Re: medication and enzymes

[Guest guest]

--Hi,

My son is still pretty little yet (3.4) But we had HUGE problems with

listening and following direction and really bad defiance. We started

the diet in July and he got 50% better. We started enzymes in Oct and

he got another 40% better. We did see a regression when we had a yeast

flare-up but now have that under controll. We only use

enzymes,pro-biotics,electrolyte replacement and calcium and magnesium

and he is doing really well. We will start amino acids in a while as

blood work showed he is really deficient and we want to chelate in a

few months. I don't think that he will truely be 100% untill we get

the heavy metals out. (he is toxic in several.) We really think the

enzymes and pro-biotics are the best but every child is different. You

may however find that once on enzymes for awhile you don't need as

many meds.

Good luck

Patti

- In @y..., Momlaw@a... wrote:

> Hi all,

>

> Do any of your children take medications with the enzymes--my son is

starting

> a (small) trial of Adderall, because he truly has such HUGE attention

> problems in school--and at home--that we can no longer avoid at

least seeing

> if this will improve his schoolday. We have tried many other

therapies,

> vitamins and supplements to no avail and school is becomeing torture

for him

> as he fails to advance. My goal would be, of course, to minimize

meds as

> much as possible--maybe even eliminate the med if the enzymes--which

we have

> not started--do help.

>

> Does everyone on this list do purely natural treatments--vitamins,

enzymes,

> supps., or is anyone else doing medications as well along with the

enzymes?

>

>

[Guest guest]

,

Boy did I appreciate your post--my poor Nick has emerging anxiety issues that

were beginning to interfere with school big time. So a pedicatric

psychiatrist put him on Paxil with horrible results--super physical and

verbal hyperactivity (Nick's never been hyper), horrible sleep disruptions,

and of course, no lessening in the anxiety (which of course got even worse

with sleep disruption). The psych wanted to try Eflexor, another SSRI, and I

decided to wait until we got through a long-ago scheduled appointment with a

highly recommended pediatric neurologist.

She--the neurologist--turned out to be fabulous. Nicky's anxiety was on the

wane--she said our kids are so cyclic, and this just may be a life-long

problem that might do well with behavior interventions, like neurofeedback or

even theropeutic hypnosis. But attention has been so hard to pinpoint, given

the anxiety, audiotory processing problems and sensory integration disorder,

all of which Nicky has which can each mimic attention problems.

So she suggested a SMALL trial dose of Adderall--which evidently works a

little better with the ASI population. If we see improvement, at least we

know attention might be ADD/ADHD based. Because of his reaction to Paxil, we

have to really scrutinize any side effects, because 10-15% of the total

population cannot tolerate stimulants. At least with Adderall, it gets out

of the system quickly if there is a problem unlike the Paxil which took weeks

to get out.

I'm sort of at the end of my rope--poor Nicky is really falling behind

academically--3rd grade is the turning point academically because of the

higher expections. We've done loads of other interventions--AIT, Interactive

Metronome, lots of sensory breaks in school--but his attention is getting

less and less available. Homework is a nightmare--I will literally hold his

chin in my hand and ask him to focus on what he's doing and his eyes wander

away and his thoughts are anywhere but on homework. So I have to try it--he

KNOWS everyone in class is doing work that for some reason, he cannot attend

to. It's at the point where his self-esteem is hurting, and he is calling

himself " dumb " because he can't do the work. While I hate the thought of

stimulants, I hate the idea of him being miserble everyday a 1000 times more.

But now this other drug you mention, has got me interested--amitrypiline.

This is a prescription drug? Nicky has always had trouble getting to sleep

since he was a toddler. Add in anxiety--and that stupid Paxil--and

sensory--hmmm. I think I'll take a look closer at that.

If the Adderall helps--and even if it doesn't--I starting the enzymes.

Perhaps it will at least help minimize the dosage of Adderall, which is

easier to live with.

Thanks so much for your input!

[Guest guest]

>> Do any of your children take medications

Yep, we sure do! I and both boys take 25-50 mg of Zoloft each

morning for " preventive maintenance. " Doctor says anyone who deals

with chronic pain should be on an antidepressant because constant

pain can cause you to slip into depression at any time.

The Zoloft does help a bit, especially if you are serotonin

deficient. Some autistic spectrum people are serotonin deficient (at

least 15%) and some are too high in serotonin (around 25%). If you

are too high, the SSRIs can make you wacko. I don't know how to find

out if you are high or low ahead of time.

