I'm new, My 11 yo daughter has bad tics

[pesosmom]

I'm new to this all. About 6 months ago is when we started noticing our daughter tics. I noticed that she was always clearing her throat and grunting like she had something in it and she would rub her eyes and look so far off towards her ears that you couldn't see the colored part anymore. We took her to the reg. doc who ran test and said she was fine, went to the eye doc who said her vision was fine. Then a few month later the tics got worse along with awful headaches. I have epilepsy so I made an appt. with a neuro to rule out any sort of seizures. They ran a sleep deprived EEG and said it was normal, even though she was ticcing during the test. The neuro says it is a mild form "TRANSIENT TICS" and we shouldn't be worried. But I am, she has always done well in school, now she never does homework because she forgets to bring it home. Kids are making fun of her, the teachers are on her case for not staying still and disrupting class(I have had numerous meeting with them letting them now what is going on with her health, I live in a small town 10 minutes from UGA) and the stress from all of this is making her tics worse. She is now ticcing where her head shakes up and down like she is saying yes but hard. She won't let anyone touch her without getting mad. We didn't want to put her on meds but since school started its gotten 10 times worse. Is their anything to try before meds, the doctor said meds can make it worse in the long run and they were amphetamine based and the side effects weren't worth it in his opinion. Should I get a 2nd opinion? I just want my daughter too be health and happy like she was a year ago Thanks Kim

[amy1]

Yes, get a second opinion!!! The neurologist we saw said the same thing and told me there's nothing you can do about it--NONSENSE. if you can get an appt with an environmental doctor that's a start....in our case we went to a neuropsychiatrist at UF in Gainesville. Try, try, try and ask around, become a detective. Check into UGA and see, if not UF has a great doctor. Get the Sheila Rogers book --- it is great and is a huge help to new people like me! If i were you i would immediately go to the health food store and get magnesium (i have the chelated kind with calcium made by bluebonnet, in liquid) and the coromega (you can get this at your grocery store). i give my child one tablespoon (she's 8) of the magnesium and the whole coromega pkt daily AND a good multivitamin with minerals. at least you can do that to start....we are only on that right now and she has gone from severe to mild. If i can help i am happy to do so, we are new at this too but UF was great.

PS, look at food allergies, etc too!

[itsme]

Hi Kim,

 

Sorry to here about the tough time you're going thru now. We experienced this the tics with our son almost a year ago. We started him on Bontech vitamins and cleaned up the diet - no artificial anything. Basically cooking from scratch (thanks to my wonderful wife). He is doing very well now. I found it very useful to read as much as i could on this forum when i first discovered the tics in my son. I was on here probably 3 hours a day atleast. The people on here are wonderful and extremly helpful.

[pesosmom]

Thank you both so much. I will go out tonight and get the magnesium and coromega packet. She is already taking a daily multivitamin supplement, but I will check on others to see if I can find a better one. She got her report card today and I am so proud of her, she has managed, despite of these tics, to get her grades back almost where they used to be. She has a new tic I noticed, when she bobs her head up and down violently she now does it side to side and it has got to hurt her poor head and neck. If I may ask, how long should it take to notice a difference. She's gonna hurt herself.

[itsme]

it varies but from all that i know the difference usually shows in with in a week or so. and often times within just a day or two.

[bmom]

it varies but from all that i know the difference usually shows in with in a week or so. and often times within just a day or two.

You may want to start with one and then the other to observe. My son increased in tics for 4 days when beginning the magnesium then majorly decreased. I have read that the increase can be a good sign that it is working-just so you know. As far as the Omega 3's- the seem to increase tics in him too, but did not decrease so I stopped that. If you start one at a time, you can tell what is helping , hurting in the long run. Also make sure you get one of the absorbable magnesiums. I started my son on the oxide and it did nothing to help. It was only when I got taurate and Kids Calm did he improve dramatically.

[Guest]

Welcome Kim,

 

I agree with what bmom said about starting only one thing at a time. In my opinion, I would go with the magnesium and hold off on the coromega. The fish oil is a touchy one for many and in several cases increases tics. Don't forget about the calcium as it's important too if giving extra magnesium. Also I suggest not rushing into things. Take your time to research different supplements and dosages before giving them to your daughter.

 

One of my suggestions for head tics are some form of massage or chiropractic work. I used to have lots of head tics. Massage/Chinese cupping has done wonders for me. I haven't had a head tic for ages, and I directly relate that to my massages/Chinese cupping sessions.

 

Carolyn

[Chemar]

Hi Kim and welcome

 

one thing I definitely feel your doc is right on and that is to hold off on medications. Honestly, from our experience(and that of many others) they bring side effects that are often worse than the tics!

 

whether these are transient tics that will resolve on their own, or TS, or tics rooted in some other issue, to begin with a focus on a pure, natural, healthy diet, with magnesium supplement and a good multivit, is a really good foundation

 

I too am not a fan of the coromega because of firstly the fact that many people with tics also seem to be sensitive to fishoil supplements. This is not so for all, but does need to be mentioned. For those with fishoil sensitivity, flaxseed oil is a good alternative to provide essential fatty acids

 

secondly, if fishoil is not a problem for your child, rather find a brand that is pure and doeesnt have the sodium benzoate and vanillin that Kirkman puts in coromega...those are NOT good additives

[bmom]

Can anyone recommend a good multi vitamin? I have my son on nutraceutical (NSI) pediapower because it has a lot of good things such as selenium and things that others dont. It says natural strawberry and blueberry flavors. Doesnt say any colors. It does say fructose. Is that one of the bad ingredients? It doesnt state high fructose corn syrup, but is it? Is there a better one? This also has plant enzymes and grape seed extract. Serving size is 4 chewables daily I thought maybe because it has so many vitamins. Any advice? Is this a good one?

