Omega supplement confusion

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-17-2002
Omega supplement confusion
11
Mon, 07-30-2007 - 4:21pm

Our dev. ped. recommended we put Aidan on fish oil last fall when he was first diagnosed with PDD-NOS. I bought some NN Children's DHA and didn't really notice a difference. Lately he's become kind of a handful so I figured it was worth giving another try. I couldn't remember for sure if it was the DHA or 3-6-9 that we used so I dug out the flier the ped gave us and he has both the junior 3-6-9 and the liquid DHA (we did chewables) circled and a lot of the online vitamin places I looked offered 2-fer deals on them. So now I'm wondering if I was supposed to give him both?? They seem to have the same stuff in them but should I be giving him both kinds? I also noticed that the liquid ones seem to have higher doses so are those better? I figured I'd check with the experts here before I order something and find out I'm wrong. If he is supposed to do both that may explain why we didn't see much difference last time.

Thanks!
Trisha

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-28-2007
Mon, 07-30-2007 - 6:35pm

'k, here's the deal with omega 3 and fish oil. You need differing doses depending on what you want it to do. For heart health you need lower doses than say for mood stabilization. When using for autism the rule of thumb ( and mine actually, lol) is the hight the EPA dose the better. Basically you want the dha anything above 250mg but the EPA well over 600mg. In fact I like to give Liam Nordic Naturals Omega 3 High EPA, which has 850 mg of EPA.

Aaarrrgh youy cry, I'm lost with abbreviations and numbers....

Essentially we need Dha in abundance when in utero, once out and in the world the balance starts to shift and we need more EPA than dha.

We ran out of Liam's omegas before the weekend as I'm a slacker, lol so no surprise Liam has been a little more edgy than usual, I looked at what was different....no omegas for 4 days. This has happened before, he really needs that higher dose. He can swallow pills and capsules ok, so we use Nordic Naturals but I also undersyand Omega Brite is excellent and both offer liquid options.

I would look at something higher in omega 3 than 6 or 9 (the latter two are easily given in food form anyway). But really look into the EPA dosage. (btw: Liam is 7 and been on this dose for over a year now...no side effects at all)

Dee

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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
Mon, 07-30-2007 - 7:25pm

Thanks Dee!


-Paula

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-19-2005
Mon, 07-30-2007 - 7:40pm

Yep, Dee speaks the truth. She answered this same question for me a year ago.

I had Eric on NN DHA when he as little, like ages 2-3 and it did help. Then I switched to NN 3,6,9 and it seemed like he got a little worse. I queried here and Dee said go for the higher "adult" dose. We use the liquid NN with Omega 3 with EPA in really big letters on the front, that is lemon flavored. Eric is only 5 and it really seems one of the essentials for keeping him on an even keel. I now take it too, in my peri-menopausal emotional roller-coaster state and it helps me also.

Katherine

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
Mon, 07-30-2007 - 10:22pm

delete




Edited 2/19/2008 1:28 pm ET by littleroses
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-17-2002
Tue, 07-31-2007 - 12:06pm
Thanks!! I will give that a try! We went back on the Silk enhanced with Omega-3 DHA (we too him off that when he started having allergy shiners (black circles) under his eyes last fall and we couldn't figure out the cause). He LOVES that stuff. I'll get some Omega ordered for him today and see what happens. He's been very mouthy and defiant lately (not sure anything will help that), but he's also been quick to have meltdowns and I know his school has said he gets distracted very easily and they constantly have to try and refocus his attention. So hopefully it will help with that. He starts afternoon preschool 5x a week in a few weeks so we gave up naps this week and I noticed his behavior was a lot better when his brother was sleeping and it was just me and him - again, no magic pill for that.
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-17-2002
Tue, 07-31-2007 - 12:10pm

Is this what I need?
https://www.nordicnaturals.com/direct/prodsummary.asp?ID=33

he's 4.5 yo and weighs about 35lbs - is that dosage okay or should I get one of the lower dosage (600mg) ones?

Thanks!

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-10-2006
Tue, 07-31-2007 - 12:20pm

Hi Trish!


I borrowed the excerpt below from the ADD/ADHD iVillage board.

< < Photobucket

Christine

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-19-2005
Tue, 07-31-2007 - 1:37pm

That is what we have been using with Eric for about a year. Eric is 5, weighs about 45 lbs. I give it to him once a day in the morning.

Instead of giving him the full dosage at once, maybe ease him into it? Perhaps just 1/2 tsp a day for awhile. Then if it seems like everything is ok, up it to 1/2 tsp on the a.m. and 1/2 tsp in the afternoon.

Whenever I start something new like a supplement, I try to go slowly with it--and don't introduce anything else new at the same time, so you can be sure any effects you observe are due to the new supplement.

Katherine

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-19-2005
Tue, 07-31-2007 - 1:38pm

Thanks for posting this! Lots of good info!

Katherine

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
Tue, 07-31-2007 - 3:17pm

delete




Edited 2/19/2008 1:28 pm ET by littleroses

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