To the vitamins experts on this board....

[JohnBark]

my DS is now having difficulties taking a bunch of vitamins in the morning. so, my question to you all is, do you see any reason why the below 2 options wouldn't be effective? the reason behind the 2 options below are to reduce the number of pills in the morning and try to spread them out over the course of the day. at lunch and dinner, he now only takes 2 pills and a liquid dose of Omega-3. and he has never once fussed about taking those. so, please look at the below routine and let me have any suggestions or advice, whether positive or negative. and whether one is better than the other. thanks!


Breakfast

1/2 Teaspoon of Omega-3 (450 EPA/300 DHA)
1/2 Tablet of Vitamin C (250 mg)
1 Softgel of Vitamin E (100 IU)

Lunch

1/2 Teaspoon of Omega-3 (450 EPA/300 DHA)
1/2 Tablet of Vitamin C (250 mg)
1 Softgel of Vitamin E (100 IU)

Dinner

1 Tablespoon of Multi Vitamin Liquid
2 Tablets of Calcium (250 mg)
2 Tablets of Magnesium (200 mg)
1 Capsule of B-50
1/2 Teaspoon of Omega-3 (450 EPA/300 DHA)

OR

Breakfast

1 Tablespoon of Multi Vitamin Liquid
2 Tablets of Calcium (250 mg)
1 Capsule of B-50
1/2 Teaspoon of Omega-3 (450 EPA/300 DHA)

Lunch

1/2 Teaspoon of Omega-3 (450 EPA/300 DHA)
1/2 Tablet of Vitamin C (250 mg)
1 Softgel of Vitamin E (100 IU)
1 Tablet of Magnesium (200 mg)

Dinner

1/2 Teaspoon of Omega-3 (450 EPA/300 DHA)
1/2 Tablet of Vitamin C (250 mg)
1 Softgel of Vitamin E (100 IU)
1 Tablet of Magnesium (200 mg)

[AustinsMom]

I think that breaking them up to lessen resistance to taking them is a good idea. Another variation would be to give the calcium and magnesium at bedtime. That's what we do and it works well.

A bonus of doing the compounded vitamins from Pfeiffer is that it decreases the numbers some also. Austins a.m. ones are 5 different vits in one pill and his pm ones are 6 in 2 pills. We still do 3 essential fatty acids at both times, but this has been much more manageable for us.

[JohnBark]

can you share with me what Pfeiffer suggested you give your son for vitamins and supplements? and the reason why for each vitamin?

[catatonic]

Hi John,
Both of these look like a good way to get the vitamins into your son. My personal preference is for option #1...plenty of Omega-3 throughout the day, and the remaining vitamins in the evening when his body will be at rest most of the time without food interference or consuming liquids to hasten elimination of the vitamins in urine.

If you want to reduce pills even further, you may be able to eliminate the calcium. Unless you are dairy-free, chances are good that your son gets plenty through diet.

I don't know if your boy is corn syrup sensitive, but if so and if you find you are having mystery reactions, you might want to try going off the Vitamin C for a while to see if that helps. My son can't tolerate any "ripe" corn products, and that includes Vitamin C -- 99.9% of which is derived from ripe corn. So despite its marvelous anti-oxidant properties, he doesn't take any.

Another item to look at in case of mystery reactions is the B-complex. It took us a bit of hit and miss to discover that my son can't take B-6. He does well on B-1, though, which is often the case for those who react badly to the B-6. The opposite is also true - those who react badly to B-1 tend to do well on B-6.

Hope things are going well with you.

[JohnBark]

things really aren't improving, even with vitamins and supplements. we've seen some really bad days and my DW and I are very frustrated with the lack of results from FG and now the addition of vitamins and supplements. We've been on vitamins and supplements since early February '04. So, I think they should have kicked in by now.

That's why we are going to Pfeiffer at the end of this month for more testing and hopefully some more answers and help.

[AustinsMom]

John, After visiting Pfeiffer I realized that my best intentions (giving vitamins, etc.) were making Austin worse because he couldn't tolerate the copper or folic acid. Just stopping those things without adding anything else resulted in improvement. If you search for Pfeiffer, you'll find a post from several months ago about what Pfeiffer recommended; but I don't think it will provide much info for you. You will need to find out what your child's specific issues are and vitamins will be recommended according to that. Hang in there. The end of the month is coming soon. I'll be anxious to hear how the visit goes for you.