Natural remedies

[Carrieskids]

Has anyone used "Brightspark", "Mesogold", or "Attentive Child"? What they claim sounds fantastic. But are they too good to be true. Brightspark claims that after 6 months you don't need anything anymore? Has anyone ever used these?

[Kimmers]

I tried Attentive Child with my son before I even discovered this website and learned about supplements. It did not do anything for my son. In fact, he hated the taste of them (they are huge, chewable wafers in "fruit" flavors) and it was a struggle to get him to take them. They weren't cheap and so it was a waste of money since I still have half a bottle left. The ingrediants are very good except that they are in such minimal amounts that they are not even close to therapeutic. I am sure others will say the same thing-usually if it sounds too good to be true, it is and it is also usually a rip-off.

Hope this helps,
Kimmers

[catatonic]

Generally these cures-in-a-bottle sound wonderful, because their strength is in marketing as opposed to treatment. Hard to tell without looking at the ingredients and quantities.

For example, with Attentive Child, there's nothing wrong with the ingredients, but they aren't present in sufficient quantities to do any real good...and some may not impact your child's symptoms.
...DMAE at 100mg is NOT enough to do any good. You need 250mg per day as a starting point. DMAE increases the neurotransmitter serotonin (if you take enough) so if your child's problem is with serotonin, it ought to help some. However, if your child's need is for more dopamine instead, this won't help at all.
...magnesium at 111 mg per 2 wafers is not enough. Therapeutic dose of magnesium is 6mg per pound of body weight so unless your child weighs under 20 pounds, you ought to provide more magnesium than this.
...lecithin and phosphatadyl are VERY important. They help produce the neurotransmitter choline and also make up the bulk of the brain's protective fatty sheath. You need lecithin. But a big jar of granules and sprinkle a couple tablespoons over your child's oatmeal or toast every morning. The .5mg is a joke. You need several GRAMS.
...DHA is also a joke at 15mg. You need about 30 times that much.
Overall, in my opinion, this supplement is inadequate. While the ingredients are appropriate, they are not present in sufficient quantity to help your child. You'd be better off purchasing separate supplements. More effective as well as more cost-effective.

On the Brightspark...it is a homeopathic remedy. While there are people who claim a great deal of success using homeopathic remedies, I personally have found them useless. Take a look at what the Center for Science in the Public Interest says about homeopathy. I think the nicest comment is to refer to it as "the ultimate quackery". A great deal of other research concludes that homeopathic remedies are simply placebos and work only via the placebo effect.

I'm not going to comment on the Mesogold except to say that there is NO research evidence of any kind showing that colloidal gold or silver do a thing for anyone. But, hey, people get well putting crystals on their foreheads, so who can really say what works and what doesn't?

Sorry to sound so mean and bossy, but I get steamed at these patent medicine claims that get your hopes up and take advantage of our desperation to help our children. Some people may have had good results with all of these things. I'd love to hear about it. Until I do, my personal advice is - don't buy them!!!

If you're interested in premixed supplements, take a look at bonnie grimaldi's website (mainly aimed at tourette's syndrome) for some natural remedies that have been well researched ( www.bonniegr.com ) or at Dr. Billie's Pain and Stress Center supplements ( www.painstresscenter.com )

[DenverSarah]

Don't waste your money. I made that mistake with Attend....which I ended up throwing away.


P.S. Also...to Cat there is a magnesium supplement question over on the FG board that needs you!

[HooDunnit]

Hi cat --

I see you're taking a swipe at people putting crystals on their foreheads!! LOL Don't you think you could get yourself in trouble!!

What I wanted to ask you about was this statement:

"For example, with Attentive Child, there's nothing wrong with the ingredients, but they aren't present in sufficient quantities to do any real good...and some may not impact your child's symptoms.
...DMAE at 100mg is NOT enough to do any good. You need 250mg per day as a starting point."

Let's use the letters X and Y, so that we could be talking about anything. If you say that a person needs "X" amount of substance "Y" per day, what do you mean?

Thanks,
Barry

[Kimmers]

Cat-

What do you think about these products on the Pain & Stress Center website:

www.painstresscenter.com/mall/Bnc.asp
www.painstresscenter.com/mall/Safjr.asp

Thumbs up or thumbs down?

Kimmers

[catatonic]

Barry, you always ask good logical questions! Normally, if I make a statement like "you need to give at least Xmg of substance Y each day" what I'm saying in an abridged way is that research on the use of this particular substance has shown in general that a lower amount will not produce measurable behavioral changes whereas it will at a higher level. Or that (as with magnesium, for example) blood serum tests have demonstrated that this is the level required to show measurable improvements in blood chemistry.

Normally, I have a number of research citations available for those statements. I don't always post them, however, because 1.) it's time consuming to find them all, 2.) the volumes of technical information can be off-putting and overwhelming to many people and 3.) sometimes you have to read 6 different studies to get to the actual kernel of information that's relevant. However, any time you have a question about the specifics of a particular supplement, I'd be more than happy to post references or links for anyone interested in more in-depth reading.

Kimmers, in general, I think the Pain and Stress center supplements are high quality and carefully thought out. I haven't found that they make unsubstantiated cure-all claims, either. Depending on what your expectations are from these products, I'd give them both a thumbs up.

The "Balanced Neurotransmitter Complex" listed in your first link has a number of good things going for it, but I wonder if its total amino acid content at 625mg provides enough of the specific amino acids to have therapeutic results. If you use it as a general supplement, much as you would protein powder for example, it's probably a brain-healthy choice. If your aim is to increase either serotonin or dopamine in the brain as a way of addressing ADHD symptoms, it probably does not contain enough of the required amino acids.

The "SAF for Kids" is a far more potent supplement. Quantities of taurine, glycine, GABA and B6 are appropriate for therapeutic use. GABA has an inhibitory effect on neurotransmitter activity and therefore ought to increase brain levels of neurotransmitters. GABA is the basis for a number of prescription medications including gabapentin and the anti-anxiety drug benzodiazapine. I know that OhMama has used GABA so maybe she can chime in here on how well it works.

DenverSarah, I'm with you on Attend...don't waste your money!

[ohmama]

My first choice was to try the GABA. After all, the prescription alternative of gabapentin being a med was not desirable to me if I could get the same results using the natural amino acid form. What I discovered was that the GABA as far as I could see was not crossing that blood brain barrier. I could be wrong but I am assuming that's why it didn't work for us. When I questioned my doctor about this he said the GABA does not get into the brain. Even though I don't have much confidence in this doctor I tend to go with this thought.

The very frustrating part of it all is that it is next to impossible to find someone to guide you on the use of these amino acids if you require treatment that targets a specific brain area. You have to become a chemist yourself.

BTW I ended up not using the gabapentin (neurontin) because of the law suits against the company that manufactures it and it's claims for use being so questionable. I am using Depakote, this is also a med used to increase GABA in the brain.

As far as the Pain & Stress products go, I use several of these different products because of their pharmaceutical quality. I have noticed very good results in taking them for myself as well as my other adhd boy. They work well for him. It seems "fire boy" breaks all the rules, even with natural alternatives.