ARCHIVE Message re Pro Efa (No Change - continue or discontinue)]

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This archive message from Theresa may be timely for some recent

inquiries to the list

On 18 Nov 2007, tltbaku wrote

I noticed that you received only one response to your posting (at least as

far as I read), so I thought I would chime in and suggest strongly that you

don't stop yet.

We are still on the journey with our daughter and have yet to see the huge

results others have reported. However, as of day 15, we have seen marked

improvements in our daughter's motor gross and fine skills, motor

sequencing, ability to produce consonants we've never heard before, ability

to approximate words, and cognitive and social skills. Incremental, but

nevertheless astonishing because so many areas have suddenly begun to make

progress. We remain hopeful of seeing a major breakthrough in the coming

weeks. If not, we will take the various steps I've outlined below -- steps

I've learned from others -- and see where to go from there.

So let me begin with an outline of what I've read here, on the internet and

in books, and what I find helpful advice.

Dr. Stordy states in her book, " The LCP Solution: The Remarkable

Nutritional Treatment for ADHD, Dyslexia and Dyspraxia, " that it is

important to make a commitment of three months and to persevere with that

commitment even if you don't see the results you are anxiously awaiting

appear as soon as you would like. She suggests that for some, it takes quite

some time to replenish the depleted stores of LCPs (long-chain

polyunsaturated fatty acids -- DHA, AA and AdrA -- the things that are

either in ProEFA or that the body produces through metabolizing ProEFA --

Indeed, Dr. Stordy talks mostly about LCPs, and not EFAs -- I highly

recommend reading her book).

So although many of the parents on this list have seen immediate results, or

results within 3 weeks, that doesn't necessarily mean that you will see them

that soon. Each body is different and has different needs.

Stordy, page 135-6 (UK edition): " While it is true that some individuals do

notice benefits within weeks, many have found that it can take twelve weeks

or longer. It all depends upon the individual. As children are growing fast,

they will sometimes burn the fatty acid supplements as energy rather than

allowing them to proceed to the membranes where they are really needed. In a

child who is seriously deficient in LCPs, it may well take as long as three

months to build up the amounts needed in all of the body's tissues.

Therefore, you won't be able to make a realistic evaluation of LCP

supplementation if you haven't given it three months. "

But there are possibly other issues involved in the whys and wherefores of

if and how long it takes children to respond to EFA supplementation ( or in

Dr. Stordy's more accurate terminology -- LCP supplementation). No one yet

knows the mechanisms and no one yet knows why certain supplements and

combinations seem to work for one child and not for another. At this point,

it's pretty much trial and error based on anecdotal reports from parents

about what worked for their child. Parents try something for a while, hear

about something else that has helped another child who also didn't respond,

and then try that. Typical additions have included:

* up the dosage of ProEFA to one and a half to two capsules per day;

* add EPA in the form of half to one capsule of ProEPA (also from Nordic

Naturals) per day --