Please share what disorder you are treating with which fish oil

[melmichigan]

I am reading and reading and trying to understand the different types and ratios to treat different disorders. If your DC take fish oil could you please list what they take especially DHA, or EPA or GLA, or what ratio if they take a mix, and what you are treating? I would really appreciate it. :)

Edited April 9, 2011 by melmichigan
added more information

[PeterPan]

We tried and got a surge in speech (with my ds2 with verbal apraxia), but he started smelling like fish. Now we're doing only flax oil. The conversion to DHA is lower, but it still helps some. The smelling like fish was probably digestion, so I need to look into enzymes for him.

[melmichigan]

Please tell me then, he is only taking DHA?

[Ottakee]

I have been using fish oils for years for my girls with mitochondrial issues---mostly for the ADHD and mood issues related with that.

 

They took Omega Brites, 3 per day, for years and now are taking Country Life Omega 3 Mood. Both have about 7:1 ratios of EPA:DHA (supposed to be better for moods) and have 1000mg of EPA per serving.

[merry gardens]

After I did some more searching on EFA's, we started flax oils supplements, then switched to fish oil supplements. We take one pack of Coromega once a day, (which my kids like better and find easier to take than the flax oil capsules.)

 

I have a child with dyslexia, and that prompted me to look at EFA supplements. I haven't seen any dramatic changes with his reading or language processing--and those changes that I do see, I attribute to education. However, I continue to give the supplements to my children, and I take them too. One child had a patch of exema that got better when we started the supplements. They seem to help teenage skin problems too. I have a family history of diseases that are linked to chronic inflamation, so some of my motivation to continue to give and take fish oils is preventative.

 

I also keep an eye towards limiting the omega 6 fats in our diets. The ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 affects the body too. If anyone is looking for a good book on this topic, I suggest "The Ultimate Omega-3 Diet" by Evelyn Tribole, M.S., R.D.

[melmichigan]

I have been using fish oils for years for my girls with mitochondrial issues---mostly for the ADHD and mood issues related with that.

 

They took Omega Brites, 3 per day, for years and now are taking Country Life Omega 3 Mood. Both have about 7:1 ratios of EPA:DHA (supposed to be better for moods) and have 1000mg of EPA per serving.

 

See this is the heart of the issue for me, ratios and what they are geared toward. HA?

[wapiti]

After a trip to the vitamin store this morning, dd10 started the Nordic Naturals Complete Omega 3-6-9 (adult version). It's lemon, she chewed it up, got the stuff out and spit out the capsules (two). She didn't seem bothered by the taste (big yay!!). So, we'll see. I'd like to try them for a few weeks at a minimum, and even if they have no effect, I hope to continue them for general health purposes. The breakdown is EPA 270, DHA 180, GLA 66. Her history includes prior speech delay possibly attributed to apraxia (according to her first speech therapist), mild low tone, and current language processing "glitch," SPD and ocular motor issues, as well as a pre-teen attitude that leaves much to be desired, shall we say (especially re: schoolwork).

 

DS7 takes Carlson's liquid (adult dose, 1 tsp), EPA 800, DHA 500. He's a late bloomer who's always improving and seems tons "smarter" every day, so it's hard to say whether anything is attributable to the fish oil brain-wise or whether it's just his timetable of development (he's been taking this for about 6 months). His speech difficulties remain unchanged. His platelet levels increased dramatically, and I'm thrilled (he has a congenital thrombocytopenia).

 

Other ds7 occasionally takes Coromega, EPA 350, DHA 230, but it's been too sporadic to note any effects. He takes Soloray Total Calm Kid daily, which has a bunch of DHA (250 mg fish oil but unspecified amount of DHA) and other stuff (I bought it for the other two but they won't drink it LOL). It appears to have no noticable effect; I just figure he can use the vitamins. Like the others, he has a history of speech delay but his language processing issues aren't quite as apparent.

 

The littles take NN Children's DHA strawberry chewables in varying quantities (however many they can stuff in their mouths before I manage to get it put away; 4 chews has EPA 82, DHA 125). No obvious effects on anything, though these three kids were not late talkers.

 

After buying three more different kinds of fish oil in the last two days, now y'all have me wondering whether I should have bought the NN EPA I was looking at this morning - I think it was EPA 800, DHA 250, per two capsules... Well we'll give this 3-6-9 a shot and see whether it does anything for dd, and since the EPA is the same flavor I guess it wouldn't be too hard to switch it out later. I also picked up some Black Currant Oil with 70 GLA, in case I wanted to add it to some other fish oil (like the NN Ultimate or the NN EPA) because that's what would be missing when compared to the 3-6-9.

