Re: taurine AND re: stimming and clenching teeth

[Guest guest]

Hi,

For as long as I can remember my son has clenched his fists at his

chin or nose, stiffening his arms, mouth and jaw. Frequently, he has

accompanied it with vocal stims. He does this most if he is excited,

overstimulated or cold. When the neurologist saw it, she said it was a

tic, not a stim (coincidently, this is part of what set us on the

journey toward a mitochondrial disease diagnosis.) This behavior seems

to meet the description of hyper-eklexia, or startle disease. It is

caused by a mutation in the glycine receptor. My son has always done

better with high doses of DMG (10 tablets a day, divided into two

doses.)For this reason, I have always steered clear of using taurine,

because taurine binds to glycine receptors, thus preventing glycine

from binding there. I think this may be related to why some kids can't

take taurine.

If you are seeing this clenching behavior, you might want to consider

the question of whether anything your child is taking binds to glycine

receptors. I may be all wet, but it might be worth looking at.

B.