13-year-old with facial and vocal tics, getting desperate

[Chemar]

@Atex I just wanted to mention my son always had waxing tics whenever anything impacted his immune system, including vaccines, or just being ill. He did not have criteria for PANDAS, but did have some PANS indicators.

@Irene123 My son loved Ezekiel bread but due to his extra complications with Crohn's it just wasn't good for him for some reason, so he avoids it. He is not gluten intolerant. Interestingly the "bread" he finds most tolerable is simple organic plain bagels.

Also craniosacral therapy has been discussed a bit here in the past - try using the search and threads should come up.

[JulesLou]

@Irene123did you have a consultation with Dr Piper Gibson, if so what was the outcome?  How are things now? 

[Irene123]

Hi JulesLou,

Yes, i had a consultation with Dr. Gibson's office, but it does not seem to be the right thing for us. Their main thing is to change your diet to get rid of dairy/gluten and add red meat (which my daughter has never had and does not want to eat). They run stool and saliva tests to determine what you should and should not consume and I guess which supplements you need. I tried to get a clear answer as to what else a person might be asked to do other than change their diet but did not get a clear answer, all I was getting was that it all depends on your test results. I asked to provide examples of what people do based on their test results, but did not get a clear answer. This program is not for kids/people who have issues with food that they won't eat, this program is for those who eat anything and everything and just need expand or limit their diet according to their instructions. Well, if I could do that, I probably would not have a problem with my child since birth essentially, which is when her sensory issues with food began. So, we are not doing anything different right now other than eating Ezekiel flourless bread instead of whole wheat bread. We already don't consume any sweets or artificial colors/flavors for many many years. Dairy is very limited to lactose-free milk that I use to make homemade waffles with no sugar in the mornings. There is not much else I can cut out when my child eats such limited things compared to other children. All this advice from Dr. Gibson and other people on the internet is great for children who eat lots of different things with no issues. My daughter's tics are pretty much the same, some days are slightly better than others, but overall, they are steady, she just turned 14. It's very upsetting to know that her diet is probably the main factor for her tics, but she is not willing to expand it and there is nothing much I can do at this point to change that.  

[Atex]

Dr. Gibson's website seems focused on diet, so that experience isn't surprising to me. Her office doesn't seem to be very focused on environmental or MCS if you wanted to explore non-diet changes. That said, I think you might have to decide if you feel there is or isn't a gut issue.  At first you did, but now potentially you feel that there might not because the issues started so early?

[Irene123]

It is hard to say whether her tics are related to her gut issues or not, the gut issues started two years ago but tics started 6 years ago. We have worked with Dazz of Motor Tic Mastery, who is absolutely wonderful. He showed my daughter some relaxation skills and had several discussions with her about her condition, but she does not want to do anything. The tics don't bother her, so she does not want to put the effort (because it is a lot of effort) to deal with them and try to relax herself. So, we are not moving anywhere with the tics, if she ever wants to deal with them, she will have to relax herself and change her diet, I can't do it for her. 

[Swetha]

@Irene123 I had considered taking up the Dr. Piper Gibson's Program for my son who is 10 years old and has been struggling with Tics since 3 months now. 
But like you said it did not suit our dietary needs, we are vegetarians and cant start with Animal Protein now suddenly. 

But I liked some of the suggestions of Dr. Piper Gibson (Like ditch the sugars, Gluten and Dairy). 
I removed the sugars and tried increasing the protein and it definitely seems to have reduced by 10-15% atleast. 

I am currently trying Homeopathy and some supplements (Magnesium Citrate, B-Complex, Zinc, Omega3, Vit-C, Calm kid L-Theanine Gummies) 
I have also tried Bach flower remedies and I think it hasnt helped much. 

We also see that some days are better and some days are worse, I am unable to see a trend or trigger! 
In our case Books are a major trigger, he is a lover of books and as soon as he holds his books he starts ticcing. To me it seems like he has made it kind of a habit to start ticcing as soon as he is with books. 

Sitting in the car was also anothe major Trigger but it is definitely getting better compared to how it was 3 months ago. 
So yes, one day at a time! I am trying to stay positive. 

Cheers,

Swetha