suppliments for aspergers?

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i am unable to go on a gluten/casin etc free diet (as all substitutes make me violently ill, rather than just quite ill) but id like to try something relativly cheap, and am looking for some suppliments or herbs.
does anyone have any personal experiance??

found this link- http://www.myaspergerschild.com/2007/08 ... ments.html suggesting l-carnitine, glutathione and a couple of others. but each site ive looked at reccomends something different; dont know which to choose. i cant afford to see a professional nutritionist (£150) who specialises in a.s, so i dont know what to try.

i have tried vit bs which worked well for a while then i felt a bit weird after a couple of months and stopped (though maybe should have just reduced the dose..).
any suggestions?

I talked to an AS specialist who said that a gluten free diet has no benefit in adults. It only works with children who are going through brain development. I had tried it before for two months without noticing a difference.

You could try Omega-3 fish oil for emotional calming. I used to take it, but now I'm on psych meds that work as well.

I go through phases where I take a zillion supplements.

I start feeling really stupid and emotionally unstable when I am not on my Omegas.

I am also a big fan of l-theanine.

What effects is it that you like?
Just for "asperger", there are none afaik, watch out for all the quackery. Even if there were I would be very sceptic to the idea of trying to "be less asperger" for any reason, it's a really bad way of approaching problems.

GFCF-diet is a comfort-improving diet, logically it helps children more than adults.
I do not need a GFCF(extreme) diet, but I do really need a balanced diet, that means:
Low sugar(whatch out for processed foods....)
Avoiding the bad fat(processed foods again....)
Eating alot of the good fat(olive, raps, fish)
Less carbs(replace with fibre)

And that's not some sort of extra-special autism diet, that's just a healthy diet for anyone.

99% of all extra-vitamin pills and such stuff is just BS, have an apple instead.

I need stuff to help me with focus/mental stamina/executive dysfunction/stress response..so anyhting that will help me in that regard is great...unfortunately it takes a lot..it is a delicate balance.

I would only bother with GFCF if you show noticeable negative effects to wheat and dairy. If you do, you might want to consider an evaluation for celiac disease.

If you don't, I see no reason why a balanced diet that included some gluten and dairy would be harmful. Just make sure that the type of foods that you're eating are healthy. Instead of a burger and fries, have a turkey sandwich and fruit. Instead of pizza, have some whole wheat spaghetti.

I know that some parents marvel at how their kids improved, but a lot of that could be due to not feeding their kids tons of sugar and fat. Because a GFCF diet pretty much eliminates the option of going out to eat (unless you're into Indian food).

years ago I used to take cod liver oil, my mum said it would improve my concentration and social skills etc, did it boot

I find fish oil and probiotics helpful.

The verdict is still out on Magnesium, B6 & St. John's Wort. I only just started taking these.

IMO a gluten free diet is for people who have experienced allergic reaction symptoms (see: celiac disease). A lot of AS have digestive reactions or sensitivities. I do, and keeping gluten to a minimum is beneficial for me. Avoiding gluten when I can falls in the category of AS diet adjustments that help keep down my intake of allergens and hard-to-digest foods that irritate me and make me feel run down.

But also, avoiding gluten also helps me have a more healthy diet, as wheat is not a great food. As far as grains go, even whole wheat is not exactly a nutritional superfood. By cutting down on wheat and eating more diverse grains like brown rice, quinoa, barley and oatmeal, I have a more varied and nutritious diet. Oatmeal makes a great flavored thickener for beef soups and stews, for example, better than wheat flour (I just have to give the oatmeal a spin it in the coffee grinder to make oat flour). Quinoa, toasted brown rice, toasted barley and wild rice makes a much better stuffing than bread crumbs. Looking back, the almost universal reliance on wheat as a source of grain food is not that healthy.

I eat wheat only a handful of times a week, now, instead of several times a day like I used to. And then it's whole wheat.

Supplements, the word says it, supplement.... Imo, it's best to have a healthy, variant diet. With fish, meat, fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds, the hole healthy food spectrum, so to say.

But the supplements I take are; (extra~)
~Zinc (overall relaxation and focusing, but be careful, not more than 10 mg a day)
~Magnesium (helps a great deal in concentration and it moderates the more severe traits)
~Good clean fish oil (omega 3, the fatty acid, is really important for the brain and other things like skin and hair)
~B- complex and C- vitamins.

