Dramatic Improvement thru Vitamins/Supp | ADHD Information

[QUOTE=Myboyisspecial]

Hi Kari-lee

I live in a remote area so don't have access to many resources (thank God for the internet!!).

I did alot of research on the internet and found a homeopathic clinic in my closest capital city. They analysed a sample of my sons hair and sent me a list of foods to avoid and some remedies. I was also given a list of what parts of his system were stressed.

I would start with a reputable naturopath in your area who can get you on the right track. The more you learn, the easier it will become to adapt your current lifestyle to better suit your child. Our whole family now eats to suit our son's sensitivities and we are all better for it. There are no sugary items or junk food in the house and we snack on healthy alternatives.

Hi kppy

He takes Tetaposan for his endocrine system, Cerebrum compositum for concentration/memory (which I believe is helping him), detox solution, homeopathic solution made for his needs and a Futureplex solution for his emotions.

I must say I was a sceptic but when I tried my son without the homeopathy and kept him on the healthy eating. There was a definite decline in his behaviour over a few weeks, once back on them, he slowly improved again.

He has an analysis done every couple of months and they will give him different remedies to suit where he is at.

I think there is no point in doing the homeopathy without the healthy diet, they go hand in hand. I also think that to really know if this would work for your child, it needs to be followed to the letter. Absolutely no foods they shouldn't eat for at least 8 weeks so that there is no doubt as to whether it helps or not.

Hope this helps

[/QUOTE] interesting about the hair analysis, I got interesting readings from that too. Michele K, I would encourage you to read the homeopathy article on wikipedia. In particular, read the section, "Medical and Scientific Analysis." You may already be aware of this, but if not it may be helpful.
bookwurm239891.0192013889LuvmyKids02, thanks for taking the time to answer my question.There's no such thing as a statistical study that "shows"
that fish oil doesn't help ADHD. That sort of result just
can't be found in a statistical study. Statistical studies
by nature give approximate results. So, they can show
that something helps about 30%, but they can't show that
it helps exactly 30%, and they can't show that it helps
exactly 0% -- in other words, they can't show that it
doesn't help. All they can do is fail to show that it helps. Usually, this leaves open the question as to whether
they would have shown that it helps if they had included
a larger number of subjects in their study.

It is possible for a statistical study to have a result
like "if it helps at all, it helps at most about 10%", but
that sort of result requires a much larger number of subjects, usually, so it's expensive and therefore rare.
Usually when you read that a study found a negative result
all it really means is that their study failed to show anything. This gets twisted around in the way people word it so
it sounds as if it shows it doesn't help.

I read that some study found that kids with ADHD had less, on average,
of long-chain omega3 fatty acid in their blood. This suggests to me that
it's a good idea to supplement kids with ADHD with this important nutrient.
I believe it helps. A lot of the material the brain is made of is
omega-3 fats, and omega-3 fats are very deficient in the
modern grocery-store diet. These fats help with anxiety and depression -- maladies which are also common with ADHD. Omega-3 is needed by the brain to work at its best.

Ideas to get a child to take omega-3 fats:

-- use fresh fish. The fresher it is, the less "fishy" and
unpleasant it smells and tastes, and the healthier it is.
You could serve nice, fresh fish for dinner. Fish oil in capsules has been sitting around on the shelf too long.

-- If you do use fish oil capsules, buy them as fresh as
possible and keep them in the fridge.

-- use fresh flax oil. Again, the fresher it is, the
less unpleasant it tastes. I add vitamin E and beta-carotene to the bottle as soon as I open it, to
slow down the process of going bad, and I keep it in the fridge. OK, maybe not a lot of it gets converted to long-chain fatty acids in the body, but I figure if you
take enough of it it will make a difference. Better than nothing.

-- When serving stew or something similar, you can mix a tiny amount of flax oil into it just before serving it.
It's best not to get the flax oil hot, but I figure if you put the stew on a plate, let it cool for a minute and then mix in the flax oil and serve it immediately, maybe that's not too much heat. If you mix in too much, the kid
won't like the taste. I'm not sure how much heat is too much.

-- You can mix flax oil into salad dressing -- or just use flax oil and lemon juice as a salad dressing.

-- I sometimes melt butter, let it cool somewhat, mix in flax oil (up to half-and-half) and then put it on popcorn.

