omega 3 recommended | ADHD Information
I have had my son on efalex for nearly 3 weeks and i have noticed changes in his behaviour already. Also his concentration is changing. He has for the first time in a year done his homework no fuss.He has been playing on his own quietly.
i always thought he had a form of adhd.
This is such a change from his hyperactive self and lack of concentration on school work. He has always been mouthy and aggressive.
His teacher has noticed big changes in his concentration.
He was a very hyperactive child, he was also a head banger and cried so much. He did not sleep and terrible temper tantrum even recently and he is age 7.
I am really inpressed with this product. A big thumbs up for this.
He seems such a different little boy.
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Hello!
This message is for the Mom who put her child on EyeQ. Is it working- I want to get some but it's not available in Canada. I have Efalex here but the EPA/DHA ratio is quite different than EyeQ. Studies are now pointing to a much higher EPA amount for the treatment of ADHD.
terri brunet38132.3247685185Hi Diamond,
Can you tell us where you purchased your efalex? I hear it is not available in regular health food stores. Thanks
--MM
Hi there , Hust saw your message about the efalex.
Where are you from is it the UK? If so you can get it from boots or online with boots.com. Also holland and Barratt. Pharmacy to u do it and this is the link.
I have just put him on eye q which is the same sort of thing but a different make. I look for the offers in the shops to save my pennies.
Let me know how you get on. Are you wanting it for a yound child?
Hope this helps
Diamond
After reading some “iffy” results with EyeQ,(http://www.adders.org/ ) I did some research and found three interesting facts. (I’ll include the references below)
The body’s zinc levels affect the absorption of omega-3. There are studies showing children diagnosed with ADHD “who received magnesium demonstrated a significant improvement in behavior, whereas those who received only standard therapy without magnesium exhibited worsening behavior”. A preliminary study found that pyridoxine was slightly more effective than methylphenidate (a medication used to treat ADHD) in improving behavior among hyperactive children. (However,” no other studies have been able to confirm these findings. Therefore, supplementation with vitamin B6 is not considered standard treatment for ADHD”.) Interesting stuff, when you consider how poorly our kids eat despite our efforts, thanks to the marketing geniuses of McDonald’s and Mr. Christie.
Just a note on Efalex: studies are pointing to high levels of EPA for the treatment of ADHD; Efalex has only DHA (60mg). Also, Efalex contains a high amount of omega-6 fat. (linoleic acid, GLA, and evening primrose oil). This fat is necessary, but our diets today have a glut of them. These fats “should be kept in ratio; ideally, 1 omega-6 to 1 omega-3… the current American ratio varies from 20 (omega-6) to 1(omega-3) to a whopping 50 to 1”. Also “omega-6 (in the form of linoleic acid) is known to encourage cancer.” I’m no chemist or nutritionist but with this knowledge, I don’t feel like giving my child 600mg of linoleic acid from 6 Efalex pills a day.
References:
McCullough, Fran. The Good Fats Cookbook. Scribner, New York, NY. 2003: pgs.44,45,145.
http://www.durham.gov.uk/durhamcc/usp.nsf/pws/parent+partner ship+-+fatty+acids+-+adhd
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/ConsSupplements/Zinccs.html
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/ConsSupplements/Magnesiumcs.html
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/ConsSupplements/VitaminB6Pyridoxin ecs.html
http://www.drgreene.com/21_1785.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/04/040409094643.ht m
terri brunet38133.4184027778
Luvmykids02
I couldn't agree with you more. One of the big problems I have with the diagnosis of ADHD is that it is usually an extremely subjective thing. In fact, one of the main problems I had with my old profession was that there seemed to be far too much reliance on "tick and flick" assessment instruments for a discipline that prided itself on being people focussed. One of the reasons I emphasise individual treatment is simply because of this. At the risk of offending anyone, I really think we need to be vigilant about not seeing ADHD as the umbrella term it has become. That is why I tend to focus on the concept of "hyper-reactivity". A child may be reacting to many things - stress, pollution, malnutrition, environmental factors, genetic makeup - you name it. It doesn't have to be "ADHD". And that's the point I was making before - I am professionally interested in ADHD as a phenomenon- but I don't treat "ADHD" per se - I treat people.
Hi kppy!
The Feingold diet is great and I've seen it work brilliantly in those who have a salicylate sensitivity. If there is no salicylate sensitivity then it's not usually as miraculous as it has been portrayed to be. However - as luvmykids02 was saying - any child is going to benefit from a good "clean" diet - and the Feingold programme will do this. You'll be amazed at how many seemingly innocuous everyday foods are Feingold targets! Give it a go and good luck. Like i said - I've seen amazing things happen, but usually only where there is a sensitivity.
Your comment on homoeopathy made me smile. It's a tough concept to get your head around! If you have a good homoeopath in your health team you're very lucky. Homoeopathy is a fantastic system of medicine if it's practised properly. In fact, the most sucessful homoeopath I ever knew - just enormous demand - was a local veterinarian in my old city of Brisbane. She got the most amazing results. I understand that it's hard to explain to people though. It's a pity all the research for it hasn't been translated from German - there would be a few more believers if they could see it for themselves.
All the best
james
James...thank you for such an articulate post and while I respect your profession and opinions, if diets or supplements prove to be beneficial for children in terms of a treatment plan, then your not looking at adhd. There are so many conditions that mimic adhd and that is why it is important for parents to have medical conditions ruled out and also have assessments performed by those trained in the field of childhood disorders. Also, second opinions are wise as misdiagnosis also occurs. Healthy diets are crucial for all children as it can improve overall function but if I child is diagnosed with adhd but in fact the behaviors are allergy related, they will indeed be responsive to diets and/or supplements and therefore, the mindset is that adhd can be cured or controlled without the use of medication when in fact, the child didnt adhd to begin with.
Education and vigilance on the part of the parent is crucial when trying to determine why their children are having social and emotional problems and Im sure your input on this board will be greatly appreciated as ther are many parents coming here who are just starting this journey who are desperately trying to help their children. Again, welcome to the board :))))
Hi Barb, Hi Luvmykids02
Thank you for the welcomes.
LMK02 - I hear what you're saying. Perhaps I wasn't as clear as I intended to be in my last post. I have no quarrel with conventional medication. It makes a difference for many people and if it helps then it's good. My disagreement with blinded trials of natural remedies is that it is almost impossible to control for the variety of factors that we would need to look at. It's not the supplement that needs to be investigated - it's how that supplement works for that individual when that persons life factors are taken into account. I don't mean to talk down to you so forgive me if it sounds like I am, but I'll go through an example. Lets say we decide to see if zinc has an effect on behaviour and we choose to run a blind trial with it. Zinc will affect different people differently (as will any natural medicine) depending on so many things - what is their biochemistry doing?, how are they eating to support their biochemistry?, is their digestive function strong?are they exposed to cigarette smoke?, what is the nature of their physical activity?, what is the nature of their sexual activity?(too much will deplete the fellas!), how stressed are they and what parts of the adrenal system are firing to cope with this? I could go on. Most natural remedies that are trialled are done so in vitro because it is the most controlled environment you can have. If we were really serious about doing a blinded study we'd have to put all participants into the same house, feed them the same things, make sure they engage in the same behaviours and try and monitor them all for the same stress levels. It's not realistic.
My comment about feeling disrespectful with "stock" treatment protocols is just how I feel. When someone comes to see me I spend a lot of time getting to know who they are before I try and find out how they are. If I'm treating a person rather than a condition, then that should be reflected in the protocols that get employed. Of course, you always do your best to improve the life of your patients, but for me, I really feel like it would be disrespectful to assume that because one course of treatment has worked well for one person, I can happily prescribe the same thing for everyone else. I might trial certain things - but I have to know who I'm sitting with first. (I'm not going to claim miracle rates of success either. I've seen some fantastic results but I've had my share of non responders as well).
