Hi - new here

[MariaSC]

Hi All -

 

I am new here ... my 4 yr old DS has been having tics since this summer - started with a throat clearing, then in December a rubbing of the face and now, five days ago, eye rolling. As you know, it is unbearable to watch. So after literally freaking out for the past few days, I'm making an effort to calm down... Reading the posts here is overwhelming, so I ordered Sheila Rogers' book and will read it before I ask too many questions. We have an appt with a pediatric neurologist in 2 weeks from today and I will be armed with questions. So.... while I am not ready to clear out my entire pantry and throw out everything gluten and casein, I did want to know a few things:

 

Are there any downsides/risks to putting him on some kind of probiotic something? And is that ususally a pill or what?

Same with magnesium - is there any reason to wait with a supplement?

 

Just asking about these two b/c I seem to notice that a lot of you mention them.

 

Will be back with loads of question.

 

Thanks,

Maria

[lismom]

Hi All -

 

I am new here ... my 4 yr old DS has been having tics since this summer - started with a throat clearing, then in December a rubbing of the face and now, five days ago, eye rolling. As you know, it is unbearable to watch. So after literally freaking out for the past few days, I'm making an effort to calm down... Reading the posts here is overwhelming, so I ordered Sheila Rogers' book and will read it before I ask too many questions. We have an appt with a pediatric neurologist in 2 weeks from today and I will be armed with questions. So.... while I am not ready to clear out my entire pantry and throw out everything gluten and casein, I did want to know a few things:

 

Are there any downsides/risks to putting him on some kind of probiotic something? And is that ususally a pill or what?

Same with magnesium - is there any reason to wait with a supplement?

 

Just asking about these two b/c I seem to notice that a lot of you mention them.

 

Will be back with loads of question.

 

Thanks,

Maria

Hi Maria, I wanted to respond to you because I am new too. My son started rolling his eyes when he was 6. At that time I just assumed it was allergies. He was tested and found to be allergic to grass, tree pollen, mixed weeds and our cat. He was started on shots and for 5 years he has been fine. All of a sudden after getting his 6th grade vaccinations and mild nose wrinkle started. I didn't think much of it until this December he got some sort of flu and things went down hill. The ticcing became nose, eye and mild face grimice. He was put on antibiotics and the tics were so severe he even started having some body twitching. This was two weeks ago. That was the worst weekend of my 45yrs. I spent hours and hours on the internet. If it wasn't for this site I don't know where we would be. The first thing I did was stop the antibiotics. After days the tics went down slightly. I had him retested this time for food allergies. The one thing that came up for him was wheat. The allergist didn't think I needed to do anything. I am glad I didn't listen. I wanted to let anyone know who it might help what we have been doing the past 2 weeks. My sons tics have decreased around 80 - 90%. I am staying caustiously optomistic. We eliminated wheat, went on a strong multi-vit, 500mg magnesium, taurine, gaba,mag mix called Kavinace, 500mg acetyl-L carnitine and upped vitamin C. He was so sick before this I can't believe my eyes. I kept him home from school last week and tried all this with rest and lots of water. The ticcing is still there occaisionaly but nothing like the nightmare I lived two weeks ago. We do have a neurologist apt. in a month and I was praying I could help him until then. I still hold my breath each morning until I see him but the last few days have been good. Hope this helps, for me, the allergist and pediatrician where no help. Kathy

[guy123]

Are there any downsides/risks to putting him on some kind of probiotic something? And is that ususally a pill or what?

Same with magnesium - is there any reason to wait with a supplement?

 

They make probiotics in pill form but they are usually expensive and have to be kept refrigerated.

 

You can also find probiotics in yogurt. I believe some types such as Kefir have a good amount/selection of probiotics in them. Supposed to help digestion, too.

[Caryn]

Start with the more 'common' first steps (avoid artificial stuff, chemicals in food, etc.... High Fructose Corn Syrup) before you take it to the next level (re: the diet). It may be that your child needs a special diet, but if you try to do it all at once and you get results you may never know what worked. I was very anxious about it in the beginning and jumped into all kinds of different treatments, one right after the other, some concurrently-- desperately looking for an immediate 'quick fix'.

I will tell you that the most important first steps are lab tests, for sure. We had tried several treatments from December 2006 until May 2007 before we finally had our IgG test results back that revealed our son's food allergies. An IgG test requires daily ingestion of the suspicious foods for a positive result, so if you jump the gun with the diet and then later decide you want to know 'for sure' (because, let's face it, having to make homemade from scratch cookies every time can get old after a while as opposed to buying a Pilsbury Dough Roll in the fridge section)-- you may actually get a false negative result on an allergen.

When we tested we had already had our son on a dairy free diet for digestive reasons. He did not test allergic/intolerant to milk. Our family has a lot of lactose intolerant members so I took that info with a grain of salt and am very cautious with milk products.

The best way to get a handle on what makes your child tic is to take it one step at a time. It is hard, I know, to let go of that initial anxiety. I will tell you that it does go away over time, especially when you find what 'works' for your particular situation.

[Tracey111]

Hi Maria.....your initial post is one that I see a lot here.....can I ask if your child had a vaccine at about the same time the tics started this summer?

 

I can tell you what worked for me.....supplements and diet changes (very limited artificials/no preservatives/low salycilate). Supplements are a lot to list.....I have them listed in my posts under my name. I researched and researched every supplement.....Bonnie's Supplement list is a good place to start....

 

My son had a mild vocal tic for a short period and a bad head jerk for a while....once I added all the supplements he got better........when I went all natural foods, I had too many fruits and veggies that were high salycilates so I backed off some of those. He rarely has tics now....unless too many hot dogs sneak in or we get lazy on the supplements.

 

I hope this info helps.....every child is so different and it is tough to find your right recipe....but don't give up, it was worth the hundreds of hours I spent on the internet....just to make him stop jerking!

[MariaSC]

Hi All - and thanks for your replies.

 

To Tracey111 - no - the throat clearing tic started before he got his 4 yr old shots. Tic started in July, 4 yr old shots in Sept, then more tics in Dec/Jan.

 

I keep seeing a lot about salicylates. Have people here tried/had success with the Feingold diet?

 

Regarding any food/products/environmental sensitivities: can these develop suddenly? My son has always been able to eat anything without any (noticeable) reaction - could something like, for example, salicylates, or wheat, or whatever all of a sudden affect him?

 

Thanks.

 

Maria