> > My daughter is 6 years old, diagnosed with ADHD/Tourrette's. She sees a homeopath. The rememdy she is currently taking is copper. I have elminated wheat (where possisble), cow milk, artificial colors. She now drinks goat milk, and takes cottage cheese and flax seed oil. Before here last "attack" of tics and "twisters", she had been ill with the flu for 3 weeks and during that time alos grew about 3 inches. Her body was under tremendous stress. She also takes a Rescue/Nighttime Remedy to help her sleep.
> >
> > Specifically, it is the Tourrette's that I need to focus on, although her tics have been reduced by about 90%. She is sufferring socially, and her self-esteems is in a spiral. We are being a reassuring as we can, we try to celebrate our differences but some things are hard to be joyous about, despite our individuality.
> >
> > It breaks my heart to watch other children (AND ADULTS!) gape at her, like a sideshow freak. She is still just a 6 year old girl.
> >
> > Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Sheri,
> I do wish someone would respond to your post. I'm interested in info on Tourette's too.
>
> If you can post any more info about diet, herbs, other websites with info, please do.
>
> Thanks!



Thanks for your interest, I would love some input. We have had tremendous sucess with homeopathy for a variety of ailments. I had my daughter interro tested for food sensitivity . She craves (and loves) all the foods that she should not eat. Cow milk, pork, corn, food coloring s, sugar, wheat. Eliminating completely or curbing these foods made a noticable difference. Her intensity level came down. As well we noticed her "allergic shiners" disappeared within a week of being off cow milk (milk good for you - what a fraud!) she was sensitive to at least 3 different proteins in cow milk. Milk had been the #1 offender, her food testing scores were off the chart!

We also both take lemon balm in tincture. I know that it gives me "a warm, satiated" feeling. Saliency, is always an issue for both ADHD and TS. Saliency issues can also fray the nerves of even the best parents! All is never enough! lol!

As I mentioned before, I try to ensure good sleep with Nighttime Remedy.

I wish that there was more support for alternative therapies in general. I cannot find any links for support groups that aren't mired in funding from pharmaceutical companies! Didn't anyone notice that the fox is guarding the henhouse! The doctors wanted to use Ritalin and ephidrine when she was only 3 years old. At 6 years old, it was suggested that she be treated with drugs for both ADHD & TS despite the well known fact that these medications actually work against each other. So pump a developing child's body full of a class 3 narcotic (i.e. the same class as morphine!) for probably no positive change and a whack of side effects.

Both my husband's family and my family are riddled with anxiety disorders and ADHD, however all are VERY driven and therefore relatively successful. As I dug through family histories, I found out that several members of both families had tics at one time or another.

We have coped with ADHD for years. Now TS. If you are in the same position as us, I would urge you to heal yourself at the same time. The stress from living with oppositional Defiance ODD, saliency issues, not to mention a cookie cutter education systems ( you cannot fit a square peg into a round hole, if you force it, YOU BREAK IT!). As far as education issues, I would strongly recommend talking with an Advocate, so that your child's rights (and self-esteem) is not trampled in the rush for extra funding for your local school. Remind them that many "different" people have improved the world. Diversity makes the world go around.

The bottom line is people need to realize that the children who jump higher,laugh louder, learn faster will also be as intense in the negative. Expect them to yell longer, cry louder, and stomp harder. When you pulling your hair out, remember these personality traits make LEADERS of adults, even if it's hard to take with kids.

Please share any information that you may have... we are on are own out here!

Blessings to you

Sheri

Hi Sheri:

Our son, who is now 7 was diagnosed with TS one year ago. We are having a great deal of success with the conventional route, but I thought I'd share some things that have helped him, (and us!),socially.

First, develop a strong working relationship with your daughter's school. You will acquire valuable feedback on how she interacts with peers and volunteer at the school if you can. Just making your presence known can help other kids see her as a normal kid. Also, talk to the teacher about having your daughter, (or you or the teacher), do a presentation for the class on TS. This puts it in a more scientific light and children react very positively to it.

Secondly, take an active role in fostering friendships any way you can. We started inviting children from his class and having them over for just short periods, (1-2 hours) at a time. Also, if you go to church, this can be a great relationship-building area too. I know that I had a very hard time making those first steps with new people, but it helped so much. Getting your child in with groups of people will give them the opportunity to know her, and they'll eventually see the tics as only a very small part of her personality.

I might also suggest finding a neuropsychologist because many children with TS have other issues, too. (As your daughter and my son do.) Ours has been extremely helpful with treatment by assessing learning disabilities and giving us wonderful input for behavior modification. I especially have a difficult time ascertaining what he can do vs. what he just doesn't want to do. The Dr. has really helped us with that also.

Occupational Therapy has been an excellent route to help build our son's self-esteem. You probably have read that many children with TS also have sensory integration problems, (i.e. coordination, gross/fine motor muscle development delays, defensiveness to touch; ours does). Our son began OT about 6 weeks ago, and we have seen tremendous improvement already, not only in his physical abilities, but with his self-esteem.

What we have found in our son's case is, that all of these subspecialties have worked together to help him as a whole. We have seen such an improved attitude toward school and more positive relationships with other children. We still have issues from time to time with other kids, but they are a whole lot fewer than even a year ago. They are mostly directed at us, when we're making him turn off video games to go play. (During a rage, he informed us that we have brains the size of a walnut! Isn't that funny?)
I hope this helps.