Sorry - I tend to get long winded. To answer your questions - no - I don't have any behavioural conditions (other than being mildly neurotic which I think is part of the job description when you're a naturopath 
) - nor do I have any children. My background was in psychology but I was so impressed with the changes that could be brought about behaviourally with dietary manipulation and supplementation (and I experienced such vehement skepticism from the psych world about this) that I went and became a naturopath. So now most of my work is concerned with behavioural things from within a natural medicine model.
Barb - hello! It's hard for me to answer your question about your son given all that I've just written. I don't know him and am not familiar with his circumstances, so I really can't say how his body is working. What I can share with you is what I have seen in the past that appears to be a general trend with poor concentrators. I'm pleased for you that the flax is working, by the way.
In many kids whose concentration levels suffer - especially those who aren't necessarily hyperactive - there seems to be some degree of heavy metal toxicity. This can be indentified by hair analysis. The main culprits here in Oz are amalgam tooth fillings, lead based paint in old houses, cadmium from cigarette smoke or lead from fuel emissions (even lead free petrol has some lead in it). I believe you guys run on LP gas over there, though? With any omega fatty acid, the effects are often enhanced with the inclusion of zinc. There are lots of things that can drain zinc (see my wanderings above!) but if you decide to supplement it's important to take it away from cereal based foods for best absorption. And you probably already know this but avoid sugar at all costs (and white flour and processed foods). You need your B group for proper brain function and these things will cause you to chew through B vitamins really quickly.
You might also like to consider some of the herbal remedies that are used to stimulate brain function - ginkgo, bacopa, gotu kola, rosemary etc. I often use various blends of these for my high school patients with good results. Don't go overloading your son with pills and potions based on this Barb! It's just a few ideas that you might like to explore further. I'm pretty busy and not sure how often I'll get back here, but feel free to ask questions and I'll do my best to answer as honestly as I can.
All the best
james
hi james,
a big welcome to you! it's great to have a naturopath visit this site!!
i couldn't agree more with your comment on hyper-reactivity, as i have always felt this was the case with my son. his "adhd" seemed like a mixture of many different problems, specific to him.
we did try conventional medicines, on the advice of his teacher. these seemed to make him worse. the idea that "one pill fits all" makes no sense to me either.
then i discovered homeopathy and have not looked back! i've seen, one by one, my son's difficulties lessen and eventually dissappear. he has a ways to go, but i am confident that we are headed in the right direction.
he takes omega-3 and evening primrose and is about to add zinc.
we also, as a family, are starting the feingold diet. i have known for awhile that poor nutrition contributed to his difficulties and feel that this will help our entire family anyway! there's a lot of good info. out there on the standard american diet (s.a.d.) which supports the idea of nutrition as causative for many problems, including behavioral, emotional and conitive (academic) issues in children.
we started by removing atificial sugars and food coloring from his diet. an immediate and large improvement in his behavior followed. this led to where we are today, starting feingold.
sorry for the rambling! i joined this board and have not have much feedback- probably because i mentioned homeopathy, which i believe, scares people!
i stay and share periodically because i feel so grateful to have found something that works and i want to offer our experiences in hopes that others will look into the path we have chosen.
thanks for coming on board. i look forward to future posts from you!
kppy
Can anyone tell me how big these pills are? I ordered some omega 3- and E from a sight, but when I received them they looked like horse pills and I know my son can't swallow them. Also how many would a 50pd. boy need to take in one day?
Thanks,
Luvmykids02
I applaud CHADD's stance on encouraging greater research into complementary therapies, but as a naturopath working in this area I'd like to address some of things mentioned in your link.
There is a firm stance given that any "alternative" remedy should be able to be supported by research data, be part of a double blinded controlled trial and so on. This is all well and good but for one thing. Most naturopaths will not have the same treatment for everyone. In my experience, ADHD is usually always a symptom of something else - and what that something else is the interesting question. We should really be thinking in terms of "hyper-reactivity" rather than hyperactivity. To prescribe the same treatment to every child I see is disrespecting them as a patient and being negligent in not examining their unique individual circumstances.
