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Potassium Bicarbonate helping son's tics stay controlled


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Faith...just curious as to if you found out if he is high histamine or low? I ask because you mentioning the B12 shot that had folic acid as well in it??

If he is high histamine he needs to stay away from folic FOR SURE and chloine and more....

Just curious I guess...seems my daughter always reacted when I gave her a vitamin with offenders for high histamine in them. And I at the time never would think about folic acid as being BAD!!!

We are starting a little regimen soon...schools is almost out. I will let you know how I make out.

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myrose

thanks, I have read that too, altho what he gets is "folinic acid" which is the next step, the active form, so I was never exactly sure if the reason folice acid wasn't supposed to be good was because of the problem with conversion in the body. if that is why, then the folinic may be better being the more bioavailable form? Well you have given me food for thought, maybe I will keep it out a little while. Altho, we have always taken this combo and there were times things were not so bad and this was in the mix. But as I mentioned above, once I use up this batch, I may try going without it for a couple months and see what happens. My fear is always that it will be worse. :mellow: (we've never tested histimine, so I don't really know for sure).

 

How are things going so far with dd? Is the seizure med still helping?

 

Faith

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  • 1 month later...

Hello everyone,

 

It has been a while. We have been having a busy summer and I have not had much time to check the board. But I just wanted to do a quick update regarding Daniel and all the supplements he is on.

 

Daniel, for the most part has been doing great. But I did want to post that I realized I found the limit to how much the supplements can control his tics when exposed to artificial products or high levels of stress.

 

We went of vacation in June to Oregon to see family. I had seen next to no tics for quite some time even though I had been giving him a little more freedom with artificial food dyes and high fructose corn syrup. But still absolutely no MSG. As we were going through security at the airport all of a sudden, he must have a a rush of adrenaline, he started doing a head shaking tic. It lasted about a solid day and slowly went away.

 

This past week we had a potluck at my house. Absolutely I was not thinking and let him have good old macaroni and cheese somebody made from a box. I am sure it had yellow dye in it because he started chewing on things after he had it. He use to chew on things all the time before we changed his diet and added the supplements. For example, he would chew his shirts until they were soaking wet, pillow, cloth in general, toys, etc. The list goes on and on. But once we made the changes in his diet all the chewing went away until he gets an overdose again. If you read Dr. Feingold's information he talks about how chewing on cloth is a sign of artificial food dye intolerance.

 

The other thing that is so interesting is when his tics flare back up guess what else flares back up ANXIETY. There is certainly no doubt in my mind that the two certainly wax and wane on the same rhythm within his body.

 

So the long and short of it is he still has minimal ticcing when exposed to high stress moments or still too much artificial for his body. But I have to say overall I am very pleased with the results I am seeing him on the supplements we have him on.

 

Hope every ones summer is going great so far.

 

Carolyn

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Carolyn, I have a question. I read through your post and am very interested in having my daughter try the NAC and the Potassium Bicarb. I have a question though, I read that you give your son 1200mg a day of the NAC, is that based on his weight and age? My daughter is 12 and weighs about 80 pounds. Would I give her the same amount or just the 600mg. Also how much Bicarb do you give him (dosage). I read that you make your own pills but is it available to buy in capsules? I am just curious as to what dosage/amount of the bicarb I would give her.

 

Right now I give her the magnesium and the b-complex. She suffers from tics (vocal and motor) we go through bad and good periods.. A few months ago (around xmas) I was on this board constantly because she was doing really bad.. Lately though she is more mild with her tics. However we are never tic free. So I am hopeful that like you, I will eventually stumble upon something that will be the answer for her.

 

I have tried bonnies vitamins and lots of other stuff over the years but have never thought to try the NAC or pot bicarb.

