Hello Everyone!

[ilovedogs]

Hi to all who are here and struggling with their kids and tics/TS. My son is a 15 year old (almost 16 now, wow) who has had tics since his 9th birthday. We've had all kinds of tics and I've done all kinds of worrying. I never did full blown diet changes nor did we ever really stick to major supplements for extended periods of time. My son still tics, every day, all day, and mostly they're mild tics with a lot of OCD Tourettic components.

 

Anyway, I know there are avenues that we haven't tried but I sometimes ran out of resources or just got worn out trying to figure it all out. Despite the discouragement I've felt, I can say with certainty that we've survived it and that my son is a very confident child and is growing into a wonderful young man. He plays competitive tennis and competes nationally and all his tennis friends know about the tics and accept him. He loves photography and has a desire to learn more about design and architecture. He has had awful days where the tics hurt and we had to take him to get massages and he's had great days where we hardly notice them.

 

He's had braces for over 2 years now and I can say that the braces made no difference one way or the other with his tics. We also have been doing acupuncture for the past 10 months and, honestly, I haven't seen it helping his tics but he says it helps his tennis game so we continue to go.

 

He struggles with school stuff and has been diagnosed with ADHD and a cognitive memory function problem so he's behind in some school stuff. He wants to go to college but I just am not sure that it will be in the cards for him based on how I see him functioning today. You know what: that's OK. Really, it's OK. Maybe community college will be a good fit?

 

With all the diagnoses we've received and all the money I've spent, I know that, in the end, it's all going to be OK and that my son will succeed. The plan may not look like everyone else, like mainstream kids, but that's because it's his path and not someone else's. I had to find acceptance in ALL of it and I had to face my fears and I had to make sure that my son didn't see those fears and that all he got from me was support and love.

 

So, with all that said, I can tell you all that there are things that my son has found helpful in managing life with tics. Honesty with his friends, epsom salts baths when things are tight or sore or he just needs to relax, a gluten free diet(didn't help the tics but has helped his digestion and his athletic performance), LOW to almost NO sugar, no caffeine, no artificial colors or flavors, no nitrates, learning how to breathe and calm himself mentally, and a good massage therapist who understands how to work out the kinks from the shoulder tics.

 

I hope that everyone is enjoying their summers!! HUGS!

[Sheila]

Hi Ilovedogs,

 

Thank you for taking the time to post--you seem to have found a wonderful balance, while doing what you can with the interventions you know help.

 

I love this : With all the diagnoses we've received and all the money I've spent, I know that, in the end, it's all going to be OK and that my son will succeed. The plan may not look like everyone else, like mainstream kids, but that's because it's his path and not someone else's. I had to find acceptance in ALL of it and I had to face my fears and I had to make sure that my son didn't see those fears and that all he got from me was support and love.

It's so good you worked hard so your son didn't see your fears. That's so hard to accomplish! (My 3 kids each had different types of challenges, and I wish I could claim to have accomplished that with them.)

Self esteem is such a huge factor at the end of the day, and it sounds like your son will have a good strong dose of it. Congratulations on bringing it all together -- (and thank you for having been such an active member on the Forums!)

[ilovedogs]

Thank you, Sheila. You know, it's funny because since I've written this my son's tics have gone haywire. He has really bad eye tics (squinting and rolling) right now that are really frustrating him and causing him minor eye pain and aching. He also had a meltdown today after losing a tennis match and was crying over the loss, even though it was just a practice match with a friend.

 

Not sure what's really going on with him, but we start school next week so it will be interesting to see how, or if, things change with him. He has a massage scheduled for tomorrow and acupuncture for later in the week so hopefully these tics will be helped by these things. He's currently taking an epsom salts bath and is trying to become restful before bed.