help, ritalin and supplements ?

[sarahsmom]

Hi, my dd has been on adderall, plus supplements. Unfourtunatly she will be taken off adderall because of the health risks for her. As some might know Canada has pulled it off the market and the us fda has added a warning for people who have structural heart defects. Well my dd was born with 4 holes in her heart and a coartated aortic arch plus still has some residueal leakage. Befroe this we were assured the saftey of using this med with her corrected heart defects. But now from recent news her dr advised us to take her off. And she iwll be starting ritalin la when we get the script for it in a few days. We had tried strattera and conceta but not any help. I wanted to know if anyone is using this along with the supplements? I looked on the Savonhealth.com site for interactions with it and found none. I had found some positive interactions listed for the adderall but none for ritalin. SO are the supplements still helpful ? Im assuming they are ,,,, but I have her on magnesium and will be getting complete omega from nordic naturals when it gets here in the mail. I'd like to just have her on supplements if they were enough, And thought to try it over summer. Thanks for any help, ideas ect. and sorry to be long winded here. Lisa

[DenverSarah]

you are on the right track. Omega supplements alone may allow you to reduce or eliminate the need for those meds. You may also want to look into diet and environment (the Feingold program is great for this). For many kids once the chemicals in their food and environment are removed there is no more problem. This is not an easy task by any means but for many it is preferable to meds (it is for us).

There is another similar board that seems to be getting more activity that I would like to refer you to:

millermom.proboards23.com/index.cgi?board=Alternative

Please check out the Omega thread and any other ones that catch your eye and ask away.

[sarahsmom]

Hi is it that the vit e is suppose to help the omega's break down? ANd is 100 iu enough and safe? WHat would be a good product to use? THanks

[catatonic]

Hi Sarahsmom,
Any reputable brand of Vitamin E should be safe to use. I buy the "Now" brand 100IU capsules. My son takes one in the morning and one in the evening along with his fish oil. You don't say how large your daughter is, but this will effect how much Vitamin E you ought to give her. If she's small, one Vitamin E capsule (of 100IU) would be sufficient. Something else to consider is that both fish oil and Vitamin E have a mild anti-coagulant effect. Not sure if this is an issue with her heart problems or not, but you might want to discuss it with her physician. Vitamin E serves a number of important functions in connection with the Omega-3. It helps prevent oxidative damage as the Omega-3 is metabolized, and it aids in its transport within cells.

If you're not going to be using any medication, I'd recommend looking at dietary modifications as well. For us, the Feingold diet very successfully controls the acting out type behaviors. You can read about it here:
www.feingold.org

[sarahsmom]

HI thanks for the responces. dd was on her first day or ritalin and it went ok. But only lasted about 8 hours. She was quite hyper then and had a meltdown at bath time. SHe is 6. The occasional temper tantrum are common, but wondered if there is something I could do for the moodiness? I know some give the ritalin twice aday but I'd like to advoid this. Also, since I have her on supplements and teh meds how could I know when i might beable to lessen the amount of meds or compleatly get her off them and have the supplements be enough? trial and error? WHen I had her on the adderall I checked the site for drug nutrient interacions and it said tyrosine would be helpfull, but with ritalin it didn't have it at all. ANd I checked a drug bood today in fact it said not to take it . ? Thanks for your help. Lisa