In conjunction with the diet changes and supplements, I also sought out a HANDLE Practitioner. You may be asking yourself 2 things: What the heck is HANDLE and why is this crazy lady doing so much at one time to her kid? Well, I was grasping at straws and was a little unfocused in the beginning. This was certainly a journey and I was learning as I went and to be honest, things got worse before they got better probably because I threw so much at my kid at once. But HANDLE is an integral part to the puzzle and I really need to mention it and give it the credit it deserves.
HANDLE is a practice where you perform certain types of neurological exercises designed to strengthen the vestibular system and integrate reflexes. It does many other things as well that I am not able to articulate but go to the website and read up on it for yourself. Many parents of children with neurological issues have seen fabulous results by learning these exercises and performing them consistently on their children. I read a positive testimony on the Latitudes forum and looked into it in my area and luckily I found 2 practitioners to choose from.
In our first session Sarah Anderson (Handle Practitioner) evaluated Cole by just watching him and asking him to do some simple gross and fine motor exercises. He was all over the place and non complaint for many of her requests but she got a good idea of what his needs were. She told me that since he was a twin and I was bedridden for most of my pregnancy that he did not get vital in utero movement that would have helped to develop his vestibular system. He suffered more than Jake because of his position in utero. He was transverse and tucked up under my ribs. He was barely able to move and this caused major trauma. The C-section that I had did not help matters either because he missed out on the very important experience of going through the birth canal. There was nothing I could have done differently to avoid the C-section so I am not even going there. It is what it is and now we just need to keep moving forward.
Sarah chose about 10-12 exercises to do with Cole. She had me come back and she taught me how to do them one by one. She told me to practice on myself before showing them to Cole and once I do show them to Cole, I need to watch to see if he gets agitated by them. Because if he does, I would need to stop immediately. The exercises were very simple but yet had profound effects on the nervous system and if a child is in a state of stress and the exercise is still preformed, his nervous system can become more disorganized. So there was a lot of stuff to be aware of and most of all I had to take my time and go slow. This was not part of my plan because as you all know, the countdown to Kindergarten was in full swing!
To further complicate things, Sarah had me drive to Macon, GA in June to see a woman named Janet Oliver, a reflex specialist that practices HANDLE techniques but goes even deeper. On June 7th, Cole and I took the 2 hour drive to Macon and we saw Janet. Cole was awful. He told Janet he wanted her to die and would not cooperate with her at all! I have never heard those words come out of my angels mouth, ever! I thought my trip down there was going to be a big waste. He actually seemed possessed that day but I guess it was good that Janet saw this because she was able to get a good handle (no pun intended) on what his body needed. She saw that many of his infantile reflexes had not integrated and that his body was not organized in its movement. She gave us 10 more exercises to do at home and sent us on our way. She videoed the entire session so I could go back and look at what she did. It was amazing. I was to do these exercises for 5 months and I should start to see resolution with his issues. I wish I could share these exercises with you all right here on my blog but it wouldn't help because each child is different and no two sets of exercises will ever be the same. Each child will need their own unique regimen to address the neurological issues they are dealing with.
Over this past summer, Cole and I got comfortable with our exercises. I made them a night time routine and he looked forward to them. I did notice that a couple of the ones that dealt with the vestibular system were too hard on him and actually increased his tics so I had to back off. There were many setbacks this summer. Some days I felt like we were getting somewhere and others were just a night mare. But it was important that I mentioned HANDLE because without these 2 women we would not be where we are today.
If anyone who has a child with special needs related to neurological disorders and is interested in learning more about HANDLE, please visit www.HANDLE.org or contact me. I can help you locate a practitioner in your area. In my opinion, this was the most affordable part of our healing protocol. For $400, I was able to learn these exercises for indefinite use with my son. Its like teaching a person to fish!! There are other centers out there that claim to do the same thing (i.e. Brain Balance) but charge thousands of dollars for a 12 month program and they never teach you anything. You just bring your child to their center 2x a week or more and they do the exercises for you. Maybe that is appealing to some people but I enjoyed the freedom of doing the exercises on my son at any time of the day, any day of the week. It also served as a bonding experience for us. We are so incredibly close (not that we weren't before) but there is an internal connection between that I can't describe in words. I have learned so much about my child and its taught me patience, the one thing I have been struggling with my entire life. Its really beautiful.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Sunday, October 6, 2013
How I Healed My Son's Tourette's Syndrome (Part III) Going Gluten and Corn Free
Hopefully you have read parts I and II of my series, if not please go back and read them. My first attempt at pulling foods out of my son's picky diet was a total disaster. I must have spent $5,000 on food the first week trying to figure out what would work. My initial idea was to try and replace everything he ate with a corn and gluten free alternative. Hahahahaha!! Its kind of funny now that I think about it. Gluten/corn free bread, pasta, cookies, graham crackers, cheese crackers, chicken nuggets, pizza, fish sticks etc. It made me realize how terrible my son's diet had been and how little nutrients he was getting from his food. But I did what I set out to do and found gluten/corn free alternatives to the favorite foods he eats. I must say, he was pretty accepting once I got the correct brands that worked and tasted good!
The only issue is that I did not put his twin brother on this diet because I was afraid of more rejection. So there were times that Cole wanted to know why he couldn't eat what his brother was eating. It certainly wasn't fair at all and probably the wrong strategy completely but I explained the situation to Cole with full body diagrams and demonstrations. I wanted him to understand exactly what was going on in his body (or as much as a 5 years old could comprehend). I told him he was allergic to gluten and corn and that it gave him tummy aches and that we needed to heal his tummy and make it stronger. Cole was absolutely amazing with understanding and explaining his allergies to others! He became an active participant in his healing and I am forever thankful. However, there were still days where he was not happy with what he was eating and things got tense. My panic attacks at 2 am were still in full swing.
