Not sleeping -- SOOOO frustrating! | ADHD Information
I have a 5 year old that would take FOREVER to get to sleep, even with me laying in there with her. In fact, I HAD to lay with her or else she would get into everything and NEVER fall asleep. With me laying in there with her I'd be in there for at least an hour, sometimes almost 2. It was very exhausting and frustrating!!
Our psychiatrist prescribed Remeron for her (Mirtazapine generic). She takes 7.5 mg 30-45 minutes before I want her to go to sleep and she is OUT LIKE A LIGHT! It has been a godsend to us, I cannot even tell you.
I know your frustration all too well. I'm so sorry :(
mondiH831, my daughter actually took Remeron for about a year when she was younger and taking Adderall. I forgot, it was a good med. No side eFfects and she slept well.I am writing this at 2:20 a.m. My 8-year-old son is STILL awake. I have spent the last 5 1/2 hours putting him to bed. Lately, he just cannot sleep until 11 or 12. Tonight is exceptionally late. Ever since this summer, when we were at my in-laws in Germany for 6 weeks, he has had trouble sleeping. He won't fall sleep unless one of us is next to him. This has led to us letting him fall asleep in our bed and then my husband carries him to his bed -- up into a loft bed, no less (like most ADHD kids on stims, he weighs almost nothing). Or, like tonight, a combination of him in our bed and one of us after the other in his. I finally told him at 1:30 that I had to sit on the couch and read or I would lose it. But he's still awake in there.
If he is left alone to fall asleep, he panics, imagines wolves, spiders and monsters, screams for us and causes general mayhem. He is a very anxious kid, so I know that he is really afraid, but we get SO frustrated, especially as time ticks by and the minutes turn to hours.
This is really causing us problems. My husband has an extremely demanding job and has been too exhausted to work well. I also work part-time and we have a 2-year-old (who falls asleep on her own after a couple of books). We have started fighting because we are all so tired and crabby and my husband and I don't have any time in the evening to unwind or read or exercise.
We have tried Tenex but didn't notice any difference with him. We've tried melatonin in the past and he seemed to have more nightmares, but we'll try it again tomorrow. I did give him Valerian (an herb), which is used a lot in Germany and knocks me out within a few minutes, but that was over an hour ago and he's still awake. He even spent 3 hours today playing outside in the snow, but physical exercise doesn't make any difference for him. He can outlast anyone.
So, I guess I'm just venting. I'm so frustrated because I know that my little one will be awake at 7 and it's now already 2:40, so I will be tired and crabby tomorrow. My husband was tired and crabby tonight and has been awake part of the time, too, so we will probably all be a lot of fun tomorrow. It's one thing if it's just one night, but this child is a constant drain on us and I feel like we need to be "on" all the time just to deal with his normal behavior. I hope that the Melatonin really helps tomorrow or I will lose my mind!Update -- it's 3:25 and he's finally asleep! Now it's time for me to go to bed. Somehow it's much more fun to stay up this late before you have kids.
Thank God for the internet, though. At least there is somewhere to vent when you're frustrated and an infinite number of things to read to while away the time .
I feel for ya! This reads like my childhood. My mom used to get soooo mad at me because I wouldn't sleep, and if she let me sleep in her bed (waterbed back in the day) I couldn't quit moving until I shoved my feet between the waterbed part and the wood frame because it was cold and I couldn't kick after that. I'd have nightmares, and sleep walk all the way through high school. note.... quit sleeping in my parents room WAY before that!
I have RLS ( restless leg syndrome) and realize most of that childhood sleep suff was probably related to that and not so much the ADHD. Until I saw the commercials on TV about 4 years ago I just thougt I was crazy and just wanted it all to end because I was SO tired all the time. I stuck through it because of my kids. Once I saw that first commercial about RLS and it's symptoms, I was SO excited that there was something someone had information about how I felt my whole life and what I was experiencing wasn't me just being crazy. My point is that maybe you can look at that option too for his sleeping problems. I'm new to this message board but feel like any information anyone has should get shared. . I get about 3-4 hours of sleep a night still and it's very aggrivating, but am hopeful things will get better soon.
I wish you well because I truly know what it feels like to be sleep deprived. Worrying about your child's well being in the middle of the night sucks, especially when you feel all alone. My son had night terrors every night for 2 years... no joke... EVERY NIGHT. Screamed unconsolably for hours on end, and every morning you'd ask what he was crying about and he never remembered any of it. Must be hereditary.
