New here

[kmccoy]

Just an introduction to others. Looks like many of us have many things in common. I'm a mother of a son diagnosed with TS, however, I will say - and proudly - that he has now been med-free for over a year, by changing his diet. I'm curious if any others have tried something similar.

 

Thanks.

[Caryn]

Kmccoy,

Yes, we have been successfully managing our son's chronic multi focal tic disorder (was dx'd before 1 full year of tics so no T.S. dx) with diet too. We've been doing it for about a year and a half. We are gluten free, corn free, soy free (this is not due to allergy, but by my son's personal preference), and dairy reduced. We do no artificial ingredients either and buy organic when possible (especially fruits). In the beginning we did what they call a candida cleanse diet. We also used a lot of supps in the beginning. Our son used to have six or seven different kind of tics (including vocals like sniffing and throat clearing) and now when we do see tics we only see eye blinking or nose twitching. It used to be constant, all day long. Now it is after too much screen time, when tired, when stressed. Our son went all summer tic free but was exposed to HFCS and yellow #5 on the first day of school in the form of 2 freeze pops. This caused him to erupt in constant eye blinking for about a week and a half. This really shored up my feelings about the diet, it's role in wax and wane cycles, and the power that we do have to help alleviate symptoms.

I use enzymes with cow's dairy and he gets it rarely. We do use goat milk.

What foods do you avoid and what kind of success have you seen?

If you want to read our story it is at:

http://healthy-family.org/caryn/289

Caryn

[lurker]

kmccoy,

 

My son's tics began several days after a vaccination last September. I had him allergy tested in January. We are just now slowly reintroducing his mild reactives. He was very reactive to gluten, so we are still gluten free. I am not even considering reintroducing it. His symptoms are very well controlled.

 

I am a firm believer that stress causes tics in susceptible kids. Stress comes in many forms. If you apply the bucket theory and reduce as much stress as possible, you can affect the symptoms. Allergens and nutritional deficiencies are among the easiest stressors to discover and manage. My son currently exhibits symptoms when he is sick, and there was some mild blinking at the beginning of the school year. He started kindergarden, which is very stressful for a kid who had requested I send him to a "recess-only" school! This September has not even approached 10% of what we experienced last year after that shot.

 

There is even discussion in one of the PANDAS threads about diet making a difference. Again, the only thing anyone can come up with by way of explanation is that by reducing the overall stress to the system, the strep is less likely to "fill the bucket." (I happen to agree with the theory.)

 

What are your your son's dietary restrictions? And, if you don't mind, how old is he?

 

By the way, welcome!

[kmccoy]

We've implemented a diet similar to the one you described: gluten free, no artificial colors, dyes, sugar, caffeine - though I experimented with soy milk for him, but did not really see a change.

 

Many of the tics you described are also similar to what my son experienced. If he's been exposed to a situation that is too stimulating for him, he does have difficulty "settling done" and we still see the eye blinking, nose/mouth/finger twitching. I've been working with Sheila, so many may read the story soon. I appreciate her working with me.

[kmccoy]

kmccoy,

 

My son's tics began several days after a vaccination last September. I had him allergy tested in January. We are just now slowly reintroducing his mild reactives. He was very reactive to gluten, so we are still gluten free. I am not even considering reintroducing it. His symptoms are very well controlled.

 

I am a firm believer that stress causes tics in susceptible kids. Stress comes in many forms. If you apply the bucket theory and reduce as much stress as possible, you can affect the symptoms. Allergens and nutritional deficiencies are among the easiest stressors to discover and manage. My son currently exhibits symptoms when he is sick, and there was some mild blinking at the beginning of the school year. He started kindergarden, which is very stressful for a kid who had requested I send him to a "recess-only" school! This September has not even approached 10% of what we experienced last year after that shot.

 

There is even discussion in one of the PANDAS threads about diet making a difference. Again, the only thing anyone can come up with by way of explanation is that by reducing the overall stress to the system, the strep is less likely to "fill the bucket." (I happen to agree with the theory.)

 

What are your your son's dietary restrictions? And, if you don't mind, how old is he?

 

By the way, welcome!

 

My husband and I, through research and a lot of thought, implemented a gluten free, all natural diet, for our son. We try to buy organic when we can, and we use stevia or natural sweetners to replace sugar. It's been a long road and we have more to travel, but yes, our son's tics are more controlled too as a result of the diet change.

And our son is 14 now.

Thanks for the welcome!

[lmcgill]

We have had huge sucess with diet. He is in Gr 3 this year, we have him gluten free and on Bonnies Vitamins. We have been able to reduce his amount of suppliments down to 5 in the morning and 5 at night now. We have reduced all artificial colors, flavours and have him on Rice milk. I notice some very minor tics after he plays his Wii.

There are so many other reasons to go healthy, he has fewer colds, is not sick really at all for almost two years.