My son's Tics and Seasonal Allergies

[mgullion]

Hi all! My name is Megan and I'm new here so wanted to first introduce myself. I feel like I could go into a long story of how things have progressed for my son, but I'll try to keep it short and to the point.

 

My son is 8 years old and has had tics off and on for many years. Right now it's the worst it has ever been. He's making a snorting type noise and clearing his throat all the time...sometimes it gets so bad that it's constant with only a second or two in between. When this gets bad, others start to show up...pushing his chin up, pulling on his eye lashes. Last night he could't get to sleep and he just lost it and started to say he would rather die than live like this.

 

So...we believe that seasonal allergies are his biggest trigger. We are looking into taking him to an allergy Dr. and know that it's likely that they will want to have him come in for allergy shots. I'm wondering if anyone else has tried this and if it helped or possibly even made things worse because of the medicine? We can hear, sometimes that he does have some drainage...allergies in our area are just so bad...our whole family has them. He has been on Allegra for a while and it's just not working now, so we switched him to Zyrtec yesterday....too early to say how that is working.

 

The other things he takes are: Probiotics, Enzymes, DHA, EPA, Multivitamin (dye and flavor free), lavender, lemon and peppermint pure essential oils, and we do a massage with essential oils morning and sometimes both morning and night. We use natural, homemade cleaning products and soaps. In his diet we have taken out gluten, and all artificial colors and flavors and do mostly non gmo and organic. We've cut back on sugar but not cut it out completely.

 

Sorry if this is all over the place...my main concern is what to do about his allergies, because I really believe this is his biggest trigger and I'm just not sure what to do or if I should go down the road of seeing the Allergist. If there are other posts out there, feel free to link them to me!

 

Thanks so much everyone!!!

God bless!

Megan

[Sheila]

Hi Megan,

 

Welcome to the Forum -- we're are glad to have you here!

 

I'll write more tomorrow, but in the meantime I'm wondering where you live related to the allergies being so bad. Also, you sound like awesome parents, having done so many interventions already. (Nice family photo!) Sheila

[mgullion]

Thanks Sheila, and nice to meet you! We live in the Texas hill country area. Spring is in full bloom here and these spring allergies seem to affect myself and my two kids even more than Cedar fever season.

 

Looking forward to reading up more on some ideas to help him.

Megan

[mgullion]

I should also add...as of yesterday we took out dairy as well. If dairy is a trigger, I wonder how long it would take to notice a difference. He seems to be slightly better today but I'm not sure if it's related.

[Chemar]

Hi Megan

you should start seeing a clearcut improvement fairly soon if dairy is a trigger

 

Have you looked at our Helpful Threads pinned to the top of the forum?

 

Please keep us posted on how things progress.

[Sheila]

Hi Megan, sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

 

It's good you are doing a trial without dairy. How is your son doing today?

 

The type of allergist can make a major difference if tics are clearly related to allergies, as you say you have noticed. Standard allergy approaches that rely only on blood tests or skin prick tests. testing multiple allergens at once followed by allergy injections that have not been individualized to reflect the degree of sensitivity can make tics flare.

 

Typically you would want a doctor who can:

• Do specialized allergy therapy that is more specific than most allergists use (for example look for serial end point titration, provocation/neutralization, modified quantitative testing).
• Will assess any nutrient imbalances and prescribe a nutrient protocol to follow
• Will explore toxic overload if indicated
• Evaluates and advises on environmental factors that may be playing a role.

Please reply to these questions, if you don't mind --

 

1. Do you have allergies in your family--including food reactions?
2. Does your son go to school during the day or is he home-schooled?
3. How is he when he wakes up in the morning as far as tics and mood?
4. Does he have an air filter in his bedroom?

 

I checked to see if mold seems particularly high in your area right now but it didn't seem to be. Mold is a common culprit. Any chance you have a new or growing mold issue in the home?

 

Also, you need to read our book Natural Treatments for Tics and Tourettes if you have not. It has much more information that we can offer in the Forum. It's available on Amazon or our store.

 

Your son is in need of a quick intervention. Please let us know if the no-dairy seems to be making a significant difference.

 

Remember that it's sometimes hard to keep other factors constant to know what is or is not helping. For example, you may be working hard on making sure his foods are no-dairy, and meanwhile he reacts to an unrelated exposure that throws things off. Or the no-diary is helping but he happens to be sensitive to the soy in the alternative beverage you selected. Keeping a detailed food and symptom log is advised.

 

Finding the right professional to help can make a huge difference. Looking forward to hearing back, Megan -- Sheila