to the doc) by age 5.

 

We are trying to get an appt with a neuralogist who specializes in tics and TS among children.

 

Would love any advice on identifying food allegeries, other than total elimination (I just don't think that is practical).

Bless you and yours. After what I have gone though this week, I can really appreciate how difficult this is.

[rissakaye]

My son has gone from occasional head rolling to full-brown vocalization (throat clearing, grunting) and complex tics like he is dancing the robot and other dance moves.

 

It seems to have gone off charts in the last week, generally worse day to day. He is 8 years old.

 

I joined this site today as a result of it -- and I too was suspecting Halloween was the culprit.

 

Myself, I am allergic to wheat and several other foods. My son was dianoised with an egg allergy years ago but grew out of it (according to the doc) by age 5.

 

We are trying to get an appt with a neuralogist who specializes in tics and TS among children.

 

Would love any advice on identifying food allegeries, other than total elimination (I just don't think that is practical).

 

Bless you and yours. After what I have gone though this week, I can really appreciate how difficult this is.

 

Unfortunately, in my experience, the mainstream medical dr's that I have talked to have very little knowledge and/or tolerance for any discussion of how food and neurological things like tics interact with each other. I was told by an allergist that my son was just acting to please me. He declared food interactions with tics impossible and he wasn't going to believe it. My regular dr. wanted my son to see a neurologist that has a horrible reputation within the community and online horrible reviews for "missed diagnosis". I hope that you have better luck than we did.

 

The best advice I can give you, is to do some trial and error with food. Eliminate one major allergen at a time. Keep a journal of food and tics and compare. I had a pretty good clue that dairy was my son's culprit. And it was. Three days without dairy and my sons eyerolls were fading so fast it seemed crazy. Now we had the vocals that happened to coincide with the food dye/hfcs high of Halloween. We're fortunate that my son's tics, comparatively, have been easy to figure out. We've seen a huge difference in ds's writing at school also by eliminating the dairy. Even before the tic was visible, it was affecting him.

 

Dairy and gluten seem to be the 2 most common tic triggers. Also the dye's and artificial ingredients. I cook generally from scratch. I enjoy the organic products at the store and vegan products. My son has to avoid dairy and tree nuts (known allergic reactions for him) and also he tests allergic to peanuts though he has never reacted. That means our processed food is kept to a minimum. Ds still does eat wheat and gluten. It's different for every kid.

 

Ds has been very willing in all of this. He originally seemed to be my pickiest eater. Now, looking back, I realize that what he didn't want to eat was almost all food that included dairy in it. His body was trying to keep him away from dairy naturally. I feel like I finally understand the rules for feeding him and he has become a much broader eater. He eats a wider variety of foods now than ever. He also is so happy when a food is safe for him that he's delighted to try it.

 

I hope you find some answers.

 

Marissa