ADHD and diet and homeopathy

[bejeezus]

you may have seen my first thread. I have a 6 yo DD about to be assessed for ADHD. This is quite a recent concern/revelation for us and so I havent read an awful lot yet.

There seems to be conflicting views regarding the effect diet has. Does anyone have any experience of this? If you dont feed sugar or concentrated fruit juice do you manage to make cakes or biscuits? if not what do you give as a pudding/ treat?

ANy experience of homeopathy and ADHD?

[ppeatfruit]

Worriedmum and bejeesus i follow the blood type way of eating and it is miraculous in that DH is totally allergic to wheat (even whole organic) O types are known to be intolerant to wheat .

I saw a T.V. programme about autistic children who calmed down completely when not eating wheat. I know your DCs are not autistic but it might be some help to look at this (especially if they have inexplicable exhaustion and rages).

You can download the app. for Dr. Peter D'Adamo Eat Right for your Blood Type. i have no health probs. since being on it

[WorriedMum23]

My DS has ADHD. He had clear problems from the age of "1/2 and was diagnosed at 7/8. He was breast fed and being PFB I cooked organic foods from scratch when weaning. He went to a nursery that employed a cook who also cooked from scratch but not organic. Sweets and chocs were limited but not banned. As he grew older we tried vitamin supplements and fish oil- evening primrose combinations, we also tried cranial osteopathy, art therapy and parenting classes. We would give all these options a good 6-12 month trial at least.
We found that:
Some colourings do have an adverse affect - he once had a fruit pastille ice lolly and his pupils changed and he became completely hyper. We banned all sweets with colourings and he would refuse birthday sweets brought into school or ask to save then for later so I could check.
The fish oils/supplements made no difference but he had a good diet and so probably wasn't lacking anything.
The cranial osteopathy helped him sleep. The 2 nights after a session he would always sleep well even when he was too young for a placebo effect.
TV: I limited and would not let him watch programmes that showed bad/cheeky behaviour. I would video BBC programmes for schools so he would watch Tweenies/Come Outside and Magic Granddad rather than TracY Beaker - he was quite capable of being cheeky/overexcited without any outside inspiration.
Video/PC Games: A complete ban until 7. Then a ban during termtime and limited in school hols. When playing the game he is v focussed but the adrenaline created is not then countered by physical exertion as it is in sport. He is now 15 and the term-time ban is still in place.
Medication: It worked really well. It was our last resort, but it does help. His confidence was rock bottom, he was unhappy because he did not want to be badly behaved. Within weeks the school was commenting on his maturity and he had more friends (no-one knew about the medication so this was a genuine change).

I think ADHD is like asthma - it is a physical condition, but in some people certain things make the condition worse and unfortunately it is trial and error discovering which things affect your DD.

Sorry for the long post. I hope it helps.

[ppeatfruit]

I often think (as a teacher) that the british education system has to take a lot of blame for all the diagnoses of ADHD.

If you try to make some (not all of course) under 6 yr olds sit down for too long and not give them enough free play etc. then you're going against nature and they 're bound to rebel!! There's a thread on here saying the school has said to the poster that her 3 yr old couldn't concentrate !!!!!

[ppeatfruit]

notadude i am not dogmatic about homeopathy, it didn't work for DS's asthma either nor did the steroids, and ABs that the docs were giving him. Just made him into a fat angry child with asthma! (There is evidence to show that people only started DYING of asthma after the hospitals were O.D.ing people on sulhponamides) correct spelling??

What worked was chinese herbs and the Buteyko system (easy mouth closed method) and cutting out dairy, tomatoes and orange juice from his diet.

[bejeezus]

Madamesin Bristol Homeopathic hospital is also NHS and manned by conventionally qualified doctors also - although funding may be cut soon I hear

[narmada]

Homeopathy does not treat like with like, nor does conventional medicine ape Homeoptahy. Homeopathy treats illnesses with sugar and water pills. Conventional medicine at least employs drugs that have been shown to be more effective than placebo, which is more than can be said for homeopathy.

[tralalala]

My cousins lo has adhd and found these to hlep:4

no computer games
restricted tv (and no fast paced stuff like ben 10)
Low GI
routine and clear rules (not always easy!)

