Today's Tourette's Tidbit
I've been interested in the apparent connection between Tourette's tics and candida. Candida is the yeast that occurs naturally in our bodies. When it gets out of control due to antibiotics, bad American diets or any other cause, it can wreak havoc. I had a problem with it back in the late 90's because of a 30 year regimen of maintenance antibiotics to fight bladder infections (I have 1 kidney so they were trying to avoid infections). When candida becomes out of control, it can actually cause bacterial infections. So in the late 90's, I basically lived with a bladder infection about once a month. I got every bronchial infection that blew through town. I got ever sinus infection, as well. I was sick so often that most of my vacation time was used as sick days.

In 1999, I got help in the form of a great acupuncturist and his staff. They radically changed my nutritional intake (ie - bagged the American sugar-based diet) and gave me 2 to 3 acupuncture treatments a week for about 2 years. It took a while but I lost 25 lbs without changing my exercise habits, I was able to stay antibiotic-free for quite a few years. I stopped getting bladder infections, bronchial infections, sinus infections, stomach bugs, flu, colds. I mean, I would get maybe one malady a year.

When I first started trying to read everything there is on the web about Tourette's, one of the first things I noticed was quite a few articles on how many doctors feel that high levels of candida in the body can increase the severity of tics.

Dr. Bruce Semon has a short article (http://www.candidafree.net/resource_36.htm) that explains how the yeast may affect the chemicals in the brain. One could see how that might exacerbate the tics.

Another nutritional website (http://www.nutrition4health.org/nohanews/NNF06TicsAnd%20Tourettes.htm) mentions how some people have dealt with their family member's Tourette's with alternatives to mainstream western medicine. It mentions candida specifically.

There is one article I can't find that I read last year when The Boy was first diagnosed. It was by a doctor who documented a young man's case of Tourette's. His tics had gotten so severe that it made day to day living and social interaction near impossible. The doctor put him on an anti-candida diet and oral doses of nystatin. I remember reading that his tics were incredibly diminished. If I find that article, I'll put a link here later.

As part of my treatment back in 1999 & 2000, I was put on an anti-candida diet. It was the hardest thing I've ever done - I mean to really do it. You can find it out on the web in many forms but most are pretty similar. It's no processed sugar, no white flour, no fermented products (so there goes alcohol & vinegar - try finding foods without vinegar!), no yeast, no fungus (ie - mushrooms and be wary of foods that naturally have mold). They also took me off any carbonated beverages - no soda, no sparkling water. There's more to it. They put me on a very balanced diet, as well. I can tell you I have never felt healthier than those years I did that diet hard core. But it's hard to do in America.

The Boy was raised on an organic, anti-candida diet pretty hard-core until he was two. After that, he had very little processed sugar. Once he was off antibiotics - around the age of 4, we let him eat what he wanted. But since he was raised on very little sugar and lots of veggies and fruits as treats, he still eats amazingly well to this day. I am wondering if we unwittingly helped keep his Tourette's at bay or kept it less severe. I'd like to hope so.

I'll post more a little later. The boys just got home so I need to go be mommy.