Guest Erika Hutson Posted June 11, 2003 Report Share Posted June 11, 2003 My 4-year old son has multiple motor and vocal tics, which began about 6 months ago. They are getting worse quickly. He has been hitting his head with his knuckles now (or the floor or an object) for a while. At times he has bruising on his head. I have tried to get him to hit his hip bone but he says he likes hitting his head. Are there ways to change a tic? Since he is only 4 and his tics are too many to even count, will his TS only get worse? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chemar Posted June 11, 2003 Report Share Posted June 11, 2003 Dear Erika It is so scary when a tic is self-injurious isnt it? My son has a number of tics that have been like that! tho it has been MUCH better since he is off meds and on supplements You cant really change a tic.....it only makes it worse the more attention you pay or the more you try to get it different or suroressed. Often OCD is involved, and the cjild feels they "have" to do the tic "just right" The best you can do is try to provide props to help eg a small pillow to bang against.......my son once wore gloves for a while so he wouldnt poke at himself during a particularly strong tic. Arnica cream from health stores is a wonderful natural remedy that quickly heals bruises. All you can really do is love him thru it and just gently find ways to lessen the hurt the tics cause without putting too much pressure on him Im not sure if you have him on the vitamins/supplements yet, but 4yo is an excellent time to start to help him for the years to follow. hugs to you and your son Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chemar Posted June 14, 2003 Report Share Posted June 14, 2003 Hi again Erika I am not sure if you have been reading this board or the one over at BrainTalk lately, but in case you missed it, you got some replies to your post over there .......here is the link http://neuro-mancer.mgh.harvard.edu/ubb/Fo...TML/005299.html Hope your little guy is doing ok and you too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest myriam Posted June 16, 2003 Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 Erika, your letter really struck a note. You should please look into all the approaches being talked about on this site. My son used the hit his face, play with sharp things, touch hot things, scream, etc. etc. and it turned out to all be related to allergies and reactions to chemicals, needing better nutrition and supplements etc etc. Please change his diet right away and find a special type of doctor to help you, not the regular ones. This is so serious. But it can be helped. My son is JUST FINE now. I can't know if yours will be but he is nice and young and its time to try. What happened six months ago? Anything special? Please write back. From Myriam, saying a prayer for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Erika Posted June 19, 2003 Report Share Posted June 19, 2003 Myriam, thanks for your reply. It is good to know that others have done this as well. Nothing happened 6 months ago. My son is never sick. He has had a few colds in his life and that is it! When the tics first began, he was getting over a cold. He was extremely sensitive to light and rubbed his eyes frequently. Then the eye tics started which progressed to multiple other tics incl. head hitting. I am curious what supplements your son takes and whatever treatments you use. Please e-mail me at erikahutson@aol.com. thanks again for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeff Posted June 19, 2003 Report Share Posted June 19, 2003 Erika and Kim, I too am curious about the supplements and vitamins that you have found to be helpful with controlling the tics. We have had great success with the Feingold Diet; however, we find it difficult, if not impossible, to follow 100% of the time. Between school, birthday parties, friends' houses, etc., there are always temptations for the children. We try to keep only FG-approved items in the house, but even that can be difficult sometimes. I've seen your references to supplements and vitamins, and I've also seen several posts from Feingold members indicating that these supplements (enzymes, fish/flax oils, vitamins, etc.) help a lot in reducing reactions to non-FG-approved food items. I don't think we're ready yet to contact Dr. Deatherage, but I would like to know a little more about what supplements you use, and what differences they've made. Thanks in advance. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chemar Posted June 19, 2003 Report Share Posted June 19, 2003 Hi Erika someone just posted on the BrainTalk board about how calcium/magnesium/zinc supplements have helped with tics involving hitting oneself. Did you also see the new positive reports they left there for you on Pfeiffer and a Dr Rapp in Chicago hope that hitting tic is on the wane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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