tics, allergies, where to begin?

[organicmidwestmama]

hi mamas, please share with me your info and resources on the connection between motor/vocal tics and allergies or food sensitivities. i firmly believe in food as medicine and want to help my someone who is having vocal tics. i just dont even know where to begin other then google, lol.

[mamafish9]

My son is on the autism spectrum - we tend to refer to tic type behaviors as stims. I have found his stimming can be influenced by mag deficiency, too much calcium, salicylates, high ammonia (from gut bacteria or too much dietary protein), vitamin K2 deficiency, and gut yeast overgrowth.

[organicmidwestmama]

Originally Posted by mamafish9

My son is on the autism spectrum - we tend to refer to tic type behaviors as stims. I have found his stimming can be influenced by mag deficiency, too much calcium, salicylates, high ammonia (from gut bacteria or too much dietary protein), vitamin K2 deficiency, and gut yeast overgrowth.

interesting. i know a lot of these things overlap, as in people can be "adhd" or "ocd" and have stims/tics what have you.

[Aloe]

definitely connected

My ds, 8, has had verbal and motor tics for yrs and before they were noticeable he was very colicky. Within the last yr we have eliminated, brace yourself, wheat/gluten, dairy, soy, corn, nightshade family, preservatives, artificial colors, and additives, and something else i am forgetting. We are adding small amounts of cultured dairy back in this week. Now we are not perfect as this is a challenging diet but we have seen HUGE changes!
Corn seems to effect his emotions. Wheat/gluten his guts. Sugar, grapes, bananas, and peas cause almost immediate motor tics.

I am still looking for good resources connecting tourettes with food sensitivities but from personal experience food makes a difference. Also increasing his magnesium has helped.

I would start with eliminating foods that the person seems to crave along with common allergens. Good Luck

[organicmidwestmama]

Originally Posted by Aloe

...
I would start with eliminating foods that the person seems to crave along with common allergens. Good Luck

i have heard this idea frequently, that sometimes what our bodies crave eating are the foods we are sensitive to or foods that feed whatever imbalances/allergies we have, ie. candida. but what i dont understand with this, is how do we know our body is saying "i need magnesium" vs. "i need chocolate" (chocolate being a good source of mag, but also a high source of caffiene which is addictive and the amino acid arginine which exaserbates herpes simplex).

so the person i know who might be struggling with stims/tics whatever they are, craves milk, bread, and peanut butter. all foods that are in the top 10 allergens, right? oy!

[*Lisa*]

Here's another perspective... My husband has food sensitivities (that trigger tics), and one of the things that seems to help his body is a peanut butter sandwich and a glass of milk. Maybe your friend craves it because it will actually help his body fight off the allergy.... You might want to check out the Feingold diet... It seems to work well for my husband, and we're getting ready to try it with DD (who seems to have some tics as well).