tics and food intolerance

[mars]

I am new to this forum and not sure if this topic has already came up, probably has, but nevertheless I would appreciate any input. My 9 year old son has had tics for a few years now and I can't seem to get a definite diagnosis. He doesn't have any other symptoms of TS such as OCD, ADHD etc. just the tics. They are motor mostly and very he will get a vocal tic. They are constantly changing from eye blinking to eye rolling, shoulder shrugging, head jerking, etc. They never go away for a period of days or months unless I stop certain food he eats. But....I definitely link them to food. When we have stopped milk, eggs, wheat etc. they 99.9 % disappear.

Has anyone else heard of this? The doctors don't seem to want to comment on this? Would he still be classified as having Tourettes? He does very well socially and in school academically with no problems at all. He is a very good athlete and can sit and concentrate no problem. thanks for your help!!

[Chemar]

Hi and welcome

 

yes, we have a lot of info here related to food intolerance and tics

 

usually, if the tics totally go away when you eliminate the food, it isnt likely to be TS, but more that the food reactivity is producing the symptoms that mimic TS

 

we have some helpful threads compiled here and amongst them you will also find info re food elimiation

http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=2459

 

most conventional doctors sadly dont recognize that some foods can trigger neurological symptoms in susceptible individuals, so dont be surprised if they give you the "quack stuff" reaction

[mars]

Hi and welcome

 

yes, we have a lot of info here related to food intolerance and tics

 

usually, if the tics totally go away when you eliminate the food, it isnt likely to be TS, but more that the food reactivity is producing the symptoms that mimic TS

 

we have some helpful threads compiled here and amongst them you will also find info re food elimiation

http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=2459

 

most conventional doctors sadly dont recognize that some foods can trigger neurological symptoms in susceptible individuals, so dont be surprised if they give you the "quack stuff" reaction

Thank you for your response. I guess the other factor could be that the food intolerance sets off the TS?? I will look at the other forum as well. thanks.

[faith]

mars, hello and welcome,

Could you tell a little more about your experience with the food eliminations and lessening of symptoms for your son? We have talked alot of this here, yes, but I feel like not enough lately. I woudn't mind hearing more on this from a 'fresh face'. Did you do this as trial and error, or from food sensitivity (Igg) testing? how long did you eliminate before seeing lessening of symptoms and has the results lasted?

 

I have tried this over the years for my son, but now that he is getting older (almost 11), I've had trouble with compliance and more recently, his weight has put him below the growth chart for his age, so eliminating food groups is really hard right now. but I would love it if I could find a renewed incentive to try something out again, maybe one thing a time. my son's tics are mostly vocal, and they are not good.

 

I would like to hear more of your son's history and symptoms and how you went about this and what the results were.

 

thanks so much for posting this.

 

Faith

[Chemar]

oh yes,absolutely! TS tics can be triggered by a variety of things, including foods!

 

my son has TS and artificial food additives are a big tic trigger for him

 

Thank you for your response. I guess the other factor could be that the food intolerance sets off the TS?? I will look at the other forum as well. thanks.

[mars]

mars, hello and welcome,

Could you tell a little more about your experience with the food eliminations and lessening of symptoms for your son? We have talked alot of this here, yes, but I feel like not enough lately. I woudn't mind hearing more on this from a 'fresh face'. Did you do this as trial and error, or from food sensitivity (Igg) testing? how long did you eliminate before seeing lessening of symptoms and has the results lasted?

 

I have tried this over the years for my son, but now that he is getting older (almost 11), I've had trouble with compliance and more recently, his weight has put him below the growth chart for his age, so eliminating food groups is really hard right now. but I would love it if I could find a renewed incentive to try something out again, maybe one thing a time. my son's tics are mostly vocal, and they are not good.

 

I would like to hear more of your son's history and symptoms and how you went about this and what the results were.

 

thanks so much for posting this.

