What to do about insomnia? | ADHD Information

My son is taking Vyvanse 30 mg and Intuniv 1 mg every morning for ADHD. He has been on the meds for almost a month now. His grades are coming up and I'm getting notes from his teacher he is more focused and having good days in school. He is much calmer on the meds and a lot less compulsive and more compliant.

I know the medications have side effects and I was wondering how you overcome these? He is not sleeping at night, he gets up constantly and then wants to fall back to sleep when its time to get up to go to school. I'm having a terrible time getting him up and to school on-time. I worry about him not sleeping at nite. Also, he also doesn't eat as much now, and is losing weight.

I was dredding these medication side effects and the dr basically said he may have to learn to live with them, but I don't know he is suppose to exist and learn to live with only a few hours of sleep each night. I already have to give him asthma meds on top of his adhd meds, I hate the thought of having to give him more meds...

Just curious how others have overcome these issues with meds. I am wondering if we should take him back to the dr and switch to something else?

 

 

 

I and my 12 year old son use Melatonin Lozenges from KAL. They work fast and good. They help my son fall asleep at night and keep him there. he used to stay up all night. Highly reccomend it.Sometimes the sleep issues get better after a few months on their own but that's a long time to wait!  We use Melatonin right before bed and it helps my son fall asleep.  If your son also has problems staying asleep they have a sustained release version of Melatonin that may help.  Another option is adding Tenex at night.  It usually helps with the sleep problems.i just googled melatonin supplement and got this link.  i found it informative.

http://www.talkaboutsleep.com/circadian-rhythm-disorders/cir cadian-rhythm-sleep-disorders/10-how-to-use-melatonin-correc tly.htm

i've thought about using melatonin for myself but after reading this information, i'm not so sure it would really help with my problems....
Alot of people use Melatonin an over the counter natural remedy for sleep. My son has used it from age 8 till now, 11.5. It is the only thing that has worked for him with the stims. It is worth a try. My son was on Vyvanse and the side effects like losing weight, were too much for him, so we switched to Concerta. Since then we added Intuniv and thing are getting better.  I wish you luck in your sleeping issues.My son is on Vyvanse, and we dropped the dosage from 30 to 20 because
of the side effects, and he has had nearly the same positive effects as he
had on the higher dose. In addition to the weight and sleep issues, he
had a racing heart.

We used melatonin - but then in the winter we stopped. Now that the
time change has happened, he's been using it off and on again. He did
get used to the medication.

As far as eating - he still doesn't eat much during the day. I make sure
he has breakfast before he gets his pill. At night sometimes he has 2
dinners. I just make sure he eats when he's hungry. He's gaining at a
slower rate than he was before starting the pill, but his doctor says it's
fine. He's still got a bit of baby fat, so we're not worried.   

Thanks for the replies ..I think I'm calling the doctor and asking for a lower dose and we'll go from there. Hopefully 20 mg will still help him stay focused.