Did eliminating certain foods reduce tics?

[Guest Kara]

Dear Claire,

 

Thank you for your last response to me! I will check out the corticosteroid + yeast = tics....

 

My son's doctor's appointment went well. The doctor is sure his sinus condition has returned and instead of prescribing antibiotics and another CT scan, he ordered a RAST blood test and put him on Astelin nose spray (no steroids). While I am not crazy about another nose spray, his tics have greatly diminished! The RAST IgE (is this different than the IgG test?) came back negative for dust/dust mites, dogs/cats, pollens/grasses, mold, wheat, peanuts, milk and eggs. His total allergy level / complete histimine response level was low. I am thinking it might still be a good idea to do the test for sugar, yeast, and corn. Do you know if the test is also available for salicylites, chocolate, and any artificial flavors/colors?

 

Thank you again for your help and support!

 

Kara

[Claire]

Yes, the two are very different (IgG -delay reaction and IgE--immediate reaction). Most of the neurological reactions seem to be to IgG which doesn't get picked up by the IgE (immediate reaction).

 

I recommend the Elisaact.com IgG test. You can choose as broader or narrow testing as you like. Yes they test for a ton of foods, including all you mention. Additionally, they can test for many artificial colors and preservatives. They don't test for salicylate or amines by category, but they test for the individual ones. My son had a number of specific amines/salicylates show up. In addition to testing for rye, barley, wheat, and milk, they also test for casein.

 

You need to look at the form and pick the ones you want--then call them for the cheapest grouping.

 

So glad you are not doing the steroid nose spray any more. You might consider the Great Plains organic profile urine test for candidas albicans (yeast!) at some point. Our doctor ran all of these--yeast impacts food sensitivities and visa versa. You need to address both for a time to heal the gut.

 

Claire

[Guest Kara]

Hello Claire,

 

Thank you for straightening out the IgG and IgE tests for me. I must admit I am disappointed that they are not the same because now it's like the results don't really answer our questions - guess that was TOO EASY!

 

Rather than try to find your yeast spit test entry, I did a web search and found one where you spit into a glass of bottled water and then observe the spit every 15 minutes up to an hour to see if it changes. If it sinks, has legs or has cloudy suspended specks that means there is yeast. If it just floats at the top then no yeast. I don't know how accurate that is, or if it is the same spit test that you were referring to. I am sure the urine test is better!

 

OK, well it will probably be awhile before I have any results or news to report here, but I'll keep reading! Thanks again!

 

Kara

[Claire]

Kara,

 

Yes that is the same spit test. My yeast is so bad that it sinks/has stringers within 5 seconds. I have never had to wait.

 

I do it into a glass, and it must be first thing in the morning before you drink water or eat.

 

Claire

[Guest Kara]

Hello Claire,

 

Well, I am a bit discouraged. There are no doctors in my area or even out of my area (except that require a plane trip) that EAB can refer me to and both our pediatrician and allergy specialist doctors will not do the test because they don't believe in it. I am still hopeful that the ENT specialist that we have a follow-up appointment with in a few weeks will be inclined to try!

 

On the up side, my son is doing a lot better with the Astelin nose spray and we only see a tic now and then. I would still like to get to the root of the problem instead of treating the symptoms with medication.

 

Kara

[Claire]

Kara,

 

So sorry that you can't find a natural doctor in your area! Did you look at all three doctor lists on the doctor thread here?

 

Glad your son's symptoms are better!

 

Since he flunked the spit test, you might research "Threelac"--a natural over the counter treatment for yeast.

 

Unfortunately no formal studies on it (as with most of this natural stuff), but it supposedly requires the least diet change. Also, the one study that was done showed improvement in allergies--which could benefit your son. Capryllic acid is another over the counter treatment that is supposed to be fine even if you don't have yeast, but both my son and I reacted to it, so tough to recommend it (e.g. nausea)

 

Heather tried Threelac for her child with great success. I am taking it myself, and I have an appointment next week where I want to ask our doctor to have me do a follow-up test. I need formal diagnostic, but I feel it has improved for me.

 

I will post once I find out. It is based on a form of probiotic, so I see little risk. But I am not a doctor so you need to do your own research of course.

 

Also, I have heard a little that enzymes help with yeast and with certain food sensitivities (see Houston Nutriceuticals site). I am trying these now for multiple reasons, and will post the results when we retest. I realize this is two variables at once--enzymes and Threelac. O well. Plus one or two people does not a study make. But our DAN doctor recommends the enzymes based on his reading and experience.

