Applied kinesiology

Our chiropractor suggested we try Applied kinesiology. It is a technique used to diagnose illness or choose treatment by testing muscles for strength and weakness. She uses it to desensitize the body to potential “allergens”. So in the assessment lo and behold our son showed a sensitivity to neurotransmitters! She went ahead and desensitized him. We noticed that the vocal tics have diminished, however, we started him back on his medication about a month ago. So which worked? I for one was desensitized to the pollen using this method and I have not had any allergy issue yet!

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Time off then back

So after a five month break, where we did not need to have any medication at all, we had to get back of them. My son started have vocal tics, repeating the word “probably” all the time, and obliging us to acknowledge the fact that he said it. Plus he started having to say it louder and louder. So after a month we started him on Risperidone again at the minimum dose. Practically immediately he started have anxiety issues. Is that due to the meds or is it part of Tourette’s? Also noticed he’s cranky, tired and winey now. But after three weeks he started saying maybe a lot less and is doing better. It is so hard to assess though which is better: repeating probably/maybe every other sentence loudly or being scared tired and winey. Hopefully in October he’ll do better again, like last year.

Tourettes and Allergies

Many believe that tics are worse due to allergens  The problem is trying to identify these. For my son we saw that his tics would be bad for three days and then subside. A doctor suggested a food sensitivity due to the cycle and sure enough we have reduced the severity of his tics by eliminating  nitrates, food coloring’s, and anything else containing chemicals. But what if that was not enough? Next week I’m taking him to the Chiropractor to do a NAET muscle-testing procedure.

The Nambudripad Allergy Elimination Technique (NAET) is based on curing the pathways of energy in the body using applied kinesiology and acupressure points. It is very far removed from Western Medicine!

The treatment begins with muscle testing for the “basic” allergies, as defined by Dr. Nambudripad: eggs, calcium, Vitamin C, B-Complex, Sugar, iron, Vitamin A, mineral mix, salt, corn and grain mix. When holding a vial of one of these allergens in your hand, your other arm is tested for muscle strength – the practitioner tries to push your arm down.  If you continue to have muscle strength, no allergy is present. If you become weak and can’t hold your arm up, an allergy is present.

If you do have an allergy, then acupressure points are stimulated while holding the vial of allergen. After that you must hold the vial for 20 minutes. Subsequent to the treatment, you must stay away from all foods that contain the allergen for 25 hours.

Use Your Brain To Reduce Tics

When my son’s tics get bad we start doing some math problems. We have found that when his brain is “busy” thinking his tics go away. It has been great for long car rides or for falling asleep. 2+2, 10×6, 25/5, etc after four of these the tics stop. We also got out the board games, the monopoly, and checkers for afternoons on end. Finding words that rhyme also helped. Making up poems as well. So when the brain is busy, the tics leave, at least for my son. Unfortunately these are two people activities….. At least at the age of 9, maybe later he could do these on his own. I don’t know how neurotransmitters work, but it seems like they can’t multitask.

The Atlas Bone and Tourette

Electrodermal screening is used to find issues by measuring the electrical resistance on the skin’s surface. It detects energy imbalances along the invisible lines of the body described by acupuncturists as meridians (see my post on this for more details). Martha is a specialist in using natural therapies and uses this machine to see what the body’s problems are. We went to see her in Alabama and with this machine she found that my son had a problem with his atlas bone.

Upon our return we searched for a good chiropractor. We found out that some chiroprators specialize in altas bones, and there were three in our area. We chose to go see Dr Windman. She is an upper cervical specialist and is a Board Certified Atlas Orthogonist. This method uses a compression wave to realign the atlas bone, instead of manual manipulation.

Our first appointment confirmed that Kendrick’s atlas bone was displaced, most probably due to a whiplash injury, of which I have no recollection happening. One of his legs was 1 1/2 inches shorter than the other and one shoulder was lower than the other as well. X-rays later confirmed that the atlas bone was out of place by 7 degrees. A displaced atlas bone causes the whole spinal cord and pelvis to also go crooked and the distorted skelatel structure can cause nerve dammage. Also, the compression this displaced bone could be causing to the spinal fluid flows between the spinal cord and the surrounding vertebral column and so could be affecting his nerves seriously.

