What can be done about side effects? | ADHD Information
Here is a link to a thread with many helpful suggestions...we have all been there, done that, so ask away....
http://www.adhdnews.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=25130& PN=2
chasesmom7939097.7379398148For sleep, many people have had great success with melatonin. You can buy this in a sublinguil 1mg (melt under the tongue, cherry flavor)over the counter at GNC, or if swallowing a pill is not an issue you can get a 3mg tablet at dollar general. There are many who say only 1mg does the trick. so you could break that one in half. Give about 1 hour before bedtime, and she should be drowsy and ready for sleep at bedtime.My daughter is currently on Metadate CD 20 mg once a day. She has had a total weight loss of about six pounds. Now keep in mind she is 7 and now only weighs 42 pounds! Also she is having trouble falling asleep. I put her to bed at 8 pm and she doesn't fall asleep until almost 10 pm.
I was going to go out and buy some Ensure today. How often do you think she should drink one? Everyday? Has anyone tried this? Has it helped?
What can I do about the sleep issues?
Thanks!
Beckysmom39097.377662037
For weight loss:
Try the ensure, pediasure or anything you can get her to drink. Make it into milkshakes with icecream. What will she eat? If you can add olive oil to some things and protein powder to others to can add calories. I let my daughter have ice cream after dinner, I use it to bribe her to eat her dinner. She likes cream corn and chicken noodle soup (I add olive oil to these), all veggies, ice cream, tacos (nothing to add here), corn chowder (add protein powder and make with cream), etc. This is where you get creative. If you cannot get the weight back, you may have to consider adding something to help with appetite.
For sleep, try melatonin and all the sleep hygeine tricks (heavy blanket, bath, etc), these are posted on many threads on sleep issues.
If the weight continues to be a problem, you might have to discuss with the doctor reducing the dose slightly and adding guanfacine to augment the metadate. We had to go this route with my skinny daughter (10.5 years old and 60 lbs).
Good luck.
Has anyone had success with melatonin? I just found the cherry flavored tablets on the GNC site. Very inexpensive.
Well I bought some Ensure last nite. Chocolate flavored. She hated it. But maybe if I mix it in an icecream shake that would work. She loves her junk food and I also try to bribe her with that to try to get her to eat a meal. It doesn't always work very well. I feel like pulling my hair out some days.
Beckysmom39098.2998263889My son hated the ensure too. But carnation instant breakfast is tastier, and if you mix it with whole milk, quite a few calories. I also sometimes added some cream for a further calorie boost. Lots of calories in cream! And the carnation instant has lots of vitamins as well. You can doctor it up with pudding, ice cream, and other flavorings too..peanut butter....get creative!
Melatonin works well for many kids for sleep...give it a try if the doc says it is ok...
My dd is on the other end of the spectrum, the meds make her gain weight. But my neice is also a tiny thing, and we add fats whenever possible. Real butter on toast, chocolate milk is carnation instant breakfast.
As far as the melatonin, we use .33mgs(3 pills = 1 mg) and it helps dd tremendously. I would start as low as possible and work your way up, too much can cause nightmares, and poor sleep. More than 3mgs is too much. A warm bath before bed helps alot too, and stick to a bedtime routine.
if all else fails you could always put her on adifferent type of medicationSpoke with pediatrician yesterday and she really didn't know much about the use of it and said she would have to look into it. I went out and bought it anyway. I'm desperate at this point and I would hate to switch her to another med because the Metadate CD is working great. So I picked up the Melatonin 1 by GNC. I decided to start off with a low dose so I halfed the pill (.5 mg). I gave it to her at 7 pm. I told her to place it under her tongue but she was afraid she would choke (?). So she just let it disolve in her mouth. By 8 pm she was out cold! I am in total shock! I had to wake her up this morning but she was not cranky or argumentative. She didn't look tired or pale. What a difference! I'm still in shock over here.
Beckysmom39099.4037152778You may be surprised about her temperament changing once she is well rested as well. It only takes a small amount of the melatonin to do the trick...
Have you tried the carnation instant breakfast yet? I used to add a container of pudding, you know the lunch box size and sometimes some cream, and mix it in a blender (or the magic bullet) and he would have that and a piece of toast...lots of calories..and you may consider sending one of those for her lunch as well...maybe drinking would be do-able for her, and at least she would be consuming calories....maybe pack a cheese stick....