 

Thanks for any answers

 

Hello Everyone,

 

I wanted to update you with some information that I have found very interesting. I had posted not too long ago, here is the original post http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?...Carolyn+N\. , how N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) has been very effective for controlling my son's tics. Well I ran out of the original batch of NAC that the doctor gave me. I bought some from the Vitamin Shoppe, their brand, and was giving him 1200 mg a day (I always break his vitamins up by morning and night to keep it in his system the longest). Well I noticed that the Vitamin Shoppe brand was not controlling his tics the same as what I had been using from the doctor's office. I was confused because I was told by the doctor's office that typically their in not a difference in "grade" of NAC so the source should not have been too big of a deal.

 

Well the mystery was solved for me about two weeks ago. I completely forgot that when the doctor gave me the NAC he also had mixed into it Potassium Bicarbonate. Potassium Bicarbonate helps to keep your PH balance regulated. Since I have been giving him the combination again, I have yet to see one tic from him. For him, not compared to the average American diet, he has had quite a bit of artificial foods the last two weeks. The end of school party type of things, going to Birthday parties, having people come over with treats that I have not made, going to restaurants and drinking Sprite with high fructose corn syrup. The long and short of it again....no tics. There is no doubt with all he has had he would have been having some tics by now. Even with all the other supplements he is taking.

 

Why is this working for him? This is from my understanding, and again I may be completely off base, but this is what I can gather. If you read my original post above I explain that when your PH balance is high you are "high histamine". This means you have more histamine running through your body. More histamine means your sulfation system gets backed up in processing out neurotransmitters including dopamine. Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that ultimately is responsible for the tics. So by taking the Potassium Bicarbonate it is taking the burden off of the sulfation system in regard to the histamine load and allowing the neurotransmitters to be processed correctly out of his body.

 

So what seems to be effective is having the NAC along with the Potassium Bicarbonate. The NAC is providing the extra boast to help the sulfation process and again the potassium bicarbonate is lowering the PH. Again it is hard for me to pinpoint exactly what percent these two products alone are helping Daniel because he is on a lot of other supplements. For example, I believe Magnesium Taurate and B vitamins have been very important for him too. He has been taking these for well over 1 1/2 years now so it is difficult to measure where he would be otherwise.

 

I should also mention that about 3 weeks ago Daniel had a "tune-up" with the system similar to NAET called NEAT. He tested again positive to sensitivity to the artificial colors. So she "desensitized" him so this certainly could have helped him too. But I truly do believe the supplements are certainly working for him.

 

The other thing I have found interesting is since he has been on the NAC I have not had to give him as much GABA for anxiety. It seems to be really helping with this end. Daniel was definitely starting to have very obsessive thoughts prior to the GABA and, if I remember correctly, I had been giving him 1200 mg a day. Now I am giving him half that amount and he is doing fine with his anxieties. I had read some there is some research being done on the role of NAC in helping with OCD.

 

There is one part of the puzzle I have yet to figure out. I do not know how many mg's of Potassium Bicarbonate I am giving Daniel. I have a phone call into the office to find out but the doctor is out until Wednesday. His instructions were to take 1/4 teaspoon a day. When I find out I will post this information.

 

Has anyone else every used or heard of potassium bicarbonate?

 

God Bless,

 

Carolyn

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Hi all,

 

This was one of the posts that led me to the amino acids! I was deserate to find that "final cure". There was a NAC/Apple Cider post that impressed me. I bought NAC, Aceytle L Carnitine, and GABA immediately and added them to DS suppplements. This was the final addition that made the tics disappear for a while.......well, I decreased these the last couple of weeks and have seen the tics come back!!!!! Research them and try them!!!!! NAC, Aceytal, and GABA made a difference for us!!!! I have never had to use the potassium bicarbonate....but he has had SEVERAL stomach issues over the years!!!!!