There's no such thing as a statistical study that "shows"
that fish oil doesn't help ADHD. That sort of result just
can't be found in a statistical study

Your right, it was found in medical peer journals and the information was shared with me by my sons doctor who has been treating his ADHD for 11 years very successfully. This information wasnt gathered off the internet but Im sure your tips wil be of interest to many.

Usually when you read that a study found a negative result
all it really means is that their study failed to show anything. This gets twisted around in the way people word it so
it sounds as if it shows it doesn't help.

The studies showed that the jury is still out about whether it does help for ADHD and more research has to be done. I'm just sharing information and whether you agree with it not is your perrogative. You do what is best for your child as I have done with mine and parents wil decide based on their own research what is best for their children. Again, Im sharing information, not debating forms of treatment.

I'm extremely pleased with the dramatic improvement with my son, 6, thru a change in diet and vitamins/supplements. I've been doing this since October and he's a whole different boy. His teacher even comment on the change in his homework - its much neater!! Several drs. dx him as ADHD and strongly recommended meds. I suggested a natural treatment and one dr. actually discouraged me from it. Good thing I didn't listen to her!! Just had to share our success!! Hope it encourages others!!!

Do you use any Omega 3's? This is another supplement that has been given high ratings in helping ADHD, bipolar and other frontal lobe problems. atworkbutsleepi38366.5260185185I would like to include them but he doesn't like the taste of them. If anyone has any ideas as to how I can slip them in his food....lol I have heard they're very good for our kids.Do these just help hyperness, or do they help with focus/distractability?My 24 year old daughter is on the same supplement regiment you have your son on. She doesn't like the fish oil, so her pdoc recommended she use one of the others. I don't think they are quite as effective, but he felt it was better than none and she can tolerate the taste. She is also taking Zoloft, but has quit taking her Straterra. She, unfortunately, is still not stable although she is much, much better than she was three months ago. In addition to ADD, she also suffers from Major Depressive Disorder. She is going to get a new evaluation this month because she might have slipped over to the bipolar side. In her case, we can't risk eliminating all meds (she is highly suicidal) but are diligently using the supplements as a compliment to her meds. Anything that might help is considered an option.

Tklb9009, do the gelcaps taste fishy?? Thats why I couldn't get Jordan to take them. I really want him on them though.

According to my daughter they have no taste. They are encased in a gelatin type of pill casing so there isn't any kind of taste. They look just like vitamin E pills if you need a visual.

If you get these and the little man says they are fishy...he's filling mom full of bull. *laughing* If it helps, take one with him...what the heck, I'm sure it couldn't hurt mom to have an Omega 3 every once in a while.

If all else fails, you might try piercing the pill and mixing it in something like apllesauce. However, with that method I'm not sure if there is a taste or not and he might turn his nose up at it.

Good luck.

csmommy wrote:
Do these just help hyperness, or do they help with focus/distractability?

High dose fish oil (not flaxseed oil) is very good for health and for mood. It is an anit-diabetic, great for the heart, lowers cholesterol and blood lipids and nomalizes blood glucose. It acts as an antidepressant in high doses and thats why it has been proven to be very beneficial for those that have bipolar disorder. Two double blinded placebo controlled studies have just been performed in children with ADHD, one in the USA and one in Japan. Both studies showed that high dose fish oil does not help ADHD. The reason flax seed oil is not helpful is because the omega 3 fatty acids that it contains needs to be converted to longer chain fatty acids in the liver but this conversion is very ineffective (less than 1%). There was a study done but never published because it was poorly done that showed that a mixture of omega 3 and omega 6 oils might be helpful for ADHD but because the data is not available, doctors cant recommend it. Fish oil in high doses has proven to be a very beneficial alternative for mood disorders but the jurys still out on ADHD as it hasnt been studied effectively yet

note: the study says HIGH DOSES of fish oil. I doubt anyone is going to give their child a high doses.

SOmething to be said for "less is more"

tklb900938366.6649884259

note: the study says HIGH DOSES of fish oil. I doubt anyone is going to give their child a high doses.

