Supplements and diet

[itsme]

I did a post (survey) about long term success with bontech supps yesterday. Maybe that was to specific. Here is a more generalized version.

 

My question is has anyone using supplements and or diet (and having good success ) seen a big increase in tics months or years after a period of success. Simple answers would be great. If your child does well on supps / diet, has it been pretty steady with some flare ups over the years. And how many years. Or has he/she done great for 3 years than you were back to square one?

 

I know there are many others on this forum like myself that are concerned about a year or 2 or 5 from now. Our son has been doing very well on supps and diet regulation for the past 4 months and i am wondering if this is what the years to come will look like (which would be wonderful) or if this is just temporary and when he is 8 or 10 or13 yrs old he will be ticcing alot.

 

Obviously no one knows for sure as every person / situation is different. But i would like to get a feel from others on here and see what the percentages look like.

 

Thanks evryone.

[bmom]

Thanks for posting this question as that is what I am wondering as well. My son is only 8 and I am wondering how things will hold out for him in the next few years as we are new to this. Anyone who can reply would be helpful to see if there is a pattern.

[Cum Passus]

Hi,

 

In a few week this will be two years for us, so I hope this will help a little. Dec 2005 tics became so bad we put our son on clonidine patch, had allergy testing done that same month, and took away foods he was allergic to. And all bad stuff. Jan 2006 took him off the patch, body tics never came back. I have a feeling that might be because we took away foods he was allergic to.

 

Vocal tic was the only tic we had the most trouble with for the next 10 months. Put him on Risperdal for the vocal tics Oct. 2006. Vocal tics came down a little better then 50%. Diet still the same. Dec 2006 Started the Natural Calm, and an unbelievable change. Jan, Feb, March 2007 an introduction of vits. Cal, zinc, B6, B12. Diet still the same. June 2007 weaned him off the Risperdal. He has been doing very well. Has had a small increase in vocals this past week. Could be from the pollen. Diet still the same. Only thing he may have in his diet that is different then most kids is he drinks raw milk. I just found out he was voted student of the month from the school, and will recieve an award in Jan. This gives me such hope that he is doing very well in school with the tics.

 

Just a little side note about my husband. He never watched his diet until a few months ago. He is no different, his tics are the same. (not much) He was a manager for a rest. that did about 6-8 million a week, with a special that everyone working had to taste, and he ate everything on the menu. He remembers the little spice bottle of MSG that they put in almost every dish. He worked for this co. for 14 years, eating the food all day

long. I met him at this rest. and never in the years dating or 15 yr of marrage did he tic that would make me wonder what was he doing. He never took vit, and drank lots of diet soda. I just find that very interesting.

 

I can only hope my son will make right choices reguarding food, but will also have the pleasure of dinning out with friends once in a while without a tic explosion.

 

C.P.

[Chemar]

almost seven years successfully on our supplement/nutritional protocol, with only very slight variations in the supps and doses.

 

my son has TS, so waxing and waning happens, but minor compared with what used to happen in the pre supplement days.

 

maintaining the program and being rigid when it comes to artificial food additives seems very important for my son

[emma1]

Chemar, could you please elaborate on what types of food additives you stay away from? Are you talking artificial colors and dyes, or other additives as well?

[michele]

Are there certain types and amounts of b-12 and zinc that you give your son.I am not sure where tostart with this. Right now we just give them in a multivitamin Nordic Naturals. But he tested positive to Pyrrole which means I believe he is deficiant to vit b-12 and zinc. Thanks.

Michele

 

 

Hi,

 

In a few week this will be two years for us, so I hope this will help a little. Dec 2005 tics became so bad we put our son on clonidine patch, had allergy testing done that same month, and took away foods he was allergic to. And all bad stuff. Jan 2006 took him off the patch, body tics never came back. I have a feeling that might be because we took away foods he was allergic to.

 

Vocal tic was the only tic we had the most trouble with for the next 10 months. Put him on Risperdal for the vocal tics Oct. 2006. Vocal tics came down a little better then 50%. Diet still the same. Dec 2006 Started the Natural Calm, and an unbelievable change. Jan, Feb, March 2007 an introduction of vits. Cal, zinc, B6, B12. Diet still the same. June 2007 weaned him off the Risperdal. He has been doing very well. Has had a small increase in vocals this past week. Could be from the pollen. Diet still the same. Only thing he may have in his diet that is different then most kids is he drinks raw milk. I just found out he was voted student of the month from the school, and will recieve an award in Jan. This gives me such hope that he is doing very well in school with the tics.

 

Just a little side note about my husband. He never watched his diet until a few months ago. He is no different, his tics are the same. (not much) He was a manager for a rest. that did about 6-8 million a week, with a special that everyone working had to taste, and he ate everything on the menu. He remembers the little spice bottle of MSG that they put in almost every dish. He worked for this co. for 14 years, eating the food all day

long. I met him at this rest. and never in the years dating or 15 yr of marrage did he tic that would make me wonder what was he doing. He never took vit, and drank lots of diet soda. I just find that very interesting.

 

I can only hope my son will make right choices reguarding food, but will also have the pleasure of dinning out with friends once in a while without a tic explosion.

 

C.P.

