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Post by elrose on May 3, 2008 12:12:34 GMT -5
Hi
Just had a followup visit for my dd(11 yo) with ADHD combined and anxiety. Her psych suggested that we try inositol supplementation before we try any other med for her anxiety. Does anyone have any experience with this supplement or how to dose. The Harvard studies in adults were using up to 18 gm of inositol for OCD and anxiety with good results.
Before we start just wanted to hear what you all have to say.
Thanks
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Post by Mayleng on May 3, 2008 12:28:32 GMT -5
jisp has some knowledge about that. I hope she sees this.
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Post by jisp on May 3, 2008 14:03:50 GMT -5
We work with a Harvard/McLean Pdoc who is researching a variety of supplement interventions for his patients. He uses Inosital and L-Theinine regularly to treat anxiety. Inosital is particularly safe as it is naturally occurring sugar molecule that exists in almost every cell in our body and is also present in many foods that we eat (such as fish). It was initially tried on soldiers in Israel who were dealing with PTSD and much to the surprise of the researchers it performed better than any SSRI or other drug.
The side effects from Inosital are sleepiness and potential gassiness. But both of those typically occur when the dose is too high or can be addressed by spreading out the dosing over the course of the day. As far as dosing the best thing to do is to start off at a low dose such as 500mg at dinner time and gradually build up to a dose that seems to be effective. My own son has severe anxiety and OCD, but he is also bipolar. He takes 13grams (spread out across 4 dosings). One nice thing about Inosital is that if your child does not want to swallow pills it mixes beautifully in with soda water and flavoring. Because it is a sugar it adds a nice mild sweetness to a drink. In fact there are some soda's on the market that actually contain Inosital in them.
I recommend buying a high quality product. Our pdoc refers people to GNC or Solgar or Country Life. You have to be careful when buying supplements because the market is unregulated and not all products are equal.
Hope that helps. Feel free to ask more questions if you have them.
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Post by elrose on May 3, 2008 21:19:41 GMT -5
Jisp,
Thanks for your insights. Do you think the inositol helps your son with his anxiety and how long before you saw any help?and does he take any other meds or supplements?
Is there a web site that your doctor at Harvard has that I might find useful as far as his research goes?
Thanks so much
Nancy
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Post by jisp on May 4, 2008 13:10:13 GMT -5
Our pdoc does not have a web site but I can refer you the American Psychiatric Association's Complemenary and Alternative Medicine Caucus's web page which has a lot of useful links to current research. www.apacam.org. It is hard to know when we saw specific help for our son's anxiety from the Inosital given the complexity of his situation. Surely Inosital alone would not have worked. He needed therapy and support as well. But I do know that the few times when we have been in a crisis increasing our son's inosital has certainly made a difference. I myself suffer from anxiety and have used it now and then to help and I can testify that it works for me as an adult. Yes my son takes other supplements and meds which include the following: L-Theinine for Anxiety 5HTP for depression and OCD Lodosyn/Carpidopa so that the 5HTP gets converted to serotonin in the brain rather than in the body (this is a prescription med typically used for those with Parkinsons disease) Levothyroxine (thyroid) micro-doses of Lithium (5mg) Typical Lithium doses are in the 300-500 mg range Empower vitamins- You can read about this micronutrient supplement at www.truehope.com. I believe that our pdoc's initial editorial about it is available at APACAM web site as well. He was taking choline but we removed it because it became problematic and we believed was contributing to his mood instability. |
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Post by elrose on May 8, 2008 8:02:39 GMT -5
Thanks Jisp.
I looked at the empower site and saw that inositol is contraindicated in adhd??? Any thoughts on that?
Nancy
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Post by Mayleng on May 8, 2008 10:15:26 GMT -5
Thanks Jisp. I looked at the empower site and saw that inositol is contraindicated in adhd??? Any thoughts on that? Nancy That's very interesting, and good to know. I hope Jisp has some input into this. |
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Post by jisp on May 8, 2008 20:16:48 GMT -5
Hmmm,
I had not heard about that. I myself am very ADD. I am the poster child for a woman with ADD (no hyperactivity). Kids used to tease me all the time about being spacey. So did family members. But I have never been tested and I am also dyslexic and a slow processor so it could be that my spaciness is just my slow processing.
I do know that I don't like Inosital because it can make me even more spacey. But when I can't sleep due to anxiety it is golden. I just don't take it much during the day.
I will ask our pdoc about the ADHD - Inosital comment on the EMpower web site. Curious what he has to say. I certainly have enough friends with kids with ADHD who have anxiety.
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Post by Mayleng on May 9, 2008 6:39:21 GMT -5
jisp, pls let us know what your Doc says. Thank you.
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Post by Mayleng on Aug 27, 2008 13:07:31 GMT -5
Jisp, did you ever find out why Inositol is counterindicated for adhd?
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Post by empeg1 on Oct 26, 2014 0:49:48 GMT -5
Jisp: any idea if Inositol can interact with sleeping medications? My dd is taking Ambien CR (extended release)? Peg
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Post by eoffg on Oct 26, 2014 4:38:32 GMT -5
One side effect of Inositol is that it can cause sleepiness.
So that it might support the sleeping medication?
Though their are 9 different types of Inositol, where most often the one in supplements is Myo-Inositol.
It would be worth checking that it is that one, as some of the others have side effects. Such as blocking absorption of certain minerals, and also thinning of the blood.
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