how long to wait until know if fish oils/e are going to help

November 29, 2006

Please forgive me if this is somewhere in the message archives. I

tried to find it then decided it's probably not a bad question to

revive in case others have similar questions. I've read that the

fish oils do not work for all apraxic kids, but for most. Is there a

time frame so that I know if it will or won't? Treyvon, my grandson

who lives with me, is 2.5. I posted several weeks ago when after

adding epa and doubling efa (to 2 twice a day) he repeated (in the

best way he could) about 10 words to me, having only had about 10 so

far in his life. I was elated and hopeful. That lasted about a

week, then there have been occasional attempts at a few words.

Lately he seems to be losing words. He is no longer saying the few

words that he could say on a regular basis, such as " more " . Now when

I ask him if he wants more, (to which he usually slowly

says " mmmOHHH " and signs " please " ) he says " ooooohh " . In fact , the

last few days, he seems to be saying that oooooooohhhhhh sound almost

all the time he tries a word. He's turning to me and looking into my

eyes, and saying this ooooooooohhh as though if he said it just right

I'd know what the heck he's trying to tell me. THat's happening more

and more lately. He is trying to tell me something and seems quite

delighted to communicate with me, until it's clear that I don't have

a clue what he's trying to tell me. This SUCKS! I just hate how

heart breaking this is. I feel so badly for him; it's so

frustrating!!

So besides being able to tell you how things are going and share some

feelings (thanks; I know you understand) I'm wondering if there comes

a time when it is clear that the fish oils (efa and epa) and e aren't

going to help. And when might that be?

thanks, Karyn

November 29, 2006

Have you tried reducing the amount and perhaps going back to only the EFA? I

know this might sound strange but it could be that the changes resulting from

the fish oils are overwhelming him and he is unable to process all the

information going through his little head. I know that when we upped Josh's EPA

several years ago, he had a regression in terms of speech and behavior. We cut

it out completely for a bit and then slowly added the increased amount over a

period of time - it seemed to give him time to adjust and process things better.

We saw improvement in all areas then and have continued to see them as time has

gone on.

Just as background, we started Josh on EFA when he was 4 (only had " ba " as a

sound for everything) - in three weeks he was saying words (hard to understand

but definitely words) - in six months he was putting words together. We added

EPA the first time when he was about 5, if I recall correctly. We cut it out

with the regressions and started it up again several months later, again adding

just drops to start, then the full amount in the capsules (I used to prick the

capsule and squeeze it out onto his food) - he did fine after that. Josh is now

8.5 yo and I'm not so consistent about the EPA although the EFA (Complete Omega

from Nordic Natural) still is given every day. I've seen no regression without

the EPA but definitely did when I stopped the EFA for a bit when he was sick

with a pretty nasty respiratory infection a couple of months ago.

Good luck!

Sherry (and Josh)

hopeful52304 <klbythesea@...> wrote: