Bad tics

[shelly76]

Hi all. My son just received another diagnosis of Tourette Syndrome. We saw a neurologist at Children's in Seattle. At this time, we didn't discuss medications. The doc said that would be further down the road as my son's tics weren't too bad when we saw him. We won't be seeing him for a bit.

Fast forward a couple weeks and my son's tics are so bad. He never ever complains and today he said he was uncomfortable as his little head, eyes, and jaw were moving all over the place. I threw him in a magnesium bath, but it doesn't really help lately like it used to.

Is there anything that you give your child for immediate relief to get through the day? We will likely go to his pediatrician next week, but right now, it's hard to watch. The only relief he gets is when he finally falls asleep, and lately, even sleep is restless. Every month the tics get worse. He is 11 and I know it's prime age for tic exasperation.

Any suggestions please? Any medications you found helped that I can discuss with his doctor next week?

Thanks!!

[shelly76]

The few times I’ve posted over the years, I might get one response or none. It seems like the only people that get responses are people that have been around longer. I’m watching my son contort his body and I’m just asking for any suggestions for any relief until we can get into the doctor. Nevermind. We will help ourselves as usual.

[supermom13]

i am sorry your son is suffering.  i am new to all this as my son is only 5.  only things we implemented is magnesium gummies , smarty pants vitamins with fish oil, cleaned up the diet, no processed food as possible, removed artificial flavors and colors and really cut down on screen time to less than 2 hrs a day.  i see alot of people on here cut out diary and gluten.  

is your son sleeping a good amount at night?  

[edsonr]

Hi Shelly, I hope your son progresses in the right direction.  My son is also battling tics.  Ive implemented the same what supermom13 outlined in the post above.

I wish I had some knowledge or advice to share.  Please keep us updated.

BTW, we might be in the same area...Im from the PNW as well.

[shelly76]

Thanks you guys for responding... I really appreciate it. Sorry for the outburst last night. Sometimes I just feel so alone in this journey that started years ago.

Supermom13-- thank you for the recommendations. I looked at the magnesium gummies, but my son has a very difficult time with flavors/textures, etc. I think I'm going to try and find this brand in unflavored powder to add to milk.  Unfortunately my son will only take drops or anything hidden in milk.  The epsom salt baths used to work so well, so I would feel comfortable adding more magnesium to his diet.  And I will look into the fish oil vitamins as well. Screen time is sooo hard... it's all he wants to do. He's just so hidden in his little head. I have planned a good deal of activities this summer to deter the screen time.  Oh, and food coloring sends his over the edge.  We started the Feingold (sp) diet many years ago and try to stick with that.

Edsonr - Thank you. Yep, I'm about 30 miles north of Seattle. We may have tried the same docs. I would love to find one that can really help and doesn't drain my bank account like so many naturopaths I've been to.

Have you guys tried any topical magnesium rubs, or high quality epsom salts?

Thanks again!!

[supermom13]

Hi Shellyby76,

Do not worry about the outburst, we all feel your pain.  that is why we are here.  when i first used natural calm magnesium i did the powder.  but then my son loves gummies so i switched to the gummies.  My son was obsessed with the screen especially his ipad but my son is younger and easier to adapt i guess.  now i noticed he prefers to play more than screen time but i bet if i gave him more screen time he would not object.   i also tried magnesium roll on but it burned his back so i discontinued. 

high quality Epson salt, i never thought of that, what brand do you use?

[shelly76]

Hi Supermom13,

My son likes gummies... but if they are tart or too sweet(lemon), he will gag. We went through about 5 different multi-vitamins before finally finding one he can tolerate.  I thought you were using the Natural Calm gummies, but maybe not? What brand do you have?

I mostly use the Dr Teals epsom salt baths. I think they are decent quality, but for some reason they don't calm his tics any more like they used to.

[supermom13]

yes i am using the natural calm gummies, before the gummies i used the powder in his juice.  but in order to cut down his juice intake i switched to the natural calm gummies.  

it is like a guessing game right?  hate that there are not better options for these kids.  

[shelly76]

Exactly! And even the experts all have different takes. Of course my son wasn't ticcing much when we went to the neurologist. It figures.

Thanks again for all your help! I might get those gummies any way. If he doesn't like them, I sure will.  =)

[supermom13]

my son didnt either in front of neurologist until i have him my iphone and then he did.

[shelly76]

Oh my goodness. I didn't even think about that. Okay... next time!! 

[edsonr]

So I also use epsom salt baths for my kids, I get it at costco.  I have also started again putting on a mag rub that I bought on amazon.  They love the rub that I do at bedtime, it's like they're at a spa getting a massage.

@shelly76 I haven't actually seen any doctors outside of his pediatrician who said it was transient (back in late december).  I always worry about doing something invasive at this age, and drawing more attention to the issue.  Right now he doesn't acknowledge that he tics, and I hope to keep it that way.  I think if things take a turn for the worse where it's at a level of missing school, or possibly social issues, then I will probably seek further more medical help.  Right now my approach is to reduce the stuff I think is bad for him, up the intake of things that are healthy, supplement, and pray all gets better.

[shelly76]

edsonr- Is the mag rub a lotion or oil?  I was looking at those as well as the actual supplements.

My son was diagnosed with transient tic disorder 4 years ago, but since the doctor wasn't concerned, I let it go.  If I had started taking action as you are, things may have been different, so that's great that you're being proactive.  My son has also tested positive for many strep throats but PANDAS has pretty much been ruled out. We focused on homeopathy, a multivitamin and the Feingold diet. It did keep the tics down to manageable for quite a while, but each year, it gets more intense-- probably puberty!

[supermom13]

Shelly76,

your son had just blinking for 4 years right?  that was his transient tic?  Is he diagnosed with anything else, adhd, anxiety,  ocd etc?

[edsonr]

@shelly76 this is the magnesium that I bought for my son https://amzn.to/2JCOJFs  .  It's a bit pricey, but when we first were dealing with tics I had the approach of who cares the cost.

On the whole puberty thing, I was also wondering if these things could come out sometimes while on a growth spurt.  

also to follow up on what Supermom13 said, I'm also curious with in the last 4 years did it ever seem like the blinking stopped and he was tic free?