Order of treatment?

[autumncodinha]

Hi Families!

My 9yo first showed signs of tourettes at age 3.  He has waxed/waned for several years.  We have not needed to do anything but toy with his diet, introduce magnesium until now. In the springtime his tics increased more dramatically and they have not waned.  We saw the ped neurologist around 4/5yo for official diagnosis but nothing since.  Seems the right time to step up our game.  He did have some issues with strep when younger and had tonsils removed years ago.  My son is very bright, athletic, no school issues etc.  He does not seem to have any psychological concerns at this point. I would say if anything some (very) mild anxiety.  His main tic is opening his jaw very wide sometimes several times in 1 sentence.  His "cough" has been present on/off (mostly on) for about 5 years.  He jerks his head a several times each time when dealing with helmets (baseball, biking) and does a lot of baseball hat adjusting.  There have been others but that is the current list.  He is in 4th grade and his mouth tic is the first noticeable outside the family/good friends, so the first time he is explaining to his peers.  So far so good.  

My question is..... where to start?? (beyond diet). So many directions, I'm hoping for a roadmap that may have worked for you?  

- Investigate/rule out PANDAS/PANS (we are in chicago suburbs so my guess would be to see Dr K?)

- Functional Neurology (read about Dr. Imber in Lemont)?

- CBIT (anyone have experience at Central DuPage Hospital/Northwestern Memorial - Winfield)?  Others?

- Heard about Dr. Raden in Highwood IL dealing with pandas, yeast, parasites etc)

- Dental applicance (he does have an overbite... will eventually need braces.  Should we consider doing sooner (in case it helps) or put off as it may be a trigger?

 

THANK YOU all so much for your time and guidance.  LOVE LOVE Chicago area referrals but of course we are willing to travel if needed.