amino acids for children?

mamamia

New Member
Hey all -
I've been reading The Diet Cure (for me and my husband) and there's an interesting discussion re: amino acids and ADHD. Does anyone know more about this? Does anyone know of an amino acid supplement appropriate for children?
M
 

Josie

Active Member
I don't know about amino acids for ADHD but my daughter takes one for depression. I took her to an Environmental Physician who tested her amino acid levels and then decided which ones she should take. Some naturopaths also do this test.

I have read that amino acid supplements are not safe for anyone, especially children. I felt ok about giving it to her since she was under the care of a physician who was checking her levels every month.
 

mamamia

New Member
Well, I guess I should have explained that my son has ADHD but also seems really low in mood most of the time 0 - grumpy, angry, generally really irritable.
He currently takes Ritalin and we tried Strattera, but we're taking him off because it seems like his mood has gotten worse since starting. His dr. is talking about a low dose of Zoloft. So the amino acids would really be for the low mood.
Where did you read that they're not good for people to take?
M
 

Josie

Active Member
I'm taking a nutrition class now and my textbook was very against amino acid supplementation.

I will add that her Lyme doctor also uses amino acids in his patients, including children. He doesn't do monthly tests but has the patients adjust themselves depending on how they feel. She isn't getting the monthly monitoring any more and I am comfortable with what we are doing.

When we started the 5HTP, she had been looking depressed. On probably the 3rd day of taking it, she perked up and started laughing and talking again. After a few months, she was back to looking depressed again. Now that we have started treating her Lyme disease, she is perked up again. It is hard to know what part the 5HTP has in this. We haven't changed her dose in all this time because the test didn't show that she needed it.

The first doctor said, based on her test, that she needed to take 50 mg of 5HTP. He said to take it at night at least 2 hours after eating and 1 hour before eating. If you google 5HTP, you can read a lot about it.
 
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