My son is 7 (diagnosed with ADHD and likely DMDD) and has been on meds for three years. He responds well to 2mg guanfacine ER, 36mg atomoxetine, and nightly fish oil, and after a couple of tough years of school is finally flourishing there. His behavior at home is still very challenging though, with lots of irritability and aggression toward us and his little brother.
We've started looking at micronutrients, including the Pure Encapsulations Junior Nutrients (attractive to us since it's fewer pills) and Hardy Daily Essential Nutrients (attractive to us because of the favorable studies).
Have others used either of these, particularly in a child already on one or both of guanfacine or atomoxetine? I'd love to hear whether it worked for you. Thanks!
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arrh121
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We use micronutrients with our son as well as low dose Focalin and Guanfacine. Genesight testing indicated that our son was processing only about 30% of the folate he ingests so we switched to a methyl B-complex and fish oil. Within 5 months we saw significant improvements in mood, communication, and sociability and these have only increased with time. We switched to micronutrients (same methyl b-complex formulation and quantity but other beneficial nutrients too) after about a year and plan to continue. We do half the full manufacture recommended amount. I personally think a 5 month trial is worth it for the potential benefits. You’ll know whether or not it’s worth continuing. Best of luck!
Would you mind sharing which brands you are using? We have been on the Hardy's DEN for years but the taste and availability are causing us to look for other options.
Have you considered doing an afternoon dose of atomoxetine? We added a lower dose in the afternoon to tutoring and sports. It just means he has the same medication in the afternoon that he has in the am.
I will say now that our son is older he is not taking the same medication. He has learned to control himself and we do not have any of the mood issues.
Very happy some of you got your kids to take the Hardy supplements. Since the dosage is high and with a sensory sensitive son, it was a challenge to get him to take it. I tried to cover the taste with virtually every liquid possible. It was a no go. Super bummed as I feel nutrition should be the first line of attack when helping our kids and their emotional challenges. If you can get your kids to take it, absolutely try it!
We also tried Hardy's (in addition to Focalin) for 2 mos but it became such a battle to get him to take the pills or the powder at such high doses - so we went back to fish oil, magnesium, D3 and an overall vitamin. We did blood test to determine where the deficiencies were. I have also added a dose on one of the weekend days when he needs to do his chores or has activities.
Yes, I highly recommend Hardy's. My friends child took them from age 7 and is now 18 and still on them. They made a massive difference to his mood and behaviour and as a teen who sometimes refused to take them when going for sleep overs she could see the effects when he missed them. My son now nearly 21 has been taking them for a year and has gone from failing and dropping out of school in his last year to just completing a year at uni doing psychology and achieving almost perfect scores for all assessments.
They both take the clinical dose of 12 per day. My husband also takes them for Parkinson's and they really helped with his depression and overall health.
Hi arrh121, I am curious about this. I have not tried micronutrients for my son, who is a teen, and I'm interested in finding out more. I hope you get good results from this. I will be following.
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