Natural supplements for ADHD?

[eatmytoast]

Hello, first time posting and feeling out of my depth with this.
My 8yo DS has recently been diagnosed with ADHD - this has not come as a shock, we have always known. Since nursery school and every school year following his teachers have expressed their concerns but he had to wait until he was 7yo to get the assessment/diagnosis.

They have offered medication, but I'm not wanting to go down the medication route (not yet anyway) my main reason for this is that since the age of 1 he has been on a cocktail of medications for asthma. He's had more oral steroids then I can count along with other medications, and has had over 30 hospital admissions.
In the last year we have reached a point where we have been able to reduce these meds and completely cut out a lot of them.

So my question is, are there any natural supplements that anybody can recommend that can ease the symptoms of ADHD? I've read a lot online, and have made drastic changes to his diet (artificial sweeteners, processed foods ect) but I've read a lot about natural supplements too which I would like to look into

Any advise appreciated

I can understand your reluctance but my advice would be to try the medication. It can be absolutely life changing for some children. You won’t know if your son is one of those it works for if you don’t try it.

You could ask for the medication to be prescribed so he can manage school well but doesn't take the rest of the time. Have different things been tried in the classroom to help him manage?

There's so many options, they gave me a list and said have a read through them all and have a think about it, it's just a minefield.

I do have reservations about medications, purely for the reasons as above, I just feel like I've got him mostly away from one cocktail of meds, just to replace it with another. I don't know I just feel really sad for him, and probably myself too.
I would never stand in the way of him getting treatment he needs, I just wondered if there was anything natural that anyone has any experience with before I go down that route.

Yes, school have been using ADHD strategies for some time, his school is a resource and mainstream school and luckily his teacher he has this year is head of resource so she is will equipped to give him the help he needs.

It's been such a long wait to get to this diagnosis so it's not like I've not seen it coming, but I think now it's reality it's feels somewhat daunting, so much information to take in.

TBH OP DD was diagnosed at 17 with ADD. She takes ritalin when required and it has been an absolute life changer so I'd give it a go.

A poster called zzzzzz on the SN boards always used to recommend a cup of strong tea as a natural way of medicating ADHD, first thing in the morning - apparently caffeine helps calm those with ADHD, strangely enough.

Other people swear by fish oils, vitamin d supplements, good quality multivitamin for children.

I know that apple juice and orange juice particularily with fizz (even the more natural brands) make my son quite hyper. We cut out anything with orange juice when he was about 9 but it has crept back..now that he is 17.

The thinking behind ADHD medication is that the brain is understimulated, seeking stimulation (which causes the ADHD like behaviours) and the medication reconnects it the way it should naturally be.

My child has inattentive ADHD (undiagnosed) and ASD (diagnosed)and has never been medicated. He focuses fine when he needs to, but is still all over the place some of the time/off with the fairies. Exercise and social interaction seem to help him a lot, and practising focusing in small bursts (ie sitting watching a programme he is not that interested in for at least 10 minutes, whilst chatting about it), practising waiting in line, sitting at table. His interests provide him with focus I find, it is surprising what being good at something does in terms of connecting up the brain, whereas when you cannot do something that well, it tends to lead to a downward spiral of inattention.

so in short, exercise, positive experiences, tasks with good vibes ie finding a costume for WBD, football stickers (as opposed to learning 10 spellings and getting them wrong) less screen time, regular sleep, social interaction, vitamin d, healthy diet all helped my son, who is now doing A Levels, and predicted good grades in humanities/essay subjects which require loads of concentration..

I was told to accept ds would have asthma in the longterm, by a consultant when he was 10 months because of a chronic chest infection, poor breathing, Ironically he completely grew out of it, apart from a brief period of using an inhaler (2 months)with salbutamol (sp?) again when he was about 9. I find it interesting how wrong the consultant was, of course I'm sure she would have been glad to have been proved wrong. We have three cats, we went outside a lot (3 kids), mud, grass, and our house is not that clean, quite dusty, not much bleach etc, no fabric conditioners, we used non biological washing powders, quiet street no traffic fumes again I wonder whether there has been any prophylactic effect from that - if you are asking for holistic remedies to possibly reduce triggers of both asthma and ADHD behaviours..

OP some swear by fish oils high in Omega 3 e.g Equazen which can be found in most pharmacies and Zinc. I can't say it did much for my dc but at the time we were willing to try anything.

Forgive me, I have no personal experience but I thought it might be helpful to mention an article on the Today programme a couple of days ago, Friday I think, probably available on iPlayer.
It was discussing new laws coming into place surrounding homeopathic treatments aimed at patients with autism and ADHD in light of the upcoming prosecutions of 6 practitioners promoting something called, I believe, the CEASE programme. It was saying that vulnerable parents had basically being fleeced out of thousands of pounds by charlatans claiming it as a “cure”. There is no evidence of this whatsoever and quite a lot to the contrary, according to the report.
It’s probably worthwhile listening to the programned but the gist was please, look very, very carefully into any claims being made by homeopaths and great with a great deal of suspicion any practitioner claiming “cures” in exchange for considerable sums of money. There are no such known, evidenced cures.
Good luck with finding the most effective treatments for your son.

however, vitamin deficiency is an "evidenced" condition. Although, of course, those vitamins shouldn't cost 1000s as most are available cheaply at pharmacies. Vitamin D, B Vitamins, Magnesium Zinc are all very important in the right quantities. The government/NHS recommends that all children be given a vitamin d supplement in the winter months, you can google it. It is easy to miss very obvious ways to change your child's diet, when you get sucked into quack cures, just as Langrish says.

Our DS has been diagnosed with ASD, ADD, Dyspraxia, and very poor coordination (can't remember the proper name.)
His consultant recommended Equasym XL which we were very reluctant about. He's at prep school and they were becoming increasingly concerned for his behaviour, progress, and safety.
We agreed to a trial and the difference was amazing. He is doing really well now, obviously his issues are still there but are much more manageable. The only downside is that his appetite has gone haywire, and he has gained a chunk of weight.

We had previously tried lots of various supplements and looked into ASD therapy in the States but eventually decided against it.

Medication probably doesn't work for every child but may be worth a try?