PLEASE share what has worked for you...

[blaynesmama]

Hello all, I have a 4.5 yr old son who has been diagnosed with ADHD/ODD. We knew it since he was about 2.5 but just recently was diagnosed with it by a psychologist and our ped. We have tried natural alternatives since the age of 2 and spent around 800.00 total on anything and everything that we heard about...literally. Nothing seemed to really help. We tried him on Adderall it was horrible then strattera which seemed to really help but he couldn't swallow the pills and it was making it more than it was worth to force it on him. He took tennex for the last 3 days and he is so moody and even meaner than before. So I am not going to continue to guinea pig him on anything else. Until he can leard to swallow a pill for the Strattera we are going back to trying anything alternative that we can. Please tell me what has worked for you in so I can see if it is something that we have not heard of or didn't try. We tried the Feingold diet too. It didn't last to long with both of us working there was so much to change and do we spent most of our time trying to accomodate this diet. How do you guys so it? Thanks
April

[catatonic]

We use diet and nutritional supplements. The combination of both achieves what neither alone was able to do. First and foremost:

THE FEINGOLD DIET!!!!!!
This works miracles. It only works miracles, however, if you are very strict and very careful about it. And, yes, it can be a pain in the *** but you get used to it (especially once you see the wonderful results, you don't mind the work nearly so much).

We also avoid corn syrup VERY strictly and all other corn products as much as we can. With many children, there will be an additional sensitivity in addition to the basic Feingold program.

If you simply put your whole family on the diet, it's much easier. You don't have to accomodate special meals, you prepare the same food for everyone. And there's an increasing amount of allowed "junk food" on the approved Food List, so that you won't have to feel too totally deprived.

Nutritional supplements:
Our primary supplements are Omega-3 fish oil and magnesium. My son also takes a multi-vitamin with trace minerals, a vitamin E (you need it with the Omega-3) and a B-complex.

Amino Acids:
DMAE was, prior to the stimulant medication boom, the treatment of choice for ADHD. This has seemed to be the missing puzzle piece for us in addressing the hyperactivity that even the diet and supplements couldn't reduce enough.

It can seem a little overwhelming at first to look at what's involved in treating ADHD without medication. Like anything else, you get used to it. I know I don't regret one minute of the time or one ounce of the effort when I watch my son behaving like a normal, pleasant child instead of the Monster Spaz-Boy from H*ll.

[babytay]

Hello,

Meds didnt work well for my son either Concerta or Adderall. He was angry and moody.
Catonic has helped me and my son out so much. All of the things she mentioned on this thread have worked for us. He is 8 years old and takes all of those supplements. I will say it is worth all of the work. I have 3 children and I am very very busy but it is worth it to try to change the diet. I havent tried the Feingold diet fully yet but just the few changes I have made from reading the labels on food have helped. I stay away from the dyes now and sprite . My son is only 8 but he doesnt want to depend on the concerta and is actually working with me on not eating certain things if it will help him stay out of trouble.

I dont know as much as Catatonic about this subject but I can tell you that using supplements have made a difference in our lives. Dont get me wrong it was real slow at first its only been a month or so and we still have problems I find myself wanting to give a Concerta pill from time to time but I dont. Me and my son just have to work harder. If you are serious about supplements Catatonic is very good with this. I wish you luck.

[RiahBubbaPooh]

A hearty AMEN to the Feingold Diet. I would start there.

[Kimmers]

My 5 year old son, also dx'ed ADHD/ODD has not only benefited from most of the same natural supplements that Cat suggested but also from behavior modification. He still needs alot of help but we are nowhere near where we were 6 months ago before he was finally dx'ed. The behavior modifications have been the key to treating the ODD where as the supplements have been the key to treating the ADHD.

Some of the things I can suggest is that kids with ODD need need need consistency and routine!! We have alot of things in place that have really made our general life easier in dealing with his oppositional behavior. Basically every day I have a chart laid out for him to follow. They include all the things he is expected to do. There are pictures next to everything since he is only just starting to read (ie. brush your teeth, get dressed, get your shoes on, etc. etc.) and I use them for the whole day. (I could e-mail you a copy of it to give you an idea if you are interested). Another thing we have in place is a reward system. I have a small desk calendar with large spaces and I buy star stickers that we use for each behavior. Red=bad behavior, Blue=good behavior. At the end of the day, he must have more blue than red stickers and then he is allowed something special. Sometimes it is a sticker or a small toy or even a special game that we normally don't play...something that is an incentive for him. This has really been helpful because he knows everyday what is expected of him and he doesn't have the opportunity to say No or argue because he knows it expected of him daily. He actually reminds me more often than I do that he has to "check his charts." Another thing we do is the magic 1..2..3.. If I count to three before he stops misbehaving or fails to do something I have asked then he gets a privilege taken away (and make sure it is something he really enjoys or it won't have any effect.) We started out with taking toys away but it didn't phase him because he had so many more. Now we take away things like movie time or t.v. time etc.

