new here

[kppy3]

hi,
i'm new to this forum and was referred from another board.

i have an 8 yr old boy dx last spring with adhd. we tried stim. meds briefly with horrible results!

we now work with a homeopath, use supplemensts and nutrition as a way to treat him. had good results so far.

this looks to be a terrific board-i can't wait to read here more!

thanks,
kppy3

[Linda]

Hi Kppy3 and welcome...you have come to a good place.The people here are very supportive and I am sure you will find answers.So read away and come back!!!Linda

[kppy3]

thanks linda,

i can already tell that the people here are supportive and kind!

hey, you're from michigan? me too!

i had a question about the omega-3 oil. from what i've read so far, i think i'm under dosing my son.

he weighs 60 lbs and gets 1000mg omega-3, 180mg is epa and 120mg is dha. two times a day.

he also gets 500mg evening primrose, once a day.

does this seem too low?

i've also recently added zinc 50mg, at nite.

thanks for the help!
kppy3

[HooDunnit]

Hi kppy3 and welcome to our forums. I hope that you find our natural alternatives forum helpful.

Barry

[kppy3]

thanks for the welcome barry,

i really enjoy reading the posts here!

i went back and read the "where do i start" posts and feel confident i'm on the right track! my earlier question was answered there as to the dosage of omega-3. i am under dosing! i'll up the dose starting tomorrow. i will also start magnesium in the next few days.

thanks so much for all the info. lots of hard work went into gathering this info- i appreciate it.

we just started the feingold program. having a little trouble with the tomato based foods removal but otherwise, i can deal with it.

anyway, thanks again. i really like it here!

kppy

[Linda]

I hope you have good results with the feingold program...others have.Keep us updated.

[AustinsMom]

Welcome to the board! I see you have already answered your own question. I use Ultimate Omega by Nordic Natural. It has 350 mg EPA and 250 DHA, and I give my ds one in a.m. and one in p.m. Ohmama is our resident omega expert and I have learned much from her. Nordic Naturals are pharmaceutical grade and molecularly distilled, which are important things to look for.

Good luck on the Feingold diet. It is a challenge to start, but once you get in the mind set of doing it and have your kitchen "cleansed" it gets much easier.

We also tried meds but the side effects far outweighed the benefits for us also. It's not always smooth sailing going the natural route, but our ds is better behaviorally now than he was on meds. Good luck with everything. There are some very knowledgeable people here that have helped me out so much; I'm sure you'll find the support and information to be helpful.

[catatonic]

Welcome, kppy3. We're also a Feingold family, on permanent stage 1, and the change the diet has brought about in my son is nearly miraculous. Hope you have similar results. We also use the Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega with good results. If you're just getting started down this path, I'd recommend reading Laura Stevens book "12 Effective Ways To Help Your ADD/ADHD Child" and also taking a look at the magnesium website at www.mgwater.com where you will hopefully be convinced to ADD MAGNESIUM to your son's supplements.

[kppy3]

thanks austinsmom and catatonic!

the nordic naturals- where is this available? is this an online order only?

i'm running low on the omega-3 and checked the label of a brand i have in the cupboard. the dha is only 75mg!! so, i need to make sure to check these levels better when buying!

i am convinced of adding magnesium!! great info.- thanks. start low mg- how much would that be for a 60lb child?

i'm going to the library today to see if they have the book you mentioned catatonic.

thanks so much for the support and info. it's great to have a place like this.

thanks rocco, wherver you are!!
kppy3

[rosyred45]

Welcome to the family,
You've made pretty good progress so far on your own

We are pretty much like Catatonic, permenantly Stage one Feingold. There are days where I'll give him things here or there, but I'll deal with it once in a while.

Surf around this has been my saving grace to be
Kaiti

[catatonic]

Kppy3 --
Some health food stores (like Whole Foods) sell the Nordic Naturals. I find it's less expensive to order them online. I use www.iherb.com

These are not cheap, though. Consumer Reports recently reviewed Omega-3 fish oil supplements and found that discount brands such as Kirkland (sold at Price/Costco and Sam's Club) do NOT contain more impurities than pricey brands and DO contain the stated amounts of DHA/EPA. So you can probably buy a discount brand without fear...as long as it is molecularly distilled, and you check ingredients to insure there are no artificials or preservatives.

OhMama, you feel free to disagree here. I always appreciate your careful attention to quality. (In fact, to be fair, I ought to say that I personally use the Nordic Naturals brand rather than a cheaper product.)

For a 60 pound child, you will want to provide 360mg elemental magnesium daily to achieve a therapeutic dose. If there is no deficiency (and according to research findings, it's a rare ADHD child who is NOT magnesium deficient) the maintenance dose would be 180mg.

