Difference between revisions of "CoQ10"

Revision as of 00:15, 23 March 2005

I recommend to buy from Dr. Judy at Cyto Med. You should contact him at 866-751-2872 rather than buy on the web to get the PWS discount. He is a very kind man and can answer many questions, such as how much to give. The likely answer is one to two gel caps.

It should be given in the morning as its purpose is to give an energy boost and presumably it goes in the blood stream right away and has its effect. The gel caps should be cut and the liquid squirted into the baby's mouth and then washed down with formula. You cannot mix the CoQ10 with the formula as it will stick to the bottle and will not get into the baby.

My son went on CoQ10 at 6 weeks and started moving vigorously 2 days after starting it. We have no proof that it was the CoQ10, but it makes for a good story and he has been on it ever since.

Effects of CoQ10 are really poorly documented. Rumor has it that it improves alertness and increases activity. Rumor has it that it doesn't work for all kids. Rumor has it that it is more effective in infants than in toddlers.

All of my son's doctors know that he is on CoQ10. I guess that it is occasionally prescribed for muscle disorders and therefore they have all heard about it. Both his pediatrician and geneticist agree that it can do no harm. I was a bit suspicious about it at first. There was a paper published in the J of Pediatrics in spring 2004 that tested CoQ10 versus growth hormone. This paper legitimized CoQ10 in my eyes. The paper did not show an effect, although the investigators were only measuring growth and you would not expect CoQ10 to effect growth. I emailed the investigators and asked if they had seen a differences in alertness and milestones, etc. They responded that they were in the process of writing up the results for another paper, but wouldn't answer my question. The paper also boosted my confidence in Dr. Judy and Cyto-Med as a source because Dr. Judy was cited in that paper.

It is not clear to me how or why CoQ10 works or even if it works. There are no real studies on it. That said, rarely are there good studies on nutraceuticals. There just is no financial incentive to invest in a clinical study of something that can't be patented. While there is no proof that it works, it seemed to help my child and I am willing to pay for it ($10/month?) and go through the hassle of administering it. And, most importantly, the physicians I consulted agreed that it can't do any harm.

Another Point of View

I did not start my son until he was 18 months on it. I want to say that he would never go a day without it. He is now 27 months old. They benefits I, therapsits, teachers, and family members notice are his high energy, alertness, cognitive and speech ability. Also it may help him with his muscle tone. He started it it the same day he did GH. So we never knew what was doing what, but once over 3 days he missed his COQ10. And he was floppy again. He was like a noodle when he tried to stand and his facial expression was droopy. His alertness was down and so was his speech. His therapist/preschool teacher asked me what was off about Luke and I said it was definitely the Coq10. She didn't know he was taking anything other than GH. I told her what it does and she agreed he needed to never skip. Also I have noticed that he may go on sleeping marathons (as I call them) when he doesn't get his dose. He is truely COQ10 deficient.

I do greatly regrett no giving it to him when he was in the NICU. I have to be honest-I was afraid to for many reasons.

CoQ10

Just a note of caution - Some formulations of CoQ10 include considerable amounts of Vitamin E. Too much vitamin E has been shown to have have harmful effects, so it's probably wise to pay attention to the formulation.

Other info

• Article from PWS Australia