Allergist vs Pediatirc Neurologist

[Julie_adoring_mom]

For a 6 year old boy with tics and probable touretts with adhd, which set of tests should be done first, Allergist or Pediatric Neurologist? Does anyone have any input with explanations on this?

 

Thank you,

Julie, adoring mom of a 6 year old.

[Debbie]

Julie -

I'm not an expert, but do have a son with TS and ADHD. He is 8 yrs. old.

When he was 6, his Neurologist diagnosed him and did recommend medication. We were seeing an allergist at the time because we were not sure if the tics were TS related (didn't know he had TS), or just allergies.

Like many other children, Stephan does have many allergies. Sometimes his Tics can actually be exagerated allergy reactions (sniffing, coughing, etc.)

I think you'll find that not all allergists are created equal. Some do very basic testing, which may not be all your child needs. We are working with a nutritionalist that has recommended urine, blood tests, etc. I'm learning as I go. I believe the nutritional imbalance and allergies is at the root of

TS for my son. That's just my opinion.

A neurologist is only going to treat symptoms - they don't treat the cause.

At least that's what my experience has shown.

Good luck with your efforts.

Stephan's adoring mother - Debbie

[Guest Jan]

Our 7 year old son was recently diagnosed with TS. This is our story: My son's pediatrician reccommended that we put him on meds (he's a great DR. by the way), but unfortunatly Dr's are taught to treat symptoms not he cause. I thank God that we decided to delve deeper into what was going on and to do our own research. I came across some info that suggested testing for heavy metal toxicity and an amino acid ambalance. We had a hair analysis done which confirmed heavy metal toxicity (such are found in pesticides and chemical fertilizers) the blood test showed an amino acid imbalance as well as some vitamin and mineral defficiencies. Every thing he is low in is esssential for the nervous system. If we had put him on medicine and ignored the other issues he would have only got worse. I'm not saying medicine is bad only that when our bodies start acting funny it's a symptom that something else inside is wrong and needs to be corrected for it to function properly. We are all bombarded today by toxins, children are especially susceptible. I know that our son has some allergies, but rather than focusing on what he is allergic to we have chosen supplements to build his immune system since allergies are actually caused by a low functionaing immune system. The name of the blood test we did is called spectracell you can look them up on the internet or ask your DR. It's not a homeopatic test, it's aproved by the FDA- it checks vitamin, mineral and about 6 amino acid levels as well as antioxidant funtion of the body. It is kind of expensive, but at least your not playing a guessing game with what supplements to give you know right off the bat what his body needs.

[Roman]

I wouldn't stop at an allergist--I would see whoever it takes. Have been reading on the Latitudes site and see so many types of people being consulted, with good results sometimes. It's hard for a parent but it seems like they don't have the clinics we need to cover things comprehensively.