Re: New here - Inositol

September 11, 2009

Hi Jane! I'm guessing everyone's experience is different. I had my son on

inositol powder from 6-8th grades.

We worked him up to around 13 grams/day. However, there have been some kids who

did well on less, even 6 grams or so. So it's sort of a " work up to one dose

and wait & see " type thing. For it really took about 12 weeks or so for

me to feel inositol was helping. I think he had some improvement before that,

but since OCD was still " new " I wasn't sure if it was just lessening on its own

or if inositol was helping, etc. But at some point after 12 weeks or so, I was

more positive it was. And really, the longer he was on it the more improvement

I saw. And he could tell it was helping.

He took it 3 to 4x a day. 4x on those bad weeks. We gave him a teaspoon

(sometimes " rounded " so a bit more) in the a.m. before school, then when I got

home from work so about 5:30 and then again around 8 or 9 p.m., etc. So more of

it was the evening/night. We did ease him up on it to try to avoid any stomach

upset since I read that could happen. He's 20 yrs now so I'm trying to

recall...but I think I first thought 10-11 grams to shoot for and we ended up

around the 13-14 during the worst periods; you can't overdose on it, supposedly,

so with OCD just so intense when we began trying inositol, have to say I was

anxious to get him up to what might be a therapeutic dose too (though we

increased it by 1 tsp about every 3rd or 4th day to work up). And with the

study showing 18 grams for adults, I figured that left us some room to go up

higher on dose if needed to.

Sometime after that first year, he was doing so much better we backed down on

the dose and he eventually began maintaining with only 1x a day!

We did try inositol powder again later in high school and then again after that

but it just didn't help him a bit those times. I haven't a clue why, just a

50/50 chance if it will or won't I guess. His OCD had changed to " bad thoughts "

but inositol had helped others with that type OCD so I dunno....

Anyway - what you plan to try sounds fine to me. was also diagnosed

HFA/Aspergers!

Do let us know how things are going with his OCD and whether you see any

benefits (fingers crossed) or not from the inositol!

>

> Hi,

>

> I am new here and have 3 children. My oldest son has autism (high functioning)

and in the last year his OCD has really stepped up. I have taken a biomedical

approach with him since he was 4 and he has done fairly well. He is now 12 and

the sensory and OCD have been our biggest problems lately.

>

> I just started him on inositol (myo) about a week ago and have read all the

info in the files. I was wondering if any of you are using this and what your

experience has been. I am wondering just how high to go and how long it may take

to see any results. We are currently at 1 gram 2 times a day and I was thinking

to up this gradually to 4 gms in a couple of weeks and possible as high as 12

gms (he is 75 lbs). Does this sound about right?

>

> Thanks,

> Jane

>

September 11, 2009

Hi, Jane. already answered your questions concerning inositol, but I just

wanted to also welcome you to the group. ) Glad you are here.

BJ

>

> Hi,

>

> I am new here and have 3 children. My oldest son has autism (high functioning)

and in the last year his OCD has really stepped up. I have taken a biomedical

approach with him since he was 4 and he has done fairly well. He is now 12 and

the sensory and OCD have been our biggest problems lately.

>

> I just started him on inositol (myo) about a week ago and have read all the

info in the files. I was wondering if any of you are using this and what your

experience has been. I am wondering just how high to go and how long it may take

to see any results. We are currently at 1 gram 2 times a day and I was thinking

to up this gradually to 4 gms in a couple of weeks and possible as high as 12

gms (he is 75 lbs). Does this sound about right?

>

> Thanks,

> Jane

>

September 12, 2009

Hi Jane,

I started my son on inositol in June. He's 9 yrs old, 66 lbs. I really wasn't

sure how high to go on the dosage, but when we reached 4 grams a day, I noticed

an improvement in him, and so did he, so we stopped there for now. He's so much

calmer, and even though he still gets fearful thoughts now and then, they're not

lasting long at all. His anxiety spikes when he has to be away from me, so I

thought the start of school would be rough, but he's fine.

Since there is no set dosage, I think it's just trial and error, and everyone is

different. I do hope you have good results with it!

>

> Hi,

>

> I am new here and have 3 children. My oldest son has autism (high functioning)

and in the last year his OCD has really stepped up. I have taken a biomedical

approach with him since he was 4 and he has done fairly well. He is now 12 and

the sensory and OCD have been our biggest problems lately.

>

> I just started him on inositol (myo) about a week ago and have read all the

info in the files. I was wondering if any of you are using this and what your

experience has been. I am wondering just how high to go and how long it may take

to see any results. We are currently at 1 gram 2 times a day and I was thinking

to up this gradually to 4 gms in a couple of weeks and possible as high as 12

gms (he is 75 lbs). Does this sound about right?

>

> Thanks,

> Jane

>

September 12, 2009

Thanks for the welcome, BJ! And thank you, , so glad to hear of your

success.

