Re: EFA as a 'jump start' only?

[Guest guest]

I am not sure but it is possible that this was the case with my

daughter. She is adopted and for reasons related to that, I have not

wanted to force her to take the supplements. Her language has

continued improving though she gets them (and vit E) only irregularly now.

By the way - in our case, there were some nutritional lacks, possibly

prenatal and certainly in the first year of her life. So we may not

have the exact same issue as the group of children who seem to have a

fatty acid metabolic issue (or we might, and I'm not able to tell).

Or - maybe a certain critical amount is needed for ??myelination at

one given moment, then the need is less until the next time the body

attempts a spurt in neurological development of language. (I made

that up - sounds good to me but I have no objective evidence for it -

please don't take it as a verified fact.)

[Guest guest]

Cheryl-

When my son started EFAs years ago, he seemd to have surge in langauge

attempts, as well. He also seemed to increase attempts when we

increased his doseage. However, he reamined (remains to this day)

severely apraxic. Honestly, even though we continue to give him EFAs

and have also added E, I am unsure if they have helped him much at all

other than with general nutrition. On this list, I am a bit of a

renegade for answering you in that way, but it is our story.

I will say that my son almost always has developmental surges when he

is away from school. Christmans break, summer vacations, etc., always

produce his greatest gains. I sometimes wonder about the rigor of the

schedule that we have put him through only to see the gains take place

when we are relaxed, with family and at home. In some ways, the

skills that he works on at school and in therapy seem to generalize to

real life situations during those times.

So, you may be experiencing what we always have - gains during low

stress periods. Celebrate them! You may even want to see if the

gains continue without the EFAs, because perhaps his new skills are

unrelated to his taking them at all, or as you wondered about, he

simply needed a jump start. I sometimes wonder about the wisdom of

the hundreds of dollars (probably thousands by now) that we have spent

on EFAs over the last few years. We continue to take them, but have

never noticed regression at the times we stopped or switched ratios.

>

> We started our 3YO son on 1 Omega EFA for a couple weeks and saw big

> word attempt increase right away. (Started SLP & cueing at the same

> time, which enhanced speech) Within 2 months, we had increased to 3

> caps but saw an unpleasant behavioral/emotional side affect so we

> reduced back to only 1 EFA cap. I also added 1 (400) vitamin E.

>

> Anyhow -we continued to see consistent improvement with quantity of

> words, but SLP insists on quality too. (not complaining here, but we

> do want to be permitted the joy we feel over his feverish expressive

> language efforts!)

>

> I forgot 2 days of all supplements over the holiday.

> Ironically, his vocabulary and even MORE attempts at words doubled.

> We are stunned. He is attempting 4-5 word sentences and babbling on

> and on in a 75% intellegible way for the most part!

> Yesterday and today I went back to the supplements and although the

> language has continued, he started whining more and clinging as he did

> with the higher dose of EFA early on.

>

> So, today I tried the E only. Still clinging today...

>

> But I feel unsure. What to do next?

>

> Anyone else think that the supplements might have helped to jump start

> the language but that it might not be necessary to continue?

>

> And I know there can be a transition time of behavioral issues when

> starting up -could that be the case NOW, after just 2 days of not

> taking it? Even at the low dose that worked well from day one?

>

> Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

> Cheryl

>

[Guest guest]

I always found the whineness came just before a huge leap. Sometimes

it lasted 2-3 weeks, then settled out. It may be worth keeping a

diary...and riding out the storm. If after 3 weeks you still have a

whiny, irritable child and no increase in speech/coordination or

improved sensory issues...you may want to give it a break and see

what happens. But would be unfortunate to miss out on a big surge

because of a little transient behavior issues. But every kid is

alittle different - and this is all trial and error. -

> We started our 3YO son on 1 Omega EFA for a couple weeks and saw

big

> word attempt increase right away. (Started SLP & cueing at the

same

> time, which enhanced speech) Within 2 months, we had increased to

3

> caps but saw an unpleasant behavioral/emotional side affect so we

> reduced back to only 1 EFA cap. I also added 1 (400) vitamin E.

>

> Anyhow -we continued to see consistent improvement with quantity of

> words, but SLP insists on quality too. (not complaining here, but

we

> do want to be permitted the joy we feel over his feverish

expressive

> language efforts!)

>

> I forgot 2 days of all supplements over the holiday.

> Ironically, his vocabulary and even MORE attempts at words

doubled.