We also take my all time favorite: amitryptiline. This helped so

much in recovery. It is an older med which used to be used at higher

doses for depression until the newer SSRIs came out. It is still the

standard one used for sleep disorders and head pain, which we have.

It went a very long way in reducing the sensory integration issues

and 's head-banging. The ami helps induce the deep sleep that

some people cannot achieve on their own. During this deep sleep

certain hormones are produced in the body that are not produced any

other way. These hormones regulate pain sensation. Therefore, the

ami de-sensitizes the person so they interpret sensory input in a

more " typical " way. It is also very cheap and safe (I pay $5 for a

month's supply for the 3 of us). We were taking 35 mg/day, but on

enzymes I have reduced this to 20 mg/day. I was on 150 mg of the

Zoloft before enzymes and now I take just 25-50 mg. Eventually, we

may be able to end it altogether, but I don't consider these amounts

to be terrible and they are cheap so this isn't a big priority for

me at the moment.

.

[Guest guest]

Evan's Tele-medicine psychiatrist wanted to try him on Adderall starting off

at 2.5 mg. His pediatrician wanted to start him off at 5 mg and go to 20 mg

since that was what his brothers are on. It did work out. He became

aggressive and more agitated. His psychiatrist said that was why we were

suppose to go very slow with it because many with autism cannot handle this

medication unless given at small doses and built up slowly. We never did

try going back to it and doing it slowly. I have him on Gingko Biloba and

L-Glutamine from Kirkmanlabs.com that seem to be bringing an improvement

both at home and at school. He still is nonverbal but he is following

through with directions better. ex. He will not wear anything but his

underwear on around the house. I put his clothes on (if he won't) and he

takes them off as soon as I turn around or he just screams and takes them

off as soon as I let go of them. He wanted to go out in the back yard last

week and I told him that he could not go without his clothes on and I walked

off because I was doing something. The next thing I knew, Evan was dressed

and dragging me to the back door.! This morning I got his pants out and

told him to put them on which he did but I helped him with his socks because

they are not tube socks. I had not yet got his shirt out. I was doing

something else and he went to his drawer and got out a shirt and put it on.

His is considered moderate to low-functioning at his last evaluation at 6

yo.

Betty

grandmother and guardian to

age 10 ADHD/bipolar

Evan age 7 nonverbal autism

age 5 ADHD/RAD and maybe bipolar

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Maybe you would also be interested to find out about 5-HTP.

I will copy and paste here just a small part of some article that I just sent to

somebody else that was interested... This person was taking Prozac...

If you want to read more, I guess you can make a search in any search engine for

" 5-HTP " or " serotonin " or " depression " and you will find lots of information.

Anyway, I hope this helps a little...

Valentina

" 5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) is a natural compound produced by the body from

tryptophan, an amino acid found in many foods. It is the immediate precursor of

serotonin -- a neurotransmitter that carries vital signals between certain brain

cells. Poor diet, lack of exercise, use of harmful substances such as caffeine

or alcohol, and ongoing physical and emotional stress can depress the levels of

serotonin your body makes, resulting in a range of serious problems: depression,

obesity, insomnia, migraine headaches, chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, or what

is collectively known as serotonin deficiency syndrome.

The idea is you can correct these maladies by talking supplemental 5-HTP and

raise serotonin to preferable levels.

In Europe, 5-HTP has been used for decades as an approved treatment for

depression, sleep problems and other medical complaints. It is just now starting

to sweep America. There is substantial scientific evidence to support the

contention that 5-HTP is a safe, natural way to boost brain serotonin levels.

Detailed clinical trials have shown 5-HTP to produce results equal to or better

than standard synthetic drugs used in the treatment of problems arising from

serotonin deficiency syndrome, including depression.

If you want to give 5-HTP a try, naturopath T. Murray, author of " 5-Htp:

The Natural Way to Overcome Depression, Obesity, & Insomnia " (Bantam, 1998),

recommends that you begin by taking 50 mg of 5-HTP about 20 minutes before meals

for two weeks and then doubling dosage if necessary. While higher dosages of

5-HTP (e.g., 300 mg) are associated with nausea, these lower dosages seem to be

just as effective without the nuisance of mild nausea during the first few weeks

of use. Be sure to use products that are " enteric coated " so that they do not

dissolve in the stomach. This will also help prevent nausea. Also, if you are

taking any of the newer antidepressant drugs such as Prozac, Zoloft or Paxil, be

sure to notify your doctor before taking 5-HTP. "

> But now this other drug you mention, has got me interested--amitrypiline.