We went back for the actual “procedure” of putting his bone back in place. It was painless and took less than a few seconds. We measured his legs again, and they were the same length! Kendrick was feeling sluggish for an hour or two, and that was it. And most importantly his tics have diminished substantially since. We are continuing the visits to the Chiropractor, going once a month to make sure he is fine.

Is it possible that muscular tics reflect a “weakness” in the area of the tic? I have not seen anything written yet related to this, but my son had tics in the neck / shoulder area and these went away afterwards. His whole body tics have subsided as well.

Tourettes and Halloween

Halloween just proved to us, once again, that our son is very sensitive to what he eats. Friday before Halloween, there was a party at school, after the parade, and candy was distributed. That evening our Church had a Harvest Party where the kids go and play games and receive candy for participating. Then the night of Halloween there was candy at home. I was away that weekend, and when I got back Sunday afternoon, he was having tics again, one whole body tic about every three minutes or so. They were not harsh, but very noticable. I immediately told him he had to limit the candy he was  eating and sorted through his pile to remove what I knew had maltodextrine and was brightly colored ( of course the ingredients are not on the small candy pieces, you have to read the pack they were from to know what chemicals you are eating). Then there is sugar, which is everywhere. It took a week for the tics to go away. My question is why does candy make him worse? Is it the Candida, hyperglycemia, the food coloring, …

Here are some interesting studies done on additives:

Synergistic Interactions Between Commonly Used Food Additives in a Developmental Neurotoxicity Test. Lau K, McLean WG, Williams DP, Howard CV., Toxicol Sci. 2006 Mar;90(1):178-87, 2005 Dec 13

Neurotransmitter Release from a Vertebrate Neuromuscular Synapse Affected by a Food Dye, G.Augustine, H.Levitan, Science Magazine, March 28, 1980, Vol. 207, pp. 1489-90

“…FD&C No.3 … produced an irreversible, dose-dependent increase in neurotransmitter release … These results suggest that erythrosine might prove a useful pharmacological tool for studying the process of transmitter release, but that its use as a food additive should be re-examined.”

Food, drug, and cosmetic dyes: Biological effects related to lipid solubility. Levitan H (1977). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A., 74, 2914-2918.

“The synthetic coloring agents increased the resting membrane potential and conductance of the neurons in a dose-dependent manner by increasing the potassium permeability of the membrane relative to that of other ions.”

Currently Reading “Lifeforce” By Dr. McCombs

I’m learning alot reading this book on Candida infections and how to elimitate them. As I mentionned in a previous post, just three days after starting a yeast free/anti-Candida  diet, my son was doing much better, his tics dimished in number and in strength. We followed a simple diet where we illiminated a couple of elements at a time. The program description in this book does not work for children, I think, because of the need to sweat in saunas 6 times a week and the pills. It was still very informative.

 

Bananas have a calming effect

Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that have been shows to improve nerve function.

Stress Relief: Bananas are high in potassium, which helps normalize the heartbeat and regulate the body’s water balance. During periods of high stress, our body’s potassium levels tend to be rapidly depleted.  

Reducing Depression: Bananas contain tryptophan, an amino acid that can be converted to serotonin. Serotonin is a hormone that is known to make you feel happy and improve your mood.

Natural Treatments for Tics & Tourettes’s

This is a very good book. It was a little overwhelming at first and, I must admit, I read it and left it on the shelf for a few months after. I had no clue where to start and how to go about using the natural therapies. Once we found a medicine that could help our son and he was doing much better, I went back to the book and started implementing alot of the suggestions.I believe it is a very good and complete source and recommend it. They also have a web-site http://www.latitudes.org

Is there a reason for a specific tic?

Is it possible that muscular tics reflect a “weakness” in the area of the tic? I have not seen anything written yet related to this, but it just occurred to me that my son has tics in the neck / shoulder area and that his atlas bone (C1)was displaced. It was recently put back in place, but we are continuing the visits to the Chiropractor and it is a sensitive area. Kendrick “twirls” and the electro-dermal screening we did found that his cells weren’t rotating in the right direction. He has eye tics and when I give him an herbal eye rinse for a few days, they disappear.  We are also currently trying to boost his immune system, and, overall his tics have diminished.  Is it possible that there are general tics and then tics that are due to a specific problem/weakness? If true, can we “cure “the problem areas and thus diminish that amount of tics significantly?