Just Tics, are they going away?

[Tracey111]

I feel like I have been doing this nutrition stuff half "behind". I have not made the step to go to a Natural doctor (because his tics are getting better), but will eventually for his ADHD if it becomes a problem in school. So, I do what I can with supplements THANKS to all of you.

 

Well, last weekend I added GABA (we were out for a while) 250mg, NAC (a small portion, maybe 1/5 of a 600mg capsule), and Acetly L Carnitine 250mg. My son was down to just eye tics, mostly when reading/put on the spot. This week his eye tics are rare. He had the stomach flu the last two days, so he has had no supplements. I did not see any eye tics today (but he has also not eaten in a couple of days).

 

Now, my question is....we are coming up on 8 months of tics.....if they were transient tics, do they just disappear? And....if so, how will I know this if I never stop the supplements? I know that the non-artificial/low salicylate diet works for him....now I add these amino acids and it looks even better....but what if at the same time we are at the end of transient tics? My older son stuttered for a year of so and then it disappeared...could this be the same thing????

 

Has anyone stopped the supplements cold turkey to see the effect of it, or to see if the tics have gone away.....wishful thinking, I know!!!!???!!! I would wait a while to do this and would keep him on the basic vitamins for his health/ADHD.

 

Can anyone give me input? Thanks!

[lurker]

Tracey,

 

I don't have any real answers for you, BUT my gut feeling is don't go "cold turkey." If you are going to discontinue -- and I'm not suggesting you don't -- I would do it slowly, very s-l-o-w-l-y, like pour out a tiny bit of powder from a capsule or nip off the end of a pill every couple of days until you get to ground zero. Stopping abruptly might jolt his system, and I believe all our kids have very sensitive systems.

[faith]

Tracy,

I kind of missed this post earlier, but that first line made me laugh. I have been feeling the very same thing about myself with respect to our vitamin plan (or lack of). Could I ask why you decided to start those amino acids? His head tic resolved with diet but he still had eye? What other vitamins are you giving presently, any multi or just these? ..... 'why do you want to stop the supps, just to see if the tics stay away?

 

 

Thanks

Faith

[Caryn]

Tracy,

The thing that stuck out for me is the fact that the tics stopped after a fever and no food for a few days. Could have several reasons, I'm sure, but one thing that is very common about food intolerances is that it takes about three days for the offending food to clear the system. This might account for the cessation of tics after the illness.

Have you done IgG or any type of food log? Sorry if I'm not familiar with your situation. I pop in and out and sometimes forget. Something to definitely think about. Triggers are specific to each kid but one thing many of us have in common is food intolerances as triggers (beyond the Feingold chemical avoidances).

Caryn

[Tracey111]

OK, it is now a week later and things are still good! I am so confused....but SO HAPPY because his tics are so minor now that everyone is noticing the improvement.

 

After our fever and sickness, we went back on our food routine. Saturday and Sunday we went out of town for the weekend and did not take supplements plus have had only 1/2 supplements Friday and the last two days. We cheated a lot over the weekend and even had kraft mac and cheese yesterday! I have not seen any tics in a few days....EXCEPT when he read to me a couple of times!

 

Lurker wrote on time that it sounded like my son stutters with his eyes. I looked up information on this and found lots of links to the basal ganglia......and how damange to this area of the brain is linked to stuttering.

 

Caryn and Faith, he does take multi vitamins.....but the multi was added with the amino acids....he also has Ester C, B, Mag Taurine, Calcium, and Flax Oil. No food sensitivity tests to date. He has been doing much better with what I have done so far....thanks to this site!!!! Faith, I started the amino acids based on what I read on this site and then my research of them.

 

Hmmmmm......any ideas anyone? Is this the waxing and waining(sp?) that I have read about????

[CSP]

Tracey,

 

 

I have been having a little PM discussion with Faith on this subject, and is part of the reason I was interested in the Intrakid/max.

 

My son felt like some of the supplements were causing tics. He is 14 1/2 now and I was feeling like I needed to let him start taking control of the tics and supplements. So I'm going to let him take charge (a little ) and see what happens.

 

I don't remember how old your son is, but mine for most of his childhood untill age 12 was able to eat all kinds of junk and he had no tics that stood out as a problem. I'm hoping his body is coming to the end of puberty and with the diet change we will see either a reduction or no change in tics with only a multi as the supplement.

 

My husband is such a wonderful support and never waviers on his belief that "HE WILL BE FINE." Husband never took meds or vit. for his TS. and as I have said before, he could be the poster-boy for outgrowing TS.

 

Then a few weeks ago my daughter 11yo tells me to read Matt. Ch6: 25-34. Speaks volumes.

 

C.P.

[faith]

Tracy,

These are just my opinions, but based on what I think I have learned thus far by trial and error and just plain trying to figure these things out.

 

As far as wax and wane, who knows if that is due to just the way it is, or if the wax and wane is due to what is going on due to internal and external environmental, umm,.. stuff.? Perhaps that happens with those who do not practice any natural interventions, but unknowling or unwittingly, it really IS in response to the everyday seesaw of good and bad, if you know what I am getting at, maybe its not so mysterious afterall. This is MY opinion. Some of us here believe that our kids would be that much worse off if we did not intervene with the healthy alternatives that we try to follow, even if it is half aa....I mean "behind".

 

Now having said that, (again, totally my take on this) I feel that if you have gained this much ground in doing what your are doing, then why go back? I can see not giving certain extra supplements, but I certainly would not start letting him have bright red slurpees everyday for a week! Just being dramatic, but let's face it, our kids have something going on here, and while what we do may not keep tics or other symptoms away absolutely and indefinitely, I still think its the better way to go, for if we learn nothing else here, we do learn very fast how much toxic sludge is out there causing so many problems for us and our planet.

 

For you, I feel the turning point was when you removed those salicylate type foods that you said your son was consuming alot of. So if you want to challenge that and start letting him have those foods again, then you may see if it has any effect. BUT, I don't think it will be immediate. My feeling is that once the body starts functioning a little better "off" of whatever its poison is, a certain amount of healing takes place, and while it may seem things are better tolerated in the short term, my feeling is that it will eventually hit the fan. I think I and many of us here have probably seen that, even if we did not know what was going on at the time. I also don't think these supplements you are giving are the magic bullets in that they are not necessarily what is keeping his tics away, but the "healing" that they are helping with, possibly by fixing certain pathways that are ultimately responsible for the body to detox properly.

 

Now I also think it depends on the symptoms a child has first presented with, some here are just dealing with a minor transient tic that may very well have just gone away without any intervention. But for those of us that know that our kids are meeting the diagnostic criteria for tourettes syndrome and have been dealing with this for more than a year (I knew my son had tics starting at 3 and he is now 9), well I just don't believe they are going to magically disappear (altho stranger and more wonderful things have happened!).

 

Sorry to be so long on this, but I think its a topic that is on everyone's mind, and mine too, so I'm half talking to you all and half to myself--just telling what I think I've learned this far.

 

One thing I feel I have been doing wrong all this time, is kind of just that--I was slowily nixing certain vitamins and supplements until I was just down to staying with the B12 shots, probiotics, and magnesium, which in my opinion I was even "overdoing" to the point of seeing soft stools in my son and still saturating him with magnesium thinking that was the important supplement that he shouldn't do without. What I was unwittingly doing was not staying with a "comprehensive" approach (Cheri has reminded us of this many times) where other elements needed to be in the mix to support the others, i.e. magnesium, and the B12, etc. I had to do alot of reading and taking notes, but I think what I found was that my plan was no plan at all, and I was missing some of the other things that should be taken together for a synergistic effect. I'm not saying I should be giving every single vitamin out there, but I think even not giving the basic multi vitamin (because I had the feeling once through some trial and error that high B vits were causing more ticcing) in which at least there would be SOME of the other vitamins in there to work together. I also was always afraid to ride out any initial adverse effects that seem to come from supps. I don't like supps, I guess you can tell, so I was trying to get by on the least things....... I can tell you that my son has waxed quite a bit in the last couple of months and it has taken that long for me to look in the right directions for what I could be doing wrong. I think, IMO, it is just that. I was thinking he was okay enough, so did slack off here and there. The deterioration will not occur overnight, but in the long run, it will....and it did, something was wrong for all I thought I was doing "right". I was putting way too much energy on the dietary intervention, and not looking at my vitamin plan and how I should fine tune that. I have slowly begun to make some changes and think I am gaining some ground already, but I don't expect it to be overnight, I'm trying to be patient and realistic and hopeful at the same time.

 

Tracy, the supplements aside, if you want to see where things stand, maybe let's see what happens after about a month or two back on the high salicylate diet, since that seems to be where your child has some trouble? And if you are really bold, you certainly could slack off on those extra supplements, but please do let us know what comes about. Agaon, it may take a few weeks or longer to really see any adverse effects. Believe me, I go through the same thing, wondering if it is all a cooincidence of the timing, because nothing happens immediately, one way or another.

 

Sorry this is so long, but this is kind of hard to explain, and I hope I'm conveying what I want to say.

 

If there is anyone out there who HAS quit their plan (even if you are a long ago poster), and things are still going well, please do drop in and let us know. Any experiences either way would help out those of us interested in this topic.

 

Thanks

Faith

[Chemar]

My son felt like some of the supplements were causing tics. He is 14 1/2 now and I was feeling like I needed to let him start taking control of the tics and supplements. So I'm going to let him take charge (a little ) and see what happens.

 

I couldnt agree more on cutting back on supps when one feels needed or especially if there is an indication of a supp maybe causing more tics

 

each person is so unique and I honestly feel supplement and diet modifications are not a "one works for all" situation.....or even that what helped once will help forever. things are never static I have found and one needs to continuously be modifying, especially as health improves with all the other stuff one is implementing

 

my son instinctively now "knows" what helps and what hinders, and he really has been in charge of his supps for a number of years now. I think once a child is of the age and ability to be able to understand that (beyond the "I hate the pills" aspect ) they really should play an active part in formulating their own health plan

 

my son has also found that sometimes supps that once were helpful to him, now seem to have effects he doesnt want and so he doesnt go near them anymore (eg 5htp and l-carnitine, which were major helps for him in the past)

 

I think too that as the hormonal changes etc kick in along with whatever systems may have been correctly jump started by supps, diet, detox or whatever, sometimes less is more with our kids.

 

one thing my hubby and son have found tho is for their tics, they cant do without magnesium and a source of multi supp with good B vit representation.