> We are stunned. He is attempting 4-5 word sentences and babbling

on

> and on in a 75% intellegible way for the most part!

> Yesterday and today I went back to the supplements and although

the

> language has continued, he started whining more and clinging as he

did

> with the higher dose of EFA early on.

>

> So, today I tried the E only. Still clinging today...

>

> But I feel unsure. What to do next?

>

> Anyone else think that the supplements might have helped to jump

start

> the language but that it might not be necessary to continue?

>

> And I know there can be a transition time of behavioral issues when

> starting up -could that be the case NOW, after just 2 days of not

> taking it? Even at the low dose that worked well from day one?

>

> Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

> Cheryl

>

[Guest guest]

I am not sure but it is possible that this was the case with my

daughter. She is adopted and for reasons related to that, I have not

wanted to force her to take the supplements. Her language has

continued improving though she gets them (and vit E) only irregularly now.

By the way - in our case, there were some nutritional lacks, possibly

prenatal and certainly in the first year of her life. So we may not

have the exact same issue as the group of children who seem to have a

fatty acid metabolic issue (or we might, and I'm not able to tell).

Or - maybe a certain critical amount is needed for ??myelination at

one given moment, then the need is less until the next time the body

attempts a spurt in neurological development of language. (I made

that up - sounds good to me but I have no objective evidence for it -

please don't take it as a verified fact.)

[Guest guest]

Cheryl-

When my son started EFAs years ago, he seemd to have surge in langauge

attempts, as well. He also seemed to increase attempts when we

increased his doseage. However, he reamined (remains to this day)

severely apraxic. Honestly, even though we continue to give him EFAs

and have also added E, I am unsure if they have helped him much at all

other than with general nutrition. On this list, I am a bit of a

renegade for answering you in that way, but it is our story.

I will say that my son almost always has developmental surges when he

is away from school. Christmans break, summer vacations, etc., always

produce his greatest gains. I sometimes wonder about the rigor of the

schedule that we have put him through only to see the gains take place

when we are relaxed, with family and at home. In some ways, the

skills that he works on at school and in therapy seem to generalize to

real life situations during those times.

So, you may be experiencing what we always have - gains during low

stress periods. Celebrate them! You may even want to see if the

gains continue without the EFAs, because perhaps his new skills are

unrelated to his taking them at all, or as you wondered about, he

simply needed a jump start. I sometimes wonder about the wisdom of

the hundreds of dollars (probably thousands by now) that we have spent

on EFAs over the last few years. We continue to take them, but have

never noticed regression at the times we stopped or switched ratios.

>

> We started our 3YO son on 1 Omega EFA for a couple weeks and saw big

> word attempt increase right away. (Started SLP & cueing at the same

> time, which enhanced speech) Within 2 months, we had increased to 3

> caps but saw an unpleasant behavioral/emotional side affect so we

> reduced back to only 1 EFA cap. I also added 1 (400) vitamin E.

>

> Anyhow -we continued to see consistent improvement with quantity of

> words, but SLP insists on quality too. (not complaining here, but we

> do want to be permitted the joy we feel over his feverish expressive

> language efforts!)

>

> I forgot 2 days of all supplements over the holiday.

> Ironically, his vocabulary and even MORE attempts at words doubled.

> We are stunned. He is attempting 4-5 word sentences and babbling on

> and on in a 75% intellegible way for the most part!

> Yesterday and today I went back to the supplements and although the

> language has continued, he started whining more and clinging as he did

> with the higher dose of EFA early on.

>

> So, today I tried the E only. Still clinging today...

>

> But I feel unsure. What to do next?

>

> Anyone else think that the supplements might have helped to jump start

> the language but that it might not be necessary to continue?

>

> And I know there can be a transition time of behavioral issues when

> starting up -could that be the case NOW, after just 2 days of not

> taking it? Even at the low dose that worked well from day one?

>

> Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

> Cheryl

>

[Guest guest]

I always found the whineness came just before a huge leap. Sometimes

it lasted 2-3 weeks, then settled out. It may be worth keeping a

diary...and riding out the storm. If after 3 weeks you still have a

whiny, irritable child and no increase in speech/coordination or

improved sensory issues...you may want to give it a break and see

what happens. But would be unfortunate to miss out on a big surge

because of a little transient behavior issues. But every kid is

alittle different - and this is all trial and error. -

> We started our 3YO son on 1 Omega EFA for a couple weeks and saw

big

> word attempt increase right away. (Started SLP & cueing at the

same

> time, which enhanced speech) Within 2 months, we had increased to

3

> caps but saw an unpleasant behavioral/emotional side affect so we

> reduced back to only 1 EFA cap. I also added 1 (400) vitamin E.