[wapiti]

See this is the heart of the issue for me, ratios and what they are geared toward. HA?

 

I think the :DHA was supposed to be : DHA

 

Ottakee, how significant do you feel the effects are, particularly on mood?

 

ETA: Melissa, an old thread for you:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=215769

Edited April 9, 2011 by wapiti

[Ottakee]

See this is the heart of the issue for me, ratios and what they are geared toward. HA?

 

That was supposed to be EPA to DHA--my computer put a smile in there instead.

[Ottakee]

I think the :DHA was supposed to be : DHA

 

Ottakee, how significant do you feel the effects are, particularly on mood?

 

ETA: Melissa, an old thread for you:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=215769

 

I think they help. For my dh, it is all he needs for his ADHD.

 

For my girls, I think that it "greases" their little nervous systems and helps reduce how reactive they are. They have mito issues, bipolar, seizures, ADHD, learning issues, etc. so maybe not a fair comparison. They still need meds but they certainly help.

[wapiti]

Thanks, Ottakee. Is anyone familiar with this fish oil: http://www.luckyvitamin.com/1/1/55314-minami-nutrition-morepa-mini-junior-formula-strawberry-60-softgels.html ? Apparently it has a 7:1 ratio in strawberry softgels. I think it works out to be a bit more expensive than the other brands (amazon has this product for $20.78); I think a person would need to take 3 instead of two per day to come closer to the amount that's in Nordic Naturals EPA. DD tried NN EPA last night (actually I didn't tell her it wasn't the 3-6-9 that she had over the weekend). I don't know yet whether I see a difference - we did manage to get work done the last two days in spite of her not getting to bed on time. We'll have to try harder with that tonight... Anyhow, dd mentioned that the lemon was ok but that she expected she'd get tired of it soon and would prefer strawberry. (The Country Life Omega 3 Mood she thought was gross, so that won't work unless I go through a lot more trouble.)

 

Does it matter what time of day you do the fish oil? With ds8, I give it in the morning, but dd10 has been having it at night.

[historically accurate]

My middle dd takes Omega 3's for her Apraxia of Speech. She uses this one; takes 1 per day with breakfast. http://www.speechnutrients.com/products/speak/

 

It has the information on the breakdown on the website for you.

[melmichigan]

My oldest is taking the Minami PlusEPA, it's 1000mg EPA, no DHA, 54mg of other omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E. I chose Minami because they are originally made in the EU, where they have much more regulation and are actually very much ahead of the US when it comes to supplements and natural alternatives. She takes this for AS. It is to early to make to draw any conclusions as to effectiveness at this point. She did 10 days on 500mg and just moved to 1000mg over the weekend.

 

One of my twins is set to start MorEPA in the next week, once the order comes, that is for ADHD tendencies (PDD-NOS). MorEPA is recommended for children under 10.

 

I have been reading extensively on this topic in the last few days and all the research I can find out of Europe seems to lean toward EPA as being much more important in children over 3 years of age than DHA, and much more important in specific conditions. I found Minami's website, related science literature and FAQ's very helpful.

 

We are considering adding in GLA in the future if needed.

Edited April 13, 2011 by melmichigan

[PeterPan]

My middle dd takes Omega 3's for her Apraxia of Speech. She uses this one; takes 1 per day with breakfast. http://www.speechnutrients.com/products/speak/

 

It has the information on the breakdown on the website for you.

 

Becky, was it your SLP who recommended this? Or did you just find it? I ask, because it has been mentioned, and somewhat negatively, on the ChildrensApraxiaNet yahoo group. They're saying the vitamin E levels are dangerously high if you use it as the product suggests dosing and that the product was not tested before being marketed. I don't know, so I'm just going by the info that has come across that yahoo group. Definitely something to check into.

[wapiti]

My oldest is taking the Minami PlusEPA, it's 1000mg EPA, no DHA, 54mg of other omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E. I chose Minami because they are originally made in the EU, where they have much more regulation and are actually very much ahead of the US when it comes to supplements and natural alternatives. She takes this for AS. It is to early to make to draw any conclusions as to effectiveness at this point. She did 10 days on 500mg and just moved to 1000mg over the weekend.

