A little over a week ago I posted about our horrible experience with Adderall and how it caused my son to have hallucinations. At that point I decided that we were done with ADHD meds. I couldn’t bring myself to give him another pill…especially Adderall. Even though this all occurred literally 3 days before school started, and I was afraid of how the school year was going to start out, there was no way I was giving him any type of ADHD medicine. I really wanted to seek out a holistic doctor.
How Have Things Been?
After being off all meds since September 3rd or 4th I have to say, Zachary is doing really well! Sure we have our moments where he bounces of the wall or can’t focus when doing his homework, but he is only 7 years old so I expect some of that. Best of all, his teacher said that he is doing great! She sends home daily behavior charts home for each child and Zachary got his yesterday and it said “Awesome Day” written across the top! Academically, he seems to be doing OK as well. We have conferences with the teacher in November, so hopefully things stay that way.
What’s Next?
So what exactly are we doing? Well yesterday I took Zachary to see a Holistic doctor (Dr. Julie TwoMoon). I almost left the appointment because I found out that they don’t accept insurance (I actually had a mini-panic attack right there in the office). However, the doctor told me that she doesn’t care if I can pay the full office visit or not, she wanted to help me and my son regardless of her normal fee. That right there told me that she truly cares about her patients and that she feels she can help me.
What Did the Holistic Doctor Do?
The first thing she did was have us go over his history, when we first discovered (or thought) he may be ADHD, when he was diagnosed, how he was diagnosed, etc. After that she told me how ADHD is either a gut issue or a brain issue and given some of the things I told her, she believes it’s a gut issue and that Zachary would be a great candidate for what she has in mind. We then went into a different room where she used a machine (gemmo – something or other) to test which combinations of supplements would work best for him. She then took the vitamins I am already giving him to see how those react with his body. We discovered that the Vitamin C was not good for him (you want a reading of around 50% and it was close to 80%). She’s going to have us come back in to do a similar type of test, but with food. This way we will know which foods he may be sensitive to, etc.
Everything she said yesterday made perfect sense to me. I know there are people out there that believe that this is all a bunch of bunk and that when you have ADHD you give meds and that’s that. But what she is saying is that Zachary’s body is not balanced and by it not being balanced he could have an over growth of yeast, or something that is sending the wrong signals to the brain. Therefore causing him to not focus as well or to display hyper-active behavior. That makes sense to me. I am not anti-meds. I do believe that the meds helped Zachary when we really needed them to help, but not it’s time to work on fixing the main cause.
So here is what she recommended in the supplement department for Zachary:
- Thunder
- Liver Life
- Cytoflora
- Tili Tomentosa
None of the above things are forever. The way I understood it, once we heal his gut, we can start reintroducing any foods we had to remove and we should see a huge improvement in him! Some of you reading this probably think I am crazy for putting so much stock in this, but I have to give it a try and I have to give it my all. If it doesn’t work, we can reevaluate things at that point.
I will keep you updated. So far we have only started taking Thunder. The others need to be ordered.
While managing his ADHD holistically, I am also reading a really great book that I recommend ANYONE dealing with ADHD or anything on the Autism spectrum should read…Disconnected Kids: The Groundbreaking Brain Balance Program for Children with Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, and Other Neurological Disorders
Leave me a comment. I’m interested in hearing how you are handling your child’s ADHD.
Vitamin C can cause certain ADHD meds not to be absorbed correctly by the body.
I hope you find an answer soon. Although I have to say I have never heard of ADHD be a “gut” issue.
Leah,
I have been a “blog stalker” here for sometime…but just now decided to comment b/c I have a son with Aspergers (it’s on the Autistic spectrum) and he has ADD.
We have always eaten healthy and watched what he puts in his body, but he too was having a focus issue….among other things. He never took medication. Instead he has been on Spark. It is a vitamin drink that works on the neurotransmitters of the brain (which many times is controlled by the gut). It helps the brain to fire when they it’s supposed to and gives kids like this (and adults!) the focus and mental energy they need to get through their day. There was a study done comparing Ritalin and Spark and Spark won out. (I can forward this to you if you want to see it)
My son is now 17 and he swears by it so much that he asked if he could be a spokes person for the Autistic community on behalf of Spark! He says that NOBODY should be without it’s great benefits! He says he can finally focus, his reflexes are much better, lots of stimulus doesn’t bother him as much, and he can follow tasks better.
We love it so much that we became distributors of the product. It has helped SO many people!!
You can check it out here: https://www.advocare.com/09031583/Store/ItemDetail.aspx?itemCode=A2096&id=E&flavor=L&size=C
I can even send you some samples to use with your son.
Glad you’re finding answers….we are our kids best advocate.
Sandy
Thank you! I will check out the link you provided! I may be emailing you soon…hope you don’t mind?!?