Another Supplement Question
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Another Supplement Question
| Thu, 04-20-2006 - 11:01pm |
Tomorrow I take the kdis to the ped for the checkups and I want to talk about Bobby's diet and possible supplements.

Ya know, I don't use Houstons or Brainchild because i just don't have the funding and they didn't quite have the mix I wanted of supplements. I get mine through either a local health food store or organic coop.
Digestive enzymes - My favorite is Enzymend by Rainbow light. They use really pure ingredients, not loads of fillers and the enzymend also has chamomile (which is great to help sooth the savage beasties) and amino acids.
Omega 3's - Currently I think I have Fish Oil from Spectrum somthing or other. No PCBs or mercury and it is from small wild fish. Like sardines I think. The lower on the food chain you go, the less mercury is involved. I got them on sale at Sprouts and love those. I have also really found Nordic Naturals to be great and they have kid sized ones and chewables which is a huge plus.
Acidolpholus - there are loads of good ones out there. It really helps with digestion too as it promotes healthy gut bacteria. With lots of antibiotics and such around we often kill off the good stuff, which then allows yeast to grow, throughing the whole digestion thing off balance, yuck.
Then a good multi-vit. There are tons you can get.
I am a wee bit leary of going with the mega vitamin route with high B's unless you have tested to find that they are deficient in one or another. There is toxicity to worry about etc. Mostly, I try to get them processing and their bodies as healthy and functioning as possible so that in turn helps the brain.
Beyond autism I have read many articles regarding how what you eat or rather what you process, affects you and your ability to learn, think and function.
Renee
I also don't use either of those. We use digest gold by Enzymedica. Its a broad spectrum enzyme. For vitamins/minerals my kids mainly take individual supplements. When we first started using supplements niether kid could tolerate a multi. Now they can and when I give a multi they take Alive whole food energizer no iron added. Right now neither are taking it though. BTW, I wouldn't waste my breath talking to a medical doctor about supplements. They aren't taught about them or nutrition in med school.
Samantha
I am sorry I didn't see your post until this morning and you may already have had your appointment. I do use Brainchild SSII and like them very much. I think they have really helped my son's overall general health and I think it may have helped his speech be a bit more fluid. The digestive enzymes in our case have made a really huge difference.
But I would not do too many things at once, so you can tell what is workingor not working. First start with one thing, do that for awhile so that you are sure your child is handling it ok. Then consider adding another supplement.
The Brainchild and the Houston's digestive enzymes kind of do different things, as I see it. The Brainchild is more and all-purpose, kind of like a super super multi-vitamin. The Houston's are focused on helping digestion.
With the Houston's it depends on your child's digestion problems as to which you might use. I use the AFP peptizyde bc it helps with breaking down gluten and casein, which is our trouble. I also use the Zyme prime with is an overall all purpose enzyme.
As for talking to the doc, Samantha is probably right, your ped may or may not be responsive. Mine didn't know anything about the supplements and her attitude was, sure, if you want to spend the $$$ it won't hurt him.
However, she did know all about the digestive enzymes and was very supportive of that, since she knows our son's GI troubles. She just wants to do blood work every 6 mos. to make sure his liver is ok. For some reason, that is the one thing she thought the enzymes might affect. So far so good.
Also, if you do decide to try the Brainchild and the Houston's, you can get samples of both to try before you invest in them. We used several samples of the Brainchild before we decided to go for it. With the Houston's, the change was so obvious right away that it was a no-brainer. Also, at both those companies, they are really nice to talk to on the phone and can give you advice about dosing etc. The Brainchild owners have children with autism and are very sympathetic.
Good luck at the doctor's. I hope it goes ok!
Katherine
I also forgot to say, with both these supplements, they will tell you to start slow with a small dose and gradually increase to the recommended dose. I really believe in doing it that way and it has worked well. Also, my son could not handle the heavy b vitamins in the Kirkman's vitamins, but with the lower b6 combo in SSII he seems to be fine.
Also, I do agree with Renee that eating right is also a huge part. Going mostly organic has made a difference. Plus, being largely GFCF we have just cut out alot of carbs since we don't eat bread of baked goods that much. Eating like the "South Beach Diet" has actually worked out pretty well, odd as that may sound. It's mostly high protein, just healthy. Getting rid of stuff with high fructose corn syrup, dyes, preservatives has been important.
Probiotics are useful too. Just eating yogurt (with the enzymes, Eric can now eat goat's yogurt) but there are plenty of good over the counter probiotics.
Omegas too, like Renee said. Both in foods or a supplement. Omega 3,6,9 jr. by Nordic Naturals is what we use, but there are many. It's the only supplement we do in addition to the Brainchild and the digestive enzymes.
Hope I haven't been repeating myself. But I had such a hard time learning all this stuff and putting it all together myself, I want to share if it will help someone. Plus, every child is so different and what works for one may not work for another, as we all know.
I know this has been mentioned before, but a good book with supplement info. is "Children with Starving Brains" but it is written by a doctor and a bit technical to read at times. I also like "Enzymes for autism" written by a mom with 2 ASD boys. It's easier to understand and has info on other supplements besides the enzymes, although that is the focus.
Katherine
I second the recommedation for "Children with Starving Brains" by Dr. Jacquelyn MacCandless! It is a really informative book (her grandaugther has autism). I saw her speak at a DAN conference, she is wonderful. This book covers just about everything a parent might want to know about supplementing your ASD child.
Btw, we use Houston's chewable Peptidze - they taste good (my kids think they taste like iced tea).
Liquid minerals are great - we add 1.5 tsp to their cranberry juice every morning - its a clear liquid w/ no taste.
You can by lemon fish oils that taste good from Whole Foods, or you can buy a bottle of fish oil and just add it to their juice. When my kids ask what the "bubbles" are I tell them "its from mixing up their juice, just bubbles, that's all" ;)
The vitamin B12 shots have made a big difference for our boys, we do them w/ numbing cream and at night when they are asleep - every 3 days.
We began chelating w/ TD-DMPS - a cream that is rubbed on to their forearms. Once the metals have been pulled from their bodies, we expect them to be able to absorb nutrients from their food like typical kids do, w/o all of these extra supplements... we are expecting this process to take up to a yr, maybe longer.
Let me know if you need more info...
Meg