Very, very frustrated right now!

[ilovedogs]

Ok, so ds has had an increase in tics and anxiety for the past 2 weeks now. What doesn't help is that my dad is visiting and he and his wife are HUGE smokers. They smoke outside on my back porch but they bring it in on their clothes and they bring it into the car and I swear that ds is getting worse with their presence here. Add in the fact that they like to go out to eat and we've been eating all kinds of crappy foods.

 

Ds has at least 2 anxiety episodes a day and his naturopath now wants to remove the glycine and add something new in and I'm just praying that he's got some answers. I think all the smoke exposure is giving us both colds or symptoms of colds and ds has been complaining of stomach issues. UGH! I just can't wait for things to get back to normal with my schedule so I can work on getting ds back in synch and get his tics and anxiety under control. It's just so hard to do when you have family in town, especially family who is VERY different from yours.

 

OK, and here's a funny for y'all: my stepmom doesn't want to litter her cigarette butts so she decided today to put the butt in her pocket before she got into my car. The smell in my car was nauseating! It was the first time in my life when I was thinking that littering a cigarette butt wouldn't be such a bad idea, LOL! And, I'm sitting there driving and wondering if she even put the cig out properly, I swear it was smoldering in her pocket, haha!

 

Bonnie

[CSP]

(((((((((((((Bonnie,)))))))))))))

 

I know just how you feel, I hope this week goes by fast. There is no way I could do all that you have been up to since I saw you in Sept. Ok, Tell Your son our football team has won all their games since he was here, and my son still thinks he is one heck of a quarterback, and to keep the arm strong.

 

I hope you do see something change now that the full moon is waning, let us know. I remember my son having times that he would have anxiety. he did this to us on a night our oldest dd was to sing in a concert. He did not want to go, but did not want to stay home by himself either. That was a night!!! My husband had to get up and go out in the school hall because he kept calling us. And forget a date with my husband my son would call all through dinner, even if his older sister was home with him.

 

He is much better now so I think time will help.

 

God Bless,

CP

[laurena82]

{{{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}}} to you !

 

Houseguests are stressful enough.....without the negative health impacts in your situation....

 

As for smoking........(a little off topic here).....but it still never ceases to amaze me how many folks **still** smoke.....

 

I"m over 50, and when I was a teenager (common age to start smoking?).....already everyone **knew** it was bad for you.....heck...they had taken the ads off of TV and put the "hazardous to your health" onto each package.............

 

and as time has gone on......we've only learned MORE and MORE how bad it is for you......

 

why dont we just take a slow acting poison that guarantees us emphysema and bumps up our cancer risk significantly?

 

 

I can see folks who started smoking WAY back when it wasnt known to definitely do these things....and get hooked,...as it is VERY addictive on many levels....

 

but still......geesh.....

 

 

oh well....(off of soapbox).

 

 

 

(I work at a hospital, and it still blows my mind to see all of the employees huddled outside smoking......I mean.....we're there watching all the COPD patients gasping for breath.......and its BECAUSE of the smoking.....)

 

 

whatever....

 

 

Hope things get back to normal soon for you......

 

{{{{{{{{{more hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}

[ilovedogs]

Thanks for the support! I'm really trying hard to hold it all together this week. The anxiety for ds is all over the place; eating out, random anxiety, early waking, more tics......the poor kid is just so stressed out. I'm changing his supplements, messing around with things, he's eating junk food when I can get him to eat, and I'm just plumb wore out!

 

My dad's presence is stressing me out, too, and I'm sure that ds feels this. It's not just the smoking, it's the foul language, crude jokes, and condescending way he talks to me that's driving us crazy. My dh was biting his tongue pretty good last night b/c he knows they're leaving soon so he didn't want to start something. Again, I think this is all adding to the stress level in the house! Please pray that I can make it through Friday without a breakdown!

 

Bonnie

[Chemar]

(((((((((((((((((((Bonnie)))))))))))))))))))))))

 

just wanted to leave a hug and say I am praying for you that you will be able to get through all this till Friday and that the relief of having your home back to yourselves will help calm ds greatly

 

I used to smoke many years ago (quit when pregnant with oldest son), and I confess when I smell it now I am totally nauseated so I sure sympathize. I cant abide bad language or crudeness either so I sure feel for you!

 

only 2 more days to go!

 

more ((((hugs)))) of support

[ilovedogs]

Well, we made it! They leave this AM. Now, I have to get to work and tackle the anxiety that's been bugging ds. I'm actually thinking it may be time to go back to counseling. It's really weird, though, how the anxiety that makes him cry out of the blue only lasts for a few minutes. I swear that if I didn't know he had anxiety, I'd think he was doing it for attention. Because, he'll be sitting down and just start crying and I'll hear him and come into the room and ask him why he's crying and he'll tell me it's the Halloween store or something that his brain decided to drag up to the surface, and then once I talk to him for a minute or 2 and tell him to distract himself or tell him to breathe, etc he seems fine right away. Anyone else have this issue ever????

 

But, the other anxiety issues were really prevalent this week and it was all about my dad. Even though we had an episode this AM, I'm really hoping to see it waning. Another weird thing this week that happened: his tics are almost nonexistent! I took him off ALL supplements for the past 3 days and his tics are almost completely gone! So, is it coincidence? Does that mean that the supps I was giving him for anxiety made him tic more? And, if so, how do I start giving something for anxiety again without risking more tics? UGH, I'm so confused!

