In an effort to share some of the interesting things that I get to see at my clinic, I'll try to make a better effort to talk about cases.
I recently saw a 10 year old boy who had a tic disorder. He would experience involuntary twitches and other muscular movements, or sometimes make a regular hiccup like sound. He had been to many many doctors, including allergists and neurologists, and no one could tell his mom what was wrong.
He had also had a history of emotional swings, irritability, and difficulty concentrating and sitting still in class.
His mom had already figured out that his diet was related to his health and his behavior, and she noticed that removing dairy from his diet made a huge difference in his health and resolved his tics. But she was having trouble finding a doctor who could support her diagnosis. When they came in I never doubted her, and I suspected that the proper kind of food allergy testing would provide her with the support she needed.
Sure enough, when we got the lab work back it demonstrated that he had a dairy allergy. He also had a gluten allergy, but it was clear that the dairy was the primary trigger for his tics.
This is just one example of how food allergies can affect health. I do not believe that all tics are caused by dairy allergies. In fact, I'm confident that there are many different causes for tics, and I suspect that there are many other food allergies that trigger tics in certain people. Everyone is different. And different people get different symptoms from a food allergy. Don't confuse the food with the individual reaction to the food. That is the important part.
13 comments:
Thanks for sharing, what an interesting story.
I am so excited to find this. My son is 6 and has been diagnosed with Tourettes. I am grateful I have suppressed most of his tics through diet (dairy, gluten, etc...we had all the blood tests done through a Doctor Carroll in Burbank, CA). Today, however, after leaving McDonalds, he immediately started ticking. Mouth gaping, etc. All we had was the fries which I thought were safe.
Dumb. Transfat was really high - which I didn't know was a tic causer. Also, potatoes? Do they have gluten?
Anyway, if you could answer, that would be awesome. I write several national blogs - one for BabyCenter and one for Goodhousekeeping, as well as my own Tourettes blog called Ticked Off at my personal blog Life Happins - link below.
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Andrea,
Thanks for writing. You are absolutely on the right track, but you'll be shocked by all of the things in McDonald's French Fries other than potato. I blogged on this last year and I've posted the ingredients again below. This is copied straight off their website.
French Fries:
Potatoes, vegetable oil (canola oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, natural beef flavor [wheat and milk derivatives]*), citric acid (preservative), dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate (maintain color), salt. Prepared in vegetable oil ((may contain one of the following: Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness), dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent). *
CONTAINS: WHEAT AND MILK (Natural beef flavor contains hydrolyzed wheat and hydrolyzed milk as starting ingredients).
Such an interesting story.Just hoping that they will find an appropriate doctor for his son.
-Kaylee
Dear Dr. Wangen,
I was so happy to come across this post by you. I have a similar story in that my 7 year old daughter has issues with milk. I noticed when she was four that milk was literally making her berzerk, and prone to unnecessary melt downs. Upon removing milk, she became able to "play" with her toys rather than use them as progectiles. She also became less prone to mood swings. Another problem it resolved was her constipation...no more. Over time, however, I suspect more "issues." She responds behaviorally to msg, tbhq, and most processed foods with preservatives. I'm also wondering if she has a gluten issue (like me). I too have not found one doctor to back me up or "hear" me. They almost always explain it away or shrug their shoulders. I am writing to ask what testing you did, so I can do the same for my daughter. We have done the mainstream allergy skin testing with all negative results. Thank you for your desire to share knowledge...it is helping others.
Sincerely,
Amy Smith
Dallas, TX
I congratulate you on sorting this out on your own. It's very difficult to find physicians who are well versed in this type of testing, and unfortunately I don't know anyone in Dallas. Skin testing won't help. You'll need the kind of testing described on my websites, www.IBSTreatmentCenter.com, or www.CenterforFoodAllergies.com. I have had many patients from Texas visit my clinic, but I realize that is a long ways away. But if you should ever desire to come up here, then I would be happy to work with you.
Can you recommend a doctor in NYC--my son has developed a tic that comes onwhen he plays sports or when he is under stress (playing in chess tournaments). He is 7 yrs old. thanks--
If you are interested in investigating the possibility of a food allergy connection in your son, we would be happy to see you here.
You only need to come to Seattle once. Most of our patients from New York stay overnight one night because the flights are about 5 hours each way.
Unfortunately I am not aware of any NYC -area physicians working in this area.
Thanks for your question and for reading!
I just made some homemade french fries in olive oil, and earlier on in the day, allowed him to have one small chocolate square, and 5 minutes on the wii, which we don't typically do because it seems to bring out tics. Now, he is doing these mouth tics that he didn't do yesterday. Hard to determine what caused it, considering all 3 things are no no's and cause tics to come out in my 8 year old.
My nealy four has just been given a "tic disorder" diagnoses (very helpful) and my five year old has just started ticking too.
Anyway as a sceptic of any food intolerances I have just stumbled across two great books . One by Dr Gluten and one by Kenneth Bock MD. Life changers!!!! Went to the G.P today to organize blood tests for dairy and gluten will keep you posted.
I am so relieved to learn there are other people who have been this way before me and who also seem to have had great success.
Thanks for a great blog and a sense of ease that this can be sorted without the incredibly busy and medical pediatric neurologist I have been dealing with.
Thank you kiwiMum for your great comments!
My son has been dealing with a tic disorder since he was about 5. He is now 11. We have never taken him to a neurologist because I was not interested in him being put on medication and his pediatrician just suggested I could see a neurologist if I thought it warranted it. Although my sons tics are mild, they wax and wane and have recently become more intense. I have been doing my own research on line and have stumbled across the liklihood of tics being related to a food allergy. I have two neices that have already been diagnosed with food allergies and therefore I have scheduled an appointment for my son to have bloodwork done to determine if he in fact has any food allergies. I have also recently eliminated dairy from his diet until we find out for sure. I am very anxious to find some answers!!!!
Thank you for your comments/questions Anonymous.
I am happy to hear that you are pursuing food allergies as a possible cause. We have seen it in our clinic and the result of eliminating the right foods can be dramatic.
Make sure you work with a doctor familiar with ELISA-based blood testing. And remember that if you remove the food from the diet for more than a week or two before testing you may get a false negative. Antibodies are eliminated from the body over time and so if you want the test results to be accurate, you have to have exposure in the time before testing.
On the other hand, if you eliminate dairy (or any other food) and you see a big improvement you may not need testing to confirm what you have learned, especially if you try adding it back in and the problems return.
We would be happy to work with you if you are not getting the answers you need for your son.
Feel free to contact us at info@ibstreatmentcenter.com for more information.
Best..
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