Jump to content
ACN Latitudes Forums

An informal survey


susanna

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 30
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Susanna:

 

Hi and congratuations on child # 3! I found myself in the same situation recently, and now have two girls and a nine month old little boy. I breast fed all of them and only mixed formula with cereal at about 6 mos. Still BFing the baby - he won't take a bottle, just chews on it. Aargh! it's exhausting, but worthwhile I know.

 

My 6YO was diagnosed this winter after much strange and uncharacteristic behavior was displayed at school. We have since learned of a family history of tics/OCD on my husbands side, and this explains my husbands obsessive nature and some other small things. We now see some of what (looking back we can identify as early warning signs with our oldest) in our 4YO. She has unusual extreme fears and is crossing her eyes when tired, etc. So, I am new to the knowledge that my child/children have tourettes. However, from what I understand, this is a NEUROLOGICAL situation. Certainly some foods or allergens may adversely affect anyone, however, if in fact your child is wired a particular way - that is simply the way they are wired. So I don't believe wether you breast feed or not will change the way that God has created their little brains.

 

Having said that there are things that absolutely affect my daughters behaviors. Being tired, stressed, hungry - we can see it on her face when she is any of those. A strep infection brought out some really strange things and a later ear infection saw another upswing in her movements. I have trouble calling them tics, because I understand tics as rapid movements, and my daughter displays more "complex/deliberate-looking/compulsive" type movements and fixates on thoughts etc. Still she at times is socially overwhelmed.

 

From what I have read this is a male dominant condition, so I too worry that my little guy might have a hard time of it. My girls are already noticably socially different and seem unhappy and overly senstitive/emotional much of the time.

 

Bottom line - I think BF is great for giving them a great start, but remember - food senstivites do not CAUSE the tourettes but may (as with any other bodily irritant) efffect the child's condition. Comments on this opinion are welcome. Thanks and good luck with the pregnancy!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Butterbean,

 

I really appreciated reading your reply.

 

I added the soy info. article to this thread (in a hurry) because the controversy surrounding it, really bothers me for uninformed new parents. I certainly had no idea that there may be a very negative side to it's use when I gave it to my boys, but this is an old thread, so I wanted you to be aware of that since you may not get a response from Susanna. It would be nice if she still reads and does respond though!

 

I thought this was an interesting thread and will add that I nursed for a couple of days with my 13 yr. old, but was told to start formula due to high bilirubin counts, and stupidly kind of bagged it after that. My oldest was positioned wrong and I pushed for an ungodly amount of time, then ended up with a forceps delivery which I didn't know someone could remain conscious through that kind of pain. My recovery from labor was pretty slow, no appetite, low milk production.

 

My younger son was breech. They did some tricky little procedure where they tried to turn him by pushing on my stomach. This was after some nice injection of something that made my heart pound and made me shake from head to toe. Probably good for the baby too. I ended up having him C-section. They couldn't turn him because the cord was looped under his butt and wrapped around his ankle. In hind sight, I think there are quite a few things I would have done DIFFERENTLY. I recovered from the C section much more quickly than I did with older son, didn't lose my appetite, but still had to really work at nursing. These guys were Hungry fella's! I couldn't quite keep up with the feedings every 1 1/2 hours all night long and a 3+ yr. old for more that a couple of weeks with 2nd one.

 

Currently, my beliefs are that family history or genetics are involved in some way with this syndrome (although we have none), but I'm not sure I would relate it to wiring. I wonder if future research will show a susceptibility to low glutathione producers, which could leave generations less able to deal with heavy metals. Not only what may have been received in vaccines, but the metals we are all exposed to in our air, water etc. and other environmental assaults, the molecular mimicry (auto immune attack), a susceptibility to have neurological complications from an interplay of viruses/infections, etc.

 

I am convinced that tics have become more prevalent as has autism. Some are saying that autism and autism spectrum disorders are an umbrella name for possibly many subsets of disorders. I'm SO hoping that the honest research from several sources that is finally getting underway, will provide some answers to the many questions that we have too.

 

Kim

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi and congratulations!

I breast fed for 4 years! the last two years were really just emotional and he would go days at a time without but if he had a bad day or a fall I was the bomb! :) After a 10 day period of no nursing he finally told me he thought he'd be O.K. without it. Nice to know that he made the decision. I attribute his allergies to a weakened immune system from vaccines, subsequent ear infections for which antibiotics were prescribed which totalled his digestive system and gastrointestinal tract which allowed for yeast overgrowth and food sensitivities and allergies. As his digestive tract heals he's able to tolerate some of his allergens in small quantities.

Good luck and God bless your little wee one!

Giselle

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know! When I tell people that they kinda get grossed out - but truly the last two years were only for comfort and not every day. I was a member of the boob nazi's, I mean La Leche League :) I totally say that affectionately. I was so afraid of that group at first but I loved being part of the League and no I didn't do cloth diapers, I only wear Birkenstocks on occasion, they are right beside my Manolo's, and I do shave my legs and armpits :P ! But it was really nice when he decided to stop and we even had a "Noonie" party to celebrate not needing noonies anymore. Again another gross out for some but kinda nice for me - he could even tell me what nursing was like for him. He told me it was like having "the most yummiest strawberries" and even better "it's like being in your tummy again" :) .

