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Post by babytay on Nov 6, 2003 15:12:32 GMT -5
I posted about this on catonic's last thread also. My son is on natural things to control his adhd gaba, omega 3 , b-6 and multi vitiamns. It is working but not good enough. I see some changes but not huge ones. His teacher said he is having some problems he is not sitting with the class anymore. The after school program is also having problems the other kids are starting to not play with him because he is so overbearing. I know it is the adhd coming through he was doing fine in these programs on the meds i just hate the side effects. I dont want to mess my son up with meds he is only 8yrs old if he takes this stuff for years it has to do something to his body it already started to show when he was taking concerta he looked druged. I am scared I dont want to go back to meds I cant talk to anyone because they dont understand. You see I want him to have friends and everything i am confused. I dont have the feingold food list yet but I am trying what I think is right for his diet. Please help if you have suggestions.    |
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Post by catatonic on Nov 6, 2003 22:11:24 GMT -5
Babytay -- There aren't any easy answers, are there? If you've ever felt overwhelmed, frustrated, depressed, hopeless and confused all at the same time...you're not alone. It's so hard to know what the right thing to do is. I know there was a point with my son where he was so out-of-control that even I couldn't stand him and I think that broke my heart more than anything else. How long have you been using the supplements? If it's been less than 6 weeks, it's probably too early to judge the results yet. I have a couple of suggestions if you don't feel it's working well enough. 1.) Look at how much Omega-3 you're giving. You can't hurt your child by giving more and it often helps. 480mg of DHA has been demonstrated to be some kind of threshold number, where providing less is ineffective. However, we've found that it's not that simple. When I was giving my son the more concentrated Omega-3, where he took 2 little capsules that provided 500mg DHA total along with 110mg EPA total, he did TERRIBLE. When we switched back to the basic fish oil capsule, he did very well again. These fish oil capsules each contain 120mg DHA and 180mg EPA, and he takes 4 each day. That's 480mg DHA and 720mg EPA. My son obviously needs a larger overall dose, and more EPA. We found it out by trial and error, like pretty much every thing else we use. If you don't want to purchase new supplements, give him MORE of the ones you already have to see if that helps. Double the dose if you want, it won't hurt. 2.) You don't mention magnesium. Did you do the simple home test to see if he's likely to be magnesium deficient? Magnesium is absolutely critical. The brain's neurotransmitters depend on magnesium to function as a gatekeeper so that they are transported throughout the brain. Too little magnesium means poor (or inappropriate) neurotransmitter activity. Magnesium is absolutely, critically important. Check out the website at www.mgwater.com or read Seelig and Rosanoff's book "The Magnesium Factor". Give your son 6mg magnesium per pound of body weight. That's 480mg for an 80 pound child. More WILL NOT HURT. Doses up to 1,000mg are entirely safe for a child. The worst side effect is loose bowels. My 85 pound 9-year-old is currently taking 750mg magnesium daily because he has a stubborn deficiency that we have been struggling to correct with less than perfect success. 3.) Even if you don't have a Feingold list, get RID of the artificial colors, the artificial flavors and the BHA, BHT and TBHQ to the best of your ability. It will help. (It will also be a pretty big pain in the you-know-what for you, I won't lie, it takes extra work. You get used to it, though, and develop new habits.) 4.) Some kids will react badly to the B6. Normally these kids show positive results on B1. You could try switching, or you could try using a B-complex instead of the B6. I hope these suggestions help a little. Remember, if you do end up going back to the meds, this does not mean you are a failure in any way. You're doing the best you can and struggling with an incredibly difficult situation. Be kind to yourself. |
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Post by babytay on Nov 7, 2003 0:10:15 GMT -5
Thank you I am glad you responded. I am going to try to change his diet it is very hard like you said. I will give him more omega 3. It is very late here I am trying to write this to say thank you for responding. I think today was hard for him to I am going to keep trying and praying.
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