Any one heard of Dr. Sims

[faith]

Beth (Doxie),

Thanks for that update.

Could I ask, since you say he got the device on Thursday, up til now, you have not seen a "cessation" of tics?, just that you think from your observation that the tics have "lessened"? Have you observed him wearing the nighttime device at home whil just watching tv or walking around the house before bed? what do you observe? no tics, less tics? still some? hard to tell?

 

Another thing I don't quite get is what do you mean about the back molars not touching? Is that the goal, so there is no contact and therefore a rest to the trigeminal nerve? is that correct? than how DOES he chew if they can't come together?...

 

Does Dr. Garcia believe this (the trigeminal system, and the premise of Dr. Sims) is an issue for ALL tics or tourette patients?

 

Thanks, I think we are all just trying to understand all this better. It is so complicated.

 

Faith

[faith]

Michael,

re your post above.......................huh? , lol, sorry, I'm not sure I got that. again?

 

thanks,

Faith

[Dalit]

Sorry, can I have Cliffs Notes on the 17 pages in this thread? I haven't been on this forum in months.

 

A mouthpiece stops tics?

 

What?

watch this:

and read this: http://www.tmjstack.com/casereport.pdf

[MichaelTampa]

Faith -- which post would you like clarified?

 

Michael

[faith]

Michael,

post #255 (pg 17). sorry, I couldn't get exactly what you think re the braces. I'm fried.

and,

Michael, I've read your updates, and I know you've said you don't really have any visible tics, but of the external ones, is anythng noticeably better, or do you feel less urges to tic? Also what you say about your jaw now, do you mean you feel your jaw is repositioning? does it feel good/normal?

 

I guess I'm still trying to absorb all this and see if it all makes sense or if it is something worthwhile to persue, but I don't think I can do it via Dr. Sims. Any suggestions?

 

 

Thanks

Faith

[patty]

Dalit,

 

thx for sharing the youtube link video. i got emotional watching it as the result was just amazing!! god bless dr. simms & others like him.

 

pat

[MichaelTampa]

faith,

 

On the braces, love_nfp's post #250, item number 2 gave part of the long-term plan of how this device transitions to braces and then done, and I found that helpful, and made sense to me in terms of how it could work. If you understood that, I was mostly just agreeing with it. After wearing the device for a number of months, if you cut the device back a little bit, making it a little less of an adjustment, but put braces in to move the bottom teeth up, you can move the teeth to fill in that gap, and then end up needing less adjustment. If you do that repeatedly, you end up with the jaw adjusted downward, and teeth adjusted upward, and do not need to wear anything and the adjustment is complete.

 

Just trying to think of my external tics, I probably have arm jerking and eye blinking. Eye blinking nobody notices except myself and doctors. Eye blinking has probably reduced some, but it is hard to say for sure, I don't pay attention to them too much. The arm jerking does seem to have reduced, but be aware we are talking something like this happening now once every month instead of once per week.

 

Another thing it's helping, not sure if this counts as external or not, but without the device, I get into a lot of babbling, and there is a good bit of of syllable repeating going on (not sure if it counts as stuttering, it feels almost on purpose, but I can't help it that I'm doing it on purpose ... huh?). A lot of this just feels emotionally based, which the device is helping, so not sure you'd count it as external. These episodes just haven't happened with the device in, until it happened this past weekend. It was caused by aluminum from carafate, a drug designed to coat the esophagus and stomach and help heal damage from acid reflux. I have badly needed the drug, and it has helped enormously. Aluminum is part of the active ingredient and there is no substitute. I cut back and have recovered from that now, but it is an interesting point, as part of the question of, "is TS really just the jaw misalignment, what about the heavy metal poisoning we have seen with some people", that came up earlier on this thread. For me at least, both aspects seem pretty important, and it looks like aluminum trumps proper jaw alignment. I have done plenty of detox and before I got on the carafate, had heavy metal levels that were very low. With very low heavy metal levels, I still need the jaw adjustment to be anything close to healthy. But, even with the jaw adjustment, I still need very low heavy metal levels. Either problem will mess me up in a very similar TS kind of way. I also got way more inner muscle spasms, all over the place, again, I am sure, from the aluminum, and they have since subsided.