Giselle

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi

My 7 year old is experiencing some tics and I did breast feed from 0-1 and a half, no dairy until three, no soy until 2, from 1-2 oat / almond milk (very occasionally). No wheat until 4, yet...I wish you luck with #3!

 

Hi

My 7 year old is experiencing some tics and I did breast feed from 0-1 and a half, no dairy until three, no soy until 2, from 1-2 oat / almond milk (very occasionally). No wheat until 4, yet...I wish you luck with #3!

Ok, now I read all the posts..yes, my Birks are still parked by the door AND I did the total cloth routine (terrycloth actually, the cadillacs of diapers), hung on the clothesline to dry, no vaccines, yet still dealing with tics, ...How do you guys find vitamins and supplements with no sugar, colour and yummy additives which are also "contraindicated" for tics? Cynthia

Link to comment
Share on other sites

kirkmanlabs.com has vitamins and supplements that are "clean". A lot of the autistic parents use those as do I for my daughter's tics. Taurine seems to have helped greatly since we added it 3 months ago. People can't even notice my daughter's tics anymore. We do but they are slight. Hope this helps.

 

Lisa

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cynthia,

 

OK, so how did you get so smart? ^_^ Now, I'm getting a little nervous about Birkenstocks though. Seriously, I'm wondering if there was a family history of tics, or a similiar disorder that made you decide not to vaccinate and make these healthy decisions for your son as an infant?

 

These are the vitamins I use for my boys, with a few other things I add individually.

 

http://www.bonniegr.com/index.htm

 

Kim

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My mother breastfed me till I was a year old. I was hospitalized with life-threatening pneumonia at the age of 2 months, and Mom breastfed me throughout my hospital stay. I have a moderate case of TS and OCD, started showing signs and tics in childhood, they aggravate following major stress. Never fed on any formula and no food (or other) allergies whatsoever; lactose tolerant.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi galen! Welcome to Latitudes! Just curious as to you not having food allergies. Did you have a test to determine and if so which test? I only ask as we would never know my son had the horrible food allergies he has unless I had him tested. He had a scratch test and it only said he was reactive to dust mites and mold. When we had a delayed food allergy test done we found he was building antibodies to wheat/gluten, dairy, soy, corn, dyes, bananas, citrus, melons and a few others! He didn't get stuffy or hives or anything - but when we eliminated all of these from his diet his tics were decreased by over half!

Thanks for entertaining my curiosity! And welcome again,

Giselle

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Giselle, thanks for the greetings. I do not remember allergy tests being done in my childhood. As far as I can recall, I never had any allergic reactions (rash, etc) to any sort of food; although at one point my grandmother said that I had a reaction to honey in infancy, I don't remember that, and I eat honey just fine now. I had a scratch test done in my teenage years to rule out allergies as the possible cause of a persistent cough I had, and the only issue discovered was a little sensitivity to the dust mite -- which does not bother me at all right now, and my cough is gone. Any tests (blood, urine, thyroid) that I do now come out perfect. Perhaps you could you tell me about this delayed allergy test, please?

 

Thank you, and thanks again for the welcome.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi again, it is a blood test that shows how your system reacts to particular foods - but the reaction is an immune response - whether your body creates antibodies to certain foods. My son, who tested negative on the scratch test for most everything food related, showed reaction to wheat/gluten, soy, corn, dairy, citrus, bananas, tomatos, and a few other things - this was astonishing to me because he didn't have what I thought were allergic reactions. I had already tried a food elimination diet, avoiding dairy and gluten (as I'd read these were huge for many people) and saw no improvement - but when the test came back I knew why I'd seen no positve results - each product that I had eliminated that was wheat I'd substituted a corn product - and here he was allergic to both! When I finally got all his allergens eliminated we saw such a huge difference. As his immune system no longer had to fight his food as though it were a flu or worse he improved sooooo much. I won't kid you, it's not easy as our culture is so gluten and especially corn ridden - I have to read everything, choose carefully and make much of my own but what got me motivated was the actual test itself. It tests your IMMUNE response to foods - his poor body was fighting gluten or citrus, etc. as though he was fighting an illness! What stress we feel when we are fighting an illness and here he was fighting something all the time and didn't really know it because he'd been doing it all his life and didn't know the difference. I've seen this also in myself. Because it was so hard getting it all started (it's easy now and part of life) I had to adopt his diet to remind myself what he could eat. Turns out that wow that stuffiness I have ALWAYS had upon waking in the morning went away! I had had lunch with a girlfriend one afternoon and as my son wasn't around I had a large latte. The next morning I was so stuffed up I thought I had a cold. I didn't connect the two (too busy and a bit silly) but it happened a couple of other times (I love dairy and would always have it when not around my son) and I finally figured out that I probably shouldn't be having the stuff. I do occasionally now but I know I'm going to pay. It wasn't just the stuffiness, I actually don't feel so great - not horrible but enough that it pegs me down a bit. And he was fighting this type of thing all the time. Anyway, eliminating all of them really helped out with his tics and his health in general - I guess it decreased the stress load on his body.

 

I don't think a lot of regular allergists do this test (although they should) and it was recommended by our DAN doctor (Defeat Autism Now) who follows the DAN protocol (finding allergies, deficencies, heavy metals). I highly recommend it.

 

Good luck,

Giselle

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...