 

Faith

I have been reading about the wax and waning of TS. Not sure what the is or how the tics present in TS but my sons tics basically are always there. Never go away. If he eats the foods that we think are making him tic then he will tic every 2-10 seconds for as long as he eats these foods. When we stop the foods and sometimes,yes, it does take time to get out of his system then he basically will tic once every hour if that. Now we have never completely stopped the wheat and dairy b/c it is in the bread he eats even though it is white. Seems to be in everything!!!! If we stopped completely then he wouldn't be able to eat much. It is hard at his age to stop all the things he likes. He used to drink at least 1 bag of milk/day easy and has always been a good eater. Maybe this is what has triggered this intolerance, just too much?? I don't know but wish I could just get some answers. He was tic free the one day and then had a chocolate bar and almost instantly started his tics. Also, he has been off the food lately and no tics and then had pizza last night with cheese and again almost instantly the tics started.

We have only done an elimination diet here at home but I have an appt. with a special allergist who I have pay privately but she says she tests for over 200 allergens as opposed to the testing that is covered under OHIP. He is going to be getting that testing as well through the allergist. Seems like this one on WEd. will be a lot more accurate.

I am not sure if this helps you out with your questions?? I would be more than happy to answer any that you have and would benefit from hearing from others experiences.

Just to note, when I was young I was allergic to dairy,eggs,wheat orange juice, but not oranges??? but I never had tics just got a rash. I did outgrow this though. I don't know if this has anything to do with my son's allergy/intolerance??

[mars]

mars, hello and welcome,

Could you tell a little more about your experience with the food eliminations and lessening of symptoms for your son? We have talked alot of this here, yes, but I feel like not enough lately. I woudn't mind hearing more on this from a 'fresh face'. Did you do this as trial and error, or from food sensitivity (Igg) testing? how long did you eliminate before seeing lessening of symptoms and has the results lasted?

 

I have tried this over the years for my son, but now that he is getting older (almost 11), I've had trouble with compliance and more recently, his weight has put him below the growth chart for his age, so eliminating food groups is really hard right now. but I would love it if I could find a renewed incentive to try something out again, maybe one thing a time. my son's tics are mostly vocal, and they are not good.

 

I would like to hear more of your son's history and symptoms and how you went about this and what the results were.

 

thanks so much for posting this.

 

Faith

I have been reading about the wax and waning of TS. Not sure what the is or how the tics present in TS but my sons tics basically are always there. Never go away. If he eats the foods that we think are making him tic then he will tic every 2-10 seconds for as long as he eats these foods. When we stop the foods and sometimes,yes, it does take time to get out of his system then he basically will tic once every hour if that. Now we have never completely stopped the wheat and dairy b/c it is in the bread he eats even though it is white. Seems to be in everything!!!! If we stopped completely then he wouldn't be able to eat much. It is hard at his age to stop all the things he likes. He used to drink at least 1 bag of milk/day easy and has always been a good eater. Maybe this is what has triggered this intolerance, just too much?? I don't know but wish I could just get some answers. He was tic free the one day and then had a chocolate bar and almost instantly started his tics. Also, he has been off the food lately and no tics and then had pizza last night with cheese and again almost instantly the tics started.

We have only done an elimination diet here at home but I have an appt. with a special allergist who I have pay privately but she says she tests for over 200 allergens as opposed to the testing that is covered under OHIP. He is going to be getting that testing as well through the allergist. Seems like this one on WEd. will be a lot more accurate.

I am not sure if this helps you out with your questions?? I would be more than happy to answer any that you have and would benefit from hearing from others experiences.

Just to note, when I was young I was allergic to dairy,eggs,wheat orange juice, but not oranges??? but I never had tics just got a rash. I did outgrow this though. I don't know if this has anything to do with my son's allergy/intolerance??

I was reading my reply and thought I should mention that his tics once everything has been mostly eliminated basically are nonexistent.

