I've been leery about delving into the wide world of supplements, mainly because I've seen lots of parents of autistic kids who have their kids on something like 20 supplements a day.
I don't want to do that, mainly because I want to be able to monitor his gut healing with his dietary changes, and I think too many supplements could muddy those already complicated waters.
However, I've heard enough about cod liver oil to want to give it a try. I picked up a bottle of Nordic Naturals orange flavored cod liver oil at Whole Foods; this is a legal SCD compliant supplement.
And damn, but it is helping him already!
I had heard about some of the benefits here , (you'll note it has also been shown to help ADD/ADHD kids) but one of the other benefits I'd heard about was that it helped autistic kids with sleeping. I can't find a backup article for that, but other parents told me of that particular benefit. Clark has been on melatonin for quite some time but he still wasn't getting as much rest as we would like.
The results were pretty much immediate. Instead of routinely getting up at 4:30 a.m. or earlier, Clark is now sleeping until 5 a.m. at least. And the other day, when he did get up around 4:30, guess what? After an hour or so, he climbed back into bed and went back to sleep!
I know, for parents of kids who don't have sleep problems, that doesn't sound like much. But for those of us with sleep challenged kids, it's pretty much equivalent to the heavens opening above my head and angels descending, singing the Hallelujah chorus.
Also, he LOVES the oil. He thinks it tastes great. Hooray.
As I add a couple more things, I'll keep you all posted. Clark isn't tolerating the goat yogurt or the probiotics yet, so I have some L. Acidophilus on order and we're going to try the low and slow method of introducing it. Stay tuned!
9 comments:
That's great you found something that's helping so much. I guess if you had to pick one supplement, you sure found a good one to try first.
Are you considering taking it yourself? I've heard that fish oils can help with inflammation.
Kat,
I am thinking about it. I already take six fish oil capsules a day -- 12 if I remember. I take a capsule cod liver oil supplement but it's not as high of a quality as what I'm giving my son. I do want to try to take more of it, but it's pretty expensive. :)
Susan
Yep they are expensive. I'm on a low dose of regular fish oil just started recently. I haven't looked enough into the benefits/differences between regular fish oil and cod liver oil. Glad at least it's working for your son.
Hi! I found you on the pecanbread yahoo group. We just started SCD today with my 18mo. son. I'm excited and will definitely be visiting you more in the future. I'm wanting to blog about our experience as well, but I'm a little scared that nothing dramatic will happen and then I'm back to stage 1. My son is not autistic, but has several autistic characteristics and SEVERE eczema. I'm excited to add you to my daily blog check! Thanks for your research.
Supplements have helped my boy tremendously. When we started SCD, we took him off them for a week or so and we noticed a big change *back* to where he was before we went biomed. Now, he's back on all his supplements and going strong on SCD and doing wonderfully!
Glad to hear the cod liver oil is helping. :)
Ha OK just read this post. Good for you! Dr. Campbell-McBride is very big on cod liver oil.
I hope you are taking it too!
What is the dosage you are giving Clark?
Is it still helping?
BTW looking at the comments, fish oil does not help the way cod liver oil does.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLP0Ijo2CK4
Not sure if you've seen this yet
There are 6 videos in all.
Also I read Jenny McCarthy's book -- not sure if you have. She said she saw HUGE results with her son on ThreeLac. I think ThreeLac or BioKult are both fabulous. I think most probiotics on the market don't have these kinds of results.
Hi cheeseslave,
Those specific probiotics are illegal on SCD, so I need to mention that for anyone reading. The reason is some of the strains included in those probiotic products will overgrow in people on this particular diet.
There are SCD legal probiotics available at the GI Pro Health web site (http://www.giprohealth.com), including legal yogurt starter. I am currently making and eating probiotic yogurt the SCD way. There are instructions on the Pecanbread web site.
I am taking cod liver oil and regular fish oil. Both are beneficial for my condition. My son gets a teaspoon in the morning and at night.
Just found your post while researching cod liver oil. I'm pulling my hair out trying to help my son. I'm buying this tomorrow!
Rosie
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