hermom

the artificial additives that seem to cause an increase in tics are the food colorings (red40, yellow5 etc etc) artificial sweeteners like aspartame/nutrasweet & sucralose/splenda as well as MSG, high fructose corn syrup, BHT and other similar artificial preservatives, plus many other artificially made food additives.

so much processed and packaged/canned food has these in nowadays ):

What has been anecdotally documented re PANDAS/PITANDS kids is that, although supplements and good diets etc all are beneficial, yet, until the microbes are eradicated, the cycle of illness/tics persists.
There is still controversy over the whole subject of PANDAS & PITANDS, but we have had many parents reporting remarkable results (decreased tics, OCD etc) after prophylactic treatment with azithromycin(zithromax) after strep titre blood tests have indicated high antibody counts. Not all conventional doctors are knowledgable, and/or in agreement with this type of treatment and so you may need to find a good DAN, Integrative, Environmental or Naturapathic physician to help with this. I personally always try for a doc who is trained conventionally (MD or DO ) and has then gone on to specialize in Natural aka Alternative Medicine too. They just seem to have the right holistic balance, and one does have to be very careful of fringe practitioners who may be touting wonder cures for high prices!

as to supplements, again this is something that should be done carefully, as different people have different deficiencies etc

The one thing that really does seem to benefit people with tics is magnesium BUT again it should always be given in a balanced way with other supplements
Many parents of younger kids have been very pleased with those Natural Calm and Kids Calm powdered magnesium drinks as that is easier for younger kids to swallow