SOmething to be said for "less is more"

Im just sharing information. Im not recommending it. We all have to do what is best for our childrenMy son was dx with many things, esp. ADHD. Last year I was picking him up from pre-school maybe twice or three times a month for behavior probelms. He was defiant, had meltdowns, etc. No one can believe the change in him - my family, friends, even his teacher. He's a whole different boy. Drs. tried to discourage me from trying the 'natural treatment' - they were interested in putting him on drugs. I tell ya...... he's a whole different boy - he was very moody and had many obsessions that were driving us nuts!! I have a very happy boy on my hands -- its been over 3 months since I've been giving him the vitamins/supplements and changed his diet. And its been 3 months since he changed!! I am a believer that this would be a cure for many!! I just found smaller gellcaps of Omegas 3-6-9 in my local grocery store (Wegmans). It has a fairly good sized "natural foods" section. It is marked for juniors. I was concerned about the size but my daughter has no problem swallowing it. She's been swallowing a small pill every day for several years (she takes Synthroid). I am hoping that and a supplement can make a difference. She's been taking Concerta but it does not work anymore. I am giving her a vacation for a couple of days in the hopes that it starts up again. The first 8 days of it were fabulous. I'm also trying to remove all refined sugar from her diet. She had pancakes for breakfast the other day and had a horrid day after that. Things have been somewhat better when I keep her away from sugar.

could some one please list the vitamins and dosages they give thier child I'm interested in adding this to my son's regimine. I've already wiened him off his meds to a point he's down to half in the morning and half in the afternoon so that he can get through his school. I don't think he needs to be off his medication completely because it's working so well and he's needing so little of it to function that its not a big concern. I would just like to help him in any way I can and the extra nutrition doesn't seem like a horrible thing to me.

Its important to also change his diet. Try to eliminate junk foods, processed foods, this includes canned vegetables, etc. Pretzels, yogurt and popcorn are great snacks. Try to stay away from sugar, i.e. juice boxes, juice DRINKS, pop, instant oatmeal. Introduce into his diet honey as a sweetener, Mott's has an apple juice that has no sugar added. Even spaghetti sauces have sugar added but Delmonte has made some without sugar. Its impossible to eliminate all, but to dramatically reduce it will make such an improvement. AND as you go along feeding your children fruits/veggies, etc. tell them what vitamins each provides. Therefore, your also educating your child.......he will make wiser decisions as an adult!!! Jus some thoughts!!Luvmykids0239873.9909722222

My son takes Omega -3's, Ultimate Omega from Nordic Naturals. These were touted as the purest form on Dr Weil's site. I order them on-line but they can be found in Whole Foods and other high quality vitamin or health food shops. They are not inexpensive, however, they are carefully processed and ensure that the fish are not contaminated with mercury which is a problem today. In addition, they have natural lemon flavor added to help eliminate the fishy taste/smell.

Good luck

I tried healthy food sent when son took lunch. I believed helped. School said still needs more.Eye Dr. told us he could no longer help until concentraion under control to continue vision therapy.Our son has Visual/auditory processing difficulties also.MEDACAINE HAS helped.I feel though his learning style is just different. Rshn Can't afford any other type of school. Homeschool would be last option. as an adult I take the omega 3 in a gel cap and it doesn't taste fishy when it goes gown, it's when you burp the fish taste come to ya!! but they are also great for hair and nails!

Feel free to email me if you want more info.

Supplements are necessary for averyone. Our soil is no longer healthy. Just ask a nutrition expert.Some don't have right numbers of portions though on their supplements. Use ones from a wellness company or healthstores only. Juice plus is also suppose to be great also. These are VEG/fruits ground into capsule form.Vitamin worlds sells ones like these also.Less expensive.I herd 66% of ADHD heads have been altered during birth. We can't afford everything necessary for our son. We live on 8.per week.Look at makers diet suppose to be great also. Bible based diet. RSHNPlease tell me more about the vitamin and mineral approach to ADHD help. I am open to try almost anything safe for my son. He is so miserable on the ADDERLL XR. It doesn't help anything. Just cleans out the checkbook every month.:(

(someone had a hard time finding this thread so I'm posting now to bring it to the first page.)

After reading about the vitamins and mineral that have drastically improved some of the results in your children we decided to give it a try with the extra mag and Zinc.

