((edbson))
The school nurse just called me to give my report on how well dd is doing and I asked her about the melatona and increasing the dose. She said she wasn't sure but to call so and so from our local health store and ask him. I did call the man and he said the same thing as you, that less is really more. He recommended I cut the dosage in half and try that. If that doesn't work, then he said to try some calcium/mag. before bedtime. I'm going to decrease the dosage tonight and see what happens.
Thank again, for all your help.
((((hugs)))))))))
((ebdson))
Thank you for helping me. I will try giving dd some Sprite or Juice. She has a very limited diet which is making this hard. We took sugar out of her diet 4 months ago, but now we are adding it back in since we need for her to eat. Dh went over at lunch time and got her to take a few bites and then bribed her with a donut which she did eat. I feel kindof bad to have her off the sugar and now we are giving it to her so she will eat, but I agree with you, I need to offer her foods she likes and will eat.
As for the melatona. She was taking 3 mg, and that had no effect on her with this medicine. Prior to the Vyvanse, the 3 mgs worked great but now it's not having any effect. I was thinking of taking another 3 mg pill and cutting it in half and giving her the 3mg plus the 1/2 which would be 4 1/2 mg. I read somewhere that up to 5 is safe for children. What do you think of trying a higher dose? The school nurse said if this continues with her not getting much sleep, that I might have to get another medicine to help her sleep. I would rather use the melatona instead of another prescription. What are your thoughts?
Thank you, so much, for helping!
AMom2Two39377.4055902778Anything over 3mgs is not safe. Over 3mgs can cause nightmares and sleep problems, so giving more could make it worse. I would start with .33 mgs( 1/3 of 1mg pill). My DD did not do well on 1mg, but .33 works wonders. Melatonin is kinda funny that way. Magnesium does wonders for calming kids and helping them sleep, just make sure it is Mag. Citrate, it is more bioavailable. DD takes 400 mgs daily, and it has helped tremendously. Starts slow with mag though, it is the MAIN ingredient in milk of Magnesia. I have the same concerns as you. I have been posting daily updates in the "Vyvanse and 9 year old" thread. My dd eats breakfast well and also eats a good supper.....if the supper is later in the evening (like around 7pm). That's late for us to eat, but not impossible if it can help her eat. She's very underweight, so I worry about her losing weight. Getting to sleep is also a bit of a struggle. Her 8pm bedtime has been thrown out the window. I haven't tried the melatonin yet, but I plan on getting some tomorrow to try. I was also told that Valerian Root was good. I'm going to check with the pediatrician first though.1/2 the melatone worked like a charm. She finally fell alseep at 9:45. That is a big improvement over the last 3 days.
((NicinNC)) Let us know what your child's petiatrician thinks. Dd developmental pediatrician who is treating her for the ADHD, told us about the melatone.
Dd ate waffles for dinner. I got 4 mini's in her and then rewarded her with an ice cream sandwich. She also drank half a glass of Sprite. Not the kind of dinner I am proud of, but at least, it is food and drink.
The school nurse is also going to weigh her each day and have her eat a yogurt in her office so that she knows dd ate something. I'm really touched at how concerned her teacher and the nurse are about her.
She had a great day at school again today, but one thing worried me. She has gym after lunch and she told me during gym class she got really tired but then she woke up again. Could this be the medicine going low and then shooting her back up again? Has anyone else's child complained of feeling tired off and on?
Hi everyone..
My daughter is 6 years old and she just started on Vyvanse last week. We tried Ritalin first and then Adderall but both had bad reactions on her. This medicine is working great on her symptons and even she noticed a change in her school work. She is now saying, I'm not dumb mommy, I am smart right, because she is finishing the school work, participating in class, and acing all her tests. We are happy with how the medicine is working on her school work, but are very, very concerned that she has lost her appetite. She was a skinny kid to begin with and now with this medicine lasting 12 hours, she just doesn't want to eat.
She normally gets her medicine around 7 a.m. In the morning, before school I get a protein shake in her with her vitamins but that is about it. Yesterday she ate 1 cup of yogurt and 3 bites of pasta all day. She doesn't even want to drink which makes me worry about dehydration.
Will these side effect go away? If she loses too much weight on this medicine, then this one won't work either. I really want this work because she is doing so well in school on it and she likes it.
Has anyone else experienced this and did it go away after a few weeks or how did you cope with getting food into your child?
Dd is not sleeping well either, which is too be expected I guess. She used to go to bed at 7:30 because she wakes up at 6 .am. for school. The last two nights, she didn't fall asleep until 12:30 and 11:30 last night, even with 3g of melatona. Is there anything else I can do? We always had a bedtime routine, but now, dd is fighting us on it and not wanting to even take her baths. This is all new since starting the medicine. Despite getting so much less sleep, she is waking up in a good mood and seems to be okay during the day. Should I be worried about this?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
The side effects you are seeing are common, and do sometimes go away with time, not always but sometimes. I would offer any and all foods that she likes, and offer any drinks that she likes also. Mine would only drink Sprite for a while when she started stims , so we drank sprite all the time.
