My DD5 has nervous tics.... (magnesium content)

[ogreenlee]

When my DD was three, she developed a coughing tic. It lasted what seemed like forever. It pretty much went away, but in the past week she's developed two new ones.. she flicks her teeth with her thumb or finger, and opens her eyes real wide and looks off to the side.

Over the weekend we had her 5yr old b-day party. It was very bad that day... almost constant.

I did constant online searches for about 4 days straight. The thing that kept recurring in many of these searches: MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY.

So.. over the weekend we started her on supplements. I had checked her diet, and she hardly gets any magnesium but quite a lot of calcium. At GNC, the lady told me that calcium requires magnesium for absorption, and that most people are magnesium deficient... and if you fill yourself with calcium, it's depleting all the magnesium that you might have. I came home, looked up that info, and everything I've read says the same thing the lady at GNC said. (I never fully believe anything or anyone 100% at face value)

Then yesterday, I took her to her pediatrician, who examined her and is sending her to a neurologist. Because she had been taking the magnesium and her multi-vitamin, they couldn't run the blood test this week, either. So, they told me to take her off of both until we get back from our beach trip next week.

But do you know.. yesterday and today.. her tics are much calmer. I can't help but think it was from two days of giving her magnesium.

Please do your own study on this. It's amazing what magnesium does for the body and central nervous system. This last week, I've read many stories of people with kids that have ADD, ADHD, Tourette's, and other nerve/sensory issues that have been able to control their symptoms with magnesium supplements. It doesn't hurt (unless you give WAY more than the RDA) and most people (75% of Americans) are deficient, and I've read that since we're a culture who pushes CALCIUM CALCIUM CALCIUM, but never magnesium... that we're actually causing ailments by doing so, b/c both are required to function. If you're not getting enough magnesium, you're not absorbing any of the calcium, and instead developing calcium deposits inside your body.


Thanks for listening. It's been a tough week at our house, but we have hope!

 

[Aunt Flancy]

Thanks for the info. I will do some research also. I have an almost 14 year old son who has ADHD and Asperger's Syndrome and he has had different "tics" like this over the years. Right now it is clearing his throat. Kids at school tease him, so I would be very willing to try something new, especially before school starts again since he will be starting high school.

 

[minkydog]

Yikes! This sounds pretty worrisome. I'm glad you're going to follow up with a neurologist, to rule out other bad stuff. Hopefully, it will turn out to be "just" vitamin deficiency. Good luck!

 

[ogreenlee]

Thanks for the info. I will do some research also. I have an almost 14 year old son who has ADHD and Asperger's Syndrome and he has had different "tics" like this over the years. Right now it is clearing his throat. Kids at school tease him, so I would be very willing to try something new, especially before school starts again since he will be starting high school.

Please do!! It couldn't hurt to try. Everyone could use more magnesium in their diet. Much luck to you and your son!!

 

[Janet Hill]

My son also has aspergers and adhd and those annoying tics. Some days he has none other days they are very pronounced. His are related to stress and too much stimulation. Unfortunately, he tics the most at Disney (he loves it there though), but there is just so much going on his brain is overloaded.

What helps him the most is lots of exercise, particularly swimming. He swims 4 days a week for 1.5 hours a day. Seems like when he sticks his face in the water and blocks out the world he's rejuvenated.

 

[ogreenlee]

How early is Asperger's detected?


My dd was at the pool yesterday. She actually swam on her own for the first time yesterday, too. No swimmies, floats.. nothing. I was super excited.

Oddly enough.. her coughing tic when she was three was at its worse when we went to Disney. Half of my pix from that trip are of her coughing.

We went back when she was four with no incident.

 

[Merriwind]

I did this to myself taking a lot of calcium about 8 years ago. Wound up with terrible vertigo! Couldn't walk down the hall to the bathroom without hanging onto the walls or crawling. 24-hour bed spins, ugh! Went to a doc at my mom's (where I was trapped). He tapped on my face and I twitched. He said magnesium deficient. I did some reading. It made sense.

Since then, I haven't taken just calcium, but a calcium/mag supplement. ogreenlee is right. Magnesium does a lot for your body!

ogreenlee, I hope that your diagnosis was right and supplements return your DD to normal. Good luck!

 

[monymony3471]

I have found this info very usefull and interesting and most likely will look into this for my son.

The bugging of the eyes and turning his head is one of his most famous tics

He also makes a lot of throaty noises.


He's being treated for ADD also.

 

[brettgirl]

Thank God I am not alone, my autistic (high functioning), anxiety state son has tics-throat one right now. His tics have been scary-before going to disney the last time he started a neck twitch, we were beginning to think it was a seizure but it stopped once we got to disney-anxiety! Please keep us informed of your magnesium "test". How much do you give your child (or look for in the multi vitamin/mineral)

 

[ogreenlee]

Thanks everyone!


I will definitely keep everyone informed as soon as I'm able to start the regimen again. It's hard not giving her the supplements as I wait for her tests, because she has shown much improvement over the last couple of days. I wasn't sure to believe the claims I had read about parents saying that it seemed as if their child's symptoms ended overnight, but now I'm skeptical to myself.


I know that my daughter doesn't eat hardly any foods rich in magnesium. For her age, the RDA is 130mg of elemental magnesium. (4-8) Here are some links that show foods rich in magnesium:

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=75

(my kid eats nothing on that list)

Here is another list, but also other information including possible interactions and other precautions.

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/magnesium-000313.htm

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/magnesium.asp



There's hardly any in her Flintstone vitamin, and I know she's not eating hardly any of the food listed in any of these websites.

I found this product at Whole Foods formulated for both adults and kids:

ww.cal mna tural.com/kidscalm (the adult product is at the top and the lady at whole foods said that she takes the calcium/magnesium portion every night)

I got my mom one, b/c she has arthritis really bad, and takes her calcium like she's supposed to, but no extra magnesium.


Thanks for listening, everyone. I am, by no means, any kind of expert, and please research this for yourself to see if it's something that might be helpful to you or your family. I just couldn't help but pass it on after seeing so much on it.

 

[Janet Hill]

Thanks everyone!
I found this product at Whole Foods formulated for both adults and kids:

ww .cal mna tural.com/kidscalm (the adult product is at the top and the lady at whole foods said that she takes the calcium/magnesium portion every night)

This certainly can't hurt, so I'm going to get some today and give it a try.

 

[frtchr]

I have taken Natural Calm every night since I was pregnant with my first child. When I forget to take it, I don't sleep as well and I have crampy legs. I swear by it!

 

[disneymomoftwins]

My DD 11 has ADHD and was on medication. She would have the cough tic and also close her eyes real tight and scrunch up her face. Our pediatrician said that the medication she was on could cause it. Hers would come and go and maybe not have any for months at a time. She is off of her meds now and hasnt had any since she has been off.

 

[bumbershoot]

Cal/Mag supplements are *amazing*.

And this thread is really timely, b/c my hubby finally took one last night, and for the first time in ages, he slept like a rock! The mag helps with sleep, it helps with jitters. When I was pregnant and so uncomfortable I could barely sleep (I'm only 5'3" and on arrival my son was 22" AND he was posterior with arms up over his head/at his face so he was taking up just soooo much room), and then I developed restless legs. Started taking cal/mag and not only could I sleep, but my legs stopped moving around on their own.

Good for you for looking into this!!!!

 

[Fintastic]

I did a search myself a couple years ago when I had a tic in my eye I couldn't get rid of. I figured I'd try the magnesium. It seemed to work. After a few days of taking it, I also noticed another bonus. I have mild Restless Leg Syndrome and the episodes would drive me crazy. After a few days on magesium, I wasn't having episodes anymore. I've been taking magnesium daily since then. If I forget a day, I can tell because my legs start feeling crawly again.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

This is so interesting!

DS12 has ADD, and lately he has developed a "lip licking" thing. His top lip is constantly chapped. I am always hounding him to put Blistex on it. It seems like as soon as it starts to get better it rebounds and gets bad again. We just started giving him vitamins in hopes of keeping him healthy for our trip next month. I need to look and see if magnesium is part of those or if I need to buy a separate supplement.

 

[ogreenlee]

It's good to hear some positive stories!


I just got this book in the mail today...

http://www.amazon.com/Magnesium-Miracle-Carolyn-Dean/dp/034549458X

It gets great reviews. I'll let y'all know what I think of it.

Even if magnesium deficiency isn't the underlying cause.. if it helps alleviate symptoms.. I'd consider that a win.

 

[bumbershoot]

Even if magnesium deficiency isn't the underlying cause.. if it helps alleviate symptoms.. I'd consider that a win.

And since alleviating symptoms is usually what medical people consider to be a cure, they should consider it a win as well.


As another thought...if your MD isn't really behind all of this for you, I'd strongly urge you to take your child to a nutritionist. Most MD schools don't even require more than one or 2 classes, and that's for recent grads. If your doc has been graduated for decades, they might have NEVER had a nutrition class. I went looking on medical school websites, and of the big known med schools who had a Nutrition dept, they are headed by nutritionists, not MDs. So you have nutritionists teaching the MDs a tiny bit of what they need to know for practice. So you might as well go to the source of the information.

 

[crazyforgoofy]

Someone recently recommended I give my 10 year old daughter magnesium because we have trouble regulating her blood sugar. She tends to become hypoglycemic very easily. We have to religiously balance carbs/proteins at every meal/snack and no kid wants to eat meat or cheese with her cookies at snack time.

Anyway, I was told magnesium can help stabilize blood sugar. After reading this thread and some of the links from it I'm going to give it a try.

 

[ogreenlee]

I meant to come back here and give an update on my daughter's nervous tics.

Do you know we took her to a really good child neurologist here in Atlanta, and I asked him about giving her magnesium for her tics, and he was very smug and said, "It's not going to hurt her to take it, but I doubt it'll work. If her symptoms get worse, call me and I'll write her a prescription. You don't even have to come back in."

I asked him, "What kind of medicine would that be?"

He said, "High blood pressure medicine. It really helps control the symptoms."

I said, "Um, no thanks. I think I'll try the natural way first."

I had not given her magnesium for more than a few days because I had to stop for her blood tests. After leaving his office that day and getting her blood work drawn, I went home and gave her a dose. After one week solid, her symptoms were controlled by 50%. After 2 weeks... GONE. And I've been steadily giving her a dose everyday and none of her tics have come back. Either it works or it's one crazy coincidence. I'm banking on the magnesium.

I would have come back here sooner to tell, but in the middle of all this my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer. It's been one helluva rollercoaster these last few months. Oddly enough, I started getting a subscription to a magazine called "Natural Solutions". My first copy arrived the week after finding out about my mom's condition. In it, an article about magnesium and lung cancer. Studies show that taking magnesium lowers your risk of lung cancers by 53%. Wish I would have known about that earlier, b/c I put my mom on magnesium about the same time as my daughter to help "regulate" her... which it did. I told her to continue taking it in hopes that it slows the cancer growth down as she has declined taking chemo.

Just wanted to pass all this on in hopes that it may help someone else.

I hope everyone has a great day!

-jackie