As far as the supplements go in helping the ADHD, we have come a long way in those areas as well. Like Cat, we use the Omega 3, magnesium, B-vitamins and a multi-vitamin. We have seen a dramatic decrease in the ADHD symptoms since starting these things.

The problem we are experiencing now is that he seems to be suffering frequently from food-type reactions, in that he is fine except for isolated instances where he bounces off the walls and all of the fun things associated with ADHD. We have finally decided to purchase the Feingold diet in hopes that this will take care of the things remaining that need attention. As Cat said, though, I believe it would be hard to say this works unless you are going to stay faithful to it. I am also looking into adding the DMAE Cat spoke of as I have been considering this for awhile now.

Anyway, I have written a complete novel on our life stories but I just don't want to see you give up. Like you, many parents turn to meds. and find out that they don't see the results they expect from the meds. either.

Good luck to you,

Kimmers

[DenverSarah]

Feingold was our lifesaver. My son who was 5 at the time was *about* to get diagnosed ADD. He pretty much had been already just not officially. I got so lucky because Feingold was the first thing I found and the first thing I tried, and it works great for us. He wouldn't qualify for a diagnosis these days. The first couple of months are an emotional rollercoaster while you are spending 100% of your time thinking about, cooking, or buying food. And the rest of your energy gets eaten up by the "is it working or is all this effort just a waste?" thoughts that are unavoidable. In spite of that we made it through (just barely because I was single working FT at the time and about to go off the deep end). Now that we have been on it a year, it's easy! I strongly urge you guys to give it another go. It is hands down the most effective natural alternative available and compared to all the other stuff including meds it's CHEAP!
Good luck whatever you do. I know that it's heartbreaking when it's so hard to help!

[blaynesmama]

Kimmers, I would love for you to email me the chart my address is [e-mail] also what is DMAE and where can I get it at? I am willing to try anything. The chart thing sounds like something he would respond to he likes to earn things we don't have a chart but I think it would work well. Also Catatonic mentioned Sprite what does that do to them? Every few days if he has been good that is a reward that we allow him to have am I basically poisoning him with it? I will try the feingold diet since all of you say that it has worked it just seemed soooooo overwelming when my friend lent me her book. We did do many natural alternatives excluding food colorings and things like that ext but we hate that we resolved to using meds. I will take all the info I can get so bring on more if you have more suggestions..
Thanks
April

[dfp]

Hey April,
We're doing the Feingold diet too, and I'm not kidding when I say I got there kicking and screaming. I DID not want my son's behavior to be food-related. I cannot live without tomatoes. HOWEVER, as reluctant as I am to admit it, Feingold seems to be having a big effect on my son. It was hard to tell at first because he was also on Tenex and Omega-3 & supplements, but we just had a weekend where we "cheated", and he's been back to his old scattered, explosive self yesterday and today. I think the Tenex *is* helping, but it's clear that the diet also is helping.

The first time I went to the market to do Feingold shopping I was VERY cranky. I felt really trapped. But we've been doing it for a little while and it's getting easier now. It helps that we have a very good & large whole foods market near our house. At that market, I can assume things are ok FIRST, then check the label and put it back if it's really bad. At our 'regular' market (Stop & Shop), I have to be more defensive-- assume that something is 'bad' FIRST, then read the label and find it's ok after. The first method is much less stressful, if also more expensive!

Anyway, I wanted to offer you encouragement. It sounds like you're going through a really tough time. I can assure you we've been along some of those roads too. I'm sure you'll find a good method for your son, but until you do I know what a nightmare it is.

Take care and good luck.

-dfp

[catatonic]

There's so much good advice here, I'm going to have to save this thread!

Kimmers, the behavior mods sound like a great idea. We're getting some help with this from my son's psychologist, who's working with him mainly on social skills type things. (He needs help, believe me.) I think I'll give the sticker chart and daily schedule a try, as well. You're absolutely right about consistency being so important. I really struggle with that one, trying to juggle 4 kids and their activities while trying to keep a semblance of a consistent schedule going. There are never enough hours in a day.

On the Sprite thing...with my son, it's corn syrup. He absolutely cannot tolerate anything at all with corn syrup in it. Corn syrup equals return of the Spaz-Boy from H*ll. You wouldn't believe how many things they put corn syrup in! Sprite is the worst of the worst because it's loaded with corn syrup (practically all there is in it) If your child reacts to Sprite, you might want to consider testing him for a corn syrup sensitivity with a single item elimination diet.