I am impatient to get to at least 4 grams, so will probably speed up the dosage

a bit. It is that or the rest of us are going to lose our minds. My son has a

lot of obessions and his anxiety is at a higher level these days. He is

constantly arranging the curtains and turning on the lights. Then he is picking

his eyebrows out and insists on his hair being shaved very close to his head. He

is also EXTREMELY negative a good bit of the time. I could go on, because there

are so many issues, but the bottom line is that it all seems to be anxiety

based. It has been very sad, since he used to be such a sweet and happy boy. It

is causing a lot of trouble in our family since I am remarried and step

situations are difficult to begin with. My husband has been pretty supportive,

but is having a lot of difficulty lately with my son's behavior.

So I really hope the inositol will have a positive effect soon!

Jane

> >

> > Hi,

> >

> > I am new here and have 3 children. My oldest son has autism (high

functioning) and in the last year his OCD has really stepped up. I have taken a

biomedical approach with him since he was 4 and he has done fairly well. He is

now 12 and the sensory and OCD have been our biggest problems lately.

> >

> > I just started him on inositol (myo) about a week ago and have read all the

info in the files. I was wondering if any of you are using this and what your

experience has been. I am wondering just how high to go and how long it may take

to see any results. We are currently at 1 gram 2 times a day and I was thinking

to up this gradually to 4 gms in a couple of weeks and possible as high as 12

gms (he is 75 lbs). Does this sound about right?

> >

> > Thanks,

> > Jane

> >

>

September 12, 2009

Hi Jane,

Just wanted to add my welcome. I hope the inositol helps to bring down your

son's anxiety, I can understand your impatience to get results soon. Many here

have found inositol helpful. We tried it also, but think it made things worse

with ours, but not sure, as it was at the outset of things and it may have been

more just the arc of the illness. In the end we reached a point where there was

no functioning and around the clock suffering and opted for medication.

Living with and dealing with OCD is truly exhausting and I certainly relate to

the feeling that you are going to " lose your minds " . Kind of reconciled myself

to that one, not sure if I ever regained my sanity....probably never had it to

begin with!

Acceptance goes a long way, I found, " is what it is " stuff. Letting go of

expectations for it to be different than it is. Took me probably a good year to

get to that place though.

It definitely can wreak havoc with the whole family and marital relationship in

particular, can't imagine " step " situation added to the equation. Keep

educating about OCD is probably best defense for this. The more it is

understood it is beyond their ability to control(for the moment) the more

tolerance there can be for it all. There are limits however...and we are all

only human - refer back to the " losing your mind " strand

Not sure if you have looked into ERP yet? This was the ticket out for ours,

eventually. Took a long time before he was " ready, willing, and able " to do it,

but that was what ultimately worked for ours.

Keep posting, even if it is just to vent. This is a great group, and was a

lifeline for me for some time, and can recommend it for support through the

daily grind of living with this crazy disorder!

Warmly,

Barb

Ontario, Canada

Son, 18, OCD, LD - doing well for 1 year now.

September 12, 2009

Well, thank you Barb in Ontario! It is certainly reassuring to hear about

situations with success.

I was kind of thinking that ERP would be something to try if I can't get

anything else to work. All I really know about it so far is what I have learned

from the show called " Obsession " on the A & E channel. I even had my son watch

one of them with me and told him that we would work on his issues in whatever

way we could. I won't let him watch anymore only because they create more

anxieties in him about how he may end up. Right now we are dealing with so many

fears (heart condition developing, robbers coming in the house, a keychain

flashlight causing blindness and anything that might come up in the course of a

day).

I guess the hardest thing to deal with is knowing how he was just a year ago and

what this has all turned into. The increase in severity is just unreal to me. It

makes me wonder what happened and if I could only figure it out, then I could

fix it.

Thanks for all the support! I can already tell this is a great group!

Jane

>

> Hi Jane,

>

> Just wanted to add my welcome. I hope the inositol helps to bring down your

son's anxiety, I can understand your impatience to get results soon. Many here

have found inositol helpful. We tried it also, but think it made things worse

with ours, but not sure, as it was at the outset of things and it may have been

more just the arc of the illness. In the end we reached a point where there was

no functioning and around the clock suffering and opted for medication.

>

> Living with and dealing with OCD is truly exhausting and I certainly relate to

the feeling that you are going to " lose your minds " . Kind of reconciled myself

to that one, not sure if I ever regained my sanity....probably never had it to

begin with!

>

> Acceptance goes a long way, I found, " is what it is " stuff. Letting go of

expectations for it to be different than it is. Took me probably a good year to

get to that place though.

>

> It definitely can wreak havoc with the whole family and marital relationship

in particular, can't imagine " step " situation added to the equation. Keep

educating about OCD is probably best defense for this. The more it is

understood it is beyond their ability to control(for the moment) the more

tolerance there can be for it all. There are limits however...and we are all

only human - refer back to the " losing your mind " strand

>

> Not sure if you have looked into ERP yet? This was the ticket out for ours,

eventually. Took a long time before he was " ready, willing, and able " to do it,

but that was what ultimately worked for ours.

>

> Keep posting, even if it is just to vent. This is a great group, and was a

lifeline for me for some time, and can recommend it for support through the

daily grind of living with this crazy disorder!

>

> Warmly,

> Barb

> Ontario, Canada

> Son, 18, OCD, LD - doing well for 1 year now.

>

September 12, 2009

Jane,

I'm pretty new to the group too. My 11-year-daughter was diagnosed about 2

months ago. It's been a roller coaster for us and for a while she seemed to

be spiralling out of control and it was really worrisome to see.

I have not let her watch the program " Obsessed " because frankly it would

only give her new ideas, and we don't need any more!

We started right away with a therapist specializing in pediatric anxiety

disorders and I have to say that it's been good. The psychologist practices

cognitive behavior therapy and we are just now starting the ERP phase. From

what I have read, it is really the best (and perhaps the only) therapy for

kids. I would highly advise that you seek some sort of professional help.

I know that when my daughter first started up, I had no idea what to do and

it was so helpful--and reassuring--to have a professional to talk to.

Good luck,

>

> Well, thank you Barb in Ontario! It is certainly reassuring to hear about

> situations with success.

>

> I was kind of thinking that ERP would be something to try if I can't get

> anything else to work. All I really know about it so far is what I have

> learned from the show called " Obsession " on the A & E channel. I even had my

> son watch one of them with me and told him that we would work on his issues

> in whatever way we could. I won't let him watch anymore only because they

> create more anxieties in him about how he may end up. Right now we are

> dealing with so many fears (heart condition developing, robbers coming in

> the house, a keychain flashlight causing blindness and anything that might

> come up in the course of a day).

>

> I guess the hardest thing to deal with is knowing how he was just a year

> ago and what this has all turned into. The increase in severity is just

> unreal to me. It makes me wonder what happened and if I could only figure it

> out, then I could fix it.

>

> Thanks for all the support! I can already tell this is a great group!

> Jane

>

> >

> > Hi Jane,

> >

> > Just wanted to add my welcome. I hope the inositol helps to bring down

> your son's anxiety, I can understand your impatience to get results soon.

> Many here have found inositol helpful. We tried it also, but think it made

> things worse with ours, but not sure, as it was at the outset of things and

> it may have been more just the arc of the illness. In the end we reached a

> point where there was no functioning and around the clock suffering and

> opted for medication.

> >

> > Living with and dealing with OCD is truly exhausting and I certainly

> relate to the feeling that you are going to " lose your minds " . Kind of

> reconciled myself to that one, not sure if I ever regained my

> sanity....probably never had it to begin with!

> >

> > Acceptance goes a long way, I found, " is what it is " stuff. Letting go of

> expectations for it to be different than it is. Took me probably a good year

> to get to that place though.

> >

> > It definitely can wreak havoc with the whole family and marital

> relationship in particular, can't imagine " step " situation added to the

> equation. Keep educating about OCD is probably best defense for this. The

> more it is understood it is beyond their ability to control(for the moment)

> the more tolerance there can be for it all. There are limits however...and

> we are all only human - refer back to the " losing your mind " strand

> >

> > Not sure if you have looked into ERP yet? This was the ticket out for

> ours, eventually. Took a long time before he was " ready, willing, and able "

> to do it, but that was what ultimately worked for ours.

> >

> > Keep posting, even if it is just to vent. This is a great group, and was

> a lifeline for me for some time, and can recommend it for support through

> the daily grind of living with this crazy disorder!

> >

> > Warmly,

> > Barb

> > Ontario, Canada

> > Son, 18, OCD, LD - doing well for 1 year now.

> >

>

September 14, 2009

Hi Jane,

ERP is considered the gold standard in treatment for OCD, with medication added

if needed to bring down the anxiety, so they can participate in ERP. Many here

can confirm this works.

Many others can tell you how difficult it can be to get your child on board for

this treatment, depending on many things. I call it the " ready, willing and

able " piece.

I certainly understand your wonderings about " what happened " to cause the OCD to

become so severe. It seemed to come overnight for us, and just took over, and

in the beginning I looked for a cause to address, and tried many alternative

approaches. But in retrospect there was a build up, and we now know there was

either actual OCD, or aspects of it in younger years. Except in the case of

PANDAS, there is no " cause " per se.

There may be a precipitating event that triggered the onset, or increase in

severity, but it is irrelevant really as it won't change anything. Best to

focus on getting the best treatment you can find!

Hang in there!