 

Bonnie

[Chemar]

phew glad you can start to focus on your son now Bonnie

 

yes, I do think sometimes the supps that help with one thing can cause a see saw effect on the other so when/if you do reintroduce the supps, be sure to only add one

 

just as an example, where probiotics are so very good for one, yet since my son developed crohn's he doesnt dare take them as they seem to negatively affect his GIT now. same with grapeseed extract etc that always really helped his tics. cant take them anymore cuz they boost immune system which is not ok for hhis Crohn's

 

what supps were you giving?

[ilovedogs]

I was giving him Kavinace from Neuroscience which had taurine, b6, and some other aminos. I was giving 100 mg of B6 daily and glycine to help with the anxiety. The naturopath had me increase his glycine(just like Carolyn N does) but it didn't seem to help so after a few days he had me back off on it. Instead, I just took him off all his supplements except the vitamin D, vitamin C, and immune boosting supplements. So, the mood and neuro supplements were taken out of the equation for the past few days. He was ticcing like crazy back on Monday and now I have to look watch him for quite a while before I see anything!

 

B

[CSP]

Bonnie,

 

I can't remember if we talked about my oldest DD and the anxiety she had growing up. She does not have tics (Bonnie knows this she has met her) that info is for you all.

 

Anyway DD was really bad she threw-up everyday for 2 months starting school (K.) We thought it was car sickness. She would freak out if she did not see me in the carpool line, I mean I had to be the frist one in line. She would pop up in the lib. about to yell if I was looking for a book in a different isle then her.

 

The worst part was we made the mistake of walking to the end of the driveway (Bonnie same house you have been to, so you can get the idea how odd we thought this was.) to get the mail and she screamed throughout the house wondering where we were. From then on we had to tell her we were going to get the mail or we would hear her and you would think someone was killing her. It was bad.

 

On a more happy note she outgrew that and is a very active 18yo. (I would say she started to get better at 13/14yo.

 

CP

[Chemar]

I was giving him Kavinace from Neuroscience which had taurine, b6, and some other aminos. I

 

B

 

my son cannot take amino acid combos....could be there are aminos in that triggering tics? Bonnie Grimaldi once had an excellent review of the aminos to avoid on another forum, but that database was lost years ago when the site crashed, and that post along with it. I do remember that tyrosine was a big no no, and I think maybe arginine was too but to be honest I just dont remember

 

we just avoided amio acid combos and only gave the ones my son was ok with (eg taurine, methionine)

 

do remember too that it seems some people get increased tics from taurine

[ilovedogs]

Cheri, he's been on the kavinace for 18 months now and it REALLY helped when the intrusive thoughts were out of control. But, I never saw it help with the tics. He has also been on glycing for about a year. He's just my little bundle of nervous energy, LOL! He has a tennis tournament starting today and he nearly threw up his lunch b/c he's so nervous....ah, welcome to my world!

 

 

CP: We did talk about your dd and I remember your stories! I do have hope that ds will outgrow some of his anxiety and I just pray that we give him the right coping skills along the way. Honestly, my biggest fear is that it will get so bad that I'll have to resort to meds and that's SO not what I want to do!

[faith]

Bonnie,

hi, please let us know if the decrease in tics continues, I really like hearing that! maybe you weren't focusing on the tics when you gave the kavinace, so maybe not being on it now has helped? I do think its interesting, could very well be. but again, let us know if that continues so we don't take it to the bank...

 

CP,

your description of your daughter's type anxiety is exactly to a tee what my son does, (except for the car pool line, we don't do carpool lines in NY,! lol)

 

 

Faith

[ilovedogs]

Bonnie,

hi, please let us know if the decrease in tics continues, I really like hearing that! maybe you weren't focusing on the tics when you gave the kavinace, so maybe not being on it now has helped? I do think its interesting, could very well be. but again, let us know if that continues so we don't take it to the bank...

 

CP,

your description of your daughter's type anxiety is exactly to a tee what my son does, (except for the car pool line, we don't do carpool lines in NY,! lol)

 

 

Faith

Faith, I spoke too soon on the tics. He started ticcing tonight when he was playing in a tennis tournament. The tournaments really bring on the tics b/c they are stress and excitement all rolled up into one! And, to top it off he's getting other anxiety issues relating to nervousness before he plays....let's just say I brought a barf bag with us when we were on our way to the tournament tonight, LOL. Of course, once he started playing he was totally fine!

B

[samsmom]

Bonnie

Just wanted to say that we have had success lately with GABA for anxiety. Sam developed fears of a few different things and they were really becoming a problem for him. The GABA has really helped since we started using it a couple of weeks ago. If you haven't already tried it, it may be worth it?

Sue

[ilovedogs]

Bonnie

Just wanted to say that we have had success lately with GABA for anxiety. Sam developed fears of a few different things and they were really becoming a problem for him. The GABA has really helped since we started using it a couple of weeks ago. If you haven't already tried it, it may be worth it?

Sue

Hi Sue, I have been starting to give him a GABA supplement that his naturo. made for him but when his stomach is all in knots and has butterflies I can't give him anything. That's what makes it hard. I had given it to him 'as needed' over the past couple of days but didn't see it helping. I started back on a small dose of glycine and 50 mg of B6 last night. After his tennis match today I'll be giving him the GABA b/c his stomach should be settled by then!