Sleep Problem

[Guest Guest_efgh]

Heard that sleep problem is common amongst kids with tics. My son takes as long as 1.5 hours to get to sleep once he starts sleeping and that is the time he murmurs and says "uh", "mm", etc a lot and once he starts sleeping, he is fine and has a pretty sound sleep. I ensure that he gets a lot of physical exercise during the day and evenings and I can see that he is tired but his racing thoughts and tics are preventing him from falling asleep immediately. When i started with flax oil two months ago for his tics, i realised that his sleep pattern much improved bbut now again its back to his age old troublesome days. any tips on this are welcome since I feel sorry for him that he is spending some 1.5 hours of idle time not knowing what to do to get into 'sleep mode'.

thanks again for your replies/tips

[efgh]

read this in one of the letters in the latitudes site

I would like to share two things that decrease my son’s tics. The first is a “stress ball.†He squeezes this small ball, which seems to help. It can be purchased in any drugstore.

 

any idea on this ???anyone else has tried this?

[Chemar]

Hi

the stress balls are a good thing.

I also have a friend who just tightly clenches her fist instead.

 

Not understood just how, but many people do report that tightening of muscles seems to damp down certain tics.

 

 

Sleep is a biggie.

The 5HTP seems to help my son sleep, as well as soft background music and a blue nightlight......

 

also, a warm tub just before bed with Epsom Salts added to the water.

 

Some people also report a better sleep pattern on GABA (gamma amino butyric acid)

[efgh]

thanks. have you observed this sleep problem with lots of people with TS ?? or is it individual specific?

[Phyl]

My son also used to take forever to fall asleep at night. He was very restless in bed too. This improved when he started to take vitamin supplements, flax and fish oil. I have read that a magnesium deficiency can be partly the cause for this inability to fall asleep easily. However, magnesium needs to be given along with a proper balance of other vitamins for absorbtion and to work well. Here's one source http://health.discovery.com/encyclopedias/1920.html Also, have you seen Bonnie Grimaldi's web site http://bonniegr.com/news.htm ? Magnesium deficiency constitutes the basis of her hypothesis for ts.

[Guest Guest_efgh]

Thanks Phyl for your valuable information. How old is your son and hope he is free from tics and sleep problems now after taking the supplements. thanks again and will work on magnesium (heard taurate form is better for sleep and tics)

[Phyl]

Hi_efgh,

My son is 11 1/2. His tics and sleep problems have mostly abated now, though he still has a little of each. I think the supplements really helped with his ability to fall asleep more easily. Now though, I give him a lower dosage of the supplements than I used to because I found for him, it doesn't seem to make much difference any more. What really helped lessen his tics was finding a way to eliminate a yeast/fungal overgrowth in his intestines as well as other infections (by parasites) he had. (We had lots of help from an alternative medical doctor with this). He also needs to be careful to avoid food coloring and other junk.

 

Good luck to you. Everyone is so different and it's so hard to figure it all out. I recommend finding a good alternative doctor to guide you, if possible!

[Guest Guest_efgh]

Hi Phyl

 

thanks for your reply. did a naturopath help you with yeast/fungal infections?? How was the infection eliminated? What tests were done to identify this and what are the tests called? Your information would help me in passing on this info to my family doctor and accordingly choose an alternative physician.

thanks again.

[Guest Guest_efgh]

Phyl, what were the motor and vocal tics that your son had and is it the Candidla test that you are talking about...Which supplements helped you ? thanks again

[Phyl]

Hi -efgh,

 

The doctor we used is not a naturopath, but an MD with training in holistic medicine. She belongs to an organization called the American College for Advancement in Medicine. Here's their website: http://www.acam.org/ On it is a doctor search locator that includes doctors in many other countries besides the US.

 

The tests our doctor recommended included a urine test from the Great Plains Lab called Microbial Organic Acid Panel. This measured lots of things, but for my son they kept showing high levels of metabolites from yeast/fungal overgrowth or from clostridia infections in the gut. We used a probiotic called Culturelle, as recommended by the lab, and also nystatin to try to lessen these infections - but neither had an effect. We were finally successful using homeopathic medicines over many 2 month periods. Slowly we watched as both his tic level and the level of infection (as measured by subsequent lab tests) came down.

 

The motor tics he used to have were mostly symetrical and included blinking, grimacing, mouth opening and finger/wrist wiggling. His vocal tics included humming, throat clearing, say uh, uh, uh or p,p,p! Some of the vocal tics disappeared when we tried eliminating dairy, because we noticed a connection.

 

Hope this helps and good luck!

[Phyl]

One more thing about sleep problems. This discussion about food sensitivities sometimes causing sleep problems is interesting: http://neuro-mancer.mgh.harvard.edu/ubb/Fo...TML/004380.html

[Guest Guest_efgh]

Thanks Phyl. Did your son have ocd symptoms too?

[Guest Guest_Jennifer]

Hi,

 

I have come across this book about sleep from this link http://www.PowerfulSleep.com/cmd.cgi?cmd=a...ack&afid=187272

and found it very interesting and what explained in the book is very useful, this is the first time i read such book after 2 years of research about sleep. It actually explains why we feel sleepy and why we require naps and how to get energy when we need it instead of fall asleep.

 

We don't need more than 8 hours sleep. I have seen speakers who slept only 4 hours a day and full of energy for the whole day and running around without feeling tired.

 

Grab the free chapter and audio, you may get some improvement from there. Hope this helps.

 

kind regards,

Jen