During this time, I also found out about an amino acid called N-Acetyl Cystiene. In high doses it cures people from acetaminophen poisoning by increasing the glutathione (a powerful detoxifier) in the body. I had learned that Yale was doing a study on the use of N-Acetyl Cystiene or NAC on children ages 7-17 that were diagnosed with TS. They were giving them 2400mgs a day (a much lower dosage than whats used to treat the acetaminophen poisoning). The study was just completed this past July and from what I have heard already, there have been positive results on tics. I ran out to my health supplement store and bought a bottle of NAC and immediately started giving this to Cole in conjunction with the diet changes.
I should also mention that Dr. Taz had us start on glutamine and a heavy duty probiotic (25 billion CFU multi specie). These 2 supplements were to add in good bacteria to his gut while also helping to repair the lining of his gut.
I will be honest, we thought we saw improvement quickly but that improvement was fleeting. Cole's screaming had calmed down a little but he was still yelping and doing like 15 other motor and vocal tics thousands of times a day. Thank goodness we joined a pool this summer. It was a wonderful outlet for Cole and his brother. They both learned how to swim and when Cole was in the water, some of the tics subsided. Some days were worse than others and the lifeguards were amazing and accepting and just loved both of my boys to pieces. Plus, there was a mushroom waterfall that was pretty loud so a lot of Cole's vocal tics were drowned out by the waterfall. The pool also had a tiki bar that opened at 4pm on weekdays and 11am on weekends and let me tell you, that was a life saver! Besides losing 15lbs and getting down to 95lbs from anxiety, all those pina coladas helped keep my weight up! I'm half joking......
You may be thinking that I am not an accepting Mom. Maybe I just should have said, OK this is my son now. I love him no matter what and I shouldn't try to change him. Well, of course!!! But if you knew in your heart that there was a way to help your child, wouldn't you do anything to find that way? Hell, I heard that medical marijuana was a promising antidote for tics. I was ready to fly out to CO, pick up a tincture and drive back to Atlanta!! Thankfully, some rational minded folks (including my loving husband) talked me out of this but I am telling you, I was checking airfare.
Plus, as I had mentioned in my previous posts, this was ALL NEW to me. Two months ago, I had a pretty neuro typical kid with the occasional tic that I chalked up to some anxiety. Common stuff that would work itself out, they told me. Now I had a VERY sensory stimulated child that could not focus, sit still, be quit or stop moving. His tics were so disruptive to everyday life that I really feared for his future. Most frightening were the tics that would eventually hurt him. The neck jerks, head punching, and screaming. Sooner or later he was going to pop a vocal chord or slip a disc in his neck and then "they" would force me to medicate him. I needed a solution quickly as time was running out to Kindergarten.
That is when we took the mother of all blood tests - the NutraEval. It cost $1,000 and was not covered by insurance. Actually, I really need to mention that none of Dr. Taz's tests or visits were covered by our insurance. So between the tests and food, I was dropping some serious dough on Cole. Looking back, I would do it all over again if I had to. That is how much I believe in the holistic approach.
The only issue is that I did not put his twin brother on this diet because I was afraid of more rejection. So there were times that Cole wanted to know why he couldn't eat what his brother was eating. It certainly wasn't fair at all and probably the wrong strategy completely but I explained the situation to Cole with full body diagrams and demonstrations. I wanted him to understand exactly what was going on in his body (or as much as a 5 years old could comprehend). I told him he was allergic to gluten and corn and that it gave him tummy aches and that we needed to heal his tummy and make it stronger. Cole was absolutely amazing with understanding and explaining his allergies to others! He became an active participant in his healing and I am forever thankful. However, there were still days where he was not happy with what he was eating and things got tense. My panic attacks at 2 am were still in full swing.
During this time, I also found out about an amino acid called N-Acetyl Cystiene. In high doses it cures people from acetaminophen poisoning by increasing the glutathione (a powerful detoxifier) in the body. I had learned that Yale was doing a study on the use of N-Acetyl Cystiene or NAC on children ages 7-17 that were diagnosed with TS. They were giving them 2400mgs a day (a much lower dosage than whats used to treat the acetaminophen poisoning). The study was just completed this past July and from what I have heard already, there have been positive results on tics. I ran out to my health supplement store and bought a bottle of NAC and immediately started giving this to Cole in conjunction with the diet changes.
I should also mention that Dr. Taz had us start on glutamine and a heavy duty probiotic (25 billion CFU multi specie). These 2 supplements were to add in good bacteria to his gut while also helping to repair the lining of his gut.
I will be honest, we thought we saw improvement quickly but that improvement was fleeting. Cole's screaming had calmed down a little but he was still yelping and doing like 15 other motor and vocal tics thousands of times a day. Thank goodness we joined a pool this summer. It was a wonderful outlet for Cole and his brother. They both learned how to swim and when Cole was in the water, some of the tics subsided. Some days were worse than others and the lifeguards were amazing and accepting and just loved both of my boys to pieces. Plus, there was a mushroom waterfall that was pretty loud so a lot of Cole's vocal tics were drowned out by the waterfall. The pool also had a tiki bar that opened at 4pm on weekdays and 11am on weekends and let me tell you, that was a life saver! Besides losing 15lbs and getting down to 95lbs from anxiety, all those pina coladas helped keep my weight up! I'm half joking......
You may be thinking that I am not an accepting Mom. Maybe I just should have said, OK this is my son now. I love him no matter what and I shouldn't try to change him. Well, of course!!! But if you knew in your heart that there was a way to help your child, wouldn't you do anything to find that way? Hell, I heard that medical marijuana was a promising antidote for tics. I was ready to fly out to CO, pick up a tincture and drive back to Atlanta!! Thankfully, some rational minded folks (including my loving husband) talked me out of this but I am telling you, I was checking airfare.