Magnesium can cause a gassy tummy or diarrhea, so you may want to work up to that dose gradually, if you're using tablets that can be cut. It can take a couple of days for the stomach to accustom itself to the magnesium.

A couple of things to remember when selecting magnesium:
DO NOT use magnesium oxide. It's useless. So NOT bio-available that you might as well not take anything.
Make sure you look at the ELEMENTAL magnesium content of your supplement. If the bottle says something along the lines of "magnesium aspartate, 525mg" then you are looking at the compound weight. Elemental weight will be far less (perhaps 100mg for the aspartate example). If the bottle says something like "magnesium from magnesium aspartate, 250mg" then you are reading elemental weight.

I personally use the Blue Bonnet brand of magnesium aspartate hypochloride, which provides 400mg elemental magnesium in each gelatin capsule. My son (who weighs 85 pounds) takes one each evening after supper. This dose is slightly low for him, but we're not doing rocket science here. Getting close to the dose is good enough.

You can test your child at home for magnesium deficiency. It's easy and surprisingly reliable to use the Cvostek test. Have your child sit comfortably and upright in a chair. With your finger, tap the hollow of his cheek halfway between the earlobe and the corner of his mouth. If the upper lip beneath the nose shows a jump or twitch, then magnesium deficiency is present. (Do this on your whole family or a group of friends if you're unsure whether you are seeing a twitch. Once you've seen a twitcher and a non-twitcher, there will be no question in your mind about what constitutes a response.)

[Mayleng]

Cat, My Cal/Mag says "Magnesium (as magnesium carbonate, citrate) 400mg"

Does this mean 400mg Elemental weight?

Thanks

[kppy3]

thanks roseyred. i feel very welcomed here! we do pretty well with the feingold, but, like you it sounds, i cave once in awhile- especially when it comes to the occassional pizza!

catatonic, you have a wealth of info!! thank you for sharing it with me.

i reviewed my bottles today. i have the mag. oxide!! darn! it's hidden down in the lower section, so i didn't notice it till i looked again today. oh well, back to the store! i'll get it right eventually!

the omega-3, i have 1000mg soft gels. there's 120mg dha so i give 4 gels a day, right?

he's also getting 50 mg of zinc at night.

we also work with a homeopath. we started this prior to the supplements. he's made amazing progress so far. when we started, his problems ranged from anxiety to hyperactivity. he's changed so much! he no longer has anxiety, or takes the paxil for it. the majority of his hyper. is gone. we are now addressing irritabilty and concentration issues.

between supplements and homeopathy, i'm confident he'll reach his potential!

anyone else try or use homeopathy?

this is a great place. sorry for the novel! i tried to squeeze two posts together! ;D

kppy3
.

[catatonic]

Mayleng,
I think only a call to the manufacturer could verify whether or not that is the elemental magnesium content. It certainly SOUNDS that way, however for that to be true, this would need to be an extremely large capsule. With magnesium citrate, for example, a 1,000mg tablet would contain approximately 160mg elemental magnesium. A 1,000mg magnesium carbonate tablet would contain approximately 290mg elemental magnesium. If yours has calcium as well, then the necessary size is even larger. Downright huge, in fact. Think how big one of those large 1,000mg fish oil capsules is, and double this size.

I believe that when the label says "magnesium FROM magnesium citrate" then the elemental weight is the figure provided. When it says "magnesium AS magnesium citrate, I believe it is the compound weight being referred to. Don't take this to the bank, however; get in touch with the manufacturer. The type I use says on the label "provides 400mg elemental magnesium in 2 capsules" so that I don't have to guess.

Kppy, 4 capsules of the fish oil ought to be the appropriate dose for your son. My boy also takes 50mg zinc nightly, along with his fish oil and magnesium. Like you, we're using supplements mainly for concentration and irritability, and they seem to help. The concentration has been our most stubborn problem to deal with. A high-protein breakfast helps my son a great deal. An easy way to do this is simply add a boiled egg to whatever he's already eating. Quick for him, easy for mom.

[Mayleng]

Cat, it says 4 softgels is the daily serving size, and each serving size is the 400mg I mentioned. It has 400mgs Calcium and 400mg Magnesium (as magnesium carbonate, citrate) with 100 IU Vitamin D.

This is the Maxi-Sorb Cal/Mag Citrate with Vitamin D by Country Life. The pills are capsule form and the size of those Big Omega III capsules.

I have not given my son all 4 pills yet. The most I have given him is 3 pills, but mainly I give him 2 pills. I am not sure how many pills I should give him, as I have no idea what is the elemental content here.



So do you think it is 400mgs elemental magnesium?

I'll try to email the manufacturer to see if they will give me an answer.