Hello my name is Faith im a mother of three in Va. My middle child was diagnossed at 3 with adhd symptoms but i couldnt accept that answer so I went to another dr and another and another. Then we moved to va to be near my family for help and her new pediatricin recomended a specialist and after this diagnosis I finally accepted the truth. We needed help. I was miserable she was miserable. Since 5 she has ben on medications we had tried several ritalin,straterra, then back to ritalin and now metadate cd. This medication seemed to be a godsend she is now almost 7 about 55 lbs and does great in school. but when she comes home it all changes. It is a war to require anything of her- home work, behaving in general, sitting to eat dinner bath and most especially going to sleep. She is reffusing to sleep at all- We have a very consistant bed time routine - I know adhd children need this- She has down time, reading in bed for 30 min, then lights out and i check on her every half hour if she stays in bed- thats if cause she never has she gets up so many times then she starts screaming and yelling when i tell her enough is enough- I am soooo tired and I am sure she needs more than 6 hours of sleep if that cause even when she falls asllep before midnight she will get up at least 2 times in the night.I found this message board and almost cried- ideas I havent tried and people who know how it feels to live on less sleep then your adhd chilc and still have to maintain a productive life during the day. I go to the dr today to reevaluate her situation- an apptment i made yesturday after she tired to rip her door off when i shut it cause she was keeping the other kids up. I guess i just wanted to tell a little about me but mostly thank you god I found help for me-
Hey, Faith! Welcome to the board!
Sleep and ADHD can be a serious problem. My son is thirteen, and we still have issues with this. We have gotten the inattention in school under control, the hyperactivity under control, the impulsivity under control, but the sleep? No. We've tried everything--hot baths at night, reading before bed, TV in the room, TV not in the room, eating before bed, not eating before bed, warm milk, cracked window, white noise of a fan, essential oil candles, herbal teas, all lights out, night light on, relaxing mood CD's, neurofeedback machine, exercising and sports in the evening. Hmm. Have I left anything out? It doesn't matter, I don't guess, because none of these worked. So, when he absolutely cannot sleep, he takes Melatonin, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't, or Benadryl, which works well but makes him a bit of a zombie the next morning. Other parents have tried Clonodine with good results, but my son is on Tenex for his ADHD, and I think Clonodine and Tenex are too many blood pressure meds and seems dangerous.
Though it's difficult, I have had to become one with the sleep issues because I don't see them going away. So, he has a TV, which he must keep at a very low volume, in his room and a little refrigerator, so he will stay in bed, at least, and not come downstairs to get something to drink or eat. As long as he is prone, he's getting some rest. There's absolutely no computer past nine o'clock. All lights are out at ten. He's not allowed to get out of bed, except to ask for a Melatonin or a Benadryl, the latter of which he cannot take past midnight. Honestly, that's the best we have been able to do.
Hang in there!
lillian38959.3041898148Hi, Welcome :)
My son is 8, it takes him a while (1-2 hrs) to fall asleep. My husband actually has to stay in there until he falls asleep. He watches TV until he falls asleep or my husband finally turns the lights off. He wakes up everyday between 5-6 am. It can be along day.....Hope things get better for you both!!
melatonin worked for us for 6 months,it was bliss.now we are back to square one and are trying passiflora comp.
we accepted that he needs less sleep and don't make a big issue of it,we tried everything also.my husband works offshore and when he is home we take turn,one gets up one stays in bed and have a long lie.when he is away,i catch up sleep when he is at nursery(obviously not doable if you have other kids younger),we are going to try a new sleep remedy soon,let you know how it goes
Ds has used Melatonin and Gabba Calm with success. OK we went to the dr- increased her metadate to 40 mg once a day i dont see how this will help pbut ill try anything- he didnt even mention melatonin but i read about it here :) and looked at cvs and found a bottle - i did not buy it as i do wanna talk to the dr first and i also would like to try the increase first so well see ty