 

 

 

Claire

[Guest Kara]

Hi Claire,

 

Thanks for recommending I check out the threads....there is so much information here, I could just read for hours! I did find a doctor that is not too far from us and will probably give him a call if the ENT doctor can't see fit to try the RAST IgG test.

 

I read that you have to eat or have exposure to the possible offending foods/substances within 3 weeks of the blood draw or the results may yield false results. Do you know if this is true?

 

I also found a York Lab where you can prick your finger, but this to me seems less reliable!

 

Do you (or anyone else) know of a lab in California that does the RAST IgG testing?

 

I remain hopeful!

 

Thanks again,

 

Kara

[Claire]

Hi Kara,

 

The labs that do the IgG testing are www.elisaact.com and Immunolabs. RAST is IgE--they are different. IgG is the one we did and shows sensitivities vs just allergies.

 

Basically, regardless of which state you live in, you find a lab that will draw blood and mail the blood vials out of state to these labs. I don't think any labs in California actually do the IgG testing.

 

Some environmental medicine doctors will do other food sensitivity allergy testing, but I don't know who and what. You would need to call directly and find out.

 

Claire

[Claire]

bumped for guest.

[Guest ARTHUR]

Thank you to everyone who contributes to this site. My son started having tics this september he is 7yrs. old. We are in the process of recording what he eats to see how his tics are effected on a daily basis. I did an elimination on myself when i was a teen and found that Beer was causing a skin condition, I also have a very bad reaction to colored sodas (bad migrane , nausea). Because of my conditions ive tried to control my sons intake of sugar. He was tested for allergies, strep, lime disease but all results so far have come back negative. How can i control what he eats at school? He went three days w/o hardly any tics then yesterday he comes home ticking. I found out that he is tradeing food at school, they are making candy at school to eat, the school also has a candy machine. Every guest they have at the school brings candy. I guess in time he will control what he eats himself but for now im angry about how much candy they offer kids at school.

[Claire]

Hi Arthur,

 

First of all, the normal allergy tests (e.g. the IgE/Rast blood tests and the skin prick tests only pick up immediate food allergies and don't pick up food sensitivities that can cause tics. www.elisaact.com does an IgG blood test that does pick up food sensitivities. As I posted, my son showed allergic/sensitive to wheat on both tests, but the IgE test didn't pick up milk/casein, which the IgG test did, and removing milk greatly reduced his fidgetiness. The elisact.com test (needs a doctor signature to run it) covers foods/casein/gluten for $300, and an expanded list including artificial ingredients/molds for $600.

 

From this survey thread and your own experience, it sounds like you get the correlation--and I am sure you know that food allergies are highly inherited.

 

By the way, with beer it could be the barley. I personally am allergic to barley and remember in my young adult days that 2 beers made me exhausted for the whole next day. Needless to say, I stopped drinking it after figuring this out.

 

As for elementary school, I could get on my soapbox all day about how ridiculous it is that they have candy machines there, it is infuriating! At our elementary school, both the school and the daycare used candy as rewards.

 

This is where the IgG test came in. Once I told the teachers in school that he was allergic (the word 'sensitive' is too gray for them) to certain foods, this greatly solved the problem from a control standpoint. In his case his sensitivity to corn (means no corn syrup, and almost every packaged treat out there had corn syrup), milk (ruled out milk chocolate) and wheat (cookies, cakes) meant that they finally just stopped giving it. If you have this in hand, you can also talk to them about trading food at lunch--your child is really too young to self-manage this. In our case, there were still slips, but less often.

 

Our biggest problem was that the teacher didn't understand what 'wheat' was and kept offering him wheat and pastries and debated with him--saying they didn't have wheat in them. Too wierd.

 

What we did was that everytime he was offered something by a teacher, or at those never ending birthday treat cupcake days, class parties, he would tell me and we would offer a treat substititute. (I wouldn't do this for traded food offers though). I hated giving the sugar, but it was better than all the artificial stuff. An alternative could be points toward a prized toy. This helps motivate the child.

 

In any case, I gave the school the list. I also made an effort at in-class parties too bring something he could have (e.g. potato chips with no transfats, fruits...), and provide the daycare teacher with alternative foods. Jeff has even posted a site with all natural candy for times like Halloween where it feels mean to deprive them of sugar (what a culture we have!)

 

Claire

[Guest M.C.]

Hi Claire,

 

I am just checking in today. Thanks for adding my info to this post. It's interesting how many egg and milk allergies there are. I had a major setback this fall because I didn't read the label closely enough on the jars of Ragu cheese sauce (contains egg yolks!!!), and I had been cooking with the sauce a lot. (We like leftovers at our house, so a dish such as macaroni an cheese can be eaten for several days in a row before it is gone.) I started noticing tics coming back, and so I started sleuthing around and discovered my blunder! The cheese sauce is eliminated, and the tics have once again subsided. It's interesting how it takes a full couple of months off the eggs in order for the tics to fully disappear. My son is good about avoiding the eggs, but he is also aware that he can eat them on a 4-day rotation, so he does occasionally indulge in birthday cakes and cookies.

