I'd like to introduce myself-New to the board

[Schnauzer]

Hi,

I am new to the board and need help as I am feeling quite down. I am the mother of a 16 year old boy and 3 year old boy. I do not have Tourette Syndrome, but my brother has it, he had it quite severely as a child. Unfortunately things didn't turn out so well for him. He was medicated, lived in an emotionally unhealthy environment and is now on disability.

 

I went through a huge scare when my oldest son was around 9 years old and he started rolling his eyes and having some tics. Fortunately he outgrew the tics and was never diagnosed with TS. He does have adhd. My 3 year old is a sweet boy, loving, easy going, great attention, totally different from my oldest and so I thought maybe I don't need to worry about him, but just this week, practically overnight, he started blinking eyes and wrinkling his nose, it's mostly when he is calm/watching TV. My heart sank. He is just so young, my oldest was 9 when his first tics appeared. I'm sorry if I am offending anyone as I know that you may be dealing with much worse than I, but when I think of how my brother's illness disrupted the whole family and back in those days, there wasn't the support and knowledge that there is today. I am so tired. I feel guilty, my husband's family has no genetic history of any tic disorder. I don't know what to do. I know that there are nutritional changes that I need to make, but don't know how I'm going to do it. My son is the pickiest eater that you could find. How am I ever going to do this? How do I explain to a 3 year old that he now needs to eat all of the foods that he has never touched before so that he can get better. I am writing this and tearing up, I don't know if I have the courage to handle this.

 

I guess I need some encouragement and pointers on what to do.

 

Thank you all.

[faith]

hello schnauzer,(( welcome ))

please don't feel so down. l we all certainly know what you feel, when you see that first tic, its especially hard for those of us who are already in the know of what tourettes is. Try not to jump to conclusions, I know its hard, but your other son did grow out of the tics, and it may be exactly the same with your younger child. I have a friend and her husbands brother basically is an adult who they feel had ts as a kid, and my friends boy did go thru some minor tics a a child, but he is now about 17 and did not have any other tics than the ones she told me about when he was younger. her other kids have not had any tic issues, nor did the brothers kids. so its certainly possible that it won't be anything more than some minor childhood transient tics. I know how hard this is and how you feel, but you say he is so easy in other ways, so try to concentrate on that part for now.

 

Has he been ill recently that you know of? Is he healthy otherwise? what is his diet like? does he watch alot of tv? could he be reacting to something? you never know, it could even be an eye allergy. maybe some small changes may make a good start and make some difference. You don't have to overhaul his whole diet, just some small healthy changes may make a difference. Try to read some topics here that you are interested in, and look at some of the posts that have "new here" in it, you'll find advice that was given to them by others here. Ask questions, there's alway someone around willing to help.

 

things will not be as bad as you think.

 

Faith

[Chemar]

welcome Schnauzer

 

as faith mentioned...these may well just be transient tics in your youngest too. But it is wise to maintain a realistic view when there is a history of TS

 

My husband's family has a TS history. Our oldest son does not have TS but does show mild OCD, and did have a few transient tics when he was young (now 23yo) Youngest son, now almost 20yo, has full blown TS/OCD/ADD and a bunch more. His tics fully manifest around 10yo, altho we realize that he likely had them younger, we just didnt recognize them as tics (husband and grandpa got the dx after son was dx...they had no idea that what they had was called Tourette Syndrome) My son tried meds for a year with horrible side effects and then showed great improvement from the alternative treatments.

If you are interested, I have documented what helped my son in the thread linked in my signature

 

I think it is never too early to begin a careful diet and environmental modifications.

 

It is hard tho to modify diet in a picky eater but perhaps you could try to just get rid of any artificial additives and "junk" food to start. Altho many kids with TS do have dairy, gluten and other food intolerance, many also do not (eg my son) so no need to cut those out unless you see reactivity to them

 

we do have a number of members who have found that flashing and fluorescent lights are tic triggers and so that may be the reason he blinks so after watching TV. Our solution to that was ensuring a daylight lamp always on so my son never watched TV (or used computer) in a darkened room. He limits going to the cinema as that is still one of his big triggers...likely the flashing in a dark area along with all the perfumes etc

 

do just remember, 3yo can have tics for many reasons so try not to worry. Do you know it your child was exposed to strep at all? Any recent vaccinations?

 

 

hoping these tics will pass quickly so you can be relieved of the worry

[Schnauzer]

Faith and Chemar,

Thank you for your responses. It made me feel much better. I did reduce on TV, he seems to be doing the blinking tics more when he's watching TV. Faith, thank you for reminding me that I need to look at the positive, he truly is such a good natured, easy going boy. I was much more worried with my oldest one. My older son was very hyper, obstinate, negative and a head strong child. He is much better now that he is older, but it was rough for a while. It's funny because my mom always said that my oldest son was sometimes more difficult than my TS brother had been. I started giving my little guy some epson salt baths, he seems to be doing better. I'll try and make little changes to his diet. He is so fussy, has always been. He did get a cold a couple of weeks ago, but it seemed to go away pretty quickly. No vaccinations, I've actually been holding off on those, I'm so paranoid about those. If I see that it gets worse, I'll definately have him tested for PANDAS. I live in NH, not sure who knows about any of that stuff. I can travel to Massachusetts.

 

Thank you all.

[giulia]

Hey

Also new to the board. HELLO EVERYBODY!

I wanted to share with you that my son has had a variety of mild motor tics and 1 vocal tic since age 3 (he is now 7). We never did anything about it until this past Sept he took a turn for the worst with multiple and constant tics, as well as a severe agitated state. Through reaserach I learned I should have him tested for sensitivities, and so I did. Allergy testing turned up negative, but a test called ELISA/ACT that tests something called IgG (it involves drawing blood and sending it off) determined he has 11 items that caused "strong reactions". One of them was FLAX SEED OIL, and incidently, in August, I had just started giving him a FLAX SEED OIL supplement...... other items were RED GRAPES (he loves them), red dye, chocolate, etc. Eliminating these items has turned him into a different child: no longer agitated, tic free. I would definitely recommend this, it has made a world of difference. It is still eary to conclude anything, but I believe I am on the right track. I am also new, but if you want more info I will be glad to provide it.

Good luck and take care

Giulia