Just be forewarned -- some kids have a paradoxical reaction to Benadryl that makes them hyper and wide awake. If your son has trouble with Codeine, he may have trouble with other meds. Please check with your doctor before giving your child anything.
I also want to ask what kind of doctor diagnosed your son and what kind of doctor is treating him. If Concerta is causing mood swings and he's staying up until all hours of the night, there is a chance you are looking at something besides ADHD. I would encourage you to have your son evaluated by a board-certified child psychiatrist.
Sleep disorders can look a lot like ADHD and some kids have both. If he isn't sleeping then you have to rule out sleep disorder. The Benadryl is: cheap, effective from day 1, non-addictive, and safe for kids. My daughter has ADHD and it didn't wind her up, it helped her sleep and no, she wasn't groggy the next day. He might need to be treeated for both sleep disorder and ADHD before you see any kind of improvement. Try it on the weekend, just two days, and see if it helps. Then you can get some sleep. [QUOTE=SmallMom]
Just be forewarned -- some kids have a paradoxical reaction to Benadryl that makes them hyper and wide awake. If your son has trouble with Codeine, he may have trouble with other meds. Please check with your doctor before giving your child anything.
I also want to ask what kind of doctor diagnosed your son and what kind of doctor is treating him. If Concerta is causing mood swings and he's staying up until all hours of the night, there is a chance you are looking at something besides ADHD. I would encourage you to have your son evaluated by a board-certified child psychiatrist.
[/QUOTE]
Our gp dx him ADHD, but we were given the TOVA test and others by a psychologist. He suggested the medicine and our GP prescribed it. He was monitored by both for almost a year and we did behavior modification therapy with the psychologist for about 6 months. He only has the mood swings in the "coming down" period. Well, most of the time anyway. If he get's someting in his mind you might as well give up. We went to a birthday party for a friend the other day. When we got there he decided he did not want to go. He sat in the car for 2 1/2 hours because he refused to get out with the rest of the family.
He has been off of the Concerta for over 2 weeks now, recovering from a tonsillectomy, and he still does not sleep.
So you have a family general practioner prescribing medication?Is the Concerta causing the sleep issues? I know some meds do, and therefore some get another medication to help them sleep (Chlondine?).
Try the chewable Melatonin sold by Trader Joes. They are in .5mg tablets. Start with 1 mg and go up to 3 mg, 30 minutes before bedtime while doing something calm like reading.
While ADHD does not really involve lack of sleep as a symptom, the meds can cause sleeplessness. Both my kids have TV's in their rooms and the family doesn't need to like it. They're my kids. You do need rest. Benadryl isn't a bad short term solution or Melatonin (you can get it at health food stores, but check with your pdoc first). My son has high functioning autism and gets up very early. He puts the TV on at 5am every day (and he's not tired during the day!). We prefer he watch in his room rather than come out of his room and turn on the TV in the living room where we are more apt to hear it. I stopped giving him Melatonin because he does get a good night's sleep. He just wakes early. I have had the same problem in the past. My son's psychiatrist put him on clonidine to help him sleep. It put him to sleep but our pediatrician didn't like him being on sleeping medicine. He told us to give him benadryl about an hour before bedtime. It's safe. Some people take it every day their whole lives to help with allergies. It's also used in Tylenol PM for people who can't sleep. I don't know how you feel about it but it works for us. My son has been on it since the age of 4.I have thought about the benadryl. Think I will try it. My only concern, which I guess I won't know until I try, is that it may do the opposite. Things like codeine for instance keep us up all night!!
I have so many questions and thoughts about ADHD I don't even know where to begin. I have the "take control of ADHD" book and I read and read, but feel like I go in circles. Some of you may know, my son is 7, dx with ADHD at the age of 4. Really at 3 by daycare staff, not treated until 4. He takes 54mg of Concerta with good results, but side effects. Not eating, mood swings, etc... It has helped him in school a bunch. He makes straight A's and is at the top of his class with reading and spelling. I really don't like him on the meds, I'm not sure why though because I know that they help him in school. I feel like I am just making the teachers life easier. Anyway, long story short, I am wondering if anyone has any helpful info on bedtime. Bedtime is a nightmare for us. Now that he is 7 I finally have him in his own room, well kinda. He's not in my bed anymore!!! He sleeps with his little sister now. I put him to bed at 8:30 and maybe by 11 or 11:30 he goes to sleep. He doesn't want to get up in the mornings. (0600) He has a tv in his room and everyone in the family thinks that I am crazy for that, but my god some times I need peace and quiet. I do turn the TV off, but it ususally doesn't stay off. I can get up at midnight and sometimes he is still watching tv. He just says that he can't sleep. I have found that if he does finally get a good night's sleep he is much better the next day. Any thoughts on how to get him to bed, to sleep, and stay asleep. He grinds his teeth really bad and that wakes him up sometimes also. I know he has to be exhausted, because I am!!! Any help would be greatly appreciated.I Have a son who is 5 and one that is 3. Both ADHD.
I would get him very tired in the evenings. Like running, take him around the block or park. Make it fun..Like take a timer and if he runs so many minutes then he gets a sticker or something he really likes but something small...Make a chart.. Give him a warm bath around 730pm then take him to his room and read him some books or tell him stories. Stay with him quietly until he falls sleep for the first couple of days. After that then leave when he is almost asleep.
Take the TV out of his room. Tell him it broke. Needs to be fix. Take the cable from the back or something so he can see that really is not working. That way he does not think you are the villian and are doing it just to get him mad.
If you have your other child and no one else to put her down for bed, then take both with you in bed.
Sounds easy, but maybe it will work.
You don't know what I have to go thru with this 2 boys here, I am exausted by the end of the day too. But at least I know that at 8pm its over.
Good luck
The melatonin helps my daughter sleep. You might try it, very cheap at GNC or Vitamin World. yeah, I guess so. Our family practitioner writes the script and we did all of our check ups with her. The psychologist is the one who did the behavior modification counseling and suggested the medicine. We actually started on adderall, then to strattera, now concerta.