All i can say is WOW!!!! It has been 3 weeks since he started taking them and what a huge difference his teacher has had nothing but good things to say about him and has seen the difference as well. He doesnt eat alot of sugar and prcessed stuff anyways cause he is a diabetic as well so that helps with it too. So we added the vitamin in the morning with his Adderall xr and we see the difference and like the difference alot. We get him the multivitamin from GNC for children and it concentrates around the mag and zinc. it is wonderful

I'm so glad i found this board and choose to try these things

Lori

Dee Anne,

Here's my story:

My son is 6. He was hyper, defiant, obsessed with things to the point of driving us nuts. Everyone that knew him, including a friend who worked with special ed children, knew something definitely was not right with him. We took him to Children's Hospital in Detroit August 2004 and he ws dx with Aspergers (mild form of Autism), OCD, ODD and ADHD. Before that we had taken him to numerous child psychs who were eager to put him on drugs. I said no. So last October I changed his diet, threw out lots of junk food (sugar-ladened, food with dyes and overly processed foods) and got him eating fresh fruits and veggies, Amish chicken (doesn't have hormones and other things added), oatmeal (not instant) and yogurt. The diet change was very important!! Usually for breakfast I mix up oatmeal, cinnamon (no sugar), honey, and homemade apple sauce (w/o sugar). I buy most of my food at the fruit market, and health food stores.

I had done research on the internet and found that many ADHD children (and adults) have several things in common - deficiencies in certain vitamins and supplements. So along with the change in his diet, I now give him a multi-vitamin for children (without dyes) and I give him a supplement (calcium, magnesium and zinc). I crush all of these up (for better body absorbtion) and put them right in his breakfast food. I give him 667 mg of calcium, 267 mg of magnesium and 10 mg of zinc.

The difference in him was very noticeable within a week or two. (I can't remember.

Hope this helps and encourages others!! If you were my neighbor you would have witnessed the unbelievable transformation -- and not believed your eyes!!

Vickile

Vickli, could you give more info on vit. supplement and how much to give. My son is 9 and is on Concerta and Abilify. Not doing well. Behavior problems at home and alot at school

Please help

Thankx

[QUOTE=VickiLE]

My son, who has been hyper, defiant, obsessed with things for all of his life, has not demonstrated any of this behavior since October when I changed his diet. I would love to hear from others who have had great success in changing their child's behavior thru diet.

[/QUOTE]

Our 9 year old son is a new boy since we eliminated all processed foods, additives, preservatives, sugar, wheat etc. 6 months ago. He is so much happier within himself. He has become very informed about what is good for him and doesn't want to eat things that are not good. He used to be so stressed and unhappy and now is much calmer and easier to reason with.

He also takes magnesium, zinc, omega3, chromium and some homeopathic treatments.

I believe it's the combination of these things that have made such a big difference in his anger/behaviour problems. He still struggles at school but I do think he has become more articulate and I am seeing more of his potential shining through.

I wouldn't say that he hasn't demonstrated any of his behaviours since we changed his diet but they have not been anywhere near as bad. He is able to show more love and thoughtfulness, qualities he has always had in abundance but hasn't been able to express so well in the past.

We are so proud of him, he has made huge efforts to help himself and continues to do his best.

Glad to hear your child is doing well. How did you find out about this... Dr/natural path or what? I have heard about vitamins and diet being great for ADHD but not sure how to go about it?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Kari-lee

Kari-lee38397.5472222222myboyisspecial,

what homeopathic remedies are you using? just curious as homeopathy has pretty much removed my son's adhd.

kppy

Hi Kari-lee

I live in a remote area so don't have access to many resources (thank God for the internet!!).

Hi kppy

He has an analysis done every couple of months and they will give him different remedies to suit where he is at.

Hope this helps

kppy said -good to hear another homeopathy success story. how did you first become awareof/interested in it?

Sheer desperation kppy! I became aware of it through looking at the many options available on the internet.

I live in an area where we have a paediatrician visit the town for a day once a month and was not given much information on ADHD, just a prescription for dexamphetamine and a phone number to call if any problems. I started to realise that although the meds were helping, they were not a long term solution and so started my quest to find answers.

There are some other drug free treatments I want to try but we are very restricted because of the remoteness of our home. If we lived on the other side of the country, there would be a couple of things I would be trying right now.

The diet, supplements and remedies have been a great kickstart to helping our son and I am so pleased with the results, though am still looking for more answers.

I'm so pleased to hear you are having success also.

