Lot of Ticcing today

[Nan]

Hi,

 

My 6.5 year old daughter has been having some eye blinking tics for the past couple of months. She has known environmental allergies . I put her on allegra and nasonex for the past 2 days and she seemed to be doing better. This evening she had a skit practice and a play date . She took a 2 hour nap and then we went to her activities. So, it could not be exhaustion. She was ticcing very badly when she was saying her lines. Something like eye blinking every second. She also ticced quite a lot when she was playing. I have heard anxiety can set off tics. I can understand this with her skit. But can excitement of playing also set them off ? She was not at all anxious while playing with her friend. Does this get better at all ?

 

If tics are related to allergies somehow, then shouldn't the allergy medications take care of it ? They did not seem to help at all ! I am a little confused on this aspect.

 

Tired and frustrated already and I am just starting this journey here

 

-Nan

[lurker]

CARYN!!!

[Caryn]

Hi Nan!

Does your daughter typically have wax ons like this? Is she also having trouble sleeping? Does she have other common allergy problems besides histamine reactions? Tummy upsets? Dark circles under her eyes?

It could have been a case of the gitters, especially if she is typically shy. But if you see a pattern prior to the wax on, one that includes irritability, tiredness, tummy aches, dark circles, spaciness, sometimes even hyperactivity, it could be a food allergen as well. How does your daughter eliminate? That could be a sign as well.

What did she eat prior to the outing? Was it significantly high in a certain kind of food that she wouldn't normally eat so much of? If it was a processed food, get out the box and look at the ingredient listing. Many of these kids are extremely sensitive to additives and preservatives, especially food coloring and MSG.

Some of these kids are very sensitive to their allergens and a tiny amount can elicit ticcing. A huge amount will send them into a flurry of ticcing. Keep an eye on her and watch what she is eating the next couple of days. If it is an allergic response the tics could last up to three or four days, slowly winding down until the allergen works its way out of her system.

Keep us updated. In the mean time I hear epsom salt baths are good.

Caryn

[Nan]

Hi Caryn,

 

Thank you for your response. I am not sure about wax ons as she just started the eye blinking tics. It came and went the past couple of months , but the past 2 weeks , it has been pretty bad. There is a little bit of darkness under the eyes, but nothing visibly dark.

 

My daughter does not eliminate too well. It is about once in 2 days. Can you recommend anything to keep her BMs regular ?

 

I plan on getting Natural Calm and epsom salts tomorrow.

 

Thanks again.

 

-Nan

 

 

 

Hi Nan!

Does your daughter typically have wax ons like this? Is she also having trouble sleeping? Does she have other common allergy problems besides histamine reactions? Tummy upsets? Dark circles under her eyes?

It could have been a case of the gitters, especially if she is typically shy. But if you see a pattern prior to the wax on, one that includes irritability, tiredness, tummy aches, dark circles, spaciness, sometimes even hyperactivity, it could be a food allergen as well. How does your daughter eliminate? That could be a sign as well.

What did she eat prior to the outing? Was it significantly high in a certain kind of food that she wouldn't normally eat so much of? If it was a processed food, get out the box and look at the ingredient listing. Many of these kids are extremely sensitive to additives and preservatives, especially food coloring and MSG.

Some of these kids are very sensitive to their allergens and a tiny amount can elicit ticcing. A huge amount will send them into a flurry of ticcing. Keep an eye on her and watch what she is eating the next couple of days. If it is an allergic response the tics could last up to three or four days, slowly winding down until the allergen works its way out of her system.

Keep us updated. In the mean time I hear epsom salt baths are good.

Caryn

[myrose]

Hi,

 

My 6.5 year old daughter has been having some eye blinking tics for the past couple of months. She has known environmental allergies . I put her on allegra and nasonex for the past 2 days and she seemed to be doing better. This evening she had a skit practice and a play date . She took a 2 hour nap and then we went to her activities. So, it could not be exhaustion. She was ticcing very badly when she was saying her lines. Something like eye blinking every second. She also ticced quite a lot when she was playing. I have heard anxiety can set off tics. I can understand this with her skit. But can excitement of playing also set them off ? She was not at all anxious while playing with her friend. Does this get better at all ?

 

If tics are related to allergies somehow, then shouldn't the allergy medications take care of it ? They did not seem to help at all ! I am a little confused on this aspect.

 

Tired and frustrated already and I am just starting this journey here

 

-Nan

 

 

 

 

 

 

nan,

The same exact thing happened to me tonight as well. We are also on Nasonex. My daughter is 5, she only attends pre-k Monday-Thursday so she had no school today. We started out the day calm. I cleaned the house, she helped me a bit and earned a dollar. We then made some bunny rabbits out of felt paper etc. Her friend who is 7 was dropped off at 2:30 (I babysit her) they played together until about 6:00 when her Dad arrived to pick her up. We then ate supper (pizza) and after that she danced on the coffee table entertaining my husband and I. She was imitating american idol. This went on for a long period. She got herself pretty worked up and she was having a blast! We then watched a Christmas program from her school on a recorded Dvd.

It was then that she sat next to me on the couch and started ticing away! Body jerks in the arms, legs, even a couple vocal.

She then looked at me and said in these exact words "Mommy, I can't stop shaking" (She calls it shaking)

I put the dvd on pause and gave her a twenty or so minute bath/soak in epsom salts. She then had a 1/2 tab of melatolin and some water.

She was sleeping like a baby by the time I got out of the shower.....I love to watch her sleep lately. She seems such at peace with no ticing at all. Jusy like it used to be before this all started.

I am not sure what caused this episode tonight...its the worst we have had in awhile. I will have to see how it goes tomorrow. But for now the epsom salt and the melatolin worked very well for her.

Just wanted to share that there is someone else out there going through it all as well. Sometimes when I read or hear someone else is going through the same thing as we are.......it makes me feel a little better just knowing that I am not alone.

I hope that I have done that for you tonight Nan.

Please do get the epsom salts. This truly works and usually the day after the bath I have the calmest child in the world! I just also purchased the cream that is available through kirkmans.com.

I do have the Natural Calm...not the kids calm. I liked the natural calm better after reading up on both of them. To tell you the truth I am taking it as well. This whole thing has stressed me to death with worry and overwhelming exhaustion from all that I have read and try to understand. It makes me feel so much better when I need to.

I have not gave it to my daughter yet. Tomorrow may be the day I start. I like to take everything first just to see how it makes me feel before I give it to her. (Just something I always do)

 

Goodnnight and I do hope that tomorrow is better for you and you daughter.

Sicnerely,

Wendy

[patty]

Nan,

 

Welcome!

 

Just want to let you know that alot of the kids here with tics or TS do have allergies and or asthma.

 

In our case, by desensitizing my son's food & environmental allergies has been very helpful with his tics. In the beginning, the wax & wane cycle would come & go unexpectedly. It was very stressful & upsetting because i would drive myself crazy trying to figure out what was the trigger. And in our case, the trigger is not obvious. As my son's nervous system improved, the wax & wane cycle decrease drastically.

 

If your child has allergies. I would start from there. In the meantime, clean up the diet, no MSG, artificial colorings & preservatives, additives and artificial sweetner. Also, eat organic whenever possible.

 

I find epsom bath is more effective for motor tics than facial & vocal tics. Magnesium is also very beneficial for motor tics. Just make small changes over time so you & your daughter don't get overwhelmed. And when trying supplement, always do 1 at a time so you can see what works.

 

I would suggest looking into acupuncture, NAET and CST. We have good results from these modalities.

 

Pat

[Caryn]

If foods like pizza are causing major triggers then you need to consider that cerebral allergies to one or more of the top four foods may be present:

1. wheat
   
2. eggs
   
3. milk
   
4. corn
   

And most importantly, there may be a problem with candida overgrowth.

 

We are gluten free (no wheat, barley, rye, or oats that are not alisa tested and labeled gluten free), corn free, and dairy reduced.

Our story is written here: http://healthy-family.org/caryn/289

We are now tic free since just after Christmas, consistently. We have been gluten and corn free for almost a year. Our anniversary is just after St. Paddy's Day 2007. That was the last time our son had pizza. (Well, the glutenous kind). We took him to a party at our church and we all had donuts at breakfast, pizza at lunch. He had to leave the party 20 minutes after the pizza because he erupted in tics so bad and became very irritable.

 

Hope this helps.

Caryn

P.S. dark circles under the eyes is a big indicator of a food allergy, especially problems with wheat and milk.

[Nan]

Thanks to everyone who responded - Tami (lurker), Caryn, Patty and Wendy (Jasminky). I started my daughter on Natural calm (1/2 tsp) 2 days ago. I will post again in a few days as to the status of her tics.

 

 

 

Thanks,

Nan

[kkver]

Nan

For how long ( long term ) have you given allergy meds ? Did the Tics start recently means after she's been on allergy meds ? I feel long term antihistamine & steroid use has something to contribute in to Tics.

[mom2a]

Hi there.....I think probably a lot of things are at play in this situation. Not only allergies, you have seasonal changes, allergy meds, excitment and sheer happiness. Which the happiness part is a great thing!

 

I know with my husband and child....excitment about anything sets off their tics and plus the stimulus from just being around so many other energies from different people puts it in motion. I have found just having a dinner party with close friends will exacerbate both their tics. I know though from my own experience foods make the most difference in how well they handle situations. As long as their diets are pretty clean of sensitivities they can handle much better all different types of stimulus. I'd really play food detective, it's hard but sooo worth it!