Vitamin Therapy

[nicolep1988]

HI...I'm new to the site, just registered this morning! Our little boy was diagnosed yesterday with ADHD, and we love his doctor. He told us that he doesn't really like to diagnose before age 6 (DS is 5 1/2), and that he uses meds as a last resort, which made my husband very happy. Anyway...he recommended using a good childrens' vitamin with lots of Vitamin A, but I'm curious about some of the other products I've seen, like Attend, Focus, and B'Calmd. Doc said we are welcome to try them, he's just a tad skeptical because he says, show me the clinical studies. I'm wondering if there is a good combination of things we can try- doc wants to re-visit by age 6 or so to make sure we don't need "real" meds (Strattera, Adderall, etc...). I only want what's best for my son, but at the same time I'm anxious to start seeing some changes as well. He's so smart- tests indicated he's doing everything a little above regular kindergarten level- he's just a hellion in the classroom!
Anyone have any good suggestions?

[catseye]

Welcome aboard!

I am sure someone more knowlegable on natural alternatives will help soon... I wanted to welcome you though!

I tried bcalmed, didnt work for my sd... I have heard good things here, about fish oils, omega 3's, and magnesium, but I wouldnt be able to help with dosages... Someone will soon I am sure, good luck on you mission!

cat

[AnneM]

and another WELCOME but again like Cat I am also not too well up on the Natural Alternatives ... but plenty of our members here are ... so hang fire and they will be along!! ...

However, also like Cat I can say that we tried B'Calmed on my 16 year old son and it did nothing ... but I also understand there are plenty of things which really DOOO help ...

GOOD TO SEE YOU HERE!!

[finnmom]

And yet an other welcome

Like anne and cat above, I dont have the knowlidge of these produt´s as some of our member do, but what I´ve read: better than b´calmed, attend etc, is to use magnesium, omega-3 and vit-C. I´am sure one of our natural alt´s "specialist´s" will answer you very soon.

Natural alt´s have been very helpfull for lot´s of us in here, so it´s always worht of trying.

[nicolep1988]

Thank you everyone for replying to me so quickly. It's nice to know I'm not alone in this, not that I ever thought I would be, but this is hard. My little boy is so smart- he just can't get his head on straight, and it broke my heart to read his teachers' evaluation that she sent to our doc. He's just 5 1/2 for Pete's sake...when did these kids have so much pressure on them in KINDERGARTEN? All we had to worry about at that age was not eating paste and coloring inside the lines. We were maniacs in the classroom as well as at home. Thank goodness my son has no idea what's happening, and that the behavior things the doc wants us to try are so slight that it won't upheave the whole universe. But again, we don't want to have to drug him til it's necessary, so we're looking for alternative solutions for now.

[kppy3]

hi nicole,

glad to hear your doc. is starting out slowly!

i wanted to comment on the combination, so-called homeopathic remedies you mentioned. (attend, b"calmd ect...) most parents don't have much success with these as they are not individualized like "real " homeopathy is supposed to be.


we work with a wonderful homeopath and have had terrific results! just taking homeopathic remedies is not homeopathy and most kids will not have too much improvement without a homeopath to steer them.


if you look into this type of alternative treatment, make sure to find a classical homeopath who prescribes one remedy at a time.

anyway, you may not have wanted all this info. but i thought i'd share a little bit of what i have learned so far!

also, alot of folks here have tried the feingold diet with good success. we did too and have deemed it unnecessary for our son. we do however still keep food dyes and many preservatives out of his diet. his reaction to them is obvious and lasts for several days

i'm sure catatonic will give you a hand with the omega-3, magnesium and other supplements..

good luck in helping your "hellion" (i've got three of my own!)
kppy

[catatonic]

Hi Nicole and welcome...

Have you looked at the sections on "Where Do I Start" and "New To This"? Those might give you some of the basics. I agree with your doctor, treat the remedies you mention with caution. Their use is not supported by clinical research, and if you read about people's experience with the products (not the people they quote on their websites trying to sell you the products) you'll find they don't appear to do much. If you look through the archives on this board, you'll find each has been specifically addressed at some point, so it might be helpful to you to search for those old threads.

You're probably better off trying supplements that are solidly supported by well-designed clinical studies. These include Omega-3 and magnesium. For many children, Vitamin B6 is also effective, but for an equal number, their symptoms will become worse. There are a number of other successful nutritional treatments, but these are a good starting point. It's always best to begin slowly, one thing at a time, and observe for a period of time to see if there are any behavioral changes. It won't be immediate. An Omega-3 deficiency requires about 12 weeks to correct, although you may see improvement sooner than that (it was at the 6-week mark for us).

The first thing I did for my son, and still the most effective, was to put him on the Feingold diet. He's a different child and it has become very obvious that food sensitivities are a huge contributor to his problems. Artificial colors and corn sweeteners are the worst offenders. The diet has been nearly miraculous in stopping the acting-out type behaviors like tantrums, oppositional behavior, hyperness, fighting, over-reacting... It's been less successful for attention problems, which is why we use supplements. You might want to look at the website at:
www.feingold.org

Laura Stevens' book "12 Effective Ways to Help Your ADD/ADHD Child" is an excellent place to start. It presents a good basic overview of a variety of natural treatments and provides solid research citations for each topic. Also Dr. Doris Rapp's book "Is This Your Child" which explores the problem of food sensitivities. Far less scientific, but worth reading, since food and environmental sensitivities seem so pivotal in ADHD.

I wish you the best of luck. Please keep coming back.