Plus, as I had mentioned in my previous posts, this was ALL NEW to me. Two months ago, I had a pretty neuro typical kid with the occasional tic that I chalked up to some anxiety. Common stuff that would work itself out, they told me. Now I had a VERY sensory stimulated child that could not focus, sit still, be quit or stop moving. His tics were so disruptive to everyday life that I really feared for his future. Most frightening were the tics that would eventually hurt him. The neck jerks, head punching, and screaming. Sooner or later he was going to pop a vocal chord or slip a disc in his neck and then "they" would force me to medicate him. I needed a solution quickly as time was running out to Kindergarten.
That is when we took the mother of all blood tests - the NutraEval. It cost $1,000 and was not covered by insurance. Actually, I really need to mention that none of Dr. Taz's tests or visits were covered by our insurance. So between the tests and food, I was dropping some serious dough on Cole. Looking back, I would do it all over again if I had to. That is how much I believe in the holistic approach.
How I Healed My Son's Tourette's Syndrome (Part II)
It was May 2013 and I joined an on-line forum where people were healing their children from TS and all sorts of other neurological issues. The forum is called Latitudes www.latitudes.org and has been a source of invaluable information for me. After reading many of the threads on that site for hours on end I realized I needed to take Cole to a holistic physician. Thankfully his pediatrician was well aware of one in our area and passed her information on to me.
In early May we visited Dr. Tasneem Bhatia. She has written a pretty famous book called What Doctors Eat and has appeared on the Dr. Oz show many times. According to her she has seen what Cole was experiencing in many children and has been able to heal them. She knows there is a connection and something bigger going on in our environment and its just a matter of time before we figure it out and are able to prevent TS from happening in the first place.
The big concept that I was able to wrap my head around (and many may not agree with me) is that there really is no such thing as Tourette's Syndrome, per see. TS is just the body's way of saying, "Hey something is not right in here and I am going to let you know about it!".
Dr. Taz (as we affectionately call her) saw Cole and did some testing using Chinese medicine techniques that showed a major weakness in Cole's immune system. She suspected (but did not know for sure) that Cole had something called leaky gut.
You may have heard of leaky gut. I know I did and was actually fearing a diagnosis like this because with leaky gut comes major diet changes and since Cole was a dreadful eater, just the thought of removing his favorites gave me anxiety. Leaky gut is a term they use when someones immune system (their gut or small intestines) become permeable and toxins can cross over into the body and actually cause damage to other systems most likely the nervous system since it has such close ties to the gut. In fact, I have heard the gut referred to as the "second brain" because of massive amount of nerves that are located in and around it.
So Cole at this point maybe had leaky gut but why? Dr. Taz's first thoughts were food allergies and she had a food intolerance and sensitivity panel taken on Cole at our 2nd appointment. I want to be clear that there is a difference between a full blown food allergy and an intolerance. Cole had no signs of food allergies at all. His poops were beautiful, he never broke out in hives or had any signs of anaphylaxis, however, he did have eczema and the occasional stomach ache after eating.
The tests came back with some very surprising results. Cole has a severe intolerance to CORN, a moderate intolerance to gluten and a mild intolerance to dairy. I was floored. I knew that I could not remove all these things at once and I had to do it in stages but corn is in EVERYTHING. Corn is hidden in ingredients under such names as citric acid, ascorbic acid, maltodextrin, dextrin, baking powder, HFCS, corn syrup solids, corn startch, fructose, natural colors, vanilla extract (alcholic), and about 50 other names. To put it lightly, corn is really in every single processed food on the shelf of the average grocery store. But why did he have an intolerance to it? How did this happen? I suspect GMOs because 100% of all the corn that goes into making these "processed ingredients" is GMO. Seeds engineered from Monsanto. Now, this is just my opinion, but I am sticking with it.
Now that I was armed with some new information and was told that there was definitely a lot of things going on in Cole's body, I felt a sense of empowerment. There were changes that could be made to help him, I just needed to start implementing them and it was certainly not going to be easy.
In early May we visited Dr. Tasneem Bhatia. She has written a pretty famous book called What Doctors Eat and has appeared on the Dr. Oz show many times. According to her she has seen what Cole was experiencing in many children and has been able to heal them. She knows there is a connection and something bigger going on in our environment and its just a matter of time before we figure it out and are able to prevent TS from happening in the first place.
The big concept that I was able to wrap my head around (and many may not agree with me) is that there really is no such thing as Tourette's Syndrome, per see. TS is just the body's way of saying, "Hey something is not right in here and I am going to let you know about it!".
Dr. Taz (as we affectionately call her) saw Cole and did some testing using Chinese medicine techniques that showed a major weakness in Cole's immune system. She suspected (but did not know for sure) that Cole had something called leaky gut.
You may have heard of leaky gut. I know I did and was actually fearing a diagnosis like this because with leaky gut comes major diet changes and since Cole was a dreadful eater, just the thought of removing his favorites gave me anxiety. Leaky gut is a term they use when someones immune system (their gut or small intestines) become permeable and toxins can cross over into the body and actually cause damage to other systems most likely the nervous system since it has such close ties to the gut. In fact, I have heard the gut referred to as the "second brain" because of massive amount of nerves that are located in and around it.
So Cole at this point maybe had leaky gut but why? Dr. Taz's first thoughts were food allergies and she had a food intolerance and sensitivity panel taken on Cole at our 2nd appointment. I want to be clear that there is a difference between a full blown food allergy and an intolerance. Cole had no signs of food allergies at all. His poops were beautiful, he never broke out in hives or had any signs of anaphylaxis, however, he did have eczema and the occasional stomach ache after eating.