(ps. maybe excluding some food elements could be healthy or help also. ~ See threads Ephemerella started in General, others as well)

Before you start thinking about supplements you have got to figure out what, exactly, might be missing from your diet; and find out if you can just eat that in regular food. Nutrients in food are always better than nutrients in pills.

I do take a multivitamin to guard against the possibility of being low on vitamins and minerals, especially during the winter when I can't afford fresh fruit and vegetables or when I get too stressed to spend a lot of time preparing food and and eat only "easy" food... but most of the time I probably don't even need the multivitamin and my kidneys are just filtering out the extra.

But yeah--evaluate your diet first. Consider dietary changes before you even think about supplements. Unless you're either knowledgeable about or willing to study nutrition, get yourself an appointment with a nutritionist--your GP can refer you. Take a list of what you've been eating for a couple of weeks and have the nutritionist evaluate it to check your dietary balance, etc. It may turn out that your diet's fine, or you may find out you've been eating too little of something or other, or overloading on something else. Just blindly trying different supplements isn't nearly efficient enough.

you should do some research into nutrition first: if you can't afford to see the nutritionist, you can at least try to evaluate how you are eating to see if you can find deficiencies in anything. western diets tend to be wretched (though americans are worst, and you're not, so that may help) so your body may not be getting what it really needs. and you may be able to achieve the effects you want with something like aromatherapy instead of supplements, so keep that in mind. that being said, here are a few of the things that i personally use.

botanicals, herbs, and supplements that have a sedative effect on the nervous sytem are commonly recommended for AS by nutritionists. they are finding more and more that st. john's wort is ineffective in major depression, it is much more helpful in situational/mild/seasonal disorders, so depending on what sort of symptoms you are experiencing it may not have an effect.

melissa officinalis, commonly known as lemon balm, is a calming agent with sedative effects on the nervous system. it is used to treat anxiety, depression, palpitations, respiratory congestion, allergic reactions, menstrual pain, and nervousness. side note: it should be avoided by people on thryoid medications (it is commonly used to treat graves disease, kind of the natural alternative to thyroxine.) it is available in teas, essential oils, and dietary supplement form.

clary sage is used to treat depression, stress-related disorders, and hell, even sexual disorders associated with the nervous system. it also helps with musculoskeletal problems, such as muscle spasms, and digestive problems (cramps, flatulence, etc.) it can also be found in tea, supplement, or oil form.

lavender is a good botanical across the board. unless you really hate the smell, it can be used to treat just about anything.

if you were taking vit bs, i'm assuming you are having energy problems, and you might want to have the function of your adrenal glands checked out.

the omegas are definitely important, but a lot of times people run out to get fish oil, which is only halfway effective. the best non-animal source of omegas is in flaxseed oil, so if you go find a supplement, check to make sure it has fish AND flax in it. they tend to work much more effectively when used together. the one i use is comprised of both.

i have more but hopefully you will find these useful.

Going on diets like the gluten/casin free diets will only help you if they cause inflammation in your GI tract or if your allergic to them but it won't help you the way you think it will. If any part of your GI tract is hurting do feel good? Do you want to be around others? Do you want to be in stressful situations? The answer to all of these is no and that is how diets like gluten/casin can help you but they won't help your autism, nor will they help other condition.

Early studies suggest that fish oil is good for you, and that by taking the fish oil it can help keep you with stress.

I agree with the above. Food is important! Supplements are helpful but diet is more important.

Sam-e

I take fairly decent but not huge doses of Sam-e (400 mg in the morning 1 hour before eating) and when I do, I tend to not have anxiety attacks anymore. Sam-e serves a lot of good functions in the body, and it can be prescribed for bipolar disorder. It tends to act more like an upper than a stabilizer, so it's not good for people who get too manic. It might be better for people who have bouts of depression, or negative mood swings.

Fish oil Omega 3 fatty acids

Fish oil Omega 3 fatty acids are prescribed for mood swings and depression. Fish oil Omega 3's are believed to be best for building cell membranes for brain function. Fish oil Omega 3 fatty acids have been shown to be effective treatments in studies for bipolar disorder and major depression. I take 1 tsp of cod liver oil a day for the natural vitamin D and A. Then I take a couple of teaspoons of 18/12 marine fish oil (from sardines, herrings) where the ratio of the Omega 3s EPA:DHA is 18:12. A high EPA:DHA ratio is what was used in the bipolar/depression studies. For fish oils, the quality of processing is important. Molecularly filtered fish oils will be free from mercury and other heavy metal toxins and the cold processing won't destroy oil-soluble vitamins and other nutrients.

