anyone using Melatonin? | ADHD Information
My son's been staying up till midnight. He has a usual calm bedtime routine that has not changed, and I dont let him sleep till noon.I wake him up no later than 8:30 am for school (at noon) and I put him to bed at 8 pm. but he has not been able to get off to sleep till about midnight no matter what we've tried.
a friend of mine told me to try giving him Melatonin pills. I gave him one last night, and he was asleep within half an hour.
has anyone else tried this and with what results and dosages for what weight child?
My son is 49 lbs age 5 1/2 and I gave him 1.5 mg
I looked online, and can not find any derogatory information.
any info would help.
I've never heard of Gabba. We tried Melatonin about a week ago, and after two hours, my son asked, "When is this stuff suppose to start working?"
When the melatonin stops working, you just stop taking it for awhile and switch to something else like Valerian Root. Then in a couple of months go back to the Melatonin and it will work again (that's what I do anyway).
My son is 50 lbs, I give him 1.0 to 1.5 mg each night depending on how he's acting.
My son took melatonin since 3yo. He started at 1mg and had to move up to 2mg at 4.5y
He was at 2.5 mg from 4.5-6yo. It has since stopped working for us. I've giving him adult dose--5 mg and it doesn't touch him.
If 1.5 mg is working---no reason is go up. It's a great little pil--worked within 10 min for my son.
fyi - I found information online that said that it's more beneficial to stop taking the drug for a while rather than UPPING the dosage if it stops having the desired effect.nice to know it's worked though.
Ds when at about 16yrs old took melatonin for awhile. Doc said it was okay. after awhile needed to raise level and then agian it didn't seem to work well. Switched to Gabba. Which he liked better. He also didn't seem as groggy in the morning. No one here has ever mentioned Gabba except a bit at the alternative board. He doesn't need anything now.
Good Luck!
my son is 7 and has been taking melatonin for over a year he take`s 9mg a night it works great for him
So stopping and continuing later may work? I hope so. I checked on him last night at 11pm and he was still awake playing gameboy. No idea if and when he went to sleep. This morning--he was awake playing pirate ship. For all I know---he never slept!!You could try waking him earlier in the morning and putting him to bed slightly later. When my son started meds, he was having issues like you described. What I found was that when he went to his bed without being drowsy, it kept him awake longer. I started putting him to bed at 9pm and he was asleep within 10 - 15 minutes. I think he was getting stressed about not falling asleep and it just kept him up longer.I tried waking my son earlier, but it doesnt help him go to sleep any earlier it only makes him more cranky.I tried giving him a low dose of his stimulant at 8 pm, but that didnt seem to do anything at all.
9 mg of melatonin seems awfully high...everything I read online says from 1 - 3 mg and 1/3 that for a child.
My mother is an insomniac and says melatonin never worked for her...
we'll see how it works.
no one's said anything about side effects.
anyone having any?
Article about melatonin study with ADHD children
http://www.webmd.com/content/article/75/89832.htm?z=1728_000 00_1000_ln_01
jfla238800.9598148148[QUOTE=jasonsmom]My son's been staying up till midnight. He has a usual calm bedtime routine that has not changed, and I dont let him sleep till noon.
I wake him up no later than 8:30 am for school (at noon) and I put him to bed at 8 pm. but he has not been able to get off to sleep till about midnight no matter what we've tried.
a friend of mine told me to try giving him Melatonin pills. I gave him one last night, and he was asleep within half an hour.
has anyone else tried this and with what results and dosages for what weight child?
My son is 49 lbs age 5 1/2 and I gave him 1.5 mg
I looked online, and can not find any derogatory information.
any info would help.
[/QUOTE] WE are trying Melatonin rightnow. WE are on night four. Nick is 4 and 1/2 he has been on Clonidine for about ayear. He takes both. I am going to try the chamomille tea tonight with it. I am told the Melatonin takes some time but others say no... WE had to put him on the Clonodine last year because we had never slept because he NEVER slept. THis week he slept 2 whole nights ALL night! The Clonodineis in his system and it is starting to not work. I am told he wasput ont hte clonodine because sleep is one of the side effects... Try talking to your docotr. As we ALL know and hate to hear it is trial and error!
have tried them both on ther own but only seems to work together have just checked tablet bottle and it is mg he has to take 3, 3mg capsules a night
uklouise38800.6916087963OMG you guys are great!!
we had gone to the psychyatrist, but hated him so we dont actually have a doctor to consult. I am working closely with my son's therapist, and his pediatrician at the moment to work out whats best for him.
he took another dose of the melatonin last night, and zonked in the car about two hours before he's been falling asleep at home.
yeay!!
if this stuff works long enough to establish a good sleep pattern with him, I will be thrilled.
oh and - it seems to have worked right from dose number one.
thanks everyone for your input!
my son is 3 and is on melatonin.we used to give him 4 mg.but it was introduced to him 1 mg the first week,2 the second week and so forth.also he was sleeping 1/2 hour after taking it ,he was up in the middle of the night,so his doctor told us to give him 3mg at bedtime and then 2 mg when he wakes up the first time.now he sleeps from 8 to 7 and only gets up once during the night.melatonin is a hormone.but you should check with your doc to see if you could do this with your child good luckare you all using regular melatonin or extended release?
my son's been going to sleep (YEAYYYYY!!) but he's been waking up at 3 or 4am.
he goes back to sleep, but it's the interruption in the sleep that causes ME to be miserable all day.
I havent seen extended release anywhere, but saw it mentioned online.
really cant understand this my son is only 7 and is a very small child we live in the uk and he is takeing 9mg a night and he also take`s 0.5mg of risperdal every night and you all seem to think this to high would be greatful for your advice
Have you ever tried just the risperdal?
Are you sure it's 9 mg and not 9 mcg?
My son was on risperdal--2 mg at bedtime and his melatonin--2.5 mg. I tried without the melatonin and he still didn't relax as well. Now--since off of meds---the melatonin isn't working at all. So he gets nothing.
lillian,Gaba Calm is made by Source Naturals. It was recommended by a mom w/ two Adhd boys who was using it to help get her son off clonidine. Her doctor okayed it but mine hadn't heard of it. Product information says it combines three of the main inhibitory neurotransmitters, plus N-acetyl L-tyrosine, a precursor of norepinephrine.
I bought it at the health food store. Ds took one sublingual tab nightly for a month or two and then he started saying he didn't need it and only took it as needed for a while. For whatever reason, age maturity, finally learning how to go to sleep...now he doesn't need anything.
Our psychiatrist said the adult dose is 5 mg. He was even saying how 2.5 mg was a bit high for my son--but it worked at the time. He is 6y and 53#.
We have never had any side effects.
No side effects. The child dose is up to 3 mg.We also use melatonin for our 6-year-old and it works wonders. Has anyone found a difference in the effect if they have just eaten a meal? Does that slow down the absorption of it? My cousin is a pharmacist and recomended it. We give my 5 year old 1.5 mg when we see trouble coming and it drops him like a rock every time. We havent had to up the dose I guess because we use it occassionally.I give my 11 year old melatonin. She would be awake until 2 am or later if I didnt. She takes the 0.3 mg pill. What I do is not give it on the weekend or any night thats not a school night. Shes been taking it for almost a year & we've never had to up the doseage or stop giving it. From what I've read, as long as you take the occassional break from it, the body wont become dependant on the supplemental melatonin & stop making its own. I find that skipping the non-school nights works fine for my daughter. my son is ten and has 3 mg per night, I try not to give it to him on the weekend unless he asks, it tends to be more effective if having little frequent breaks so weekend is good as no school. Even with the melatonin you will not always have success at a good nights sleep, but much better with than without, goodluck sarahmalt00738802.9019675926