For the sleeping problems you could try Melatonin, .33 mgs to begin with. it works, and is not habit forming, but start low.
Hello, I am new here, but have experienced what you are going through. My daughter is 7 and in 2nd grade. We started Vyvanse a month ago. We are seeing nice progress with school. She's a bit moody, but that is better this week. She gets sad easily and cries more. I am hoping it will go away the longer she is on the medication. We've been having to use sleep aid to help her also! She is also loosing weight and is too skinny to begin with. We have started weighing her every other day and she wants to know what is wrong! All of her ribs stick out and her vertabrae. Pencil kid! Anyway, I am enjoying reading about situations the same as ours. I'm learning alot!!
Hopefully a new friend,
LJ
I give my 6 year old the Vyvanse between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m. She doesn't get hungry until 9:00 - 9:30 and then will ask for something. I have been feeding her late at night but my dh and I are worried that we are getting into a bad habit. She is normally in bed when she asks for this so I have been bringing her waffles to bed, as I felt it was better to keep her in her bedroom instead of letting her come downstairs to eat. She normally goes to bed at 8 pm and gets up at 6:15 for school. She is the type of sleeper that once she is waken, she will not go back to sleep. She is doing GREAT at school and her confidence and pride in herself has really improved. She loves not getting her name on the blackboard (1st grade) and for the first time, she earned the priviledge to go into the prize box at school for having great behavior all week. Academically she has jumped so much.
However, I'm starting to feel that her dose might be too high because it is lasting 14 - 14 1/2 hours. I want to try lowering the dose but I am so afraid of messing things up for her at school.
Last night was the first night we gave her 5 mg of melatone. The 3 was not working on her with the stimulant meds, when I cut it back, I had one day of her going to sleep and then it had no effect. I wanted to try the 5 mg before we had to go to another prescription or try lowering her dose. It took over 2 hours to kick in last night but she finally went to sleep at 9:30. When she asked for something to eat, we told her it was too late and eating at night is keeping her up, so I asked her to wait until the morning and I would make her a good breakfast. She didn't fight me on that last night but I am sure the battle will come during the week when my dh is working nights and it's only me she has to deal with.
Has anyone tried lowering the dose from 30? Does anyone else feel the medicine is lasting longer then it states?
I've read that for some children, they seem to sleep better with the medicine in their system but for my daughter, that doesn't work. If the melatone doesn't work, we might have to go to a prescription medicine to help her sleep and I really am uncomfortable with that. Then again, I was very uncomfortable with the stimulant meds but seeing how well she is doing now and how much pride she has in herself again, and hearing that she is no longer being called stupid bu some boys in her classroom, made me realize that what I was so worried about was really the best thing for her. Maybe that is true with the clomindine, trazadone or Tenex (all three are prescriptions I've seen on this forum that others use to help their child sleep).
Have you tried a lower dose yet? I have heard of people opening the capsule and only giving 1/2 or 3/4 of the lowest dose. I don't know if that would help and keep the school issues in check. You should talk to your doc. One of the reasons I am hesitant to taking the Vyvanse myself is the longevity of the pill. Although I have heard GREAT things about it I am worried I will not be able to sleep at all (am already having trouble). Good Luck to you.
We are going into her 3rd week on this medicine. It continues to work GREAT for her at school. There is no longer any rebound with it, and her appetite is coming back, however we are still experiencing difficulty falling asleep.
AMom2Two39389.3073032407My son has been on it for 4 months. He doesn't eat much during the day but will eat after he comes off the med around 7:00 pm. You might try feeding her later in the evening.
Also, try giving her meds earlier and letting her go back to sleep or give them to her at 6:00 when she gets up. My son doesn"t have to be up till 8:00 am. I give him his meds at 7:00 am and tell him to go back to sleep.
My son only ate pretzals and peanut butter for lunch from kindergarten thru 4th grade. He will be 12 on Tuesday and is 5'3" and 116 pounds. His doctor told me to always pack something sweet in his lunch to help maintain his blood sugar. So just pack a little snack of things you know she will eat for her lunch.
I would worry about the water intake too. She might just like her water really cold and won't drink it warm. I am that way. Try favoring her water with lemon or lime, she might like that.
I know the majority is against this but our ped doc and psychiatrist recommended 5mg of melatonin with the stims and it really helped. Now that he is not taking them (his choice) I cut them in half and are doing better on the lower dose. But the 5mg of Melatonin Especially the Kal brand disolvable tablet worked the best for us. The psych actually told us to take it up to 10 mg but I feel that is too high for a 9 year old. I take that much and when I cut back I get up all night long.