Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional ADHD - anyone tried natural medicine alternatives?

Hi Mycupoftea,
Omega 3s have been beneficial to our family too. It is great that you've seen such big improvements with your kids.

Just a minor note if it helps. Your calorie count is off. The dose you are talking about would be in the range of 27 to 50 calories. This is from the Nordic Naturals site. http://www.nordicnaturals.com/en/FAQ%27s/FAQs/388


26. WHY ARE THE CALORIES THE SAME EVEN THOUGH THE OMEGA-3 LEVELS ARE DIFFERENT?

All fat/oil contains 9 calories per gram. Nordic Naturals offers fish oil supplements with differing concentrations of the omega-3s EPA and DHA, but the concentration does not affect the amount of fat/oil in each soft gel. Regardless of the omega-3 concentration, a 1000mg soft gel contains 1000mg of oil, and thus contains 9 calories.

Thanks for the update Cricket, that's great news! (Un-jinx ;-))

Mcupoftea, That sounds very promising, would you mind sharing the info that helped you determine that such mega-doses were safe for kids?

I am hoping to assemble enough convincing information for my DD to be willing to try it. Right now, if it isn't recommended by a Dr. its all suspect to her(!) Also, I want to share it with my brother as my 11 year old niece is starting to display some signs of following in my DDs footsteps(!)

Twinkle-toes, here is the breakdown from up thread:

I bought the Nordic Naturals 1000mg fish oil softgels and each 2 gel serving provides:

330mg EPA
220mg DHA
140mg Other Omega-3
160mg Omega-9

18 calories.

I don't think its an exact science, but I figured on two 2-pill servings a day on days we do not eat salmon. I would love to have some more documentation to support this (or another) quantity, as it would make it so much easier to convince those in my family that could benefit the most from it to give it a shot.

Another caution, I was told there was some issue with some of the gel tab casing ingredients if consumed in large quantities (not Nordic Naturals), I can find the details if anyone wants them. Then of course there is the mercury in some of the real fish to worry about if consuming large quantities too!

Nik, oddly, I'm with your DD on this one. If the doctors didn't recommend it, that would have to be because (a) they didn't know about it, or (b) there's no peer-reviewed evidence that it would work in her case. I find (b) more likely than (a), so I remain a skeptic about over the counter supplements.

DeeDee

So, just another quick update. I, honestly, don't know how much of this is a placebo effect, but dd continues to be doing much better in terms of academic consistency. I just got an e-mail from her math/reading teacher inquiring as to what I did to her and saying that I should market it. She got the second highest grade in the class on the most recent math test (missed the top score by a point) .

Dh is also now the one working with her on math studying although he hates math and has some serious mental block about it. It is much less efficient than my helping her b/c he comes to me to ask questions and then goes back to help her, but they scream at one another less.

eta: If I had to guess, I'd say that the things that are helping the most are the caffeine she's drinking in her tea daily, the gum chewing, and studying more with dh's help.

Wow, that's great, very encouraging! I am so glad for you and your DD.

What kind of tea is she drinking?

I totally get the math thing, if she is anything like me or my DD, your DD probably sympathizes with your DH, so it's more of a team thing with him ("us struggling together to conquer the math" vs. "smart person who knows it all imparting wisdom upon ignorant me".

I make green, white, or black tea every morning anyway, so I just make extra and refrigerate the extra in her water bottle so she can drink it as iced tea. The type varies from day to day as I have quite a few different varieties from gunpowder green (green tea leaves rolled and dried over a wood fire so it has a slightly smokey flavor) to black lychee (black tea sweetened with lychee nut peels).