I'm up till all hours of the night so if you need to vent, I'm always around 
HAHA! Hope things get better for you and your family.
oh Joy, you poor thing! Was he always like this or is it all anxiety induced? I ahte to say it, but maybe you need to look at med? I know you said Tenex didnt work. How about Clonidine? Same family, WAY more sedating? We tried that first for my daughter, shw as WAY too tired (my child is the opposite of yours), so we swicthed to the Guanfacine which also mad eher tired, but liveable. OR address the anxiety? Is he on something for anxiety?
Joy, I too have an 8 year old that cannot sleep at night. He stays up until all hours, wants to make sure I will not go to sleep until after he does and he wakes up many times during the night. His neurologist said not to let him sleep in our bed but to put a sleeping bag on the floor next to our bed. Every change in our lives seems to exacerbate the problem. I am always sooo tired. He is on Adderallxr 20mg AM and 15mg PM. He gets 2 tabs of clonidine and 10mg of melatonin an hour before bedtime and a lot of times a benedryl for his allergies. He will fall asleep only to wake an hour or two later and then be up until 3 or 4am.
I say- let him sleep with you if he needs the comfort. Both of you and also your husband will get some sleep. Then after a few weeks of rest he can transition to the sleeping bag on the floor next to you. It's not great for couple time with your husband but when you are exhausted it isn't much of a problem.
Plus- when Jon sleeps in his room he is so afraid of everything he pees in his laundry basket, his bed, on the floor. When he is with me he doesn't do these things. I also got a sound maker- it is one for babies from Brookstone. He likes to listen to the 'lullabys' and the 'dolphin' sounds. Anything we can do to help these guys get sleep is definately worth it. Keep us informed.
randyjim39480.2641319444My son was a terrible sleeper when he was younger. I remember watching the Goofy Movie 7 times in one day. His pediatrician suggested he might have allergies. He was 4, we skipped the testing and started using Zyrtex (5 ml). The first night he slept like a dead person ALL NIGHT LONG. We figured out he has mom's allergies (dust and mold--all year round).
He is 12 now and we still have sleep issues. We put the ball in his corner. He can stay as late as he wants as long as he gets up went he has to in the morning. He isn't allowed to argue about it. I has been a godsent for us. We have fewer problems in the mornings because he knows he can lose this priviledge. My husband will make him sleep in our bed, I go somewhere to sleep on those nights. On the nights he sleeps with Dad, he is out in 5 minutes. My husband lets him talk for 5 -10 minutes then the conversation is over and it is sleep time.
My son just got to the point where he can sleep in his room. He would hear things and get nervous. Sometimes white noise helps them to stop hearing things. I put it on low so he would have to be still to hear the music. We wore out a tape called Loon Lake. It had music that reminded me of early mornings on a lake, bird calls and a running babbling brook.
My son has been having major sleep issues recently, so I tried valerian root. It's been working great.My dd used to have trouble falling asleep but when taking adderall she sleeps GREAT! On concerta however sleep is much more difficult. I do give her benadryl on bad nights. I have had several drs tell me that it is safe, it's just not something you want to give everynight. I feel like when you are in a bad sleep pattern, giving benadryl for 4-5 nights can sometimes break the pattern.
Also, sleep machines on white noise have been a godsend for me. I never slept well growing up and got a sleep machine at 18 years old. I have slept well EVER since then. It's amazing what blocking out those little noises can do. Both of my kids sleep better with theirs as well. I highly recommend them.
Our little one had always had trouble sleeping. At four years old, he would still be up until midnight. Then up again at 6 a.m. to go to preschool. Of course, there was always a fight in the mornings to get him up. He would scream and scream. It took it's toll on our family.
Our MD prescribed Clonidine, and it worked! Now, he gets his rest, and he wakes up without a fight. I don't know what I would have done. I was SO close to losing it.
Good luck!
"Our children are prcious in His sight"
When I get REALLY frustrated with the sleep issue, I use benadryl. That means I am beyond tired, and I've had enough.Wow... your story sounds so familiar and you're kinda scaring me - my child is still only 3. Please don't tell me I have FIVE MORE YEARS of this... I'm already looking older by the minute and, despite the miracles of hair color, I found my first grey hair last week.
Our pediatric psychiatrist has given us clonidine to take in addition to the adderal and it seems to be working PRETTY well. It's only been a week or so, but MUCH better than before.
Good luck to you! May we both be well-rested sometime SOON.
CrazyMadsMom, it does get better. I remember your earlier threads. You are on things so early.