I love a lot of alternative medicine but think from experience and from the vast array of clinical trials do on it, it does nothing more than placebo.

hope you find something that works

[MadameSin]

Homeopathy is based on treating 'like with like' ... and as we choose to treat ADHD with a stimulant, it would appear that conventional doctors are replicating the way homeopathy works. My son has a dx of ADHD, he's not medicated as we control his behaviour mostly with diet. All the obvious stuff .. not rocket science. From our experience, during the Summer hols when we were 'slack', he was a bloody nightmare. Needless to say we are back on the 'regime'. Look here: www.uclh.org/OurServices/ServiceA-Z/INTMED/IMCC/Pages/Home.aspx (this was formally the London Homeopathic Hospital) It is, I understand, the only NHS funded hospital in the UK using doctors qualified in both conventional and complementary medicines ....

[Blueberties]

Wrt to zinc we did have very good results. It's a good idea not to tell anyone what you're doing - then you get an absolutely unbiased report when teachers comment on improved concentration (it happened to us!) But it can definitely make a child nauseous so it might be worth trying out different mg and maybe starting with 15.

To be totally, absolutely honest, I think all the other ideas are very good but zinc is so easy that I would try it on its own so that you know exactly what's having the impact. If it makes no difference you could try something that could be equally effective, elimination diet for example, but might be more difficult to introduce.

[bejeezus]

some really interesting information, cheers.

will look into zinc and elimination diet- interesting about it increasing sensitivity though

looked at GAP diet; it kind of sits right for me but its pretty hard core for a 6 yo child IMO, especially one who has the appetite of a very small sparrow at the best of times

Personally, I think add is more of a set of personality traits than a sn ( even if it does cause sen)

THIS is how I feel about it right now, to be sure. (Maybe because my DD seems fairly mild ADHD (if at all-still waiting to be assessed)) but if those parts of her character were taken away, it wouldnt be her. Its hard sometimes and exhausting but I feel its more positive than negative. SHes lovely.

[narmada]

tallulah, I am sure ADHD does cause sleep disorders, honestly, I didn't mean to suggest it doesn't, but I think it's a feasible hypothesis that some sleep disorders may cause ADHD-like symptoms (for example, central sleep apnoea).

[tabulahrasa]

Some children are definitely affected by diet - if that child also has ADHD, then any reaction to diet is then going to be on top of ADHD traits...IMO anyway.

That's not the same as saying ADHD is caused by diet.

[Blueberties]

Op - may I briefly suggest zinc supplements to help with concentration. I have found them extremely effective but you have to give them at night as they can lead to drowsiness and nausea. I used to give 30 mg a day. The RDA is something rather crummy but it's difficult to overdose on zinc and so higher amounts are worth a dry.

[tryingtoleave]

Ppeatfruit, saying refined sugar does not cause bad behaviour is not the same thing as saying that coke doesn't cause bad behaviour. Sugar on it's own is fine - all the chemicals and colours and additives you find in sugary products are the problem.

Ice cream makes my ds go crazy too. I think it is the colour 160b (annatto) that is often in ice cream and is described as natural but is known to have a bad effect on some children. We look for ice cream without it.

[tallulah]

" sometimes ADHD-like behaviour was caused by sleep disorders ", um ADHD causes sleep disorders, not the other way round.

[NotADudeExactly]

Homeopathy is quackery!

When I was a child I had asthma. My parents were both a bit New Agey and very suspicious of conventional medicine whose main aim it supposedly was to pump as many evil corticosteroids into innocent little children as they could physically contain.

Hence the seven years I spent having my asthma treated with homeopathy and fucking crystal therapy. Guess which little girl was wheezing her way through puberty until she luckily grew out of her asthma?

I love my parents dearly. But if there's one thing I still hold a grudge about from my childhood it is this. Remembering this feeling that I was suffocating, how it used to go on for what seemed like ages then and realizing that a simple inhalator could have provided almost instant relief makes me want to throttle my mum and dad. Yes, I see the irony completely.

Get your child some real drugs if she needs them.

[ppeatfruit]

Sorry i meant to say colditz!

Tryingtoleave* i wonder who was funding the research into the effects of refined sugar? Coca cola probably!! i've watched DCs go wild after a tin of the brown sugar water shxx. Also become ILL the day after eating ice cream.