 

I want to point out that I really felt that with the carafate, I started to digest food better as things healed, and from that I really felt that my light sensitivity was starting to be helped by this dental adjustment. So part of what could have been holding this device back from fixing "everything" for me, could have been poor digestion caused by a very damaged digestive system (likely damaged by TS in the first place). The sleep apnea like problem, suspected from TS, also has gone away with the carafate, and it is clear to my GI doctor that this was caused by esophagus inflamation, now on its way to healed due to the carafate.

 

Initially my painful left foot (from mean spasms) did get worse, and sometimes does again when I need to take days off from wearing the dental device. But then it calms down. It really does very well these days, very much helped from the dental device. I want to point this out to you, specifically, in terms of all you're dealing with these days with your son, in terms of, yes, it really is possible that these adjustments (like the chiro you are trying) at first make things worse. Think of these nerves being pinched out of shape for so long, and then they are freed, they might go back and forth between pinched and good, and this transition could be worse, even though you're moving to a better place. If a chiro adjust does not fully take the first time, same thing could happen. I have gone through NAET so much myself, I cannot envision myself how NAET could cause a flare-up, but maybe. Hopefully you can hang in there, but I know, when the dental device made my foot hurt initially, I was pleased, because I knew it was really doing something, and we were headed in the right direction, even if a fine-tuning was needed. Hopefully you can consider that possibility for your son, maybe try to hang in there and be hopeful a little while longer.

 

Just trying to give you a little update on the bigger stuff for me, other than the emotional stuff that the device has helped just sooo much, I just don't have too much of the external tics to talk about.

 

Yes, I was trying to say, I take my experience this morning as a big sign that my jaw was really starting to adjust to the new position. Forgot to mention, but my mouth was not way dry like it has been every other morning wearing the device to bed. I take that to mean my jaw did not fall backward and my mouth was not open the whole time. My mouth must have actually closed in the proper position. After spending that much time in that position, when I took the device out, it was definitely stuck there for a while. My mouth as a whole is much more relaxed as well--compared to when I first got the device. I was really battling, biting down hard and clenching, trying to close my teeth "all the way" together, like it was used to. The device prevented the jaw from closing like it used to--that's what it's there for, but it was a tough adjustment. I do seem to be adjusted to that now.

 

I am going to be checking with a local pain clinic that also deals with TMJ in a non-chiropractic way, and want to get their input. I think their input is will be good to consider, and maybe I'll have a suggestion at that point. Now, I'm a bit in flux myself in terms of what direction to go as far as the dental device (this one, Dr. Garcia's "better" one, local pain clinic, ...).

 

Michael

[doxie]

Love Nfp and Faith -

 

A little more history about my son - we have completed braces. He was finished 1 year ago. TMJ was never brought up, though my son tells me now that he always has had a popping in his ear (which is now gone when the appliance is in place). He lost his retainer 2 months ago, and developed a gap in between his front teeth within 1 month. I held off on getting the retainer replaced because I kept considering Dr Sims. Then when I discovered that Dr. Garcia was only 90 minutes away, I decided that was an omen for us to proceed.

 

Within 1 day of my son wearing the new appliances, his gap was gone in his teeth. I never expected that. But, the most exciting thing I can tell you - I think his tics are basically stopped. I keep looking, but the eye blinking, bunny wiggle nose and sniffing motion which would pull down his upper lip, are gone at the moment. Those specific tics have never been gone! They were normally non-stop - usually not overly noticeable to other people, but ALWAYS noticeable to me! At the moment, my son has a ferocious headache - and he put the night time appliance in immediately. I think since he is unable to wear the day time retainer, that perhaps it contributed to the headache.

 

I am still cautious, but really, truly hopeful. Even when I ask him about how he is feeling (i.e. - which always means - how are your tics- which just asking always used to make him tic) - there are no tics! We are seeing Dr. Garcia on Thursday to get the daytime appliance adjusted. Hopefully, there will be no more headaches after this.

[guy123]

1. guy123--YES, IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE THE FIRST TIME YOU HEAR IT, I KNOW, BUT IT IS TRUE! A MOUTHPIECE CAN ACTUALLY STOP TICS AND OTHER SYMPTOMS OF TOURETTE'S! SORRY TO SCREAM BUT THIS IS AN AMAZING BREAKTHROUGH, AND ANY CLIFF NOTES VERSION NEEDS TO BE A SCREAM! At least for some, it is clear now, their Tourette's is related to trigeminal nerve being irritated by improper jaw alignment. The mouthpiece can decrease or stop this irritation. It seems almost like a variation of TMJ, and I will note that light sensitivity is one common symptom of both conditions. A few of us have gotten them for our children, or, in my case, for myself.