[Jeff]

My 2 daughters have been avoiding artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives (BHA, BHT, TBHQ) for about 8 years now, and the results have been consistent. Their tics were very bad before we started to eliminate those additives; their tics have been minimal since we began to eliminate the additives - especially the colors. They are now ages 13 and 15, and tics continue to be minimal. We do notice an increase in tics when they eat foods with artificial colors, and/or if they are behind in their sleep.

Our basic practice is to eat "clean" at home. We know that if they go to birthday parties, or when we go out to eat (which is not often), they will deviate from the clean diet, but we don't worry about it too much anymore. We know that the tics won't last long (a few days), and as they've gotten older, the tics are not as severe / noticeable any more.

Halloween is coming... we let them keep most of their non-colored candies (chocolate bars, etc), but very few of the colored candies. They'll tic, but we know it won't last forever. They know the consequences of what they eat.... so when they're on their own, they'll make their own choices, knowing the consequences. I'm glad that they at least have that knowledge, which is something that I did not have when I was growing up.

[emma1]

I would love to know if anyone has experienced any negative effects from the Bontech vitamins. I have been researching the ingredients, and I don't see anything that would be harmful long-term. Is that how most of you feel? It seems like just a good vitamin program -- though I was surprised at how big each pill is (since they recommend so many, I thought they would be tiny).

 

On the artificial colors and preservatives -- how do you figure it out without label reading? You said your kids self-monitored --do they read labels, or just know what to stay away from?

[Cum Passus]

michele,

 

Soon to be 14, and is 90 lb, he takes 500mcg B12 (as cobalamin per SpectraCell lab suggestion) by Solgar.

 

Zinc 50mg (as citrate)by Allergy Research Group.

 

Have you had vit. deficiencies test done yet? I floundered for a year until I had these tests done to help me get started.

 

Good luck michele,

C.P.

[michele]

We did a nutrient test of red blood cell elements and his zinc was 9.4 and he had no abnormal findings. Copper was the only elevated percentile. He was a +1 SD fromthe reference population. The microbial showed positive yeast/fungal and hippuric and hydroxihippuric. The test that bothered me was that he tested highfor pyroluria. I have not received some of the other blood test results. Since treatment for Pyroluria is replacement zinc and vitamin B-6 I was interested in what you were giving your son. I wonder if the psychiatrist at Shands Dr. Murphy will be interested in these findings? And what her treatment reccomendations are? I hope it is not antipsychotic drugs because he is so young.

Michele

 

michele,

 

Soon to be 14, and is 90 lb, he takes 500mcg B12 (as cobalamin per SpectraCell lab suggestion) by Solgar.

 

Zinc 50mg (as citrate)by Allergy Research Group.

 

Have you had vit. deficiencies test done yet? I floundered for a year until I had these tests done to help me get started.

 

Good luck michele,

C.P.

[Jeff]

emma - You do need to read the labels (ingredients section) to know if there are colors in the foods. The colors are labeled with a number..., like Red #40, Yellow #6, etc. Yes, my kids do read the labels, but since my wife and I do the shopping, we still control what groceries come into the house.

Preservatives are also listed on the label.

[jkc]

It seems that I still haven't gotten the right mix of vits for my son yet, just when I think its working next day he is back to square one. His tics subside (50 - 75%) for only 2-3 days and then come back to original frequency and intensity again for 2-3 days. The best results I have seen so far for him are with this combination even though it doesn't seem to be consistant:

childrens fish oil (dha), taurine 500 mg, B-compx, Magnesium chilated 300 mg.

I don't give him food with colors, flavors and preservatives. What could be the reason that his tics are not controlled consistantly yet? Thanks.

[Chemar]

jkc

 

some people (like my son) toc more with fish oil and cannot tolerate B complex tablets

 

my son gets his omega3 from flaxseed oil and from his diet (eats a lot of Alaskan salmon) and he takes a sublingual liquid B

 

this "may" be what is affecting your child.

 

but

if your child has a dx of Tourette then it would be unrealistic IMHO to expect tics to totally disappear...only that they should show decreased frequency and intensity with correct supps and diet.

 

also, have you ruled out other potential tic triggers? Here is Sheila's article on this for a check:

http://www.latitudes.org/articles/finding_triggers.htm

[Chemar]

Chemar, could you please elaborate on what types of food additives you stay away from? Are you talking artificial colors and dyes, or other additives as well?

 

 

Hi Emma

 

we stay away from all artificial additives, which includes not just the colors but also the sweeteners like aspartame/nutrasweet and splenda/sucralose as well as high fructose corn syrup, MSG (under all its secret hidden names) preservatives like BHT etc

 

basically if something has a loooong list of ingredients IMO it is not good.

pure foods are just that, they dont need multiple chemical additives

 

I make most of our food from scratch to be safe, and carefully read every label of anything else

[emma1]

Chemar,

 

I thank you for the reply -- very helpful!

 

I see that your son is older. My daughter just started the tics and is older. I am cooking from scratch at home -- but she is eating lunch at school, sharing snacks after school (before her activities), and then the usual teen social life of friends and dates. I have tried to talk with her about diet, but she has been eating "her way" a long time! Any suggestions? Does your son stick to your rules when he is out in the world?

 

Thanks again!

 

Emma