OCD and Vitamin B8 (Inositol)

[Guest guest]

Just came across this article about a doctor at Harvard who thinks

Inositol (Vitamin B8) may be as effective as SSRIs without the serious

side effects. Haven't come across a consensus on dosage for children -

some studies suggest as low as .5 - 2 grams per day (2 grams = 1 tsp)

for children or up to 18 grams for an adult, but the effects can take 6

weeks to see. Of course, everything has to be taken with a grain of

salt, but for those who might be looking for an alternative, this may

be worth reading or researching further.

FYI - Inositol is one component of Lecithin, but there are other

components in Lecithin that may not be good for OCD, so you might be

better off with just Inositol rather than a lecithin supplement.

Here's the link\:

http://www.naturaladd.com/resources/articles/natural.html

[Guest guest]

We used inositol powder all thru middle school (he's 19 now). It

worked well. Then we tried it again later in high school, even up to

the 18 grams and over but didn't work a bit. So I guess it's 50/50

but I feel worth a try if very hesitant about prescription, which I

was when OCD began. We did use Celexa later and it worked well too,

only SSRI we've tried. (And I would LOVE for him to try it again, he

refuses prescription now.) It did take WEEKS, as with prescription,

before I felt the inositol was helping.

Actually since OCD was still so " new " at the time we began the

inositol powder, I was back/forth on whether OCD was waning some on

its own or if inositol was helping! But a long time later, my son

made a comment about the inositol did help. We were running low on

it and $$ and I had cut back his dosage of it and he could tell a

difference. His OCD did worsen some when we started the inositol but

settled back down. I stuck with it because I had read OCD will

sometimes worsen at first when prescription meds begin too.

>

> Just came across this article about a doctor at Harvard who thinks

> Inositol (Vitamin B8) may be as effective as SSRIs without the

serious

> side effects. Haven't come across a consensus on dosage for

children -

>

[Guest guest]

We tried this too, without success. It caused our son to have gas and

diarrhea, so have to carefully and watchfully up the dose. Some have

had good results with it, and it's certainly worth a try. But, if

they are already on an SSRI, be sure to work with a doctor, because

both increase serotonin in the brain. There is a condition called

serotonin syndrome, where they can get too much serotonin.

Here's a good article on it, if you haven't seen it.

http://westsuffolkpsych.homestead.com/Inositol_and_OCD.html

BJ

>

> Just came across this article about a doctor at Harvard who thinks

> Inositol (Vitamin B8) may be as effective as SSRIs without the serious

> side effects. Haven't come across a consensus on dosage for children -

> some studies suggest as low as .5 - 2 grams per day (2 grams = 1 tsp)

> for children or up to 18 grams for an adult, but the effects can take 6

> weeks to see. Of course, everything has to be taken with a grain of

> salt, but for those who might be looking for an alternative, this may

> be worth reading or researching further.

>

> FYI - Inositol is one component of Lecithin, but there are other

> components in Lecithin that may not be good for OCD, so you might be

> better off with just Inositol rather than a lecithin supplement.

>

> Here's the link\:

> http://www.naturaladd.com/resources/articles/natural.html

>