> This is a prescription drug? Nicky has always had trouble getting to sleep

> since he was a toddler. Add in anxiety--and that stupid Paxil--and

> sensory--hmmm. I think I'll take a look closer at that.

>

> If the Adderall helps--and even if it doesn't--I starting the enzymes.

> Perhaps it will at least help minimize the dosage of Adderall, which is

> easier to live with.

>

> Thanks so much for your input!

>

>

[Guest guest]

low dose melatonin also seems to have an anti depressant effect,

maybe because it relieves the body of the need to produce seratonin

since melatonin is made from seratonin.

by low dose i mean about 250 mcg(micrograms) which is 1/4 of a 1mg

tablet.

the advantage is melatonin is its non toxicity and relative ease of

taking.

> Hi ,

>

> Maybe you would also be interested to find out about 5-HTP.

> I will copy and paste here just a small part of some article that I

just sent to somebody else that was interested... This person was

taking Prozac...

> If you want to read more, I guess you can make a search in any

search engine for " 5-HTP " or " serotonin " or " depression " and you will

find lots of information.

> Anyway, I hope this helps a little...

>

>

> Valentina

>

>

> " 5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) is a natural compound produced by the

body from tryptophan, an amino acid found in many foods. It is the

immediate precursor of serotonin -- a neurotransmitter that carries

vital signals between certain brain cells. Poor diet, lack of

exercise, use of harmful substances such as caffeine or alcohol, and

ongoing physical and emotional stress can depress the levels of

serotonin your body makes, resulting in a range of serious problems:

depression, obesity, insomnia, migraine headaches, chronic fatigue

and fibromyalgia, or what is collectively known as serotonin

deficiency syndrome.

> The idea is you can correct these maladies by talking supplemental

5-HTP and

> raise serotonin to preferable levels.

> In Europe, 5-HTP has been used for decades as an approved treatment

for depression, sleep problems and other medical complaints. It is

just now starting to sweep America. There is substantial scientific

evidence to support the contention that 5-HTP is a safe, natural way

to boost brain serotonin levels. Detailed clinical trials have shown

5-HTP to produce results equal to or better than standard synthetic

drugs used in the treatment of problems arising from serotonin

deficiency syndrome, including depression.

> If you want to give 5-HTP a try, naturopath T. Murray,

author of " 5-Htp: The Natural Way to Overcome Depression, Obesity, &

Insomnia " (Bantam, 1998), recommends that you begin by taking 50 mg

of 5-HTP about 20 minutes before meals for two weeks and then

doubling dosage if necessary. While higher dosages of 5-HTP (e.g.,

300 mg) are associated with nausea, these lower dosages seem to be

just as effective without the nuisance of mild nausea during the

first few weeks of use. Be sure to use products that are " enteric

coated " so that they do not dissolve in the stomach. This will also

help prevent nausea. Also, if you are taking any of the newer

antidepressant drugs such as Prozac, Zoloft or Paxil, be sure to

notify your doctor before taking 5-HTP. "

>

>

>

>

> > But now this other drug you mention, has got me interested--

amitrypiline.

> > This is a prescription drug? Nicky has always had trouble

getting to sleep

> > since he was a toddler. Add in anxiety--and that stupid Paxil--

and

> > sensory--hmmm. I think I'll take a look closer at that.

> >

> > If the Adderall helps--and even if it doesn't--I starting the

enzymes.

> > Perhaps it will at least help minimize the dosage of Adderall,

which is

> > easier to live with.

> >

> > Thanks so much for your input!

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Dear ,

As my daughter is going through the emotional ups and downs of puberty, she

is currently on Risperdol for anger and aggression management along with both

Houston enzymes. However, since being on the enzymes, we were successfully able

to wean her off Luvox for several obsessive compulsive behaviors she kept

engaging in and these behaviors subsided dramatically.

[Guest guest]

Noah takes clonidine to help him sleep, He is one of these kids that

would stay up till 3 or 4 in the morning without it, I have been

wanting to try to see if he will sleep better now that he has been on

enzymes for a month, but he recently started back at his preschool

and I am working on getting him back used to that before I try

anything new, Talk to you later, Janet