>

> Anyhow -we continued to see consistent improvement with quantity of

> words, but SLP insists on quality too. (not complaining here, but

we

> do want to be permitted the joy we feel over his feverish

expressive

> language efforts!)

>

> I forgot 2 days of all supplements over the holiday.

> Ironically, his vocabulary and even MORE attempts at words

doubled.

> We are stunned. He is attempting 4-5 word sentences and babbling

on

> and on in a 75% intellegible way for the most part!

> Yesterday and today I went back to the supplements and although

the

> language has continued, he started whining more and clinging as he

did

> with the higher dose of EFA early on.

>

> So, today I tried the E only. Still clinging today...

>

> But I feel unsure. What to do next?

>

> Anyone else think that the supplements might have helped to jump

start

> the language but that it might not be necessary to continue?

>

> And I know there can be a transition time of behavioral issues when

> starting up -could that be the case NOW, after just 2 days of not

> taking it? Even at the low dose that worked well from day one?

>

> Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

> Cheryl

>

[Guest guest]

I can only tell you my sons story. I have explained this so many times so if I

forget anything or you want more info, let me know. JoeJoe did not speak, he did

not babble. When he turned 1 his pediatrician thought soemthing was wrong so we

waited. Around 18 mos there were still no sounds just cooing. So we enrolled in

the 1st steps program. I started him on Omega's around 3.5 yrs old. Within a few

days he called me Momma for the 1st time. During this time ofcourse we were also

doing the speech therapy, Di and Ot. We also had playgroup, which ended when he

started preschool on his 3rd Birthday. This past Thanksgiving, after he had been

on the Omega for about 1.5 yrs I took him off of it and we hit a major surge. We

hit clarity that I never even dreamed possible. He takes his time so that people

can understand him and his words are very clear. I did try the vitamin E but I

encountered a major behavioral issue that caused me to remove it. For JoeJoe the

Omega did help hit get

a " jump start " . Again I can only tell you my son's story.

Life is too short to spend it placing blame on things and people who no longer

make a difference.

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

I can only tell you my sons story. I have explained this so many times so if I

forget anything or you want more info, let me know. JoeJoe did not speak, he did

not babble. When he turned 1 his pediatrician thought soemthing was wrong so we

waited. Around 18 mos there were still no sounds just cooing. So we enrolled in

the 1st steps program. I started him on Omega's around 3.5 yrs old. Within a few

days he called me Momma for the 1st time. During this time ofcourse we were also

doing the speech therapy, Di and Ot. We also had playgroup, which ended when he

started preschool on his 3rd Birthday. This past Thanksgiving, after he had been

on the Omega for about 1.5 yrs I took him off of it and we hit a major surge. We

hit clarity that I never even dreamed possible. He takes his time so that people

can understand him and his words are very clear. I did try the vitamin E but I

encountered a major behavioral issue that caused me to remove it. For JoeJoe the

Omega did help hit get

a " jump start " . Again I can only tell you my son's story.

Life is too short to spend it placing blame on things and people who no longer

make a difference.

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Thank you each for your thoughts and experiences.

Saveglady: Any regression after stopping EFA longer term?

I decided to continue the Omega complete and 400 vit E - since the

holidays were so nutty, I just want to get back to basics and see

where we end up in a few weeks as things settle down.

I definitely have seen more sleep issues that continue - he has only

slept 'through the night' 5x in his life, mostly waking 1-3x;

sometimes briefly, but recently, he seems to have insomnia and simply

cannot settle back down. (We cosleep so NO ONE gets sleep on these

miserable nights)

Anyhow. I appreciate your input.

I have seen SUCH language improvement since we started Omega/touch cue

therapy back in October....we need to work on clarity, but attempts

are amazing!

Thanks,

Cheryl

>

> I can only tell you my sons story. I have explained this so many

times so if I forget anything or you want more info, let me know.

JoeJoe did not speak, he did not babble. When he turned 1 his

pediatrician thought soemthing was wrong so we waited. Around 18 mos

there were still no sounds just cooing. So we enrolled in the 1st

steps program. I started him on Omega's around 3.5 yrs old. Within a

few days he called me Momma for the 1st time. During this time

ofcourse we were also doing the speech therapy, Di and Ot. We also had

playgroup, which ended when he started preschool on his 3rd Birthday.

This past Thanksgiving, after he had been on the Omega for about 1.5

yrs I took him off of it and we hit a major surge. We hit clarity that

I never even dreamed possible. He takes his time so that people can

understand him and his words are very clear. I did try the vitamin E

but I encountered a major behavioral issue that caused me to remove

it. For JoeJoe the Omega did help hit get

> a " jump start " . Again I can only tell you my son's story.

>

> Life is too short to spend it placing blame on things and people who

no longer make a difference.

>

> __________________________________________________

>

[Guest guest]

Saveglady and Dawn in NJ – Thanks so much for sharing your stories. I am

totally freaked out about regression when/if we stop ProEFA. It’s so nice

to hear that you had a positive outcome. I posted asking about ProEFA and

sleep disturbances. My son has experienced such phenomenal success with his

verbal apraxia in the last 6 months, we are afraid to change a thing! We

had been giving him the supplement in the morning and his nights were

horrendous. We decided to give him the supplement before bed just to see

what happens. Tonight is the first night. Keep your fingers crossed! Kim.

[Guest guest]

Thank you each for your thoughts and experiences.

Saveglady: Any regression after stopping EFA longer term?

I decided to continue the Omega complete and 400 vit E - since the

holidays were so nutty, I just want to get back to basics and see

where we end up in a few weeks as things settle down.

I definitely have seen more sleep issues that continue - he has only

slept 'through the night' 5x in his life, mostly waking 1-3x;

sometimes briefly, but recently, he seems to have insomnia and simply

cannot settle back down. (We cosleep so NO ONE gets sleep on these

miserable nights)

Anyhow. I appreciate your input.

I have seen SUCH language improvement since we started Omega/touch cue

therapy back in October....we need to work on clarity, but attempts

are amazing!

Thanks,

Cheryl

>

> I can only tell you my sons story. I have explained this so many

times so if I forget anything or you want more info, let me know.

JoeJoe did not speak, he did not babble. When he turned 1 his

pediatrician thought soemthing was wrong so we waited. Around 18 mos

there were still no sounds just cooing. So we enrolled in the 1st

steps program. I started him on Omega's around 3.5 yrs old. Within a

few days he called me Momma for the 1st time. During this time

ofcourse we were also doing the speech therapy, Di and Ot. We also had

playgroup, which ended when he started preschool on his 3rd Birthday.

This past Thanksgiving, after he had been on the Omega for about 1.5

yrs I took him off of it and we hit a major surge. We hit clarity that

I never even dreamed possible. He takes his time so that people can

understand him and his words are very clear. I did try the vitamin E

but I encountered a major behavioral issue that caused me to remove

it. For JoeJoe the Omega did help hit get

> a " jump start " . Again I can only tell you my son's story.

>

> Life is too short to spend it placing blame on things and people who

no longer make a difference.

>

> __________________________________________________

>

[Guest guest]

Saveglady and Dawn in NJ – Thanks so much for sharing your stories. I am

totally freaked out about regression when/if we stop ProEFA. It’s so nice

to hear that you had a positive outcome. I posted asking about ProEFA and

sleep disturbances. My son has experienced such phenomenal success with his

verbal apraxia in the last 6 months, we are afraid to change a thing! We

had been giving him the supplement in the morning and his nights were

horrendous. We decided to give him the supplement before bed just to see

what happens. Tonight is the first night. Keep your fingers crossed! Kim.

[Guest guest]

Kim, How was last night for you? For your son? I also give EFA

complete in the morning - never really thought of bedtime...so I am

curious as to your outcome! Are you only giving it once a day? Many

people seem to give 2-3x a day - I wonder if there is a 'drop' at the

end of the 24 hr time frame before the subsequent dose is given? And

if so, how much affect it might have?

Waiting to hear a success story from you! (fingers crossed)

Cheryl

>

> Saveglady and Dawn in NJ – Thanks so much for sharing your stories.

