Melatonin | ADHD Information

 

     My daughter takes Adderall XR 25mg and has trouble sleeping.  She has been on Adderall since the age of 4 and even before Adderall she never slept.  The Dr. prescribed  a med similar to Benadryl when she was a toddler to help her sleep and it didn't work at all. Even when the increased the dose to the max dose allowed for her size it still didn't work so we gave up.  After years of sleepless nights on her part and ours we just kind of gave up and found other alternatives to the bed time battle. 

     Recently her Dr. prescribed Clonidine and it seemed to work well the first night but after that she said it didn't help her sleep and it gave her bad thoughts/dreams.  I have read here that a common side affect of Clonidine seems to be nightmares. 

     I also read here that many found Melatonin to be helpful.  So I found some and tried it with her and it worked like a charm.  I gave her half of a 3mg tablet and it was wonderful.  She even said it helped her. 

     I did this for a week and it was great.  I didn't consult her Dr. or the pharmacist before giving it to her, which I was a bit concerned about so I did ask the pharmacist if it was ok to give it to her and he said ABSOLUTELY NOT.  He said she is entirely too young (she is ten) to be taking that medication.  And that if we were having problems with her sleeping the only thing he recommended was Benadryl.  He even was not in aggreement of giving her Clonidine which is what the Dr. prescribed. 

     After discussing this with friends and family it was pretty much the consensus that pharmacies and pharmacists are often reluctant to recommend herbal/supplimental remedies because they get benefits from the brand name/prescription drugs that they sell. 

     I have tried the Benadryl thing, and though it never proved succesful in the past, it does seem to be working now.  However, my daughter told me that she liked the "white pill"  better.  She said the "red medicine"  gives her a headache.  I was using cherry flavored Benadryl, which was red.  It has been shown that red dye causes headaches in some.  And I recall when I was a child that hot dogs, bologna, and red icing all game me headaches.  Of course that was before these studies. Anyway, I switched to a dye free Benadryl and that cured the headache problem.  However she said that the "white pill" helped her go to sleep but that when it was morning time she was able to "wake up when I'm suppose to".  She said that the other medicine helps her go to sleep but " I can't wake up when I'm suppose to" .  So she is asking for the Melatonin.

     I have read several different articles on the subject and the majority of them said that Melatonin was perfectly safe and one of (if not the only) non toxic suppliment that is out there.  It even said that children were given doses up to 10mg and there were not adverse affects.  I have yet to ask the Dr.  But am wondering if she will say the same thing the pharmicist said. 

     Has anyone else talked to their Dr. or pharmacist?  And if so what did they say? 

     Has anyone had and problems with their children on Melatonin, or heard of any problems with it? 

     I really think it's a God send, but at the same time I don't want to cause any health problems.  And then again I think that Benadryl every night isn't good either, though it's what the pharmacist recommended.  Any help and advice would be appreciated.

My son is 8 years old and is taking 3mg of Melatonin.  I asked his Dr. about it and he said it is perfectly fine.  Not a problem at all.  And best of all - it WORKS!Has anyone heard of or used Gabba?  I have mentioned it a few times on this board, but no one has commented on it.  My ds was on clonidine for years and personally the idea of him taking it made me uncomfortable.  Someone with two ADD kids reccommended Gabba saying that she slowly weaned her son off Clonidine and onto Gabba, her docotr saying it was fine.  DS' doc didn't know about gabba so I waited about five years and then tried Melatonin after reading a positive study of Melatonin use with ADD kids.  Melatonin worked for awhile and then was not effective.  We tried Gabba Calm for several months and it was great . He preferred the gabba.  Now he doesn't need anything. I don't know why. Maybe his body is changing or he has finally learned how to go to sleep. He is 17.5 years old.  We bought it at the health food store.  Good Luck all!

I don't think sleep disorders in a very young child is very common and not what they think of first. My son started with sleeping issues at 18 mo. At 3y---we finally decided to do something about it---after reading books and trying non medicine methods. Also---I think it depends on what kind of sleep issues there are as to whether a sleep disorder would be considered. My son ---it was all anxiety. Up, packing his backpack--thinking he was going swimming or camping. (had to get things ready), lights on/off, wondering when dad was getting home, etc. It would take him 3 hours to finally go to sleep.

He never was a kid that snored. But he was a noisey sleeper though--mouth-breather. At 5yo---he got his tonsils/adnoids out. He started sleeping longer after that. I don't think his T&A had anything to do with his ability to get to sleep. But I think it had alot to do with staying asleep longer. Right after his T&A--he started sleeping 1-2 hours longer in the morning. YEH!

My son was just recently put on Adderal RX and my Doctor who specializes in ADD recommended melatonim to help him fall asleep faster.  I never heard of it before.  I give him 1/2 of a 3 mg tablet and it works like a charm.  I give it to him 1 hour before bed time and he is out within 45 minutes.  The Dr. told me that she used to give it to her children Sunday thru Thurs. just so they would get a good night's sleep during the week.  

I am so glad to here that this works . I have adult ADHD, and take Adderall.  It is very hard to get the sleep that I need, and I have tried Benadryl, and Clonodine. My doc just recently reccomended Melatonin, but I have been reluctant to take it. I really hope that it works for me, if it doesn't, then my next step would be Ambien. 

You may want to check out this article about a study of a small group of adhd kids using melatonin in 2003

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/75/89832.htm?z=1728_000 00_1000_ln_01ooops I spelled Gaba wrong product name is Gaba Calm just my experience - my nephws pharmacist also does not recommend melatonin, he too recommended Benadryl -  but why give your kid a med when a natural supplement will do the same thing. Melatonin is my godsend - if my son doesnt take it the whole house regrets it b/c he is wired. We take 1mg every night s-th, for about 6 months now. Got to say I love it. He is out within 30-45 minutes, sleeps throught the nights, no more really bad nightmares and he wakes up better! It was recommended to me by both my ped and my beh ped, too heck with the pharmacist.

It kills me that Drs. and Pharms are so scared of a naturally occurring hormone.  I understand that they questioning the purity/source but come on!  There is melatonin in milk for goodness sake! Maybe just not enough of it to do any good. 

I have noticed that if I've taken melatonin for say a week it starts to be less effective so I'll take it 3 days, off of it til I start having problems getting to sleep then back on.   But, here lately a glass of wine and a good book will wind me down really well.

I started Melatonin on my son when he was 3yo per my pediatrician advice(he gives it to his own kids!!). We started out at 1mg and now at 6y--he is on 2.5mg. Our pdoc told me that the adult dose is 5mg. So I wouldn't be giving more than 5 mg to a child.

We have never had any side effects from it.

 

Why if the kids are not sleeping are a sleep disorder not ruled out first.We eat complex carbs/protein only dinners this works in our family.

My ped. dr. told us to try Melatonin.  My son claims it doesn't work, he fights sleep something awful, but he does fall asleep faster than with out it.  He might be asleep an hour after bedtime instead of midnight or 1 in the morning.  We tried the benadryl too, and that worked okay too but I felt the same way, that it can't be good for him.  So we use the melatonin at least on school nights.

I use it too and it works great!

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