Working off an individually tailored plan with everyone makes it impossible to run controlled studies. Controlled studies can be used if you want to assess a medicine - not necessarily an approach to treatment.
respectfully
james - australia
James,
My son is ADD-IN. He has some behavior problems which are satisfactorily controlled with flax seed oil. What types of supplements do you reccommend for the inattentive part of ADD? The flax doesn't seem to affect that much although it does some. I only give him one capsule a day so could he need more? Are there other things which you have found more beneficial? If I could find a product which will affect his inattentiveness as well as the flax does his behavior, I won't need to consider meds for school.
I'm sure there are many parents here who would love to hear your input on this since you are a naturopath.
Thanks and welcome! Barb
In my experience, ADHD is usually always a symptom of something else - and what that something else is the interesting question. We should really be thinking in terms of "hyper-reactivity" rather than hyperactivity. To prescribe the same treatment to every child I see is disrespecting them as a patient and being negligent in not examining their unique individual circumstances
James
What is your experiene in terms of ADHD? Are you ADHD or do you have a child with ADHD? The treatments precribed to treat ADHD alone or ADHD with co-existng conditions(Multimodal approach) are treatments that have been proven to work and each child is uniquely examined in terms of circumstances. Parents coming here explore all treatments, alternatives or othewise before determining what works best for their child. Every parent does whats best for their child but many parents are not comfortable with the idea that as you state, its impossible to conduct controlled studies due to individually tailored plans so one has no idea as to the safetiness or effectiveness of the supplement being administered. While your entitled to your opinion, it is far from negligent or disrepsectful to a child to embark upon a treatment plan that improves the quality of life for a child and the entire family unit whether that be medication, alternatives or complimentary medicine. Decisions are made by parents in terms of treatment when medical reasons have been ruled out, alternatives that are tried but don't seem be effective enough and/or supplments are used which for some, make no difference at all in terms of the childs inattentiveness, impulsivity and lack of focus. That being said, welcome to the board as I'm sure that parents that are seeking natural remedies greatly appreciate your opinions and your input
Hi I recently started my whole family on Coromega. It comes in packets (like ketchup), it is orange flavored so no fishy smell or burps. It is like a pudding texture. We keep it in the refridgerater to keep it cold (for personal preference only). My kids couldnt swallow the pills either so this is superb!! YOu can order a free sample at the website and it also gives you lots of info. about the product.
coromega.com
hi james,
yes, i have heard the same thing about the feimgold as far as silacylates. i do know my son's behavior deteriorates after consuming foods with a lot of presevative and dyes. so we will see how he does with a more organized approach to determining food sensitivities. and yeah, there are alot of food no-nos on this program!
my son and i work with a classical homeopath. amazing things have happened!
she's helped to treat almost my entire family for various illnesses/accidents. my dog has benefitted from homeopathy as well! you are so right in saying that homeopathy can work wonders if practiced properly. that's why we work with one who follows the classical prescribing pattern. our first experience failed and i believe it was because he was on multiple remedies, all at the same time.
i post on this board and others because i feel so fortunate to have found something that works and i want to share this experience with other parents. tough to do and as you said, it is hard to explain!
i appreciate the support here as well. there are many tough times parenting a child that has difficult behaviors. then there's the school, family and friend issues that so often are just as difficult to deal with. lots of kind and knowledgable people post on this site. they really care!
so glad to have you here!
kppy
To the person asking about the pill size of Omega 3 Fish oil Capsules. I just have my child to chew on them and let the liquid come out then spit the remaning capsule out. What is amazing is my child doesnt mind the fish taste.
Another thing is that there are now Higher concentation fish oil products that have higher omega 3 properties out there. The ones that are molecule distilled are as pure as they can get and have higer ratios of EPA to DHA.
For all parents considering what course of treatment is best for their child, alternative or otherwise, below is a very informative link which will provide you with information done by good reasearch. The better informed we are, the better we can decide what is the safest, most effective treament for our children
Assessing Complementary and/or Controversial Interventions - CHADD Fact Sheet #6