The tests came back with some very surprising results. Cole has a severe intolerance to CORN, a moderate intolerance to gluten and a mild intolerance to dairy. I was floored. I knew that I could not remove all these things at once and I had to do it in stages but corn is in EVERYTHING. Corn is hidden in ingredients under such names as citric acid, ascorbic acid, maltodextrin, dextrin, baking powder, HFCS, corn syrup solids, corn startch, fructose, natural colors, vanilla extract (alcholic), and about 50 other names. To put it lightly, corn is really in every single processed food on the shelf of the average grocery store. But why did he have an intolerance to it? How did this happen? I suspect GMOs because 100% of all the corn that goes into making these "processed ingredients" is GMO. Seeds engineered from Monsanto. Now, this is just my opinion, but I am sticking with it.
Now that I was armed with some new information and was told that there was definitely a lot of things going on in Cole's body, I felt a sense of empowerment. There were changes that could be made to help him, I just needed to start implementing them and it was certainly not going to be easy.
How I Healed My Son's Tourettes Syndrome
Getting up the courage to write this blog (which will come in parts) was no easy task. I have been writing sporadically about "green" eating and living but the journey I just went through makes every single previous blog post pale in comparison. Let me start from the beginning. My son Cole has always been a terrible eater. You may have read some old posts about how I struggled with him as a baby and as a toddler and child his eating habits never improved. Sadly, I must admit that I gave in to his desires just to make sure he was getting enough calories. I was constantly worried that he would lose weight or even shrink! (I know that is not a rational thought but I still had it nonetheless). So his diet eventually morphed into one high in carbs sugar and dairy. I still kept it "organic" as much as I could. We stayed away from HFCS, dyes and fast food but it wasn't enough to keep him healthy.
Around 3 years of age, Cole started making some little grunting noises when he ate. I noticed them right away and promptly asked his pediatrician what they were about. She reassured me that they were nothing and probably just anxiety related and would eventually go away. Eventually, they did but only to return months later as a different sounding grunt. They weren't very frequent so I chalked up to anxiety like the doctor mentioned and assumed they would just go away on their own.
Before he turned 5, Cole developed a "movement" that really had me concerned. It was a head jerk. He would nod his head down sharply and touch his chin to his chest. Again, it was infrequent but it was enough for me to ask the pediatrician about what I should do. Again she assured me it was a transient thing and that it would surely go away. Well, it did. Only to be replaced by knocking knees a couple of months later. Cole would be walking, stop and then knock his knees together 2x and then keep walking. It was actually kind of cute to see but I knew deep down that something was wrong.
I didn't really clue in until the spring after he was 5. It was March and Cole started making a weird noise that involved rolling his tongue. If I could write the noise down it would look like this "brrrreeeeeet". He started making this noise frequently and then almost non-stop. It was then that a friend posted on Facebook about Tourette's Syndrome (her son has it) that I finally looked it up and read the definition. Yep, that is exactly what Cole had and I was devastated.
Tourette's Syndrome is a clinical diagnosis as there is no test that can be done to confirm it. You just go to a neurologist, tell him the symptoms, he will observe and then you get the diagnosis. In order for Tourette's to be diagnosed, the child must have continuous motor ticks and at least one vocal tic present for over a year. Cole fit this description and as soon as I realized it all hell broke loose.
Its like he knew that I knew and suddenly he had 4 motor tics and 3 vocal tics going on at once and their intensity increased as well. His noises were louder, his movements were more jerky, more fierce and it actually looked like he was going to hurt himself. One of his tics was self gagging. He would stick his fingers in his mouth until he gagged. He was punching himself in the head, jerking his head forward and back, knocking knees, doing back bends, flapping his arms, repeating the TV, me and himself and finally SCREAMING on the top of his lungs.
I remember (and will never forget) Mother's Day of 2013. For the entire day, Cole screamed on the top of his lungs 60 times a minute. That is once every second - I counted. I could not interact with him, he was mostly non functional because all he could do was scream. I spiralled into a deep despair because I had no idea what was going to happen to my son.
Everything I read told me that there is no cure. TS was genetic (even though we have none of it in our family) and all the available medications work at best by reducing the tics by 30% with horrid side effects. Some of the antipsychotics reduce the tics more effectively but can leave the child with a permanent movement disorder. This was not something I would ever consider. The most common progression of this syndrome is that the tics would likely get worse as he passed through adolescence with a 60% chance of them subsiding by adulthood. Even then, the co-morbid diagnoses of ADHD and OCD (which are extremely common in kids with TS) may be even harder to deal with than the tics and they would never subside even as he got older. My son was 5 and a half and that was WAY TOO FAR in the future for me to even think about. He was supposed to be starting Kindergarten this coming August and with the way things were, I really didn't think that was going to be possible. I felt like I had no options and how could God deal me such a horrible hand of cards.
So I did what I was supposed to do and took Cole to a neurologist and a psychiatrist and since I have a very solid background in science and biology as well as a voracious appetite for research, nothing they told me surprised me. Cole had Tourette's Syndrome, ADHD, OCD and anxiety. His behavior during those appointments was horrific. He was screaming and not focusing and being a totally different child then the one I had known for the past 5 years. I could understand it and accept it more if Cole was born this way but for the majority of his life, he was a "normal" child (I hate the word normal by the way but for lack of a better word...) and now he had done a complete 180 within a matter of weeks and was this non-functioning child that could not stop making loud noises or forceful movements. At least now I had some answers but really what did that change?
