Tics and Twitches Are all Too Common With PANDAS

You have company over and the kids are doing great. They are well behaved, no meltdowns, no rage, no throwing things. It’s all good except for the twitches. It’s a small thing, but the company has noticed and you can tell the kiddos are really struggling. You can tell that they are miserable. They are trying so hard and you are so proud, but you know they are suffering and you would give anything just to see your kiddo stop suffering from these tics and twitches.  

Your kids are struggling and you just want to help them.

Sound familiar? If you are a PANDAS mom, my bet is it does. Even though this is probably only a small portion of your concerns the desire to help your kids stop struggling with tics is undoubtedly strong.

Perhaps homeopathic Cuprum could help.

Made from a very dilute preparation of copper, Cuprum metallicum is one of my go-to tools for working with kids who experience tics as part of their overall symptoms.

Cuprum is a go-to when treating tics and twitches caused by PANDAS.

Homeopathic medicine is very effective in helping treat tics. The catch is that it has to be prescribed accurately based on the exact nature of the tics your kiddo is experiencing. There are over 200 remedies  that can treat tics, so prescribing on your own may be a bit daunting. As with anything you read by me or my colleagues at Resilience Naturopathic, this is for informational purposes only. We don’t recommend that you try this at home, rather use this information to help guide conversations with your provider. Or, give us a call if you have questions.

But I digress. Let’s get back to the type of tics Cuprum treats, shall we?

Cuprum for Contractive tics.

Copper in large doses can cause muscle contraction among other things. This is the nature of the tics we will see that can be treated by homeopathic Cuprum.

Specifically, Cuprum treats tics of the extremities that contract so much they almost seem to curl inward. Imagine fingers curling into the hands, the hands curling in at the wrists, and potentially even the arms curling in toward the body. We usually only see contraction this extensive as part of a seizure. Usually with tics, we see the motion generally affecting the fingers and wrists and not much else.

Cuprum also treat tics of the eyes where the contraction of the muscles forces the eyes to roll upward in the sockets. The lids are often closed during this motion, but if you look closely you will likely be able to see the general motion, even through closed eyes.

Another motion of the eyes that can be treated by this remedy are often described as “pendulum-like.” This means that they move from side to side.

After a while these motions of the eyes actually become quite painful. For kiddos who have strong verbal skills, they might describe the pain  as feeling bruised or like something is pressing on their eyes when they move. Red inflamed eyes with dilated pupils are very common.  The pupil dilation is painful as the dilated pupils don’t get smaller when bright light is shone on them.  Going outside on a summer day can be excruciating. To top off the discomfort the lid of the eye might twitch or spasm as well.

Cuprum can also treat a tic of the mouth called “risus sardonicus.” Many of our patients have described this as “joker face.” It is a look that is sort of a broad smile, but looks forced or pained.

Finally, Cuprum can also be effective in treating tics of the head and neck. The general motion you would see is a side to side motion caused by the contraction of the muscles. It could also look like the head is falling forward. You might even notice that these tics are made worse by touching the head.

Homeopathy treats the whole person

What we have described for you is just a small part of what Cuprum can treat. There are a whole host of behaviors symptoms (rage and biting, anyone?) that Cuprum can treat as well as many more physical symptoms as well. It is well known as an effective remedy for treating seizures and muscle cramps. We are seeing more and more cases where it is effective in resolving the tics and behavioral symptoms associated with PANDAS.

It is always important to take the ENTIRE person and ALL of their symptoms into consideration when treating homeopathically. To learn more about homeopathic medicine for PANDAS, or to read a case study, click here.