 

One of my twins is set to start MorEPA in the next week, once the order comes, that is for ADHD tendencies (PDD-NOS). MorEPA is recommended for children under 10.

 

I have been reading extensively on this topic in the last few days and all the research I can find out of Europe seems to lean toward EPA as being much more important in children over 3 years of age than DHA, and much more important in specific conditions. I found Minami's website, related science literature and FAQ's very helpful.

 

We are considering adding in GLA in the future if needed.

 

Thank you - this is very helpful!! I still don't know what to get... (it's all about what she'll be willing to take ;) - she prefers to chew up the softgels, suck the oil out, and spit out the shells, though she knows how to swallow pills and such). Are the PlusEPA capsules as large as typical fish oil? How about MorEPA? I lean toward the junior ones because of the strawberry flavor, but then she'd need more and that would get pretty expensive. Maybe I'll see how long she'll put up with the NN EPA, though the ratio isn't as good as these Minami ones.

[Mergath]

My dd has 16p11.2 Deletion Syndrome, which basically means she's missing part of her sixteenth chromosome. It causes problems with brain development, among other things.

 

We use Barlean's liquid fish oil, the orange flavor. My dd is only two, so we're giving her 1/2 a tsp each day until she hits thirty pounds, but for a full dose, which is one tsp, it has 850 mg of EPA and 540 mg of DHA. We saw amazing results soon after we started, so I think it definitely works.

[Mergath]

I have been reading extensively on this topic in the last few days and all the research I can find out of Europe seems to lean toward EPA as being much more important in children over 3 years of age than DHA, and much more important in specific conditions. I found Minami's website, related science literature and FAQ's very helpful.

 

How new is the research you were looking at? The research I did said that studies have shown that DHA is very helpful for children, whereas EPA has almost no effect. Of course, that was a year and a half ago.

[SweetMissMagnolia]

I'm giving my son (who has adhd/asperger's-probably other sensory issues) Omega-3 and focus factor for kids supplements--have been taking for about 2 months I guess...not sure if I'm seeing any improvements but like that my son is getting the extra nutrition ....

[Mission-Driven-Mom]

We use Barlean's Cod Liver, you can read more about their product and it's specs on their website http://www.barleans.com/fish-oil.asp

 

I purchase it at our local health food store.

 

I am very happy with the product and I put a tsp. in a little oj and we drink it right up.

 

I am using it to treat add/adhd behaviors and learning disabilities.

 

I also use multi-vit's and a gluten-free, casein-free and artificial free diet. I can't say which intervention particularly has helped more then the other but I can tell you that since changing our diet lifestyle and w/ nutritional supplemention that we have seen dramatic improvements.

[melmichigan]

How new is the research you were looking at? The research I did said that studies have shown that DHA is very helpful for children, whereas EPA has almost no effect. Of course, that was a year and a half ago.

 

When I get time later today I will look them back up and give you some links. DHA is important for brain development, especially in younger children (3 and under), from everything I have read it becomes less important as the child ages and the focus then moves to EPA which is more the function of the brain, I hope I am explaining that well.

 

There are multiple studies listed from the research link on the Minami site, one is the same study referenced in the Speak literature BeckyJo linked (I try to find more objective material). Their formula contains high EPA but in less of a ratio than the Minami products that do contain DHA. I was uncomfortable with the vitamin E levels in Speak, as OhElizabeth mentioned or I might consider that for my younger DD. The cost is also prohibitive for me.

 

From everything I have read you need to take into consideration the age of the child and what you are treating. If you have contradictory information please share as well. :)

Edited April 13, 2011 by melmichigan

[redsquirrel]

I am quoting myself, lol. I responded in another thread. Here is what I said:

 

I have been giving my son 1tsp a day for years. he is 6 and I started when he was about 18 months old.

 

I use nordic naturals. I give him the peach flavor. I don't buy the strawberry flavor that is marketed for children because it is much more per ounce for the strawberry flavour.

 

I stir on teaspoon of oil into a half cup of plain yogurt and a teaspoon of maple syrup or a teaspoon of jam. If you use pre-sweetened yogurt then you don't need syrup or jam.

 

Make sure to serve the oil in just a bit of yogurt, enough that it will all be eaten in one serving.

 

I believe that the fish oil has helped my son. When I gave it to him I didn't tell the speech therapist what I was doing. After about a month, she told me that she had never seen a child make so much progress in such a short amount of time. So, ever since then, I always make sure that he gets his fish oil. I give it to my other son as well. I figure it can't hurt, right?

