Plant foods

[Nate]

I hope this helps someone out there. After many years of horrible (yes, horrible) tics, sensory issues, and emotional instability my daughter is basically tic free, happy, and calm. We tried so many things that we read here and elsewhere. From supplements, fragrances, different diets including gluten and casein free for months, throwing out furniture and decor, ripping out all insulation and duct work under house, eliminating all screen time for over a year, we left nothing unturned. What have we found was the culprit? Plant based foods and fragrances of any sort.  She grew up with a diet primarily comprised of organic fruits, veggies, and meat. Had white sugar the first time about 1.5 years ago. We cleaned with vinegar. She drank nothing but water. Her diet was "perfect" yet our lives became so stressful.  Now she is tic free as long as we severely limit the fruits and veggies as well as whole grains.  Raw milk is a miracle drink. If she's emotional or having slight tics due to too much plant food or fragrances then milk saves the day. If we go somewhere too long with essential oils being diffused then she will be irritable with possible minor tics for the rest of the day.  I know this sounds crazy, but if you are stressed and tried everything you know to try, it can't hurt to cut out plant foods and all fragrances for a couple days...meat, homemade bread, peanut butter, raw milk work for us. Obviously you still need to include some plant food for nutrition long term.  I know this may seem contrary to most all advice out there, but it is a true miracle in our lives. Our daughter would have hundreds if not thousands of tics a day...basically nonstop.  Raised arms, eye slants, jerk back head, shoulder shrugs, deep breaths, and on and on.  Magnesium seemed to help for awhile, rotation diet helped a little, eliminating screen time seemed to help, but none of these brought lasting relief. She now gets regular screen time and takes no supplements.  A focus on strictly limiting most plant based foods and absolutely no fragrances has been a miracle.  We go months with no tics. They come back slightly if we start allowing too much plant food (she loves veggies).  Update: We have been able to allow more produce without any tics if she has been in safe environment away from any fragrances or chemicals.  We also haven't retested eggs in the diet so don't really know how big a factor eggs are.  She will let us know if she feels like she wants to have eye tics so we cut back on produce before tics start.  From what I've read she is at the age (10) that should be the worst yet she has been basically tic free for the past year.  Probably the best thing we did was to quit cleaning with vinegar.  May the Lord comfort you and give you wisdom during your trial.

Blessings,

Nate

Edited June 20, 2022 by Nate
Added detail.