This is very simple to do. It just means you remove all corn syrup, all products containing corn syrup, from his diet for a week and then let him have a corn syrup pig out. (Soda, pop tarts, etc.)

Once we removed the corn syrup, we also discovered there is a general sensitivity to corn with my son, but it isn't a big problem as long as we don't overload him on corn products. (For example, a piece of corn bread with dinner is OK. A whole bag of Fritos is NOT.)

Blaynesmama, you're lucky your son is still so young. You have total control over what he eats. (Of course, you may have to endure several screaming fits in the check out line and offend a few people who try to give him candy to be nice...but at least he can't procure junk food on his own.)

There are lots of experienced Feingolders here if you decide to go that route. I rely on them frequently for advice and support. You may find you spend more time in the kitchen, but you'll spend so much less time on discipline and such that you actually come out ahead!

BTW - DMAE is available in most health food stores vitamin section. You can purhase it on-line as well generally much cheaper. I get it from www.herbaladvisor.com Recommended dose is 200 - 250mg per day (preferably at least 1/2 hour before eating, but we can't always manage that).

[rosyred45]

Feingold has been a blessing in this house, but not as overwhelming as for many people.

I still can our veggies and we usually get either a steer or pig from my uncle, plus my husband hunts, so the freezer is usually ok.

The biggest thing for Mikey is HOT DOGS. We eliminated them for about a year, the reintroduced. Let's just say, no more hot dogs at this house.

I never realized until Researching everything, how much it affects everybody in our house. My husband has noticed the same thing. If he eats a meatball sandwich, he can litterally feel his ears getting red. That signals to him he had something that adversly affects him.

That's when he realized the plan wasn't all that bad.
I don't do the prepacked stuff anyhow, except mac and cheese, we found Annie's home grow, and the kids love it. they do have a web site. I think it's under annie's homegrown, but not too sure.

Hope this helped a little
Kaiti

[Kimmers]

Hi April-

I sent you that chart, please let me know if you don't get it! ( I sent it at 11:10 am CST so give it a little while. ) As far as the DMAE goes, I had asked Cat those same questions. I had posted a thread (Cat...DMAE) and if you look there, she posted a great article with lots of info. on it. I had been kicking it around for awhile but the article really moved me to go ahead with it. I am just not sure if I should give it right away with starting Feingold so I am checking into that first before I add anything new. I was also concerned about doing the Feingold diet since me and my husband both work out of the home but I decided that when we do start it, I will be sending my own lunches to school and my own snacks to daycare. I know with both of us working full-time it will be stressful but no more stressful that it is now when he is misbehaving. The supplements and the behavior mods. have worked wonders but there are still things that just seem to pop up from time to time that I really think wouldn't be an issue if we were restricting his diet. So that is where we are at with things. And as far as spoiling him with the special items for good behavior, it will work as long as you follow a few rules: 1. keep the items SMALL, of course you don't want to go out and let him pick out a $10 toy every time because then the 5 cent items won't mean jack squat 2. DO NOT reward for bad behavor whatsoever. I struggled with this at first because when we first started he would have more red stickers which means he wouldn't get anything. But he would whine and I would cave and say, okay from now until bedtime if you are good you can have something. BIG MISTAKE because he very quickly learned that even if he misbehaves all day he can still make up for it in the nick of time to get something at the end of the day. It took awhile to get that reversed out of him! And 3. Are there things your son likes to do with you or his dad that you just don't seem to do very often? I know with both of us working it was easy to say I didn't have time to play a game with him or read to him and all of his basic "kid" needs were not getting met. So most of the things he chooses are things that he can do spending time with us. And when it comes down to it, spending time with your child is not spoiling them! And I also think you and I have a good advantage because our kids are still very young! Anyway, I am rambling so I will let you proces this and let me know if you need anything!

Kimmers

[blaynesmama]

I wish I would have found this board when he was 2!This is great stuff. I am going to get the book and really start looking at labels. I did not know about the corn syrup...interesting. Thank you all so much for this help
April

[Kimmers]

Hi April-

I am also glad I found this board. I would be lost without it!

Good luck to you in your new journey...

Kimmers

[foley]

I have to echo the pp's. The Feingold Program works wonders for us. We started it about 3 1/2 yrs ago when my DS was 9. I *wish* we found it sooner. Then about a 1 year and half ago we added an Omega Fatty Acid Supplement and that was like the iciing on the cake. We also use GNC Mega Teen Multi Vitamin and Mineral Supplements.


Personally, I like to use the least invasive approach. I find it's easier to see what's working that way. So adding supplements slowly (very slowly) has been very helpful in teasing out what works & why.

HTH
Suzanne