[melmichigan]

Thank you - this is very helpful!! I still don't know what to get... (it's all about what she'll be willing to take ;) - she prefers to chew up the softgels, suck the oil out, and spit out the shells, though she knows how to swallow pills and such). Are the PlusEPA capsules as large as typical fish oil? How about MorEPA? I lean toward the junior ones because of the strawberry flavor, but then she'd need more and that would get pretty expensive. Maybe I'll see how long she'll put up with the NN EPA, though the ratio isn't as good as these Minami ones.

 

The Plus EPA are about 1/2inch and more round, they are a slow release capsule and aren't flavored. They are the smallest I've seen. I haven't seen the MorEPA in person yet. They also make Mor EPA chewy, that is orange flavored. It has the same EPA/DHA ratio but doesn't contain the GLA that the MorEPA does, it contains Vitamin C.

[melmichigan]

Becky, was it your SLP who recommended this? Or did you just find it? I ask, because it has been mentioned, and somewhat negatively, on the ChildrensApraxiaNet yahoo group. They're saying the vitamin E levels are dangerously high if you use it as the product suggests dosing and that the product was not tested before being marketed. I don't know, so I'm just going by the info that has come across that yahoo group. Definitely something to check into.

 

This was a very interesting read. I'm glad I looked into it more.

[Misty]

My girls have Asperger's, ADHD, and OCD.. One of them is a struggling learner as well..

 

They take Nordic Naturals Cod Liver Oil. I can't speak to any changes in their behavior/mood because we started so many interventions at the same time.. diet, supplements, behavior therapy, etc.

 

I just wanted to mention.. I saw one person is giving Omega 3-6-9.. I just wanted to point out that you don't need the 6 & 9.. You only want the 3's.. You get plenty of 6 & 9 through a regular diet and if you get too much 6 & 9, then it tips the balance and makes the 3's not as effective.. So only give Omega 3's.

 

Also, make sure your fish oil comes from a wild fish source and not a fish farm, BUT make sure they have a good reputation and test for mercury contamination.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

We started ds on Emulsified Norwegian Cod liver oil and he has He has sensory processing, visual, spatial, and tracking problems, low tone and Tourettes as well as Autism. He is also borderlind ADHD. They said he did not fit the diagnostic criteria but was very close and shows many inattentive/distractive qualities.

 

So far (he has just been on it about 2 weeks) I have seen HUGE benefits with his tics (they are much less than before) and I am awaiting other benefits. His speech is starting to improve also. Very excited :001_smile:

[historically accurate]

Becky, was it your SLP who recommended this? Or did you just find it? I ask, because it has been mentioned, and somewhat negatively, on the ChildrensApraxiaNet yahoo group. They're saying the vitamin E levels are dangerously high if you use it as the product suggests dosing and that the product was not tested before being marketed. I don't know, so I'm just going by the info that has come across that yahoo group. Definitely something to check into.

 

The SLP recommended it. K only takes 1 per day, so not anywhere near the 4 that is recommended. We've seen huge increases in her speech with it.

[PeterPan]

The SLP recommended it. K only takes 1 per day, so not anywhere near the 4 that is recommended. We've seen huge increases in her speech with it.

 

Interesting! And like you say, if you take 1 and don't go up to 4 you should be fine. (no overdosing the E) Very interesting.

 

I was so inspired by all this, I got back out some of the stuff I had bought to try with my ds. The capsules I started with did have some vit. E. I don't recall if he reacted negatively to them or not. When we started the liquid (NN), it seemed like no matter what the dose he smelled like fish. So I'm going to go back and try the Country Living capsules on him and see what happens.

[Guest momk2000]

I am taking Nature Made "Burpless" Fish Oil. I don't have the bottle in front of me at the moment, but I take 2 per day.

It has helped tremendously with my Rosacea (cleared my skin up completely). I still get some redness (have always blushed easily), but no bumps/breakouts. It has also helped with some perimenopausal issues. I don't get as jittery during certain times. It has also helped tremendously in reducing the frequency of PVCs that I get since entering perimenopause. :D

[Guest momk2000]

Ooops, I re-read the op, and now realize this is about dc taking fish oil, sorry.

 

I have tried to give it to my kids, they don't like the taste, and refuse it, even the gummies. I really wish I could get it into them somehow. :confused: