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Another one you can try is Don Lemmon's Perfect EFA Oil Blend.

I have been using it for years (off and on). When I'm on it, I definitely notice a difference. You can check it out at Don's website.

He is a personal trainer and nutritionist to the stars. He has a lot of good information about nutrition and training on his site and in his books and videos.

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I am not a doctor or even in the medical field, but I have been ADHD all my life and I have been reading seriously on it and the rest of the Pervasive Developmental Disorders (Autism, Bipolar, Dyslexia, etc.) for the last 6 years.

I am in the process of writing a computer program to help therapists, doctors, and parents deal with these problems.

I was on Ritalin before they knew they needed to adjust the dosages, back in 1971, and was on it for 5 years.

My son is ADHD, Dyslexic, Sensory Integration Dysfunction, and exhibits some autistic-like behaviors. My wife is Dyslexic and ADD. I am also Bipolar.

I tell you this to give you some background of where I speak from. From the research and books I have read, unless the problem was due to some kind of birth trauma, my OPINION is that these diseases are a combination of allergies, malnutrition, and some of the dumb things we do to ourselves (like give babies mega virus combinations preserved with Mercury. What rocket scientist came up with that moronic idea?)

I say malnutrition, because I have read in several articles recently how our food doesn't give us the nutrition it once did. For example, although my memory of the exact numbers may be off, the general idea is the same. I read a study recently that said it would take something like 60 bowls of spinach today to get the same amount of nutrition as was in one bowl of spinach grown in the 1920's. Don't ask me where. I can't remember exactly. That's a pretty serious falloff, isn't it?

Allergies can manifest themselves in many ways from stopping breathing to being distracted and unable to focus. Thus, they mimic and enhance the main symptoms of ADHD, sometimes.

Although I have heard of carcinogens, allergens, and other nasty stuff in cleaning supplies around the house, I have never heard of them being related to PDD diseases either by studies or by circumstantial evidence.

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Believe me, I DON'T know a lot about this. I merely know enough to know that there is a TON more information that SHOULD be out there, that is not. That's part of what the software I'm writing solves. It can be used for any of the PDD disorders, but is mostly geared towards Autistic, Asperger's, and Sensory Integration Dysfunction kids.

I can't go into too much more than that until it is done and ready for market.

I got into it because of my son and his friends, first. However, I also got into it, because I was disgusted with the lies of the NIH, who in a 6 MONTH study stated that thimerosal has absolutely NO relation to Autism; with the often conflicting information that is out there; with the studies done on 12 people that are cited as gold in the JAMA; with the way people were starting to blame the parents of these kids; with the inability of the vaunted medical community, who has supposedly been studying this stuff since the 1950's, to even come up with a CAUSE for Autism, let alone a cure. Do I sound bitter? upset? furious?

You bet I am!! I let these doctors EXPERIMENT on me from age 5 to age 10, because they were too dense to notice that Ritalin made me a zombie and figure out that my dosage needed to go down. That's 5 years of my childhood I'll never get back. I have watched my son go through 4 years of therapy and have to move overseas with my wife and other son (overseas being the Philippines) for two years. For the first three years it was 2X per week each for speech, occupational, and physical therapy. What kind of a childhood is that? I watched them give him tegritol, because they thought he was epileptic, only to make the seizures worse and almost kill him. I watched Autistic kids have to change therapists every 6 months because one of the best hospitals for kids in our state was unable to keep the therapists, because they wouldn't pay them or because some bureaucratic idiot decided the therapies were getting too expensive for their insurance company to authorize. AUTISTIC KIDS!! The ones who can't stand change of any kind. And then they wondered why there was never much progress with the kids. DUH!!!

Sorry for my rant, but there's a lot balled up inside after seeing and being a part of so much.

As for your comments, yes, I know exactly what you mean. I am completely self taught in programming and find myself constantly fighting boredom, as well as constantly processing things I read. I'll read something that interests me and be going over it for a week in my head, no matter what is going on around me (Ok, so I'm OCD too.). It drives my wife nuts. I feel like Walter Mitty sometimes.