 

For any other people out there that have the egg problem, you can still cook normally in a lot of cases. There is a natural food product called Egg Replacer by Ener G. It is a powder containing potato starch, tapioca flour and leavening ingredients. Most people in supermarkets think that that egg-replacement stuff in the refrigerated dairy section in the supermarket has no eggs... so don't get caught in that mistake. Any product that only requires one or two eggs turns out fine with the powder.

 

I hope that helps someone out there.

 

M.C.

[Claire]

MC,

 

I remember you were very early on figuring out the food sensitivities!

 

I would love your help on EGGs. Our toughest things are eggs and cheese (can your child eat cheese? I forgot).

 

We use the Energ-E thing, but my pancakes with it were a flop. I am afraid to try it in fresh baked bread (gluten-free of course), and waste the loaf.

 

ALso, what do you do for breakfast. I was thinking of baking muffins with some protein powder--have you tried Energ-E with baked goods?

 

My son gets so little protein that I keep giving him eggs, and I think it affects his excema, which is getting worse again. Plus it inflames his intenstinal lining, which doesn't help his yeast overgrowth, and thus his absorption of nutrients!

 

He gets re-tested for food sensitivities next week. But anyway, cheese and eggs are a mainstay these days, and I know it isn't good to do. He just doesn't like meats/beans... (except hot dogs wrapped in gluten-free dough and baked). I am working on nuts for snacks, but that comes and goes with him.

 

Claire

[Guest Guest]

Hi Claire,

 

My son did show a low sensitivity to dairy products, but I decided that I would focus on eggs, because they were extremely high and definitely a serious problem. I have tried to keep the calcium-enriched orange juice in the house to try to give him some distance from the dairy, but he loves cheddar cheese. I tried soy milk for a while, but he hated it when he would get lumps. I gave that up, because I don't want to drive him nuts with my obsession over his health.

 

We have had great success with all pancakes, muffins, cakes, and cookies using the egg replacer. (Brownies were a hideous flop, though, because they need eggs for a different reason than muffins/breads do.) The trick seems to be to use HEAPING teaspoons, and maybe and extra tsp for luck in the recipes. We just throw the powder in with the dry ingredients in the recipe, it isn't necessary to mix it separately with a liquid. It is also extremely important to add a little extra "liquid" to replace the liquid that you aren't getting from the eggs. Sometimes I use extra milk, or I add an "egg" amount of sour cream or applesauce. BTW, I recently added a couple of heaping teaspoons of EnerG to a loaf of bread made with milk (lifesaving bread machine!!!) and I didn't really notice much of a difference, so I don't think you have to worry about it ruining the loaf. I didn't notice any improvement in the flavor, however.

 

The lady at the natural food store told me that if you add some kind of unprocessed corn(??) oil and lecithin to recipes made with the EnerG, it gives the food a buttery flavor. I'm not sure about how this works, and I don't really feel like I need to try it, but you might ask your natural foods store about this if you are interested.

 

Oh, yes... Vegenaise is a great substitute for mayonnaise/Miracle whip.. which also contains eggs.

 

For protein: Does your son likes Tuna or peanut butter and jelly (or cashew butter)? Can he handle soy milk for protein? How about baked or broiled fish? What about spaghetti sauce or shepard's pie made with ground turkey?

 

M. C.

[The7roses]

Does anyone know if insurance will pay for the IgG tests?? We live in West Virginia and there are NO doctors around who do anything like alternative medicines, homeopathic, etc. We are sunk! I desperately want to find out what all my son is allergic to. He has a supposed milk allergy and has been off of ALL dairy for almost a year. He tics ALL THE TIME! There has been no waxing or waning, EVER. Is this normal? I have a gut instinct that he has numerous allergies and I just don't know where to begin. I thought of Bonnie's supplements but they are expensive and he will have to take nmerous pills twice a day which he said he won't do. Then, there are soooooooooo many vitamins and supplements out there that I have no idea what to get. I am just overwhelmed by what I should do. My son was diagnosed in November with TS (no family history) and has facial tics. He also has a anxiety disorder. He has the "allergy shiners" that I thought would disappear after he stopped consuming dairy, but they are still there. We also have no health food stores around and couldn't really afford one anyway. What do I do???? Sign me........."A very confused Mom in hillbilly land"