I am

> totally freaked out about regression when/if we stop ProEFA. It's

so nice

> to hear that you had a positive outcome. I posted asking about

ProEFA and

> sleep disturbances. My son has experienced such phenomenal success

with his

> verbal apraxia in the last 6 months, we are afraid to change a

thing! We

> had been giving him the supplement in the morning and his nights were

> horrendous. We decided to give him the supplement before bed just

to see

> what happens. Tonight is the first night. Keep your fingers

crossed! Kim.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

It has been about 6/7 weeks since he stopped with the Omega's and we have had no

REGRESSION. I talked with his speech therapist yesterday and she was very

excited with how well JoeJoe was doing. She also informed me that if anyone was

to come in and re-evaluate JoeJoe, not having ever met with him previously, that

there would be no mention of Apraxia. I am so amazed at how well he is doing. I

wish you all the luck. This is what worked with us but everyday we continue

working with him. Another contributing factor to JoeJoe's success, as far as I

am concerned, is the fact that he went to a Deaf School for almost 2 yrs. It was

wonderful. Never give up hope and never stop trying.

Life is too short to spend it placing blame on things and people who no longer

make a difference.

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Kim, How was last night for you? For your son? I also give EFA

complete in the morning - never really thought of bedtime...so I am

curious as to your outcome! Are you only giving it once a day? Many

people seem to give 2-3x a day - I wonder if there is a 'drop' at the

end of the 24 hr time frame before the subsequent dose is given? And

if so, how much affect it might have?

Waiting to hear a success story from you! (fingers crossed)

Cheryl

>

> Saveglady and Dawn in NJ – Thanks so much for sharing your stories.

I am

> totally freaked out about regression when/if we stop ProEFA. It's

so nice

> to hear that you had a positive outcome. I posted asking about

ProEFA and

> sleep disturbances. My son has experienced such phenomenal success

with his

> verbal apraxia in the last 6 months, we are afraid to change a

thing! We

> had been giving him the supplement in the morning and his nights were

> horrendous. We decided to give him the supplement before bed just

to see

> what happens. Tonight is the first night. Keep your fingers

crossed! Kim.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

It has been about 6/7 weeks since he stopped with the Omega's and we have had no

REGRESSION. I talked with his speech therapist yesterday and she was very

excited with how well JoeJoe was doing. She also informed me that if anyone was

to come in and re-evaluate JoeJoe, not having ever met with him previously, that

there would be no mention of Apraxia. I am so amazed at how well he is doing. I

wish you all the luck. This is what worked with us but everyday we continue

working with him. Another contributing factor to JoeJoe's success, as far as I

am concerned, is the fact that he went to a Deaf School for almost 2 yrs. It was

wonderful. Never give up hope and never stop trying.

Life is too short to spend it placing blame on things and people who no longer

make a difference.

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I think the Omega stuff acted as a jump start for my son too. He is deaf as well

as apraxic and in a school for the deaf which eally helps as they have excellent

speech and language therapy.

I took him off prior to some blood tests then noticed he was still making

progress. I think i might put him back on and see if there are any further leaps

but not until he settled back into school.

Re: [ ] Re: EFA as a 'jump start' only?

It has been about 6/7 weeks since he stopped with the Omega's and we have had

no REGRESSION. I talked with his speech therapist yesterday and she was very

excited with how well JoeJoe was doing. She also informed me that if anyone was

to come in and re-evaluate JoeJoe, not having ever met with him previously, that

there would be no mention of Apraxia. I am so amazed at how well he is doing. I

wish you all the luck. This is what worked with us but everyday we continue

working with him. Another contributing factor to JoeJoe's success, as far as I

am concerned, is the fact that he went to a Deaf School for almost 2 yrs. It was

wonderful. Never give up hope and never stop trying.

Life is too short to spend it placing blame on things and people who no longer

make a difference.

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I think the Omega stuff acted as a jump start for my son too. He is deaf as well

as apraxic and in a school for the deaf which eally helps as they have excellent

speech and language therapy.

I took him off prior to some blood tests then noticed he was still making

progress. I think i might put him back on and see if there are any further leaps

but not until he settled back into school.

Re: [ ] Re: EFA as a 'jump start' only?

It has been about 6/7 weeks since he stopped with the Omega's and we have had

no REGRESSION. I talked with his speech therapist yesterday and she was very

excited with how well JoeJoe was doing. She also informed me that if anyone was

to come in and re-evaluate JoeJoe, not having ever met with him previously, that

there would be no mention of Apraxia. I am so amazed at how well he is doing. I

wish you all the luck. This is what worked with us but everyday we continue

working with him. Another contributing factor to JoeJoe's success, as far as I

am concerned, is the fact that he went to a Deaf School for almost 2 yrs. It was

wonderful. Never give up hope and never stop trying.

Life is too short to spend it placing blame on things and people who no longer

make a difference.

__________________________________________________