Myboyisspecial38397.8539351852

My little treasure is 9!

I would definitely look at homeopathy for other reasons also if the need arose.

It's worth sifting through all the information when you find something that works.

All the best with your boy too.

I believe vitamins/supplements can resolve many of our aches, pains, probelms in life. My sister's foot (had been broken 5 years ago) would be painful by the end of the day. She's been taking MSM for only 2 weeks and she hardly has any pain at all!! She's a believer now!! Just sharing another success story as a result of vitamins/supplements!!

vickiLE,

i live north of there. can you tell me if other value citys have also bought out other eckerd's?

thanks,
kppy

Kppy,

I believe all Value Citys have this deal. Also Big Lots is selling this inventory too!! For locations of these two stores, search the internet. Or if you have a relative/friend in the Detroit area maybe you can have them ship you what you need. The deals are awesome!! I bought vitamins for that I later found in a health food store going for . Good luck!!

VIckiLE

My son is on something called "Liquid Health -- Attention" from the health food store since we stopped Concerta due to unwanted side effects. This supplement has multiple vitamins , a blend of Omega-3,Omega-6 & Omega-9 essential fatty acids along with some minerals & amino acids and all of this is with NO artificial coloring or flavoring, or sugar,starch,salt,wheat,yeast,corn, or milk derivatives. It comes in a liquid that I choose to add to orange juice 1/2oz. twice daily. My son is almost 12 years old and believe me if it had a taste I would have heard about it. I pay less than .00 per month. Good Luck !!!!!!!!
Luvmykids0239873.9937847222

I love hearing success stories like this!! I do want to mention to those who live in the Detroit, Michigan area there is a store (Value City) who bought out Eckerd Drug store inventory and is selling their vitamins currently at 50% off. Just make sure they have good expiration dates (most do). I saved lots and I'm stocked up. I was in a health food store and saw many of the brands I bought at going for -40!! Can't go wrong!!

VickiLE

Does anyone know if any over the counter vitamins help with attention problems? My daughters doctor took her off Strattera because it wasn`t helping her anymore. She just started taking a multi vitamin last week. I would appreciate any advice.
Jen

VickiLE,

My understanding is that if you get the fishy aftertaste then the fish oil might be rancid. It is best to store it in the refrigerator to prevent this. The Nordic Naturals are good if your child tolerates lemon (some kids react to it.) You can mix the oil in lemonade and my child didn't complain. We use Natural Factors Rx Omega 3 because my ds swallows them without problems. Also, it is important to take an antioxidant at the same time, so take it with your multi vit, or we use 100 mg Vit E if we take it separately.

Glad to hear you have had so much success. I'm a believer too.

jen40:

I'm giving my son a Nutritional supplement (over the counter multivitamins) that contains (Glutamic Acid, calcium, B-Complex): L-glutamic acid, vitamin B-1, Vitamin B-2, Vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12, sodium glycerophosphate, folic acid, niacinamide, calcium pantothenate.

If you want to know how effective this could be research on the internet for all this ingredients, it should tell you what are they for. Then, you can decide if you want to give it a try. I think that is actually better that stimulants but, you decide.

I wonder sometimes if doctors prescribe some medications because they get kick�back from the manufactures. Good question ah...?

Good luck to all of you!!

Flaxseed and Fish oils are best health fats you need all. These also lower bad cholesterol also. Phytosterols also good. Plant enzymes lowers bad cholesterol also.Told by a dieatician enyone over 3o years old should be on a dygestive enzyme because as you age you loose them.There also enzymes used after eating acidy foods should be taken in place on heart burm medacines. Ph checks also help. Can get from a dieatcian store or health store. Must reduce acid foods. These help people with acid reflux, IBS.Also help reduce cancer chances also. Peole with high ph increase chance for cancer.Now who can tell me where I can buy the best quality supplements..would GNC or a place like that be okay?

I am currently going through the evaluation process for ADHD, and I am trying to implement some changes in my sons diet...cutting out HFCS, lower his carb consumption, giving him supplements etc etc....is there anywhere you can find out the healthy dosage of supplements for his age and weight?

I thank you in advance for help!

I get mine at the drug store, a department store and a health food store. You need to read the labels -- watch for the number of milligrams of everything. I've found some things at the dollar store -- BUT -- they have low dosage of vitamins.

VickiLE