Taking a Summer Break from ADHD Meds

July 16, 2008

Summer is a perfect time for kids to take a break from their ADHD meds. Some experts feel that taking a medication vacation when your child is heading off to summer camp can be problematic. This is because with psychotropic medications like ADHD drugs and antidepressants, symptoms can get worse when you stop the medication-even worse then they were when you first started the treatment.

However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  If you start working with a qualified and licensed Naturopathic Medical Doctor experienced in treating ADHD without psychotropic medications, then you can start naturopathic  treatment before taking your child off the medication, making the transition to a medication-free holiday a smooth one.

Some of the foundational natural medicines I use in practice when helping children get off of their prescription medications include:

  • Digestion and Absorption of Nutrients
  • Immune Support
  • Full Spectrum Antioxidant, Alkalizing, Daily Detoxification
    • ½-1 scoop of ITI Greens Formula in juice or water. *Note- can mix with Coconut Milk Powder if desired to improve taste
  • Multivitamin-Mineral
    • 1 scoop of Spectrum Awakening, three times daily, away from protein food. Can be mixed with juice or applesauce.
  • Neurological Support

    • Learn more about ADHD and how to treat the underlying cause of this condition by clicking on the links below:

    Whole Food Nutrition for ADHD

    Nutritional Treatment for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: The Hype and the Hope -A Review of Current Research

    –Dr. Gina

    5 Comments | ADHD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Childhood Nutrition, Latest Nutritional Research, Naturopathic Medicine, Nutritional Supplements and Disease, Orthomolecular Psychiatry, Pharmaceuticals | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
    Posted by Dr. Gina Nick

    Sickness Syndrome Depression: Inflammation in Your Brain

    March 19, 2008

    Several years ago, I began lecturing to physicians and publishing research on the topic of Sickness Syndrome Depression. At first, no one was all that responsive to the idea that inflammation in the body could cause mental health challenges like depression, anxiety and sleep disorders.

    Well…there was a research study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry by the American Psychiatric Association yesterday that supports the use of “anticytokine therapy,” that basically means anti-inflammatory therapy, in the treatment of depression!!! Not surprisingly, the study was done by doctors who have a disclosed relationship with top psychiatric drug company, Eli Lilly.

    If you want the genuine information about this condition, and how YOU can treat it NATURALLY, without a drug that has side effects, visit www.sicksyndrome.com

    Leave a Comment » | Diet and Disease, Latest Nutritional Research, Naturopathic Medicine, Nutritional Supplements and Disease, Pharmaceuticals | Permalink
    Posted by Dr. Gina Nick

    Antidepressants in our Water Supply

    February 21, 2008

    Here’s yet another reason to consider alternatives to prescription medications, especially statins (Lipitor), anti-inflammatories (Celebrex) and antidepressants (Prozac, Cymbalta and Zoloft). The drugs are tainting our water supply, showing up in treated waste water which flows into rivers, lakes and oceans, harming fish and other marine life. Read more about this here.

    Water FaucetAt the very least, remember to dispose properly of your prescription medications by giving unused portions back to pharmaceutical take back locations and NOT by dumping them in the toilet. For specific government guidelines on how to properly dispose of your meds visit the Office of National Drug Control Policy

    Better yet, visit a qualified licensed Naturopathic Physician www.calnd.org and try natural alternatives to your prescription medications which prove safer not only for you and your family but for our water supply and our planet. A good portion of my practice involves taking patients OFF of these drugs in order to promote true health and vitality. In Naturopathic Medicine we call this “removing a barrier to cure.” In most cases, prescription medications become the barrier to cure.

    In health,
    Dr. Gina L. Nick
    NMD PhD
    President California Naturopathic Doctors Association

    To view the research mentioned above click here.

    1 Comment | Naturopathic Medicine, Nutritional Supplements and Disease, Pharmaceuticals | Permalink
    Posted by Dr. Gina Nick

    Prescription Medications under Attack-Do Cholesterol and Blood Sugar Lowering Medications Make Sense?

    February 20, 2008

    Which Drug?The saying goes that they call it “practicing medicine” for a reason-because doctors don’t have all the answers when it comes to supporting your health and vitality. Case in point…most allopathic doctors prescribe medications as a first line therapy for treating disease. Now major pharmaceutical drugs are coming under attack, questioning the paradigm under which these drugs are prescribed. More often then not, drugs are prescribed to make the numbers on a lab report “look better” without assessing the person as a whole, and evaluating the potential drawbacks of taking a drug to force a lab report to look better. For example, a popular drug prescribed to hundreds of thousands of people called AVANDIA was used to lower blood sugar levels in Diabetics. And while the drug was in fact lowering blood sugar levels (appears, at least on the surface, to be a good thing) it was also increasing the risk of heart attacks. This is a perfect example of the importance of taking the WHOLE person and picture into consideration and not adopting a single minded focus on something as basic as blood sugar, without considering the fundamental CAUSE of why a patient’s blood sugar levels are low in the first place.

    Then a few months after the news broke about AVANDIA Merck came out and said that VYTORIN, a popular drug used to lower blood cholesterol levels, did NOT slow the progression of heart disease. But wait..doesn’t high cholesterol CAUSE heart disease? So wouldn’t it make sense that if you block the body’s ability to make or use cholesterol then you treat the cause of the problem? NO- high cholesterol is a number reported on a lab report. Just forcing that number to go down does NOT address the UNDERLYING CAUSE of why your body has high cholesterol levels in the first place. It could be due to an autoimmune condition, or chronic inflammatory response, or damage to blood vessels caused by exposure to environmental toxins…these are all things that need to be assessed and treated and are far more valuable to a patient then simply forcing the body to make less cholesterol. Because guess what- low cholesterol doesn’t guarantee anything. People with low cholesterol get heart disease and so do people with high cholesterol-whether or not they are taking cholesterol lowering medications. For more information and examples regarding the ways in which prescription medications come up short click here

    Here is a resource that offers some rationale for why we ought to rethink cholesterol and its role in disease: http://www.thincs.org/news.htm

    In health,
    Dr. Gina L. Nick
    NMD PhD
    President California Naturopathic Doctors Association

    Leave a Comment » | Diet and Disease, Pharmaceuticals, Toxins and Detoxification | Permalink
    Posted by Dr. Gina Nick

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