 

Tracey

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Hi Mom2Three,

 

It is so difficult for me to say how much you should give your daughter. I did question the amount the original Naturopath recommended for Daniel to take. The front office person told me that is the standard they usually recommend of NAC for children. I also ran it by my other Naturopathic doctor, who is in a completely different doctor's office, and she told me that the dosage of NAC seemed right to her. Although she said she had never used it for children for the purposes of which I was giving it to Daniel. From what I have read it seems like the standard for adults is around 600 mg's and this is what made me start questioning the dosage. But after two doctors confirming this seemed to be the right amount for him, for the purposes I am using it to help process food toxins, I have just gone with it. You certainly could start with 600 mg's and see what this would do and if you would see results at that amount. I know the second Naturopathic doctor I ran it by made a comment to me that I probably would not see a whole lot of results with a dosage as low as 200 mg.

 

Regarding the potassium bicarbonate I have not purchased this other then through my doctors office. I did a quick google and could not find a place just to buy it for the sake of taking it orally. It seems they sell it to change the PH balance of wine. I am going to be getting more potassium bicarbonate this week at my doctor's office. So I will ask them, when I am in there on Thursday, where do most people buy this. When we give Daniel the dosage it is a 1/4 tsp a day. I don't know if over time it could change the acid levels of the stomach and I suppose I should check into this. I have been giving it to him every day but it may be I should only give it to him when he is having noticeable tics. I will ask this question when I am at the doctor's this week too.

 

Regarding the increase in tics around Christmas this is when we I saw a BIG increase in tics with Daniel. I completely know for him it had everything to do with the diet of artificial foods, high fructose corn syrup, and MSG he had been exposed to with all the "extra" treats of Christmas.

 

I hope this helps. I am sorry for not being able to give you absolutely definitive answer. After I am at the doctor this week I will hopefully have more answers for you.

 

Carolyn

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I have asked two pharmacists about potassium bicarbonate and they both did not have anything like that to give out. It seems it is the ingredient in the alka seltzer gold, so you could use a tablet of that.

 

Carolyn, you say that the head shake he had at the airport subsided within a day? that is interesting, I always freak when I see something starting up again. Did you do anything extra to arrest that, or just rode it out?

 

Tracey, with the recent eye tics you saw when you relaxed the vits--have they subsided yet with adding back? Let us know how that goes.

 

Thanks

Faith

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Hi Mom2Three,

 

It is so difficult for me to say how much you should give your daughter. I did question the amount the original Naturopath recommended for Daniel to take. The front office person told me that is the standard they usually recommend of NAC for children. I also ran it by my other Naturopathic doctor, who is in a completely different doctor's office, and she told me that the dosage of NAC seemed right to her. Although she said she had never used it for children for the purposes of which I was giving it to Daniel. From what I have read it seems like the standard for adults is around 600 mg's and this is what made me start questioning the dosage. But after two doctors confirming this seemed to be the right amount for him, for the purposes I am using it to help process food toxins, I have just gone with it. You certainly could start with 600 mg's and see what this would do and if you would see results at that amount. I know the second Naturopathic doctor I ran it by made a comment to me that I probably would not see a whole lot of results with a dosage as low as 200 mg.

 

Regarding the potassium bicarbonate I have not purchased this other then through my doctors office. I did a quick google and could not find a place just to buy it for the sake of taking it orally. It seems they sell it to change the PH balance of wine. I am going to be getting more potassium bicarbonate this week at my doctor's office. So I will ask them, when I am in there on Thursday, where do most people buy this. When we give Daniel the dosage it is a 1/4 tsp a day. I don't know if over time it could change the acid levels of the stomach and I suppose I should check into this. I have been giving it to him every day but it may be I should only give it to him when he is having noticeable tics. I will ask this question when I am at the doctor's this week too.

 

Regarding the increase in tics around Christmas this is when we I saw a BIG increase in tics with Daniel. I completely know for him it had everything to do with the diet of artificial foods, high fructose corn syrup, and MSG he had been exposed to with all the "extra" treats of Christmas.

