Natural Calm effect & other question related to meds

[HateTS]

Hi everyone,

 

I have had tourettes since i was very little, and I'm now 23. I have been relying on meds mostly since thats only what doctors suggest. However, I recently found out tics are heavily related to food and also magnesium as well. I had been eating quite a lot of junk food recently, and a lot of stress from graduating in the toughest engineering school in the country, as well as looking for jobs, having interviews, my tics have been crazy. My tics has always been pretty bad, but there were some times that it was better. I have a variety of tics i do in the same period, and they keep changing.

 

Anyway, i recently read on this forum about Natural Calm magensium supplement, and i started taking it last night. I also took it this morning. I'm wondering how long would it take to have positive impact on my tics. Of course it might not work for everyone, but assuming it does for me.

 

Btw, I'm taking 3mg resperidone and some amount of clonidine that i don't remember the dose, at night. And i also take smaller dose of clonidine in the morning. I also would love to know if it is possible for a person like me to gradually stop taking meds and control tics with good food and supplements. Ive been on meds since around 10 and I'm definitely worried about myself in a long term if i will have to take them until I'm 80 something. But as i said my tics are worse than average a lot of times, so I'm not sure if i can manage it without meds.

 

I would appreciate your input! Any opinion is welcome. Thanks!

[Sheila]

Hello and welcome, HateTS--(good name)

 

First, congratulations on graduating from a very challenging engineering school--it's such a great field to be in. That should serve you very well. You've explained that you have had tics for many years and they ramped up recently while under a lot of stress and eating more junk food.

 

It must be especially hard to deal with these increased tics while trying to interview for jobs.

 

Re: magnesium, it helps many and it shouldn't take long to see improvement if it is going to make a difference--but I'd suggest you need to be doing other changes as well before considering getting off your meds (with doctor guidance for weaning). Magnesium is often just one of a number of supplements that might be needed to balance out.

 

Are you up for making some additional changes to see if they help? Here are some ideas -- see what you think. You need to recognize that your nervous system is over active and you want to do everything you can to calm it down rather than risk aggravating it.

 

1) Starting right away, eliminate all foods that contain artificial flavors and colors--get used to reading labels if you don't already do that. Look for replacements as needed. i.e., like plain potato chips instead of sour cream and onion flavored. Generally, the less ingredients the better. Preservatives are good to avoid also.

 

2) Eat organic when possible.

 

2) Avoid sweets--sodas, pastries, other treats. And don't eat/drink items with artificial sweeteners--stevia is OK. Skip dried fruits and 100% (or sweetened) fruit juice in an effort to reduce sugars.

 

3) Reduce caffeine intake to 1 cup a day if you drink coffee (Do you?).

 

4) Start taking a multi-strain probiotic daily--can get this at natural food stores.

 

4) Don't use any scented personal products. You can find unscented substitutes on Amazon or Whole Foods type places. For example: Unscented after shave Apply the same principle to shampoos, facial cleansers, shower soaps, etc. Many with tic disorders are chemically sensitive--and in any event, the chemical scents are often harmful to everyone.

 

5) It's good to go natural in the home: no scented plug ins, avoid typical sprays, fabric softener, scented laundry detergent etc. Look for 7th Generation substitutes (they are easy to find and nontoxic).

 

You can also look at our article Finding Triggers for Tics and Tourette's if you want to see lots of things that might aggravate tics. It mentions exposures that trigger tics in some people, certainly not everyone--and not everyone experiences all of these many items! You could look through the list, based on a survey, and see if you see anything jump out that might be related to your tics--something that you have suspected in the past that might have made them worse.

 

Another time we can talk about food sensitivities (like the possible need to avoid or reduce dairy intake or other foods) and allergies. These can play a big role in tic disorders for some people.

 

I hope that rather than feel overwhelmed with these ideas, you can see this as having the potential to reduce our tics and eventually get you off meds, we hope. It's a good idea to keep a journal and track what you are doing and any changes, up or down.

 

Hope this is some help to you.

[HateTS]

Hello and welcome, HateTS--(good name)

 

First, congratulations on graduating from a very challenging engineering school--it's such a great field to be in. That should serve you very well. You've explained that you have had tics for many years and they ramped up recently while under a lot of stress and eating more junk food.

 

It must be especially hard to deal with these increased tics while trying to interview for jobs.

 

Re: magnesium, it helps many and it shouldn't take long to see improvement if it is going to make a difference--but I'd suggest you need to be doing other changes as well before considering getting off your meds (with doctor guidance for weaning). Magnesium is often just one of a number of supplements that might be needed to balance out.

 

Are you up for making some additional changes to see if they help? Here are some ideas -- see what you think. You need to recognize that your nervous system is over active and you want to do everything you can to calm it down rather than risk aggravating it.

 

1) Starting right away, eliminate all foods that contain artificial flavors and colors--get used to reading labels if you don't already do that. Look for replacements as needed. i.e., like plain potato chips instead of sour cream and onion flavored. Generally, the less ingredients the better. Preservatives are good to avoid also.

 

2) Eat organic when possible.

 

2) Avoid sweets--sodas, pastries, other treats. And don't eat/drink items with artificial sweeteners--stevia is OK. Skip dried fruits and 100% (or sweetened) fruit juice in an effort to reduce sugars.

