It is quickly becoming my personal opinion that inositol may be a well-kept secret when it comes to helping Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Inositol is described as a member of the Vitamin B family, although it’s not really a vitamin at all. It is made by the human body and has been shown to be effective in managing anxiety and depression.

One study showed that people with OCD and panic disorder had symptoms drastically disappear when given a dose of 12 grams of inositol a day.

Often in pursue of the right biomedical answers for LuLu, I feel like a dog chasing my tail. Inositol is one of those moments. Before we consulted with our awesome DAN! doctor, who knows more about the intricacies of all these vitamins, minerals, supplements and medications that work toward healing immune/GI/neurochemistry systems, I had started LuLu on a supplement called TS Plus. It is a good product, developed by a woman with a passion for helping people suffering from Tourettes “plus” (ADHD/OCD). It did seem to help LuLu, but through testing and observation our DAN! doctor decided that it was too high overall in B vitamins. Some B vitamins are excitatory in nature, and LuLu’s unique combination of disorders needed something different.

So we dropped the TS Plus and put into our regime individual minerals and vitamins that were in that blend – mainly focusing on magnesium and calcium. This helped a great deal, but somewhere along the way the inositol got lost in the translation.

A couple of weeks ago, the doctor asked how much inositol LuLu was taking. “None” I replied and said we’d never discussed it before. Immediately we began inositol, first at 650 mg, then 1300 and now up to 3900 mg (3.9 grams) daily.

It’s helping. She’s just in a better mood for longer periods of time each day and able to lay down some of her obsessions! Hooray!

One of the interesting things I read on a website is that inositol is often used as a cutting agent for cocaine, because they are so similar in appearance and taste. Inositol has a sweet taste to it. The DAN! doc suggested that we let LuLu crunch the capsules if she wants. Sometimes she does this, just because she knows how bitter most of the other supplements are.

I was following a discussion about the benefits of inositol (and so far most professionals and parents I’ve talked to see no side effects from taking inositol, even at this seemingly high dosage) and was informed that inositol and choline need to be in balance.

So back to the research, to learn more about choline.

In the meantime, it’s nice to have a bit less obsessing and a bit more willingness to do what we ask!