Melatonin...is it safe for kids? | ADHD Information

Posted: 14 February 2006 at 11:54am | IP Logged 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 doctor saying it was fine.  DS' doc didn't know about gabba so I waited about five years (with reasons for avoidance similar to smallmom's comment) and then tried Melatonin (with the doctor's approval) after reading a positive study of Melatonin use with ADD kids.  Melatonin worked for awhile and then was not effective. (I have heard that is common) 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!







Posted: 14 February 2006 at 7:19pm | IP Logged 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_01 jfla238829.7221412037my son takes melatonin 1/2 hour before bedtime i give him 3mg then and 2 mg when he wakes up at about midnight.i was also told they could get used to it so i only give it to him schooldays,and the one during the night if he does not go back to sleep straight away.i agree about checking a specialist.I have given my son melatonin by the advise of the dr.  It works very well.  I didn't want of sleep med so I found out about this.  The body already produces it so I looked further into it.  Melatonin is also found in milk. Like the old story, drink warm milk before bed it will help you sleep.  It also works well for jet lag.I agree with telling a doctor if you take natural supplements. It's not true that doctors know nothing about them--I talk to my doctor about them all the time because I take so many. Some can have serious side effects, like meds can. Black Root is one that my gyne told me NOT to take. Melatonin is supposed to only be taken more short term. FOrgot why. My son did take it short term, but with his doctor's knowledge. There are some supplements that can cause serious problems if you take too much. I take Omegas, Calcium, Zinc, Magnesia, Vit. E, C and B Complex and Folic Acid. Taking more than 200 mgs. of Vit. E per day can cause heart problems. I didn't know that. THe doctor told me about new studies. I looked it up and found that 400 mgs. is the max you should take. Never put anything into your body, natural or not, without checking it out. Even "natural" alters  your body and can cause problems. It's your choice, but you'll be amazed at how much doctors DO know about supplements with so many of us using them. Often supplements just don't do as good a job as meds. They never worked for me--not alone. But they're always worth a stand alone try, but never medicate a child yourself. Good luck.

my daughter is on .05mg of clonidine hcl at night to help her sleep, im not likeing it that much, shes on her third month but just passes out.  i give it to her about an hour before bed and im lucky if she can stay awake that long.... if you find something that works well could you pass it on

thanks

as scotmama said our son is on melatonin,his doctor also recommended passiflora comp which is a homeopathy remedy,we are starting this soon.if it works we can reduce his melatonin and then stop it.

My DS 5 started taking Concerta after many trials with other meds.  This one is working very good and for about 10 hours.  Its great.   He is eating good but the only side effect that I see is that he has a hard time going to bed.  He never had problems with sleeping before.   It takes him about 2 hours to fall sleep and I need to be right there next to him.

  I have heard about Melatonin and I want to know if anyone uses it for their children and how effective it is and how safe it is..  Could it be addictive?

I have seen posts about people using Clonidine at night, but we used in the past and he got very very drowsy that I got scare, we used it to control his aggresion and impulsiveness but all it did was making  him very tired and drowsy.   So I am trying to find another safer way to help him with the sleep.

Any suggestions will be appreciated it.

We have tried warm milk.  But It does not help.  He has been taking warm milk  at night since he was one that really  does not make a difference .

I'm glad Concerta is working for your son.

In terms of Melatonin, I would never use any product -- "natural" or not -- without the guidance of a qualified doctor.  Melatonin is not regulated by the FDA nor I imagine have its effects been studied in children.  You might do a google search to see what research has been done on long-term use of Melatonin.

My son takes 0.1 mg Clonidine one hour before bedtime every night.  It makes him drowsy enough so he can settle down to sleep.  I'm not sure what you mean about your son getting very drowsy that it scared you.  It is supposed to make children drowsy.  If the dose was too high, you could halve it.

 

My DD was prescribed clonidine to sleep, but it made me nervous as well. You cant skip a day, it has to be tapered off, & I didnt want her becomming dependant on a sleep aid.

I like the melatonin SO much better. She takes a 3mg pill AS NEEDED. I let her tell me if she feels to wired to sleep. If shes going on a sleepover, if its the weekend, or if she just plain doesn't need one, then we skip the nights doseage with no worries! On nights that she needs it, I give it to her about a half hour before bed.

Shes suffered NO side effects with melatonin. Studies show that taking melatonin CAN cause the body to stop being able to regulate its own, natural melatonin so its recommended that after a few months of use, you take a short break from it.
yes it is. This is what our bodies make naturally for sleeping. Some need more to help sleep better. We find no refine carbs at dinner help. Overactive thyroid level can effect sleep as well.  Dr.'s do not study nutrition they study medacine. I know the Usa is to medacine happy. God made natural for us to use. I try it and if it's not helping we stop it then. Allergies/sensativities can occur in anything.! Natural does take longer to help also than medacines. Fda is not the know it alls. Look at stuff that is recalled after they have called it ok. Just my opinion on it.

Small mom

  He was given Clonidine a few months ago and at night time he would fall asleep very quick but he was supposed to take a morning dose too and that made him very drowsy and he would be in a bad mood.  Maybe we did not wait long enough I just thought that it was not helping his ADHD behaviors and we stoped using it and moved into Ritalin La, which it helped but only for about 3-4 hours.