The omega 3 fatty acids in vegetable sources like flax seeds are Alpha Linolenic Acids (ALA). They are much harder for your body to use because it has to convert the ALAs to EPAs and DHAs first and if there is some problem with your metabolism of ALA you could still suffer from deficiencies in brain-supporting EPA and DHA.

It seems like the best Omega 3 fatty acids for your brain are from Krill Oil. The Krill oil has a high EPA:DHA ratio and the fatty acids are in the form of phospholipids, which are in a more useful form already for your brain to use and they penetrate brain cells more easily. So we use Krill oil Omega 3's more efficiently than other Omega 3's. Krill oil also contains other nutrients that are great antioxidants.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is the "sunshine vitamin" that our skin makes naturally when we're out in the sun. It's especially important to supplement in the winter when we can't get enough sun, esp. if you live in higher latitudes. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a lot of metabolic problems, including bone, brain function and immune system problems. The USRDA for Vitamin D is currently 400 I.U. which is WAY too low -- that's just the level that they determined prevented rickets, decades ago. Since then, the USRDA for Vitamin D hasn't been updated, despite findings that it is a big player in brain function and its deficiency is probably the cause of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Adults should be getting a minimum of 1000-2000 I.U. of Vitamin D per day depending on what age they are. Best to take Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol).

Tissue Health Complex

MSM, glucosamine, huyaluronic acid and chondroitin. Tissue health = brain & body works better.

Chelating agents

A lot of nutrients bind with heavy metal compounds and toxins, serving the purpose of removing them from the blood, assisting the liver in cleaning the body of toxins. Some substances made in the body that assist the liver are popular supplements that serve a variety of useful functions, as well as helping keep blood levels of toxins low. That is important for people like me who are allergic to metal compounds like ethyl mercury. Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) and glutathione are good supplements that also are good chelating agents.

Minerals

It's important to get good minerals, but even if you supplement with them, it can be hard to absorb dietary minerals. Chelated minerals are easier to digest and absorb. It's a good idea to take minerals at a different time of the day than other vitamins because some (like Vitamin E) can block absorption of minerals. Soy products (tofu, soymilk, etc.) contain phytates that block the absorption of minerals and some vegetarians that rely heavily on soy foods can develop mineral deficiencies. Minerals, and trace minerals, play important roles in cognitive function due to their roles as extracellular electrolytes and signaling.

Antidepressants

St. John's Wort is a great antidepressant that I'd like to try if I ever need an antidepressant, if I ever need an antidepressant again. It's a multi-spectrum antidepressant, working as a very mild MAOI and as a neurotransmitter reputake inhibitor. So it has a more mild but broad-based neurotransmitter-boosting activity than prescription antidepressants. There have been a lot of studies on St. John's Wort, and it has been shown to be very effective, with fewer side effects than prescription antidepressants. "In fact, studies comparing St. John's Wort to prescription antidepressants (including Paxil and Prozac) demonstrate that it works just as well as these drugs, but with fewer side effects." (http://www.amoryn.com/zznaturalanti-depressants.html).

If you have a specific endogenous brain chemistry deficiency with a specific neurotransmitter/specific kind of depression, a more targeted anti-depressant might be more effective than the kind of mild but more comprehensive neurotransmitter boost that St. John's Wort provides. For example, if you have a specific problem with low serotonin levels, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor might be more effective.

St. John's Wort can also be helpful for AS people who are ADD, because as part of its mild MAOI activity it increases levels of norepinephrine & epinephrine, which help with attention and focus.

B vitamins

It's important to get adequate vitamin B complex. Problems ranging from mania to depression have been linked to vitamin B deficiencies. Other problems, like alcoholism, can cause depletion of B vitamins in the body. So B vitamins is kind of a no-brainer when it comes to supplementing.

Megadosing is bad

I don't take megadoses of vitamins. Just because something is helpful in the body, that doesn't mean taking megadoses of it is helpful. Taking too much of an oil based vitamin (like A or E) can have toxic side effects.

What kind of vitamins

It's best to get all the vitamins you need in natural food, but supplementing with manufactured supplements to solve particular problems helps make sure you get enough of what you need.

I like natural source vitamins, instead of taking synthetic analogues of the natural molecules. Synthetic analogues of natural molecules often don't work like the natural molecules.

There is no diet that mill make AS go away. AS does not have a nutritional deficiency cause.

ruveyn