Supporting a Child with ADHD
As an author, this post might be one of the most personal I’ve ever written, and I’ll try to summarize a bit of the story of parents of a child with ADHD and the search for food and supplements that could help, in addition to the therapies and actions we took.
Our daughter was always very active and healthy, as expected of any child, but we noticed some motor difficulties when trying to reproduce letters and some drawings compared to other children of the same age. Attention also gradually became difficult to maintain, such as focusing on a video, presentation, conversation, or later, on studies.
Coincidentally, my wife had just finished her teaching degree and started a postgraduate course in neuropsychopedagogy, and she suspected something like ADHD.
We took her to several professionals such as a neurologist, neuropsychopedagogists, for various assessments. We also went to speech therapists and ear, nose, and throat specialists to evaluate some speech problems related to some issues.
The first evaluations indicated ADHD, an initial level of ASD as well as a small distortion in central auditory processing. At that time, we started several therapies, in addition to special support at school. The list of therapies we included in the routine:
- Occupational therapy for children
- Speech therapy (Speech-language pathologists)
- Educational Neuropsychology/Psychopedagogical support
- Psychological support
- Physical therapy
- Music therapy (a valuable resource for emotional regulation)
We also tried to maintain a sports activity in addition to school routines, and for a few years she attended a skating school, which helped a lot with postural and overall balance. And physical activity really helps!!! She also practiced swimming for a short time, enough to learn to swim well.
The Power of Supplements
Our Experience with ADHD and Nutritional Therapy
After a period of therapy and new assessments, we started using some medications, one of which caught my attention, as it was basically composed of phosphatidylserine and Omega 3 (with a predominance of DHA): supplements that I had bought a few times, but because I didn’t know the real effectiveness at the time, I stopped buying them.
At the time, I had already started studying about supplements and their various purposes, as well as the basics of integrative medicine, and I focused on searching for information and studies on supplementation for cases of ADHD and ASD.
Note: Subsequent evaluations indicated only ADHD, with a predominance of inattention (with little hyperactivity). Other conditions such as Intellectual Disability and ASD were ruled out, indicating that the lack of attention had generated “false positives” in the assessments of these conditions, and treatment focused on ADHD improved the overall picture.
Returning to the subject of supplementation, instead of the medication, we started to supplement individually not only the components of that specific medication, but also some others with excellent results.
The following is the list of supplements we created for our daughter (daily dose):
- Phosphatidylserine – 200mg
- Omega 3 (with a predominance of DHA) – 1000mg of DHA
- Chelated Magnesium / Magnesium Bisglycinate – 500mg
There are several brands and manufacturers of omega 3, but in general, the ideal is to have around 1g of DHA. If a supplement has 600mg of DHA and 300mg of EPA in a single capsule, the ideal would be to consume one capsule twice a day, guaranteeing 1200mg of DHA.
The use of magnesium threonate instead of chelated magnesium did not show a difference over time, either for my daughter or for us, the parents, who also used it. The advantage of chelated magnesium is that it has a much larger amount of magnesium and helps improve all bodily functions and does not focus solely on the neurological part.
We also made some adjustments to our diet, such as consuming 1 boiled egg per day to help obtain choline, and consuming citrus fruits or others with high levels of vitamin C or antioxidants (such as blueberries) helps fight free radicals which are produced in greater quantity by the brain in these conditions as some studies indicate.
The improvement in attention (and overall health) became noticeable after just over 1 month of using the supplements, and greater advances after 2 months of use.
I hope this information can be helpful, and I reinforce the importance of follow-up by a medical professional about these supplements, including to create a process of evaluation, supplementation and reassessment to analyze the effectiveness of the supplements or medications if prescribed by the doctor.
In the future, I may be able to make some recommendations of these supplements if it is interesting, but I always recommend buying supplements from manufacturers you trust, recognized and well-evaluated.
Together, we can build a more inclusive and welcoming future for all children.