  Before we started taking the Concerta we had been using Metadate Cd 20mg. but we had to give it to him 2 times a day, then he is taking Tenex 2 times a day, half a pill at night and half in the morning, we started the Tenex about  4 weeks ago and I really did not see much change when we added the Tenex, so now I want to stop taking it. I have read that it has to be tapered off  but the Doctor said that not really, I asked him a few times and he said that it was fine to stop it without tapering off,  I don't know  !!!...   he is a Psychitric Doctor with a very good reputation from Children's hospital here in Dallas,   anyways, maybe he is right.

I would like to change then the Tenex to the clonidine at night if that is going to work for him then we should try it again.

How long has your son been taking it?   What other med. does he take?

Thank you

Thank you oldermom for your input,  I really do not know what to do.  But defenetely the Tenex is not doing anything good for him so we are goint to stop that one.   

 Maybe the syntoms of the Concerta will settle after a few days,  he is on day 3.

he is taking 27mg.    I still do not if that is going to be the right mgs. yet.  I guess I need to keep on observing him for the next few days.  Right now he is as wild as allways outside playing with our Lab.   But maybe that is just being a kid and playing... But God...He is Loud...!!!  

My son started taking Clonidine in January.  He ONLY takes it at night to get to sleep.  It does not need to be taken any other time if your only purpose is to settle a child down to sleep.

My son is also taking Depakote and Lamictal (mood stabilizers) because his ADHD/anxiety dx morphed into bipolar disorder following a rage reaction to the SSRI Zoloft.  In the past, he has taken just about every ADHD med out there.  He is on no ADHD meds now while we work to stabilize his mood.

 

 

How long before bedtime do you take melatonin?  

hi, this is my first post, i've been reading a long time now, though. my son has never been a good sleeper, even as an infant but now that he takes concerta he has even more trouble. his psychaiatrist, who "specializes" in pedi adhd suggested melatonin. i am a nationally certified pharmacy tech. and have worked in retail pharmacy for 12 years. i know many pharmacists. i wasn't comfortable giving my son the melatonin so i asked every mom pharmacist i know what they thought about it. not 1 of them would give it to their kids. not one! some of them had taken it themselves but would not give it to their children. reasons were not only lack of fda approval, but because of lack of testing. if there is no fda approval manufacturers need not do any testing. there are no guidelines as to potency, inactive ingredients, where to active ingredients come from (natural or manufactured) and the manufacurers can say the product does anything they want to say. while melatonin is a naturally occurring product in our bodies and in the food we eat there have been no scientificly proven studies about what kind of long term effect this extra melatonin, which may or may not be natural, which may or may not be the actually potency claimed, can have on adult, let alone children. consumers reports did a study a while back about the actual potency of many of these natural supplements and found vast differences in potency not only between different manufacturers, but within different lots from the same manufacturer. yes, there are drugs that get fda approval and then get recalled for whatever reason, but supplements are not regulated in any way, which means that there is no oversight on them. there is no one to recall them if there is a problem. there is no one even watching to see if there are problems. i discussed this with my son's doctor at the next visit and she said i was absolutely right and she was not going to recommend it anymore. she had not thought about it like that. scary, huh? anyway, i've gone on and on, but i feel pretty strongly about this. we did end up getting a clonidine Rx, but we alternate that with plain old benadryl every few days and nothing on the weekend. there is no reason it has to be taken every day.

 

     I just posted this on another thread, but Seths doc and pharm both reccomended melatonin and it works wonders. It takes about 1/2 an hour  to work but you can see it work. He winds down just like a toy. I give half A 3MG tab.

Thanks Vicky. His doctor never said anything about having to taper off, but thats normal with alot of meds. I am relieved that it doesn't cause dependency. He has been through enough as it is.

Sorry that I changed the subject about the melatonin. Aidan took melatonin and just stopped recently. He took one 3mg pill 30 mins before bed. It was working great for awhile. It didn't make him seem drugged, just sleepy. But after awhile it just stopped working as well. I hope everything works out well for all of you. Starting a child on a new med is always scary and a huge decision, but it is obvious that you all are wonderful parents so you will make the right choice for you and your child.

Only thing my doc will give my six year old son is vallergan forte he takes 10 mg an hour before bed, though it doesnt do much good anymore, though it did at first.I try to give it him when and only hen he needs it.I know in the uk they give this to young children as a pre med prior to an op. I have been having the same trouble with my son since taking adderall xr.  We used to be on a schedule where he would go to bed at 8:30 and now it's more like 10, 11, or 12:00!!  Anyway, I haven't discussed melatonin with his ped yet, but I mentioned our sleeping problem to our therapist.  I never thought of it before, but he suggested trying to do the bath in the morning instead of at night because having a bath wakes up some people and it relaxes others.  I am willing to try it and see how it goes (JUST SO MY DS DOESN'T GET TOO DIRTY DURING THE DAY!!!).  Hope this helpsCheck out the link to the study.  I can't seem to get it to copy, so I bumped it up. Someone mentioned earlier about their child having to be tapered off of Clonidine. I was told that it did not cause dependency by my sons doc. If this is true then why do you need to taper a child off of Clonidine? Someone please tell me that this med doesn't cause dependency. Please tell me that I didn't make a mistake by given this to him! Ihave always checked out every med I give my children before I give it to them, but I didn't research any on Clonidine.

b_rwhite5,

Clonidine does not cause dependency. The reason you taper it is to avoid a sudden rebound in blood pressure that may occur if this med is stopped suddenly. I do not know the dose changing schedule for clonidine. My daughter is on guanfacine which should also be tapered unless only used at the lowest dose at bedtime (according to my daughter's doctor).

vickie39035.4119328704Valarian is very calming and could be used to take a break from melatonin.