 

Thanks for summing up the first 17 pages for me Wow, that's quite an interesting bit of research. I have TMJ and I always hear popping in my ears when I swallow. I thought it was normal. lol.

 

Most of my research up until this thread has suggested that tics are due to dopamine/neurotransmitter imbalances and/or basal ganglia abnormalities. Has there been any discussion on how the trigeminal nerve plays a role in these?

 

Thanks.

[guy123]

Can someone post a pic of their mouthpiece. I'm curious.

 

Also, I watched the vid of the guy with tics biting on the sticks... can this be simulated in home with a stack of popsicle sticks or something?

 

It'd be interesting if it could work at home because it seems that many people with TS report that the tics disappear in the doctor's office anyway... so how would you know if he put a stack of sticks in your mouth if it's going away because of the sticks or because it would be lessened anyway?

[faith]

guy,

Forgive me, but I think you do have to read all the posts, as this thread is not totally all advocating this premise. some of us here have gone to see Dr. Sims in Maryland, I being one of them, and it has not exactly panned out positive for all of us, so I think you need to read up on all that. It may take a little time, but I do think you should read all the posts and experiences, because there are some pros and cons here, and I guess you can tell after 18 pages, we're all still a little confused on all this.

 

But if you have any input, please do tell!

 

(cliff notes,... ha! do your own homework man! lol...

 

Faith

[doxie]

Guy,

I took some photos of the bite splints with my phone, emailed them to myself, but now can't figure out how to get the photos to show up here. I am a bit challenged - especially in the morning. Any advice?

 

 

Beth

[MichaelTampa]

Guy,

 

Your question on the neurotransmitters and all that kind of stuff makes me think you would benefit from reading the article recently posted with the video. It may get into that just a little bit, it's been a while since I've read it. It also has a picture of the device. Speaking with Dr. Sims, he did mention this trigeminal nerve has something wrapping around it at one point where a serotonin is stored. He believes that irritating this nerve will affect release of serotonin, you won't have enough in the right place, and he believes wearing the device permits restoration of serotonin and reduces OCD symptoms. He may be speculating a bit. Although well-read, neurology is not really his background. He is a dentist who had a reason to learn more about this specific topic.

 

There was an article not too long ago saying some study in Germany concluded it wasn't the basal ganglia after all. The thing about all that stuff is, what are they honestly looking at--what is causing TS, or how the brain ends up looking differently after having TS for so long. I fear people may read too much into that stuff, although I am happy to see them looking and trying and all that.

 

I would double what faith said, the cliff notes is nice, and now that you've got the very basic idea and are still interested, there is no substitute for reading the thread. It is a very complicated issue. I bet there are many things we have experienced and said on this thread that we don't even remember ourselves.

 

Michael

[doxie]

Omg - just tried to edit my above reply with additional information and LOST IT!!!

 

Guy,

We did try the popsicle test for my son with no success. Today was day 5 of my son wearing the night time appliance and his precious face was as calm and serene as could be. I am pinching myself and terrified that I am dreaming......

 

Faith,

The back molars do not touch with the night time appliance, but the daytime appliance allows the molars to touch and is designed to be worn during meals to permit chewing. All of Dr. Garcia's patients - TMJ and TS - are supposed to continue to wear the nighttime appliance forever. The nighttime appliance does not move the teeth to this position permanently, I think it is designed to allow muscles to relax and decompress at night. I don't think Dr. Garcia knows if trigeminal nerve involvement is present in all TS patients. He felt the spasms in my son's neck and face while doing his exam (which I never could see), and felt this would all be alleviated with the appliances.

 

Hope this helps - not sure if I am very clear.

 

Beth

[love_nfp]

Michael,

 

What was the reason for Dr. Sims to learn more about this specific topic?

 

Beth,

 

So, do you recommend the braces first and then a visit to Dr. Garcia or Dr. Sims? Would you please ask Dr. Garcia on Thursday if your son will need braces again after wearing the daytime appliance for some time?

 

I tried the popsicle sticks at home. My 14 y/o son kept spitting them out saying that it wasn't doing anything and looking at me like I was crazy (which, sadly, is his usual response to any interaction with me). Most of the time his face looks "pained" or "stressed". I'm wondering if this could be relieved by the appliance??? His persistent irritability is very, very difficult to live with - even more so than the tics. Anyone else experience this?

 

I'm checking this thread twice a day. Please keep us posted....

 

love_nfp