The only thing those diagnoses did for me was to send me into a deeper depression. I was waking up at 2am every night with full blown panic attacks. I mean I would be on the kitchen floor, heart beating through my chest knowing for sure that I was going to die right there in my house. Thankfully, I did not but if any of you have ever had a true panic attack, it feels like the real deal. NOT FUN, I tell you, not fun at all.
The opinion of both these western medicine doctors was to put my 5 year old son on Clonidine. Its a blood pressure medication that has an off label use of reducing tics. Its their first level go-to medication along with another called Tenex but both of the specialists I saw agreed that Clonidine would be the best start for him. I did not agree.
I knew there had to be an answer, something deeper so I drew upon my holistic beliefs and went in search of the solution. It had to be out there and nothing was going to stop me until I found it......
Around 3 years of age, Cole started making some little grunting noises when he ate. I noticed them right away and promptly asked his pediatrician what they were about. She reassured me that they were nothing and probably just anxiety related and would eventually go away. Eventually, they did but only to return months later as a different sounding grunt. They weren't very frequent so I chalked up to anxiety like the doctor mentioned and assumed they would just go away on their own.
Before he turned 5, Cole developed a "movement" that really had me concerned. It was a head jerk. He would nod his head down sharply and touch his chin to his chest. Again, it was infrequent but it was enough for me to ask the pediatrician about what I should do. Again she assured me it was a transient thing and that it would surely go away. Well, it did. Only to be replaced by knocking knees a couple of months later. Cole would be walking, stop and then knock his knees together 2x and then keep walking. It was actually kind of cute to see but I knew deep down that something was wrong.
I didn't really clue in until the spring after he was 5. It was March and Cole started making a weird noise that involved rolling his tongue. If I could write the noise down it would look like this "brrrreeeeeet". He started making this noise frequently and then almost non-stop. It was then that a friend posted on Facebook about Tourette's Syndrome (her son has it) that I finally looked it up and read the definition. Yep, that is exactly what Cole had and I was devastated.
Tourette's Syndrome is a clinical diagnosis as there is no test that can be done to confirm it. You just go to a neurologist, tell him the symptoms, he will observe and then you get the diagnosis. In order for Tourette's to be diagnosed, the child must have continuous motor ticks and at least one vocal tic present for over a year. Cole fit this description and as soon as I realized it all hell broke loose.
Its like he knew that I knew and suddenly he had 4 motor tics and 3 vocal tics going on at once and their intensity increased as well. His noises were louder, his movements were more jerky, more fierce and it actually looked like he was going to hurt himself. One of his tics was self gagging. He would stick his fingers in his mouth until he gagged. He was punching himself in the head, jerking his head forward and back, knocking knees, doing back bends, flapping his arms, repeating the TV, me and himself and finally SCREAMING on the top of his lungs.
I remember (and will never forget) Mother's Day of 2013. For the entire day, Cole screamed on the top of his lungs 60 times a minute. That is once every second - I counted. I could not interact with him, he was mostly non functional because all he could do was scream. I spiralled into a deep despair because I had no idea what was going to happen to my son.
Everything I read told me that there is no cure. TS was genetic (even though we have none of it in our family) and all the available medications work at best by reducing the tics by 30% with horrid side effects. Some of the antipsychotics reduce the tics more effectively but can leave the child with a permanent movement disorder. This was not something I would ever consider. The most common progression of this syndrome is that the tics would likely get worse as he passed through adolescence with a 60% chance of them subsiding by adulthood. Even then, the co-morbid diagnoses of ADHD and OCD (which are extremely common in kids with TS) may be even harder to deal with than the tics and they would never subside even as he got older. My son was 5 and a half and that was WAY TOO FAR in the future for me to even think about. He was supposed to be starting Kindergarten this coming August and with the way things were, I really didn't think that was going to be possible. I felt like I had no options and how could God deal me such a horrible hand of cards.
So I did what I was supposed to do and took Cole to a neurologist and a psychiatrist and since I have a very solid background in science and biology as well as a voracious appetite for research, nothing they told me surprised me. Cole had Tourette's Syndrome, ADHD, OCD and anxiety. His behavior during those appointments was horrific. He was screaming and not focusing and being a totally different child then the one I had known for the past 5 years. I could understand it and accept it more if Cole was born this way but for the majority of his life, he was a "normal" child (I hate the word normal by the way but for lack of a better word...) and now he had done a complete 180 within a matter of weeks and was this non-functioning child that could not stop making loud noises or forceful movements. At least now I had some answers but really what did that change?
The only thing those diagnoses did for me was to send me into a deeper depression. I was waking up at 2am every night with full blown panic attacks. I mean I would be on the kitchen floor, heart beating through my chest knowing for sure that I was going to die right there in my house. Thankfully, I did not but if any of you have ever had a true panic attack, it feels like the real deal. NOT FUN, I tell you, not fun at all.
The opinion of both these western medicine doctors was to put my 5 year old son on Clonidine. Its a blood pressure medication that has an off label use of reducing tics. Its their first level go-to medication along with another called Tenex but both of the specialists I saw agreed that Clonidine would be the best start for him. I did not agree.
I knew there had to be an answer, something deeper so I drew upon my holistic beliefs and went in search of the solution. It had to be out there and nothing was going to stop me until I found it......
Monday, July 9, 2012
Green Solutions For Those On the Go!
So now that I have this juicer and I must say I am pretty addicted to it, I make juices all the time. In the morning I create a nice blend of kiwi, mango, pinapple and coconut milk which makes me feel like I am back in Bora Bora. In the afternoon I concoct my veggie detox with cucumbers, celery, carrots, kale, ginger and an apple. Most of the time I am in between errands or playdates and I don't have time to sit and drink this delicious goodness at home. So I take my juice on the go with me in a nasty plastic container that over time collects bacteria and breaks down releasing toxins that harm the human body. I realize that this is probably not a good idea and would love to take my juice in a regular glass since glass is the best container of them all, but how? I have attemped to before and just wound up with juice all over me and the inside of my car. Trust me, not fun.
