Neuro DHA

[bransmomma]

I started my son on the Neuro DHA pills last night. I am hoping this will help with some of his issues. He is very active (more than a typical 3 yr. old), cannot sit still in school and constintly gets written up, doesn't sleep well, has poor short term memory etc. Does anyone know how long it takes before the pills take effect? He is taking the 500 mg - one a day.

Thanks.

[catatonic]

Hi Bransmomma -
I really hope that you'll find success with the Neuro DHA. This is not an immediate thing. For us, we reached a real turning point at 6 weeks. Researchers have concluded it requires 10-12 weeks to correct a fatty acid deficiency. Plan on sticking it out that long before you decide if it's working for you.

Keep in mind that DHA alone can't do the job. The fatty acids work in concert with one another, so you'll probably want to add an Evening Primrose Oil capsule. The one we use (my son is 9 and weighs 85 pounds) is 500mg, containing 50mg GLA. Vitamin E is also required for fatty acid metabolism. You don't need a lot, but there must be some. I give a 100IU capsule. A Vitamin-B complex will also help provide essential nutrients. (Some people report greater improvement by using B-6 alone, but some children react adversely to the B-6 but do better on the B-1 alone. Since I have no idea which side of the fence my son will be on, I just stick with a balanced B-50.)

Finally, every single chemical reaction in your brain requires MAGNESIUM as well as calcium and tiny amounts of zinc. Make sure your multi-vitamin has trace minerals. And use a MAGNESIUM supplement. I can't stress how important this is. Give 6mg per pound of body weight. My 85 pound son takes 500mg magnesium daily, although when he was very deficient and I was having trouble getting his levels up, I went to 750mg per day for a while. You can safely give 1000mg per day to a child, but generally don't need to and they'll just urinate the extra right out.

Best of luck to you. Keep us up to date on your progress.

Cat

[bransmomma]

Thanks Cat. I am going to try and add the B50 and Magnesium daily. Hopefully this will work. I'm glad you stressed it takes a couple of weeks to notice a change so I didn't stop giving it to him if I didn't notice any difference. He gave me a problem last night taking his Nuero DHA pill because he doesn't like swallowing it. Hopefully after a couple of times it will be easier for him. Thanks for the advise- I will let you know how this weekend goes.

[bransmomma]

Cat;

I just was on the GNC website and found a liquid B- complex that contains 2mg of B6, 1000mcg of B12, and 20mg of Niacin. Would this work if used on a daily basis? The B complex capsules have 50mcg of B12, 50 mg of B6, and 50 mg of Niacin. Would that be better? I was just hoping to make taking medicine easier for my 3 yr. old son.

Thanks.

Stacey

[catatonic]

Stacey -
The B vitamins can be unpredictable. There are a number of well conducted research studies that demonstrate how helpful B-6 can be with children like ours. Not with ALL children like ours, however. There is a significant sub-group who will respond poorly to vitamin B-6 (as in, they'll get WORSE) but they will show great improvement when given B-1 instead.

I think that since B-6 can be so beneficial, it is worth trying. However, I wouldn't recommend experimenting too much when you are still in the process of getting established on these supplements. For that reason alone, you might want to stick with a simple B complex for the first couple months. Once you've established a new baseline for behavior, then you can make changes and it will be easier to see what kind of effect they have.

We are STILL on the B-complex, in fact, because I am a big chicken. I just can't face the prospect of causing a bad reaction and then spending a week trying to get my son back on track. Wimpy, I know. I figure Christmas vacation is soon enough. That way, if he has a hard time with it, at least it won't affect him at school.

If you're braver than I am, though, you can certainly give the liquid B-6 a try. Just make sure you don't add anything else new for at least a week so that you won't get the effects of one confused with the effects of the other. It might be easier than trying to get a 3-year-old to swallow another pill, too.

(You can also buy magnesium in powder form, if pill swallowing is a problem. Chewable, too, but it tastes kind of yucky.)

Keep us all updated on your progress - and hang in there!

[bransmomma]

I have had my son taking Neuro DHA pills for about two weeks now. His hyper and agression have not changed however he is not sleeping as well. He was never a good sleeper but has really been more nervous and paranoid about sleeping lately. I don't know if these are symptoms of taking the Neuro DHA pills or if something else is going on. Anyone been through this?

[catatonic]

Stacey -
I don't know how I missed this the first time around, but your son is a 3-year-old! Duh. Bonk me in the head to wake me up.

I'm impressed you can get him to swallow any pill at all. Had I noticed that originally, I would have certainly said go for it on the liquid B so he wouldn't have to try to swallow anything else.

Also, there's powdered magnesium oxide you can buy. It's inexpensive and all you have to do is stir 1/4 tsp into some orange juice (or any other drink). (They have it at www.herbaladvisor.com at something like $3.50 for enough to last you 2 months.)

And Freeda's makes some really good chewable multi-vitamins.

I haven't heard of DHA affecting sleep one way or the other. I do know that my son suffered from sleep difficulties for a very long time. He had trouble getting to sleep, he'd wake up at 3 or 4 a.m. and wander around the house, he'd get up and stay up well before 6a.m. And on top of that, when he did manage to get to sleep, he'd wet the bed. Fun, fun, fun.

The one thing that helped the sleep problems - helped them FAST - was changing my son's diet. We put him on the Feingold diet and within a week he was sleeping like a normal child. He still sleeps fine most of the time, with maybe a problem once a month or so.

Give it a little more time. I know it seems like eternity when each day is a never ending battle with a hyper, oppositional child, but you probably need a few more weeks. Try a "home version" of the feingold Diet for a while and see if that helps.

And again, I'm sorry to be such a bonehead and not notice your little guy was only 3!

[bransmomma]

Thanks again Cat. You always have so much helpful information. I contacted his family doctor Saturday morning after my son was up all night. We are going tomorrow and she is going to look at his tonsils etc. and make sure he doesn't have sleep apnia. I did cut out his nap time over the weekend and it helped him fall asleep better but he still woke in the middle of the night. I may try changing his diet.

Thanks again.

[bransmomma]

Thank you 1madison. I am going to start adding magnesium this week and hope it helps.

Thanks.