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wyattsmom

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Wyatt's Mom,

 

My six year old started out with the blinking. Eye doctor said normal. He has had tics since August (2-3 weeks after his Chicken Pox Vaccine!)

 

His tics turned into a head jerk a few week ago. I did the massage at night and it helped. He is a struggling learner and I can tell you that the stress of reading makes his tics go wild.

 

I started with liquid magnesium. I then eliminated all of the junk food. The parents here helped me realize that my HEALTHY diet of OJ, canteloupe, tomatoes, dark green lettuce, peanut butter, etc...was high in salicylates. (I don't even know how to spell it yet!!!) I reduced these foods and picked low salicylate or no salicylate foods and within a week the head jerk was back to just eye blinks. (He gets RARE bits of artificial colors or flavors.) I am having to see if certain foods throw him off. For example, Thomas Grain English Muffins brought back the head jerks within one day. We knew what it was b/c it was the only new thing I gave him. I found lots of strange stuff listed on the ingredients.....I told him ahead of time that this may happen and it did....he now asks before he takes any snack out of the cupboard!!!!

 

We have been to neurologist, allergy doctor, eye doctor, and pediatrician. They all say just tics.

 

If the tics last, use this site to help you out!!! The info has helped me GREATLY! His tics are not gone, but they are better!!

 

Good Luck.

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Shannon

I forgot to mention before that chiropractic and acupuncture have proven to be amongst the most beneficial treatments for my son.

 

Apart from the actual direct help the chiro seems to have on the tics themselves, tics, even mild ones, can cause the skeleton to become misaligned and apart fro the discomfort that causes, it also seems to generate more tics, at least for my son. He not only feels soothed after a visit to the chiro, he also has tic relief

 

Acupuncture is for him still the #1 treatment when he needs immediate intervention during waxing phases, couplled with epsom salts baths

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I am happy to report that yesterday he only shook his head MAYBE 3 times all day and today NOTHING so far. We are so happy but realize it may very well come back at some point. I'm taking him to the chiro Tuesday. It sure can't hurt.

 

As for the vaccinations ---- At this point I'm really considering refusing all the rest of the vaccinations. From the looks of the chart, he'll only need 4-5 more between now and when he's 12 yrs. I would never forgive myself if I took him for his 4 yr checkup and he got shots and starting the tics again and never stopped. I need to check on what I'll need to do as far as him enrolling in school without shots.

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

Shannon

I forgot to mention before that chiropractic and acupuncture have proven to be amongst the most beneficial treatments for my son.

 

Apart from the actual direct help the chiro seems to have on the tics themselves, tics, even mild ones, can cause the skeleton to become misaligned and apart fro the discomfort that causes, it also seems to generate more tics, at least for my son. He not only feels soothed after a visit to the chiro, he also has tic relief

 

Acupuncture is for him still the #1 treatment when he needs immediate intervention during waxing phases, couplled with epsom salts baths

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I can't really........I don't see a pattern. He did it once today while watching TV but I'm not sure if it was a real one or to get my attention. We rubbed his neck/upper back quite a bit 2 days ago and it started to ease up. He wouldn't do it at all when we rubbed his neck. We're going to the chiropractor tomorrow so HOPEFULLY that will also make a difference.

 

 

 

 

Can you attribute the waning of the tic to anything new you have been doing or not doing?
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  • 2 months later...

Hi, I'm completely new to posting on the web, but am so glad to have found Im not the only 'mom detective' out there'!! My son has had the same tic since he was 4 months old. He is now 4.5 years old. At first we thought it was his reaction to overstimulization/excitement since then he wasn't even talking yet and would do 'his thing' which is very hard to describe, but here goes: mouth open, hands outstretched to his sides making 'milkmaid' gestures (my pediatrician gave me that name). As he grew, he added jumping to that tic. It is not TS, per drs., just 'a tic' that he may or may not grow out of. For the record, he spoke in sentences by 8 months, abc's recited in full by 10 months, can read a little now, is very happy, goes to preschool, has friends and is a kind boy. No ocd's, loves dinosaurs and can name most of them, but not in the ocd way. He is aware of his tic, and has told me he feels 'relief' afterwards. I have explained to family and friends to accept that as part of who he is, and to not bring attn. to it. He will already answer certain people that give him 'looks' when he does it and say things like..,." Im just so excited that I can't control myself!" It breaks my heart when we are out at say Target and he sees something new and exciting to him and he 'stims' as I call it (since I used to work with autistic children and this is a commonly used term in that field), and people sometimes will stare. Im overly sensitive to that anyway, since I did teach autistic adults prior to becoming a stay at home mom, and we dealt with that on outings all the time. I do think he may have some add, or just ignores me when I want him to 'clean up'. Selective hearing there maybe! lol My questions are many----I do think that certain things other than external stimuli bring it on, and have seen it increase when he is over-tired, after junkfood, and oj. (the season changes discussions (pollen) I found to be quite interesting since I think I've seen him do it more as of late) He is otherwise healthy, growing fine, 50% for height and weight since birth. He was a major spitter upper as a baby, but he was always gaining weight fine, so the dr. said he would grow out of it, and by 10 months, he did. I would like to know about the elimination diets, the natural remedies that any of you have had success with, etc. Im sorry this is sooo long, but, I have never talked to anyone besides everyone that tells me there's nothing I can do about it, which is irritating. He is a fussy eater, but has normal bowels. Any advice or input or comments would be appreciated!!!!!!!! thanks.

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MomtoDylan,

 

My friend's daughter had a very similar one. I saw it for the first time when she was about six months old. We were at a duck park and she got really excited. She is seven and a half now.

 

She has seen a specialist, who diagnosed it as a stereotypie. He said that it is very typical of children with autism, but is seen in typical children as well, although rarely. She is bright and sociable and has no other issues. His prognosis was that by about the age of ten, she would have the ability to control it. I can already see that she is aware when she does it and is able to stop herself.

 

Anyway, I'm not suggesting that your child is misdiagnosed ("tic," "stereotypie," "habit," "lampshade" -- they are all just words). I just wanted to share that because its so similar and the prognosis is comforting.

 

Can he be distracted from it? Could you ward it off by offering a high five when he gets excited about something? Does he do it during nervous anticipation or just excitement?

 

I would suggest looking into fish oil as a first step. It's a brain food and the Western diet is really deficient in it.

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