Well, I just got reconnected with an old college friend through Facebook of all places and realized very quickly that we shared the same passion for all things green. I was very excited to learn that she (besides being the mother of 4 beautiful children) has started her own "green" company called GreenPaxx. This company is what every giant consumer packaged goods company should strive to be. Its environmentally conscious and manufactures products that are completely non-toxic. The idea is to cut down on all the disposable and non-biodegradable plastic that collects in our landfills every single day. GreenPaxx has developed reusable straws and lids that fit all standard drinking glasses. These lids do not slip off. They are perfect for on-the-go or for kids. They are easy to use and easy to clean. Made of non-toxic silicone, these lids and straws solve a problem for us busy but healthy adults/parents and for our environment. I would use the straws with or with out the caps for whenever I need a straw. Think about all the waste that would be avoided by keeping an extra straw and cap in your purse at all times?
I don't think the average person realizes how much plastic is going into landfills and our oceans every day. Do you know there is a plastic "garbage" zone in the middle of the Pacific Ocean the size of Texas? Seriously, the size of TEXAS. As that plastic breaks down, the petrol inside of the plastic pellets release toxic gases, killing all the wildlife. This is the human footprint. Not enough people believe that their daily actions contribute to this huge problem.
If we all just took baby steps and looked for ways to reuse products that we would normally consider disposable we would be making change in the right direction. GreenPaxx is doing just that. Its so exciting to see new companies with such enviromentally conscious missions. I wish the bigger companies would make the move to more sustainable packaging and ingredients. The only way that can happen is if we choose for them. Remember, its the consumers that have the power. With every purchase, we cast our vote. Let's cast it wisely.
Please check out GreenPaxx and think about trying out one of their really cool products. You will certainly feel good about your purchase and you will be setting a great example for those around you!
Well, I just got reconnected with an old college friend through Facebook of all places and realized very quickly that we shared the same passion for all things green. I was very excited to learn that she (besides being the mother of 4 beautiful children) has started her own "green" company called GreenPaxx. This company is what every giant consumer packaged goods company should strive to be. Its environmentally conscious and manufactures products that are completely non-toxic. The idea is to cut down on all the disposable and non-biodegradable plastic that collects in our landfills every single day. GreenPaxx has developed reusable straws and lids that fit all standard drinking glasses. These lids do not slip off. They are perfect for on-the-go or for kids. They are easy to use and easy to clean. Made of non-toxic silicone, these lids and straws solve a problem for us busy but healthy adults/parents and for our environment. I would use the straws with or with out the caps for whenever I need a straw. Think about all the waste that would be avoided by keeping an extra straw and cap in your purse at all times?
I don't think the average person realizes how much plastic is going into landfills and our oceans every day. Do you know there is a plastic "garbage" zone in the middle of the Pacific Ocean the size of Texas? Seriously, the size of TEXAS. As that plastic breaks down, the petrol inside of the plastic pellets release toxic gases, killing all the wildlife. This is the human footprint. Not enough people believe that their daily actions contribute to this huge problem.
If we all just took baby steps and looked for ways to reuse products that we would normally consider disposable we would be making change in the right direction. GreenPaxx is doing just that. Its so exciting to see new companies with such enviromentally conscious missions. I wish the bigger companies would make the move to more sustainable packaging and ingredients. The only way that can happen is if we choose for them. Remember, its the consumers that have the power. With every purchase, we cast our vote. Let's cast it wisely.
Please check out GreenPaxx and think about trying out one of their really cool products. You will certainly feel good about your purchase and you will be setting a great example for those around you!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Juicing Your Way to Health
So I jumped on the bandwagon. Yep, I did. I got a juicer. To me, they were always kind of intimidating. I guess that's why it took me so long. I didn't know how they worked or how they could actually extract the juice form the fruits and veggies. It seemed like such a mystery to me. I was afraid of all the mess and the clean up. As far as the recipes went, well I was clueless. I wasn't sure what kinds of veggies to use or how much. I didn't realize that its kind of "learn as you go". Experimentation is the key to good juicing!
From all of my research, I have learned some key things about juicers. Let me clear up some confusion for you. Many people think that a VitaMix will suffice as a juicer. This is false. A VitaMix, as amazing as it is at pulverizing anything and everything, will not be a good substitute for your juicer. The reason is that there is no way to extract the pulp or fibrous tissue from the mix. A VitaMix will work effectively for making healthy and delicious smoothies, sauces and blended drinks. But, you need a juicer to make the the real hard core healing potions that I will speak of next.
There are two kinds of juicers (well maybe more than two but I will speak of the 2 most common ones here), a centrifugal juicer and a masticating juicer. The centrifugal juicer will have blades that spin and pulverize the fruit/veggie and the juice will "spin" out of the juicer. A masticating juicer "chews" up the fruit/veggie in order to extract the juice. For things like wheat grass, a masticating juicer is necessary. They tend to be more expensive as well. However, they are more efficient at juicing and are worth the money if you plan in juicing everyday.
Since I got my juicer for free I wasn't able to choose what kind. I only had the choice of a centrifugal juicer and so far its been great. My next juicer will be a masticating one though. Anyway, I looked on-line for some juicing recipes and I found this blog . There are some really great recipes on here that help to detox your body. I noticed that cucumber and celery are the base for most of the recipes and there is good reason. These two veggies really give your colon a good cleansing.
