Has anyone tried multivitamins, especially magnesium and zinc, to help with SPD, ADHD, Autism, etc.?

by MaryC
(New Jersey)

Has anyone tried more non-medicinal help and had even the smallest of benefits? My son, SPD, ADHD, and ASD has been on stimulants for 7 years. We added in multivitamins, heavy on the magnesium and zinc, a year ago.




First it was every night, then every other night, then out of laziness, I forgot for 2.5 weeks, and BOY were those last two weeks HORRIBLE! Everything bothered him, he was overstimulated (God forbid someone made a loud noise, whistled, or touched him), couldn't focus, couldn't keep his hands to himself, everything frustrated him, he got 3 in-school suspensions in 9 days, it was almost scary that our guy kind of disappeared.

It wasn't until talking it over with everyone I could think of and we couldn't come up with a solution that I remembered that I forgot to give him his multivitamin. I started back up on Thursday night. Friday seemed a tiny bit better, ever so tiny, and the next 6 days we just kept seeing more and more improvement.

Here we are a week later and WOW, what an improvement. He's calmer, talking respectfully, no overstimulating noises or touching, no calls from school, just back to my happy, funny son. I don't think I will ever forget to give him those vitamins again... so, I wonder if anyone has had luck with vitamins, specific ones to your child that worked, and what was your experience.

Thank you, and Good luck!



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Mar 26, 2019
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starstarstarstarstar 		Specific gene variants have specific supplement strategies
by: Anonymous New Here

I have serious sensory processing issues and am diagnosed severe ADHD. (I don't usually get to talk about sensory processing issues and just found this site today.) Many of my "miracles" over the years, have been discovering specific supplements, or supplement groups that make a huge difference. The general protocols for MTHFR gene variants and pyroluria made truly huge differences. I haven't tested for them yet, and thus haven't fine-tuned all these yet.

I just read the abstract of a research article linking GABA to the function of a pathway from hippocampus to prefrontal cortex which seems to accomplish top-down-attention. So I put GABA in my drinking water to test that, and it brought in ability to be there present at that level of the unfolding and direction of my activity and day, rather than lost and in a half stupor, struggling to get anything done. Previously I had only used GABA for it's role as "inhibiting stress response." I mean, not a complete reversal, but I had very little ability to bring this kind of attention "online." (Unless it's the music I've been listening for for a couple weeks while on the computer... as driving brainwaves out of theta and into beta has helped enormously in the past. Okay, maybe both are needed.) This particular GABA issue was linked to the ErbB4 gene.

I have a phone appointment with my provider to ask for testing a number of these. My supplement routines strongly point to the MTHFR defects and pyroluria. Zinc and magnesium (in your question) are essential to me. Before I had my dental mercury taken out, I had to take 50mg zinc with morning food or I couldn't walk in the afternoon, my legs would be so exhausted.

So, I'm just starting to do the testing, but my thought for others is that it is much easier to work with specifics and get really good results when you've identified specific defects/variations and the resultant needs, than to work 50 years at learning bit by bit by experience. though one can also learn from experience including the negative: had I paid attention to the supplements that made me feel worse or had little effect, I would have found answers sooner. Finding folate or high folate makes you feel worse, tho it is critically important, is a hint that your folate is building up in the blood, and the methylfolate that you NEED, isn't being produced - a metylation defect, of which there are many, including MTHFR variants. If B12 doesn't help things it should help, possible same conclusion. MethylB12 needs to be taken instead.

I do take ADHD medication, and am in no way discouraging that if one finds what works - ritalin can be a miracle, and both was and still is for me. I am opposed to someone else deciding by symptom alone what one should take IF the patient's experience says something else to them. And a lot of ritalin "side effects" are wrong interpretations, such as if a child goes wacko as it is wearing off. If suddenly you could understand what people are saying, and you can understand yourself and talk to them, and an hour and a half your world starts disappearing again, wouldn't you go wacko? That's the experience of a kid prescribed a drug every 4 hours for that for her, is metabolised and gone in less than 2 hours. One needs to find good ways of finding out what works. if ritalin seemed iffy in this way, I'd say, put a fun alarm on to sound every 15 minutes and have person write 10 alphabet letters each time. Or a sentence, or a math problem then solve it. Do that with a medication schedule, or variations of dose, through portions of the day and you can figure some of those things out. And it might not be a match - the drug should support actual capacities and abilities to show up. If one doesn't experience that, look elsewhere (though one may also have had too low a dose for effect in them). I apologize for going on that diversion. Sorry sorry - I've got ADHD, LOL. Squirrels everywhere I can follow....

My multivitamin, by the way, is the 2perDay from life extension, I just take one a day, without iron, though I think I need iron too. It uses methylfolate and methylB12, and has manganese which is important to many of us and not usually included, i think. I take lots of others.

If taking fish oil, consider also taking GLA as well. A lower level of the GLA than the EPA and DHA... like mine are in mg 400/200 and a separate GLA (black current oil) 70. That's about the right ratio. And this addtition of GLA really affected my ADHD for the positive and in a global sort of way (across the board of issues).

If you can find out specific genes involved, and supplements that will change the effect, that makes a lot of sense to do first. those are my thoughts.. Best of luck and Good Health!
Mar 22, 2019
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starstarstarstarstar 		Thanks
by: MaryC

Thank you for your feedback. I'll have to look into the neurotherapy. Now that you mention the steroids, we started giving him nasal steroids for a chronic nasal drip/cough on the same day as returning him to the vitamins. May have to look into that too, but this is twice now that we've had him on these vitamins with success.
Mar 22, 2019
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starstarstarstarstar 		For ADHD, SPD, Austism & Asperger's etc...
by: Anonymous

My son now a teenager has ADHA & has gone through Neurotherapy. Neurotherapy takes longer to go through, but has more lasting results. My son couldn't take meds. do to his brain being fast and slow. Cost varies, but to me worth it. Check it out. Also, there is interactive metronome therapy as well, which can help and cost less. Hope this is help. Best to you!
Mar 22, 2019
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starstarstarstarstar 		TruBroc
by: Anonymous

I brought this up to my daughter's (she is 5 yo now and was a 26 week ga preemie) Behavioral Neurologist that whenever she is put on Steroids pills for bronchitis and bad coughing fits, she acts "normal' while on Steroids. Dr. says that some say that there might be some kind of inflammation in the brain that causes Autism/Sensory Processing Disorder. Dr. suggested to slowly put my daughter on broccoli sprouts extract and so far, it is working.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/chemical_derived_from_broccoli_sprouts_shows_promise_in_treating_autism

https://www.xymogen.com/formulas/products/?pid=26

https://truebroc.com/about-brassica-tea-coffee/

I take the TruBroc tea and it gives me a mental calming feeling. It makes my brain feel full. Weird, but that's my experience, and I'm not giving any medical advice, just information for you to do your own research to discuss it with your own medical provider.

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