When my son was first diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome at 4, I didn’t want to put him directly on meds. His tics were mild and simply didn’t warrant them. I was open to the idea of drugs should his symptoms become unmanageable, but until then, I wanted to do something… anything… to keep the throat clears, eye rolls and head nods to a minimum.

OK, who am I kidding? Like a bad high school boyfriend, I wanted those tics banished from my site forever. But to answer Doctor Phil’s question: “How’s that workin’ for ya?” I had to respond honestly, “Not so well. Time for plan B.”

I went through a lot of rumination and spent ginormous hours on the Internet researching sites, supplements and remedies that promised to end TS. Here are five things that actually really helped in my son Stink’s case.

As if it weren’t already obvious with my use of language such as “ginormous,” let me reiterate that I am not a doctor, so please run everything by a practitioner you trust should you follow any of this advice. Continue reading →