Hi I am new to this list and need help with ProEFA dosing for my son????

[Guest guest]

Just a little intro... I have 2 children, both boys. Collen is 10 and

my textbook child. Ian, who will be 8 in March, is severely apraxic

adn ADHD. I noticed at 18 months there were problems, especially with

speech and the fact that he didn't walk till 18 months either. As

many others were the doctor said he would be ok that he had an older

sibling talking for him. I knew better so I called Early Intervention

and had an eval doen. Services (ST) were held at home till 3 then he

went to an IU preschool 4 days a week in teh am, where he got sppech,

OT and PT there. In the meantime I was also getting evals done at

Dupont Hospital. Till he was 4 1/2 I was told he was " developmentally

delayed " then finally at annother Dupont visit the pediatric

developmental doctor and the SLP introduced me to the big " A "

apraxia!!! At this point we had done allergy tests, fragile X,

chromosomal testing, random blood work, MRI, etc.....all normal. His

therapy regimen changed and I found another list serve online I

joined and through that found a SLP int he area to take Ian to on IU

breaks and for supplemenatl therapy. Ian naturally had behavioral

issues and anotehr downfall is his lack of confidence. I hear so many

success stories but it seems the kids were so much more motivated.

Anyway along our journeyhe was dx with ADHD combined. We started wrap

around services and he has a TSS at school. He is a happy child!!!!It

breaks my heart we are still doing this. He has had improvements in

his speech but his gains are slow. He is still considered severe at

almost 8. He does attment with a MLU of about 4-5 words, but the

clarity isn't there. He does well in single word uttereances, but

when stringing together to form a sentence it all falls apart.

His ADHD behaviors I feel have been impeding his success in school

and in therapy. He has major struggles in Reading, writing and math.

This year I tried medication for him (although I swore I never would)

and it didn't work out. He can't take much b/c he can't swallow pills

and would never leave a patch on. We have tried Adderall XR, Adderall

Xr in a lower dose combined with Abilify, Vyvanase, adn the tried

Adderall Xr again twice a day. Now he is on nothing!!!!! The Adderall

makes him drop weight like there is no tomorrow. He gets sickeven

looking at food. The Abilify made him a zombie and teh vyvanase just

didn't work at all. I am not interested in putting him on meds

andsupplementing with high caloric shakes snacks etc to keeo weight

up. He loves food normally!! 3 days off the med he gain 3 pounds

back...YA!!!

So I am looking for suggestions. I have sme proEFA here. We used it a

long time ago. I never noticed a difference but I never knew how tro

dose him. He is mall at 48 punds. So how muchand how often do I give

that. Any other ideas to help calm him to focus and/or to help with

speech improvement.

I have been considering other options also. I recently heard of

vision therapy. I have never even had a comprehensive eye exam done

on him. (what an oversight...only school screenings) So I will at

least have an exam done to see if all is ok there.

Also I was third party referred to a chiropractor who specialized in

naturalistic ways. I spoke with him yesterday and he made sense but

scared me. He would want todo a proking chelation on Ian, collect a

24 hour urine, do all sorts of blood work panels and a urine sample

to send of for nuerotransmitter testing. Then he takes those results

and puts together aplan for your child based on what they have too

much or too little of. Sounds alittle invasive to me. It sounded

great when I talked to him but I think we all are looking for

the " miracle " for our child and I don't want to cloud my decisions

that way. So I need to get info and think on that one. Plus it will

be VERY expensive.

So I have babbled long enough. Please flood me with ideas and

thoughts now.

Thank yu

Chrissy in PA