 

I hope this helps. I am sorry for not being able to give you absolutely definitive answer. After I am at the doctor this week I will hopefully have more answers for you.

 

Carolyn

Hey Carolyn and others,

I found this product on iherb while looking for digestive enzymes for Grif. This product has 105 mg of potassium bicarbonate. I have been thinking of getting it for him as an enzyme supplement. Wonder if the bicarbonate would be a bonus or do I have to give the NAC with it for a tic reducing effect?

http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails.aspx?c...d=6278&at=0

Anyone use this product ever?

Bonnie

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Hi Faith,

 

As a matter of fact, I did do some things to help his body when he started the head shake tic. I gave him extra B6 about 70 mg's for several days and an extra 100 mg's of magnesium taurtate (this is on top of his standard amount). We made him scrabbled eggs for the extra sulfur, several days in a row, and I gave him epsom salts baths. I also have epsom salts creme, magnesium sulfate creme, I ordered through Kirkman Labs and I was putting that on him too. I was able to do all these things once I got to my in-laws house.

 

What I realized, of course after our bags were checked into the plane already, next time I need to carry the magnesium sulfate creme with me and also keep on hand a B6 just to help boost his system if he starts up. Obviously he finds traveling pretty exciting so it makes sense to me it could increase tics also not to mention on the planes the most exciting thing to a child is getting the free soda full of high fructose corn syrup.

 

Speaking of the free soda on the airplane, my friend informed me who is a flight attendant for U.S. Airways, in a couple months we get to pay $2 per soda drink on U.S. Airways. What are they going to do next take away the seats?

 

Regarding the magnesium sulfate creme, I think on airlines you cannot carry liquid on the plane that is more then 4oz's so it would just have to be a small amount of the magnesium creme.

 

Faith, hope you summer has been a good one so far!

 

Carolyn

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Faith,

 

I started back on full supplements yesterday.

 

I am still seeing the minor tics creep back in, but they were not as bad today. We have had hot dogs (YUKKK>>>>I KNOW!!!) at least once a week, and he has been eating packaged Kielbasa lately. I am wondering if this could be affecting him. We have not done hot dogs since I started this process!

 

We have let him have Sprite a lot lately too.....I know I read a post about something in the Sprite that might increase tics. It is summer and we are in the pool almost every day.....he does not like the epsom salt baths, so he only takes them every so often.

 

So, I think that slacking on all of these recipe items is causing the tics. It is summer and SO HARD on him. I am putting him back on the full diet and will let you know how long it takes to see a change.

 

Did you lower salycilates?

 

Tracey

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tracey,

yes, I cut way back on the salicylate list, and have given the NAC as well, but I did not see a waning until about a month later, so I never know exactly what helps or is coincidence, but I do feel he does better when not on alot of fruits and such. That and taking away the Wii for a few weeks coincided with waning the head bobbing. Also, I decided to stop giving the methyl B12 shots to see what happened, and he is not worse for it, actually better, so that is a little confusing because I always thought that was something he needed in the mix, but apparently not. Only the last two weeks did I see the eye twitching and little head turn subside, but I am seeing a little poking thru from the weekend, so maybe I'm dealing with the same as you are saying, a little fireworks, tomato and watermelon (sals) and yea, sprite here too! I am still experimenting (and praying) with what seems to help longterm.

 

Post back how things go.

 

Faith

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CP - BallPark is what I buy......have never had organic. I have always heard that they are junk food and something about nitrates....but I love junk food, so I never listened until my son started ticcing!!!! I figured they should go out with the artificial stuff!

 

Faith,

 

I JUST bought the WII today.....oh no!!!! Sam's had only 25 in their first shipment in 3 months and said they would be gone tomorrow! I bought it for my son's birthday in August!!!! They have been WAITING to get one! I will see if the tics clear up over the next 3 weeks. If they do and they come back with the introduction of the WII....I will definitely post!!!

I hope you find your recipe soon!!!!!!!!!!

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