Poll- What do you do to help SLEEP?? | ADHD Information

My son is 10 yrs old. He was routinely up until 1 or 2 in the morning. He just could not seem to turn his brain off. He shares a room with his older brother. He would keep his brother up or wake him up because he would just talk and make noises until he fell asleep. I tried melatonin. It helped a little, he went to sleep about 12 or 1AM. It did seem to help him sleep more soundly though. About a year ago the psychiatrist added tenex (guanfacine) to his regimen. It has really helped. He is on the Daytrana patch and tenex now. Before the tenex he would get an even dose of focalin to help him with homework and evening activities, I would give him melatonin to help him fall asleep. We have eliminated the focalin and melatonin. The tenex really compliments the daytrana well. It helps him with anxiety.  He is much more even keeled throughout the day.

 The patch irritated his skin when he first started using it. It was not that bad, the skin would be red when we removed the patch. He would sometimes complain it itched him. That was when the adhesive on the patch was really strong. He has no problem with the patch now. It does take about 2 hrs to be effective. I put it on my son while he is still sleeping about 2 hrs before he wakes up. His appetite is much better than when he was taking ritalin during the day.

 

The melatonin worked for my son at just 1 mg but it did take about a half hour to work.  Are you giving it to him a half hour before bedtime?  With my son, if I gave it to him at bedtime, it just did not work because when he couldn't fall asleep right away he tended to start worrying about it and first thing you know he was up until 1 am. 

You might try one time giving him ritalin (small dose) later in the evening to see if it helps him- for some kids they actually do sleep better with it in their system.  BUT do this on the weekend! For most kids, it just keeps them up.

Now that my ds is 13, he refuses to take the afterschool dose.  Homework takes longer than it should, but his sleep issues have disappeared.  I am goint along with it because I have to pick my battles and the most important thing is that he is on medication at school. 

Another idea is to try a non stimulant like Strattera.

Talk to your doctor.  Good luck!

I'd ask the dr. how high you can go on the melatonin.  Besides medication, maybe there are some other things you can do to help him fall asleep.  Are you eliminating all electronics (TV, computer, video games) 2 hours before you want to put him to bed?  How about a relaxing bedtime routine -- soothing music, a relaxing bedtime story, or whatever might work for him?  What about teaching him some relaxation techniques, like relaxing breathing techniques and learning to relax his muscles?  For that age, there'a great book called A Boy and a Bear:  The Children's Relaxation Book.  Lori Lite is the author.  Psychologists tried to teach my child deep breathing and couldn't do it, but this book taught him how to do it.  We used the book mainly to help him when he was feeling anxious (he has ADHD and Generalized Anxiety Disorder), but it also might be helpful for relaxing to go to sleep.

If nothing else works, maybe you want to ask the dr. about guanfacine?   

Hi Everyone.  It's been a few weeks since I've posted.  During that time, we've tried different variations and doses of medication and have settled on Ritalin for my almost 5 yo son.  The Long Acting (LA) does not work for him because the second dose releases too soon.  The short-acting works GREAT.  10 mg is like a dream.  The only problem is, I have to give that to him at 8, 12 and 4.  But since he's young and with me most of the time, that's OK for now.  So our days are under control and dare I say...GREAT!  But 8 pm until about 10 or 11 is pure hell.  The poor little guy's medication wears off and he gets hyper and can't sleep.  I've tried melatonin at varying doses and have even resorted to benedryl on bad nights.  Right now my pediatrician is hesitant to give him another medication to sleep since she already feels a total of 30 mg of Ritalin is so much for him. (but in my opinion it's not.  he still has a decent appetite and is NOT tired)  We have an appt. w/a neurologist scheduled but it's not until AUGUST.  (ugh)  After a rough night tonight (and dread for getting up for school tomorrow)., I'm going to call my ped. tomorrow and beg for help with sleep.  So, after that long summary, I guess I'd really like to poll all of you out there that have kids that need help getting to sleep and what you use and how much.  What time do you give it and how quickly does it work?  Do you notice any other side effects?  I'm not really even sure which medications are out there for this except for the few I've read about on here.  Anyways, any advice is appreciated.  We need sleep over here!  Thanks.I was in the same place as you. My son is now 5 and I just upped him
from 10mg to 15, but he is on the daytrana patch which is nice so i dont
have to be there every 4 hours. Its actually made my life so much better.
(just wanted to throw that out there because it worked so well for us)

If he is on 10mg throughout the day then maybe at night you can talk to
the doc about possibly giving him 5 mg after the last 4 hour dose is
wearing off. I always find that my son goes to bed better when he is still
medicated than when it comes out of his system.

I have been giving him 2mg of melatonin in a cup of milk before he goes
to bed. It seems to work for us but I also do not take his patch off until
bedtime as opposed to at 4pm when its reccomeded because i would die
with him unmedicated for so many hours before bedtime. Its still in his
system when he is falling asleep so it works for us.

Can you call the neurologist and just explain the issues and see if he can
help without having to see you?

Good luck! I know its very difficult.My son since he was 8 takes 5mg Melatonin He is now 10.5. It has worked like a charm. How high did you go on the Melatonin? My psychiatrist says we can safely go to 10mg if needed but so far so good at 5mg.When we began using Melatonin before he was medicated, we could give him 1 mg and he'd be sleepy quickly and it was so great.  Now that he's taking medication, even 5 mg doesn't really do anything.  Maybe I should try more?  I'll have to get a different bottle because I only have 1 mg sublingual pills (orange flavor that melt under his tongue)  I'd hate to give him 7 pills!  I am going to call the neurologist today and explain to his nurse that we have an appt. but we are really struggling with sleep.  As we speak, he is still asleep because he didn't fall asleep until 11 pm and I couldn't bare to wake him up so I am letting him miss school (it's only preschool but I don't want to do this next year when it's kindergarten).  I'm interested in maybe asking about the patch.  I'm curious to know if it is irritating to the skin (my son is very fair) and I'm a little nervous he would take it off if it bugged him.  Thanks again for the advice !!!