 

3) Reduce caffeine intake to 1 cup a day if you drink coffee (Do you?).

 

4) Start taking a multi-strain probiotic daily--can get this at natural food stores.

 

4) Don't use any scented personal products. You can find unscented substitutes on Amazon or Whole Foods type places. For example: Unscented after shave Apply the same principle to shampoos, facial cleansers, shower soaps, etc. Many with tic disorders are chemically sensitive--and in any event, the chemical scents are often harmful to everyone.

 

5) It's good to go natural in the home: no scented plug ins, avoid typical sprays, fabric softener, scented laundry detergent etc. Look for 7th Generation substitutes (they are easy to find and nontoxic).

 

You can also look at our article Finding Triggers for Tics and Tourette's if you want to see lots of things that might aggravate tics. It mentions exposures that trigger tics in some people, certainly not everyone--and not everyone experiences all of these many items! You could look through the list, based on a survey, and see if you see anything jump out that might be related to your tics--something that you have suspected in the past that might have made them worse.

 

Another time we can talk about food sensitivities (like the possible need to avoid or reduce dairy intake or other foods) and allergies. These can play a big role in tic disorders for some people.

 

I hope that rather than feel overwhelmed with these ideas, you can see this as having the potential to reduce our tics and eventually get you off meds, we hope. It's a good idea to keep a journal and track what you are doing and any changes, up or down.

 

Hope this is some help to you.

 

Hi Sheila,

 

Thank you so much for your incredibly helpful response. I have already gained improvement from following your post. I reduced sugar a lot, and eating more natural food. Also, I am avoiding food that have chemicals at grocery stores. I have to say, I'm quite shocked how flavoured potato chips have so many chemicals in them to make the flavour, while plain ones only have potato, vegetable oil, and salt. I never noticed this before!

 

I have another question, and was hoping if you have any idea. I did notice my tics significantly reduced after having Natural calm, and good foods, but something else is that i haven't had really really tight schedule in the past few days. I tend to have way more tics when i have so many assignments due in upcoming days, or exams coming up, etc. I feel like its part of anxiety, where I'm worried if i wont be able to complete it. I do complete them most of the time, but i am a kind of person who worries a lot. Should i ask my doctor to get anxiety medication? Will it reduce the temporary anxiety i have when i am short in time? Also, if i start working in a few months, i will have short deadlines too most likely. I am very worried if i would be able to do well due to my tics. I did have one type of anxiety med ( dont remember name..) maybe about 8 years ago, when another doctor prescribed me for tourettes, but there was a side effect where rash appeared on my skin, so i stopped taking shortly. I really think anxiety is a big factor for me.

 

Because of eating good food and taking magnesium, my tics have reduced a lot, but as i said when I'm worried about short time, tics are pretty bad, although not as bad as when i wasnt controling food and magnesium. Maybe there is some natural supplemet that helps anxiety? Because of course, i want to eventually get off meds. But it seems like when I'm worried, even meds (resperidone and clonidine) don't help at all. It seems like my meds are pretty useless, so maybe i should ask my doctor about it and replace these meds with anxety med, while controling food and magnesium..

 

What do you think? Any input would be appreciated!

[Sheila]

Hi -- I'm so glad you have seen some improvement in your symptoms with the dietary and nutritional changes you have made. That's good news. (Sorry for the delay, have been under the weather!)

 

I know it is really hard when stress makes tics worse.You probably know it's a very common complaint, but that doesn't make it any easier to deal with.

 

You asked about anti-anxiety medications. Some people decide to use these and find they make a positive difference; they reduce their stress reaction and as a result tics improve in some situations. Others, however, have reported distressing side effects from these meds and they wish they had never tried them.

 

We can't predict how you would do on anti-anxiety meds, but since you had a negative physical reaction to the one you tried previously, be sure to begin on a low starting dose if your doctor recommends one and you decide to try it.

 

There are a number of supplements that are helpful for anxiety. As an example, Dr. Ray Sahelian summarizes research on some of them. However, as always, individual responses can differ. Since it sounds like you are on conventional meds, I would be careful about using amino acid supplements without checking with your doctor.

 

B complex vitamins are often used to lower the stress response; you could consider a good quality supplement if you aren't taking one. Approaches like cognitive behavior therapy, relaxation sessions and meditation can help anxiety, of course--working with the body-mind connection.

 

Meanwhile, congratulations on making some dietary changes! Give yourself a pat on the back for that. Glad to know you have started label-reading. Amazing what you can find, right!?

[PositivelyC]

Hi HateTS,

 

I'm happy to know Natural Calm has helped you. I am also giving this to my 9 yr old son for facial tics. It has seemed to help when taken regularly. He also suffers from anxiety and nervousness which contributes to the tics. Definitely doesn't make it easier with kids at school. Anyhow, you mentioned supplements for anxiety...I personally am a big fan of L-Theanine for my own anxiety and high blood pressure. You can purchase at a health food store. It is a little pricey so I will take it just before I know I will be in a stressful situation such as presentations at work, job interviews, etc and it helps me tremendously. Do some research on it beforehand. I believe it is the active ingredient in green tea that causes the calming effect. Hope that helps.