[faith]

Once what is eliminated? the foods you mention, wheat, dairy and eggs? If your son stops tics, that is really fantastic, for you have found the trigger for him. which do you think is the biggie for him? he has no dairy? and just 'some' wheat? A few here have had good success on things like the Feingold diet, which focuses on artificial flavors/colors/preservatives. A poster called Jeff has some posts on this that you might like to search out, altho don't think he comes on too often now.

 

so are you saying that your son could be tic free or minimally ticcing, and then he gets one of the offending foods and has the tic reaction? and once it is out of his system, things calm down again? That is pretty much what we have talked about here in the last couple years, that is the ideal situation when you find the known trigger. I just can't seem to find the one thing that makes the big difference here, but as I've said, I've had to abandon some of tht for a while due to my son's weight issue. Does you son have any vocal sounds?

[mars]

Once what is eliminated? the foods you mention, wheat, dairy and eggs? If your son stops tics, that is really fantastic, for you have found the trigger for him. which do you think is the biggie for him? he has no dairy? and just 'some' wheat? A few here have had good success on things like the Feingold diet, which focuses on artificial flavors/colors/preservatives. A poster called Jeff has some posts on this that you might like to search out, altho don't think he comes on too often now.

 

so are you saying that your son could be tic free or minimally ticcing, and then he gets one of the offending foods and has the tic reaction? and once it is out of his system, things calm down again? That is pretty much what we have talked about here in the last couple years, that is the ideal situation when you find the known trigger. I just can't seem to find the one thing that makes the big difference here, but as I've said, I've had to abandon some of tht for a while due to my son's weight issue. Does you son have any vocal sounds?

yes, when the food is eliminated he is basically tic free once they are out of his system. the hard thing is though is keeping it out of his system b/c he wants to eat eggs and milk so badly. i've tried soy milk but he doesn't like it.

and then yes, if he has the offending food he gets his tics again. do you know what the pattern for tics is for tourettes? what is waxing and waning tics? i wonder how they know if this is tourettes or just a reaction from food?

he will get vocal tics but very rarely like making a little sigh. is that a vocal tic? he doesn't ever say anything or yell out loud.

just to note he was basically tic free this morning and then i gave him some waffles(Eggos) and he started ticcing again about 20-60minutes after. i read the label and they also have eggs and wheat in them so i bought him some egg and wheat free ones today. ahhhhh. hard to eliminate everything.

[faith]

Maybe the sigh could be vocal if he does it repeatedly and he's not really sighing at anything.

 

You asked in your first post about TS vs. not, I don't think any conventional doctor is going to differentiate. My feeling is if you've had tics for over a year and includes the vocal, then yes, maybe ts. but I don't get hung up on what it is called. if you have found a trigger that keeps tics at bay or controlled, then really what does it matter? Tics do wax and wane yes, but if you are seeing direct correlation and don't think its a coincidence, than it is probably from the foods if that is what you are seeing?

 

When he gets offending food and begins to tic, how long does it last? do you need to wait a few days to get it out of his system, or does he just tic for a few hours and then its over? I think a wax and wane is more like a certain tic will increase and be the prominent one for a few weeks to months, and then kind of slow down or even disappear. My son's motor tics are becoming more infrequent, he's had eye twitching tht was very often in previous years, but I've not seen that in a while. he's also had some head shaking, which seems to last more than a month and then goes. if it is due to anything I've done or not done, who knows, but right now, I don't think its diet, because I am not watching it as good as I used to and thos tics are still away. But, his vocal tics are pretty prominent and they are always there, no break, maybe a day or so where they are 'not so bad', but there nonetheless. so that's the one I'm after right now. .... I'm sorry, did you say he was nine?

 

mars, I would poke around at some threads by "Carolyn N.", she seems to have had a good handle on food sensitivities, msg to be specific, and how it affected her son, and what other measures and supplements she has found to regulate that. she seems to have had some good success and has done a good amount of research, trial and error, some of this might ring a bell for you.

 

Faith

[mars]

Maybe the sigh could be vocal if he does it repeatedly and he's not really sighing at anything.

