Theanine, Ganoderma, and DMAE

[lllex]

Well I just finished going through all twelve pages in the Natural Alternatives area ! Just to see what I missed before joining this site. I'm feeling a little dazed ;D.
Anyway on one post about DMAE there was a link to an interesting article. www.nutraceuticalsworld.com/Sept011.htm
In this article it mentions tyrosine, theanine, S-adenosylmethionine, acetyl-carnitine, DMAE, and Ganoderma. We've talked about many of these supplements, and I've read that DMAE didn't work too well for Catatonic. I was wondering if anyone's tried the Theanine or the Ganoderma? Since my DS has the inattentive form of ADHD I was thinking of trying the DMAE on him to see if it helps, and perhaps Theanine and Ganoderma too. Does anyone know if you can give too much of these? Are there any adverse effects I should look for? I see a starting dose of 200-250mg per day for DMAE, does anyone know a good starting dose on the other two?

Right now I've got him on:
Special Two - 3 caps/day
Ultra Mag - 2 caps/day
RX Omega-3 - 2 caps/day
L-Tyrosine - 2 caps/day (500 mg each)
L-Carnitine - 2 caps/day (500 mg each)
Evening primrose oil - 1 cap/day (50 mg GLA)
Antioxidant - 1 cap/day
Lecithin granules - 1 T/day

That's 7 pills in the morning and 7 in the evening , what a trooper he's being. Many of these I've just started on recently, so I'm thinking I should wait to add more, just to see how well this works. Do you think 4 weeks is long enough to wait?

Thanks for all your help and support!

Laura

[catatonic]

Ganoderma...

I don't know much about this one, except that it's a Japanese mushroom and it's been the subject of a lot of talk lately over the possibility that it may help prevent tumor formation. If you're interested in reading about some of the recent research on what's in it and what it might do, you can look here:
www.toi-reishi.com/Substances%20and%20Effects%20of%20REISHI/Substances%20and%20Effects%20of%20REISHI.htm

It's recognized here for its anti-inflammatory effects, and has been examined in connection with some of the mental degeneration associated with age (Alzheimer's). There's more info on that here:
www.canited.com/reishi97d-5.htm

As far as I know, it hasn't been examined at all in the context of ADHD, or attentiveness, or pediatric administration.

Theanine...

This is an amino acid found in green tea. It is a derivative of glutamic acid.

Claims for what it can do include acting as an anti-oxidant, reducing stress and improving mental focus. Does it? I don't know. Some research shows that consuming theanine may increase the brain's alpha waves, which may result in greater relaxation and alertness. Typical dose is from 50mg - 200mg, which is the equivalent of drinking 3 or 4 cups of green tea each day. You can read about theanine here:
www.supplementhingych.com/supatoz/supplement.asp?supplementId=382

and here:
www.lef.org/magazine/mag2001/oct2001_abs_1.html

One of the things I found most intriguing about theanine is that in animal studies, it was found to have a protective effect on neurons (under conditions intended to mimic stroke, I believe).

DMAE used to be THE treatment for ADHD, prior to the pharmaceutical heyday. In fact, it wasn't abandoned by the medical community because of ineffectiveness, but because further research would have been too expensive and the drug companies couldn't have made back their money since it's widely available in supplement form.

Like all of the other ADHD treatments (including pharmaceuticals) it won't work for everyone, but will do wonders for some. Definitely worth a try. There is a good summary of it here:
www.wholehealthmd.com/refshelf/substances_view/1,1525,10023,00.html

You need to use between 100mg and 300mg, split into morning and evening.

[Kimmers]

From what I understand, the DMAE is effective for those with innattention problems, rather than hyperactivity problems. So I think this was why it didn't work for us. The plus side is that it is fairly inexpensive (at least I thought so) and so if it doesn't work, it isn't a bunch of money down the toilet.

Kimmers