[narmada]

YOu have probably read every book under the sun on ADHD OP, and I stress I know absolutely NOTHING about it really but... I was reading a book about sleep the other day by an americal sleep specialist whose theory (and it may just be that) was that sometimes ADHD-like behaviour was caused by sleep disorders, e.g., undetected sleep apnoea, or insufficient overall sleep. Probably complete b**cks but I thought it might be of interest.

[tryingtoleave]

The argument is that in some cases behaviour that looks like ADHD (or even asd) is actually a response to certain types of food OR in other cases someone who has ADHD might find their behavior is exacerbated by foodIf it will not be the case for everyone displaying that behaviour, but sometimes it will be worth finding out if it is. If there is a sensitivity to salicylates, say, it could be fruit that the child is responding to, not lollies.

Personally, I think add is more of a set of personality traits than a sn ( even if it does cause sen).

I also think a lot of mothers (myself included) turn to diet in these circumstances because it is the only thing , or the easiest thing, they can control.

[GossipWitch]

I don't see how a change in diet can change the behaviour of a child with sn, they have those behaviours due to their sn, not because they has a haribo sweet at the end of class.

[tryingtoleave]

here on the hospital website and here is Sue Dengate's website.

[tryingtoleave]

There is a lot of research that refined sugar has no effect on behaviour. There is research that shows that the rpa elimination diet ( google it) has some effect. We did it for a while with ds. You cut out amines, salicylates and glutamates, as well as colours and preservatives. Then you reintroduce them to see if there is a response. You are allowed white sugar, but hardly any fruit or veggies, or yellow cheese and lots of other things.

As i say we did it for a while with ds and I found out that he was sensitive to amines (and I found out they were responsible for my headaches too). But I would be hesitant to recommend it because I think it is unhealthy for children ( they say you can have a balanced diet on it, but only if you are prepared to eat lots of brussel sprouts and cabbage). Also, going on the diet increases your sensitivity. No one told me this when we began but when I mentioned to the dietician that I thought it was happening, she said, oh yes, there is a lot of research on that . so you might take a child who has a mild food intolerance and turn him into a child who goes beserk if he has a bite of cheese.

For those reasons we no longer do the diet, although I steer away from processed food. If ds's behaviour ever got so bad that medication was suggested, I might consider trying again.

[bejeezus]

thanks everyone for your replies

re homeopathy - I am a believer. It has cured me of 3 chronic illnesses. May be placebo. I dont care if it is, it worked! So I would be willing to try it on DD. We are lucky enough to have a NHS homeopathic hospital by us which is free and run by GPs. Was really interested if anyone had any experiences to recount.

Colditz- I hear what you are saying about it being neurological and diet not making any difference. I think there are so many people who dont think ADHD is really 'a thing' and it is just down to bad parents with ineffective discipline and poor diets, I start to believe it myself a little.

Diet does seem in exacerbate symptoms for some children though by the looks of things. I must say so far I havent recognised a link between what DD has eaten and her boinging

ppeatfruit so it is ok to use unrefined sugar? I generally buy unrefined brown sugar anyway, just because i like it. Fructose is a good idea for us (DD doesnt like maple syrup or molasses)

re exercise - I have noticed over the 3 days, I have made a real effort to increase exercise (we do alot anyway) my DD seems worse for it!! is it an endorphin rush for her? totally insatiable

Also off to read about GAP diet.....

[ppeatfruit]

bejesus i use maple syrup, molasses or fructose in cakes and puddings and rice, Kamut and or spelt flour. because we're wheatfree, I always cook cakes using the saucepan method ;you can make nice brownies and gingerbread types.

[ppeatfruit]

tallulah There are food allergies that affect some DCs and not others. We are what we eat, you cannot dismiss the effect of food. DH has an allergy to wheat (esp. whole wheat).

If yr. ds has inexplicable exhaustion and rage as well as hyperactivity I would try cutting the wheat from his diet for a couple of weeks ;give him rye bread and ryvitas etc. (sainsbos sells rye bread or rice, or gluten free pasta; it's easy to go wheat free nowadays).

bejeesus There is a lot of negativity about homeopathy on here i would say that our 10 month old DS was CURED of eczema with the sulphur remedy. So i think it's best to be open minded about these things after all a lot of people are harmed by allopathic medicines and homeopathy doesn't harm people!