 

You asked in your first post about TS vs. not, I don't think any conventional doctor is going to differentiate. My feeling is if you've had tics for over a year and includes the vocal, then yes, maybe ts. but I don't get hung up on what it is called. if you have found a trigger that keeps tics at bay or controlled, then really what does it matter? Tics do wax and wane yes, but if you are seeing direct correlation and don't think its a coincidence, than it is probably from the foods if that is what you are seeing?

 

When he gets offending food and begins to tic, how long does it last? do you need to wait a few days to get it out of his system, or does he just tic for a few hours and then its over? I think a wax and wane is more like a certain tic will increase and be the prominent one for a few weeks to months, and then kind of slow down or even disappear. My son's motor tics are becoming more infrequent, he's had eye twitching tht was very often in previous years, but I've not seen that in a while. he's also had some head shaking, which seems to last more than a month and then goes. if it is due to anything I've done or not done, who knows, but right now, I don't think its diet, because I am not watching it as good as I used to and thos tics are still away. But, his vocal tics are pretty prominent and they are always there, no break, maybe a day or so where they are 'not so bad', but there nonetheless. so that's the one I'm after right now. .... I'm sorry, did you say he was nine?

 

mars, I would poke around at some threads by "Carolyn N.", she seems to have had a good handle on food sensitivities, msg to be specific, and how it affected her son, and what other measures and supplements she has found to regulate that. she seems to have had some good success and has done a good amount of research, trial and error, some of this might ring a bell for you.

 

Faith

Thanks Faith.

My son is 9yo and that is what I figured too. What does it matter if I have figured out the trigger and can keep it controlled if it actually classified as TS. As I had mentioned he doesn't seem to have any of the other symptoms of TS though.

So basically I will just try my best to keep him off of dairy and wheat(it will be nice to get the results on Wed. of his testing for food sensitivities)and hope for the best. Good luck to you too as well in finding the trigger.

Just to mention he does get a certain tic and will do that for a while and then it changes to another or different ones at the same time.

thanks

[Chemar]

mars, you will notice that we talk a lot here about "triggers" for tics, and food sensitivity is one of them

 

whether that the person has genes predisposed to TS, or something else that results in tics or mood/behavior changes after offending triggers, the removal of the trigger usually results in either an improvement or a remission of the symptoms. With true TS, tics still come and go (waxing and waning) whether there are obvious triggers or not. But removing known triggers seems to reduce the intensity and frequency of the waxing

 

we have learned over the years to just recognize the triggers and avoid them as much as possible. everytime my son has been lax, it really hasnt been worth the resultant waxing

 

here is an article on the main Latitudes website that was related to an informal survey done here some years back, to discover some common tic triggers. the survey results are at the bottom of the article

http://www.latitudes.org/articles/finding_triggers.htm

[mars]

mars, you will notice that we talk a lot here about "triggers" for tics, and food sensitivity is one of them

 

whether that the person has genes predisposed to TS, or something else that results in tics or mood/behavior changes after offending triggers, the removal of the trigger usually results in either an improvement or a remission of the symptoms. With true TS, tics still come and go (waxing and waning) whether there are obvious triggers or not. But removing known triggers seems to reduce the intensity and frequency of the waxing

 

we have learned over the years to just recognize the triggers and avoid them as much as possible. everytime my son has been lax, it really hasnt been worth the resultant waxing

 

here is an article on the main Latitudes website that was related to an informal survey done here some years back, to discover some common tic triggers. the survey results are at the bottom of the article

http://www.latitudes.org/articles/finding_triggers.htm

Can you explain to me the waxing and waning.

thanks

[Chemar]

waxing and waning refers to the coming and going of tics, including the frequency and intensity

 

fo example, someone may have eye blinking occurring continuously throughout the day for a number of days and then it will taper off to less blinks each day or totally go away, but a new tic will arise (wax) in its place

 

usually people who have TS have many and varied tics, both motor and vocal, that wax and wane. They rarely have a totally tic free day

 

a very comprehensive site to read up on TS is http:www.tourettesyndrome.net