My first juice was the following:
1/2 cucumber
2 celery stalks
2 carrots
1 apple
1 small beet
I realized quickly that it made way too much juice for me and decided to change it to this:
1/2 cucumber
1 celery stalk
1 carrot
1 apple
1/4 beet
This was more palatable and made just the right amount of juice to fill an 8oz glass.
Now I have started to add other veggies such as ginger and kale leaves. I change up my fruit from time to time for different flavors. Instead of an apple, I will use a mango or a kiwi and pineapple. the rule of thumb is not to juice more than 1 or two fruits. Most of your juice should contain veggies and have the fruit for flavoring - although kiwi's do have 3x the amount of calcium as an orange! The problem is that fruit contains a lo more sugar than veggies so its wise to keep them to a minimum.
After about 2 days of juicing I felt the difference. Almost immediate results! I had tons more energy and my skin was looking great. The cucumber will really give you a clear complexion and that is why I add it to every juice I drink. The beets are another story, if you aren't aware that they will turn things red, become aware of it now. You aren't dying, its just the dye from the beet juice! Beets are a good source of iron and an immunity booster/cancer preventor. They are an important ingredient in any juice. I choose to add them sparingly though, just a personal taste.
After about 1 week of juicing my body began to crave it. Now I must have a juice everyday or I don't feel "myself". I guess my body was missing all these powerful superfoods for so long and now that it has had a taste of it, it just wants more.
I would be glad to share my recipes and tips for juicing to anyone interested. Happy Juicing!
From all of my research, I have learned some key things about juicers. Let me clear up some confusion for you. Many people think that a VitaMix will suffice as a juicer. This is false. A VitaMix, as amazing as it is at pulverizing anything and everything, will not be a good substitute for your juicer. The reason is that there is no way to extract the pulp or fibrous tissue from the mix. A VitaMix will work effectively for making healthy and delicious smoothies, sauces and blended drinks. But, you need a juicer to make the the real hard core healing potions that I will speak of next.
There are two kinds of juicers (well maybe more than two but I will speak of the 2 most common ones here), a centrifugal juicer and a masticating juicer. The centrifugal juicer will have blades that spin and pulverize the fruit/veggie and the juice will "spin" out of the juicer. A masticating juicer "chews" up the fruit/veggie in order to extract the juice. For things like wheat grass, a masticating juicer is necessary. They tend to be more expensive as well. However, they are more efficient at juicing and are worth the money if you plan in juicing everyday.
Since I got my juicer for free I wasn't able to choose what kind. I only had the choice of a centrifugal juicer and so far its been great. My next juicer will be a masticating one though. Anyway, I looked on-line for some juicing recipes and I found this blog . There are some really great recipes on here that help to detox your body. I noticed that cucumber and celery are the base for most of the recipes and there is good reason. These two veggies really give your colon a good cleansing.
My first juice was the following:
1/2 cucumber
2 celery stalks
2 carrots
1 apple
1 small beet
I realized quickly that it made way too much juice for me and decided to change it to this:
1/2 cucumber
1 celery stalk
1 carrot
1 apple
1/4 beet
This was more palatable and made just the right amount of juice to fill an 8oz glass.
Now I have started to add other veggies such as ginger and kale leaves. I change up my fruit from time to time for different flavors. Instead of an apple, I will use a mango or a kiwi and pineapple. the rule of thumb is not to juice more than 1 or two fruits. Most of your juice should contain veggies and have the fruit for flavoring - although kiwi's do have 3x the amount of calcium as an orange! The problem is that fruit contains a lo more sugar than veggies so its wise to keep them to a minimum.
After about 2 days of juicing I felt the difference. Almost immediate results! I had tons more energy and my skin was looking great. The cucumber will really give you a clear complexion and that is why I add it to every juice I drink. The beets are another story, if you aren't aware that they will turn things red, become aware of it now. You aren't dying, its just the dye from the beet juice! Beets are a good source of iron and an immunity booster/cancer preventor. They are an important ingredient in any juice. I choose to add them sparingly though, just a personal taste.
After about 1 week of juicing my body began to crave it. Now I must have a juice everyday or I don't feel "myself". I guess my body was missing all these powerful superfoods for so long and now that it has had a taste of it, it just wants more.
I would be glad to share my recipes and tips for juicing to anyone interested. Happy Juicing!
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
The Dirty Water Magic Show
We just moved to a new home recently and the "welcome ladies" have been very busy coming by with gifts and free samples galore. Its a great way to get new residents introduced to local businesses but buyer beware. The other day I received a notice on my door, similar to one that FedEx would leave when you aren't home to sign for a package. The notice asked me to call this company "Bueno Neighbor" and give them my special code so that my gift could be delivered.
I called and was told that I would be receiving $50 of restaurant.com gift certificates, however I would have to allow an Eco Water dealer in my house to perform a water purification demonstration at no cost and no pressure to purchase anything. Since I am considering a water purification system anyway, I thought, why not?
Well, this guy shows up to my house with a large black box. He tries to take me through some antiquated slide show (via scrapbook) on the history of the company and the origins of hard water. If you live in the south and get your water from a lake which then must go through treatment before it hits your tap, most likely your water will be hard. It will also contain chlorine as well as fluoride, both of these can be toxic. I was aware of all this before the magician came to my house but I politely listened to his story. He told me he was NOT a sales person but an "advertiser" for the company. Now, with many years in marketing under my belt, I begged to differ with this man. He came into my house with a demo kit and slide show. He was indeed a salesperson, but I digress.
So after the dissertation on hard water was finished, the "advertiser" takes a test tube of my tap water and a test tube of his Eco Water and starts dropping colorful drops of unknown solutions into both. Of course my water turned bright yellow and his water stayed clear. OH NO! Bad sign right there. My water was very hard! Then he tested the chlorine levels by dropping more colorful solutions from unnamed bottles out of his magical black box. Yep! My water definitely contained too much chlorine!! Another bad bad thing. By this point, the average person would be shaking in their shoes about how toxic their tap is and how their entire family is going to die from chlorine poisoning.