[Dedee]

Yes, I am looking for a good multi also. I also hate to give four a day. My kids take so many supplements anyway, it would be good if I could just give them only one multi-vitamin. Any input would be great. Thanks.

 

Dedee

[amy1]

dr murphy at UF recommended "Nordic Naturals"--they are called "nordic berries" it's a multi with minerals and doesn't have all the added dyes/colors, etc that some use. nordic is a great brand. i also have a multi that my other child takes that is made by nature's plus and it's a gummy called Animal Parade. again, they are natural flavors. one child likes the taste of one and the other likes the other! but i do know that nordic naturals has a great reputation.

[faith]

Hello pesosmom and welcome,

you say your daughter is eleven? Is this the first time you have noticed tics, you say about 6 months ago? Never anything before or any other issues?

 

At eleven (is that sixth grade) did she recently have any vaccines that were required? Also, what is her diet like? The suggestions from the others are what I would say too. Don't know exactly how to explain it, but my thoughts are that if your daughter is displaying these symptoms now, and she has the same type of sensitivites/allergies/deficiencies as we believe our kids do, then perhaps her bucket is really overflowing right now. I have been through the headshake with my son, and when we found he had some food sensitivities (not allergies) and removed them, that tic decreased within a week or so. Is that a coincidence, I don't know, but some of us here have noted this correlation of removing foods and improvement, so perhaps you could try eliminating certain food groups one at a time (dairy, corn, wheat, or artificial colored foods and candy) and see what happens. Whatever the case, anything you can do to take the burden off her immune system and strenghten her health is important right now. You can read back on alot of posts where their have been discussions on this type of thing. Keep asking questions and try all the suggestions that are possible for now. You are in my prayers...I know you will find answers.

 

 

Faith

[airbucket]

hi pesosmom:

 

i just had to respond to your post - my son is 8 and was diagnosed with Tourrette recently, he has been having tics for 2.5 years. I am also new to this forum. What you describe sounds just like my son! He has the same head tic, like he is saying yes but trying to crack his neck in the process, he will also do it side to side, and i also fear he will hurt himself. He also does the clearing throat and grunting and becomes mad when you approach him etc. My son is on Abilify which i look forward to stopping, but it is a scary venture when you have school going on and i am afraid he will be in a worse state off the meds. However, from everything i have read here and elsewhere, at least trying these approaches is a logical move. You can request on the school level, an evaluation to determine any special needs she may have and any services she is entitled to by law, and if you do get a diagnosis you can bring that to the school system for services and extra help and understanding from them. If you need any help with that please let me know. I too am going to purchase the supplements suggested in the posts below, i just wonder if i wont see their real affect because he is on serious meds??

 

this is a great forum and i have been reading as much as i can get away with in a day!

 

I'm new to this all. About 6 months ago is when we started noticing our daughter tics. I noticed that she was always clearing her throat and grunting like she had something in it and she would rub her eyes and look so far off towards her ears that you couldn't see the colored part anymore. We took her to the reg. doc who ran test and said she was fine, went to the eye doc who said her vision was fine. Then a few month later the tics got worse along with awful headaches. I have epilepsy so I made an appt. with a neuro to rule out any sort of seizures. They ran a sleep deprived EEG and said it was normal, even though she was ticcing during the test. The neuro says it is a mild form "TRANSIENT TICS" and we shouldn't be worried. But I am, she has always done well in school, now she never does homework because she forgets to bring it home. Kids are making fun of her, the teachers are on her case for not staying still and disrupting class(I have had numerous meeting with them letting them now what is going on with her health, I live in a small town 10 minutes from UGA) and the stress from all of this is making her tics worse. She is now ticcing where her head shakes up and down like she is saying yes but hard. She won't let anyone touch her without getting mad. We didn't want to put her on meds but since school started its gotten 10 times worse. Is their anything to try before meds, the doctor said meds can make it worse in the long run and they were amphetamine based and the side effects weren't worth it in his opinion. Should I get a 2nd opinion? I just want my daughter too be health and happy like she was a year ago Thanks Kim

[faith]

Hello pesosmom and welcome,

you say your daughter is eleven? Is this the first time you have noticed tics, you say about 6 months ago? Never anything before or any other issues?

 

At eleven (is that sixth grade?) did she recently have any vaccines that were required? Also, what is her diet like? The suggestions from the others are what I would say too. Don't know exactly how to explain it, but my thoughts are that if your daughter is displaying these symptoms now, and she has the same type of sensitivites/allergies/deficiencies as we believe our kids do, then perhaps her bucket is really overflowing right now. I have been through the headshake with my son, and when we found he had some food sensitivities (not allergies) and removed them, that tic decreased within a week or so. Is that a coincidence, I don't know, but some of us here have noted this correlation of removing foods and improvement, so perhaps you could try eliminating certain food groups one at a time (dairy, corn, wheat, or artificial colored foods and candy) and see what happens. Whatever the case, anything you can do to take the burden off her immune system and strenghten her health is important right now. You can read back on alot of posts where there have been discussions on this type of thing. Keep asking questions and try all the suggestions that are possible for now. You are in my prayers...I know you will find answers.

 

 

Faith

[emma1]

I have been trying to figure this all out for a little over four months now. It is very complicated, and everyone knows more than me, but. . .I would check strep titres with a blood test too. I did not know my daughter had strep, but her titres were high, and her doctor believes she has PANDAS, which requires antibiotics. It is something you would want to rule out.