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OCD is in the Pervasive Developmental Disorder spectrum, along with Autism, Aspergers, Bipolar Disorder, ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Sensory Integration Dysfunction, and a whole slew of others. Basically, what this group of Psychiatrists/Psychologists called the DSM IV group (I can't remember what DSM stands for, but they meet every so often) is they took a whole bunch of diseases/disorders that they suspected were related to the brain and lumped them all together in a group called pervasive developmental disorders. They had/have no idea what causes them, how to cure them, how they were/are related, what makes them brain related. All the did know was that they were psychologists and had to have something to do. So, they VOTED these diseases into official existence.

Why do I say that? Because when I was a kid, and on Ritalin, there was no such thing as ADD or ADHD. I was just a hyperactive kid (break down the word. It means overly active. I was being penalized for being what a kid was supposed to be.). ADHD did not come into "official existence until the DSM IV meeting in 1988. Let me explain one of the reasons I'm so upset.

My sons and wife had to go to the Philippines for 2 years for my eldest son's educational progress. First, let me say, I don't really blame the education system or the teachers. However, my son was in pre-preschool for children with disabilities at age 4 and 5 in the school system here. We knew Josh was ADHD. Almost EVERY DAY, we got a call from either the teacher or the principal telling us that we should put Josh on Ritalin. How much better he would do on it. These were TEACHERS! Not medical professionals. I told them "When you show me your medical degree, that's when he'll go on Ritalin! Oh, don't have one? Well, I guess today won't be the day I put him on Ritalin then.". What they wanted was a child who would sit and stare dumbly at the blackboard.

Teachers are underpaid and overworked for what they are expected to do (at least the good ones are). Anything we can do to make their job easier or better, we should seriously consider. However, I draw the line at handing my kid a line of speed and saying "do this!". That's right, speed! Ritalin, according to the US FDA, is a class 3 narcotic, as is Aderall. What else are class 3 narcotics? Speed, Crank, Ice, Cocaine, Crack. And this is supposed to HELP our kids?

So, we refused the request/demand. when they tried to put too much pressure on us, they went to the Philippines for two years. He absolutely flourished over there. He still had his problems, but he GREATLY improved. The differences were several. Over there he had a lot of older kids to try and be like (cousins). Role models are good. Over there we discovered his allergies to eggs, chicken, cheese, peanuts, milk, chocolate, some seafoods, and a few other things (trigger for behavior problems). Most importantly, he was allowed to be a kid. Over here they see an active kid in school and they say put him on Ritalin. He's a distraction. What are we, Robots? Over there they say he's just being a kid. Guide him when he screws up, but let him enjoy his childhood. Big attitude shift. Big results. I know it was everything together, but people seriously need to be careful about medical diagnoses. Especially when they don't come from doctors. It's too easy these days to say "Oh, you don't feel well? Take a pill." or "You don't fit into my definition of what's normal. Take a pill."

I've been Bipolar (manic depressive) my whole life. It is what has given me my creative side. Without it, I'm just a number crunching coder. With it, I write songs, I play guitar, I woodwork my own designs, I Architect Computer Systems, I create Graphical User Interfaces. I'm not going to destroy the one thing that has allowed me to earn a living. Some of the brightest minds were along the PDD spectrum. Kurt Cobain (song writer for Nirvana) was manic depressive. Albert Einstein was ADHD. There are a bunch of others I could name.

Walter Mitty is a character in a book "The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty". He can live an entire lifetime in his head in the time it takes his wife to go in to the hairdresser's and get a haircut. It's really a neat book.

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Yes, I'm a member of both of Dean's networks. I respect the heck out of his opinions. He's awful young to have such wisdom. :-)

I remember when I was on Ritalin, they took me off it when I was 10, before I reached puberty. At that time, they knew it was dangerous to put kids in puberty on it. I figure it's because of all the hormones we had running around in us at that time. The ritalin probably makes them go even crazier.

Before I go on, I want to let everyone know that what I have been saying can be verified by reading books, the journal of the american medical association, or by checking out the national institute of health web site. Just so people know that I'm not totally off my rocker (well, I am off my rocker, but not completely off my rocker).

It has been shown that ADHD people have a much higher than normal penchant for addictions later in life. I'm opening a lot of my life on this network, but if it helps people, I'm all for it. I was an alcoholic at age 14. I started smoking at age 10. I have kicked both. Mostly thanks to the love of a good woman.

They think the higher rate of addiction is due to the following: ritalin works on seratonin in the brain. As do adderall and strattera (although strattera is non-narcotic). The theory is that people with ADHD have a far lower than normal seratonin level. This is why they have the excitablity, problems sleeping, etc. Seratonin works on the pleasure centers of the brain. When seratonin is low, we seek a way to bring it to normal. Several ways to do it are with drugs, alcohol, or smoking. When you take the ADHD drugs, it brings the seratonin levels to normal and allows people to control their behavior (somewhat). When you go off these drugs, within a short time, your seratonin levels go back down to what they were before and your body CRAVES ways to bring it back up. Some do it with chocolate (yes, chocolate also works on pleasure centers and is addictive), or caffeine. Others do it with alcohol or drugs or smoking.

Unfortunately, the alcohol, drugs, and smoking have nasty side effects - like death. Chocolate does too, if you eat enough. Caffeine produces MASSIVE headaches, once you become addicted, if you don't get your dosage.

Private Reply to Russ Howard

Private Reply to Mari Laura Skjelvik

Everyone I know who has given up caffeine has had a problem with headaches.

Honestly, I never thought about the possibility that it was because we're raised on the processed brands like Folgers and Maxwell House.

From this and other posts of yours, it seems like you are very much into the organic scene and have been for a while. Could this be the reason that the regular red wines and the black teas gave you headaches? Because your body was used to the good stuff and when you drank the regular red wine your body said "I don't think so."? Of course my problems with red wine would not be due to how it is made, but how much I drink of it. :-)

I know personally that every time I try to give up or severely limit my caffeine intake, I get very bad migraines. But I am usually drinking processed brands, like Folgers.

Oh, and as for chocolate, of ANY kind, if you want to have any for yourself, don't get me within 20km of it. I'll levitate it right into my mouth. I have a kind of synergy with chocolate. I eat all I can and it promises to taste really good and wait about 2 days before it adds 10 pounds to my waistline. :-) Very synergistic.

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My wife is from the Philippines. I can get pure chocolate fresh off of the bush.

As for water, I know I don't drink nearly enough or, for that matter, sleep nearly enough either (about 4 hours per night). On the water, part of the reason I don't drink enough is that I just don't have the time either to drink that much or to spend that much time in the bathroom afterwards :-).

I have become, much more interested in nutrition and eating properly since about 2000. Finding Don's web site and reading the information I did on PDD really opened my eyes.

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Yep. Check out this link to The Field Museum in Chicago. They are having a "History of Chocolate" exhibit. chocolate is made from the seeds of the cacao tree.

Endorphins!

Same chemical.

Private Reply to Russ Howard

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Private Reply to Mariangie Gonzalez

I appreciate the compliment, but if I'm such a walking encyclopedia, why do I always feel like I have so much to learn?

As for my accomplishments, to be quite frank, I'm alive. That in itself is an accomplishment as I didn't think I'd make it this far.

What I really consider an accomplishment, though, is making sure my family is well taken care of. When I have accomplished that and have no more worries that no matter what happens to me, they will be fine, then I will feel as if I had accomplished something.

No. ADHD/ADD is not bad in itself. Annoying, perhaps, but not bad. It's all in how you react to/with it. Look at all the great people who have or were suspected to have it - Albert Einstein, Kurt Cobain, Robert Toth, Galileo, Mozart, Beethoven, JFK, Henry Winkler (No wonder he did that "Heeyyyy!" in so many different directions), Churchill, Henry Ford, Jules Verne, Walt Disney, and TONS of other great people. A REALLY good resource on ADD/ADHD is One ADD Place. Another one is from About.com on ADD/ADHD. TONS of information on it and related disorders.

You truly need to see a psychiatrist. :-) NOONE Would EVER want to lick the curbs in the Bronx!!!! I spent a lot of time in New York growing up. There are worse places than the Bronx, but not enough to make the Bronx appealing to me (especially appealing enough to lick the curb).:-)

It sounds like I would love your coffee. I'm going to have to check out your web site when I get a few extra pennies. I'm used to Army coffee. So, I like it very strong (In the Army, we used to stand a spoon in ours to make sure it was done (I'm only half kidding about this).

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