Then comes the kicker. Our friendly advertiser tries to demonstrate how much we could be saving if we bought an Eco Water purification system. It was fuzzy math to me, the only thing I saw was how much he wanted us to spend on this system. $7,000!!!! YIKES! However, if we signed on the dotted line that instant, he would give it to us for $6,000. The offer was valid for 15 minutes.
We were floored. Shocked really, that this guy could (with a straight face) ask us to spend $6,000 without even doing 1 minute of our own research on this company, brand or product. I asked him if he could give us some time to think about it, call him tomorrow maybe. NO. It was yes or no that very minute. My husband laughed and sent him on his way, immediately. But before he packed up his gear, I wanted my $50 worth of restaurnt.com gift certificates. The guy was only planning on giving me $25!! The nerve. Needless to say, I got what was coming to me.
I can not believe a company that has been in business since 1925 actually does business this way? Is it possible that people are stupid enough to sign away $6K or more on something they know nothing about? I didn't believe my water was that bad anyway. I had no idea what chemicals he was dropping in it to make it turn those colors. It was a complete magic show. It should be no surprise to anyone that when I Googled the company all sorts of scam reports came up about Eco Water. They are a legit company with as legit product, however, I think its way overpriced and their sales techniques are beyond shady. People are veiwing them as a scam because of their sales techniques.
As for water purification systems, there are many others out there that cost 1/3 the price. I personally am looking not only for a purification system but an ionizer. One that makes the pH of my water more alkaline.
http://www.jupiterionizers.com/ This one was recommended to me by a friend. I am looking into it now and if I purchase, I will give a full report.
The moral of the story. If you don't have a purification system in your home:
1) Drink filtered water (reverse osmosis is a great way to purify)
2) Drink alkaline water (you can buy it by the gallon or get ionizers to drop in a gallon of purified water)
3) Use the purified water for cooking as well
4) Save your money for a purification system but not just to soften the water, get it to make your water healthy. Soft water does not equal healthy water.
5) Don't let any water magicians into your home, I do believe its a scam to some degree.
I called and was told that I would be receiving $50 of restaurant.com gift certificates, however I would have to allow an Eco Water dealer in my house to perform a water purification demonstration at no cost and no pressure to purchase anything. Since I am considering a water purification system anyway, I thought, why not?
Well, this guy shows up to my house with a large black box. He tries to take me through some antiquated slide show (via scrapbook) on the history of the company and the origins of hard water. If you live in the south and get your water from a lake which then must go through treatment before it hits your tap, most likely your water will be hard. It will also contain chlorine as well as fluoride, both of these can be toxic. I was aware of all this before the magician came to my house but I politely listened to his story. He told me he was NOT a sales person but an "advertiser" for the company. Now, with many years in marketing under my belt, I begged to differ with this man. He came into my house with a demo kit and slide show. He was indeed a salesperson, but I digress.
So after the dissertation on hard water was finished, the "advertiser" takes a test tube of my tap water and a test tube of his Eco Water and starts dropping colorful drops of unknown solutions into both. Of course my water turned bright yellow and his water stayed clear. OH NO! Bad sign right there. My water was very hard! Then he tested the chlorine levels by dropping more colorful solutions from unnamed bottles out of his magical black box. Yep! My water definitely contained too much chlorine!! Another bad bad thing. By this point, the average person would be shaking in their shoes about how toxic their tap is and how their entire family is going to die from chlorine poisoning.
Then comes the kicker. Our friendly advertiser tries to demonstrate how much we could be saving if we bought an Eco Water purification system. It was fuzzy math to me, the only thing I saw was how much he wanted us to spend on this system. $7,000!!!! YIKES! However, if we signed on the dotted line that instant, he would give it to us for $6,000. The offer was valid for 15 minutes.
We were floored. Shocked really, that this guy could (with a straight face) ask us to spend $6,000 without even doing 1 minute of our own research on this company, brand or product. I asked him if he could give us some time to think about it, call him tomorrow maybe. NO. It was yes or no that very minute. My husband laughed and sent him on his way, immediately. But before he packed up his gear, I wanted my $50 worth of restaurnt.com gift certificates. The guy was only planning on giving me $25!! The nerve. Needless to say, I got what was coming to me.
I can not believe a company that has been in business since 1925 actually does business this way? Is it possible that people are stupid enough to sign away $6K or more on something they know nothing about? I didn't believe my water was that bad anyway. I had no idea what chemicals he was dropping in it to make it turn those colors. It was a complete magic show. It should be no surprise to anyone that when I Googled the company all sorts of scam reports came up about Eco Water. They are a legit company with as legit product, however, I think its way overpriced and their sales techniques are beyond shady. People are veiwing them as a scam because of their sales techniques.
As for water purification systems, there are many others out there that cost 1/3 the price. I personally am looking not only for a purification system but an ionizer. One that makes the pH of my water more alkaline.
http://www.jupiterionizers.com/ This one was recommended to me by a friend. I am looking into it now and if I purchase, I will give a full report.
The moral of the story. If you don't have a purification system in your home:
1) Drink filtered water (reverse osmosis is a great way to purify)
2) Drink alkaline water (you can buy it by the gallon or get ionizers to drop in a gallon of purified water)
3) Use the purified water for cooking as well
4) Save your money for a purification system but not just to soften the water, get it to make your water healthy. Soft water does not equal healthy water.
5) Don't let any water magicians into your home, I do believe its a scam to some degree.
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