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My 10 year old daughter takes Concerta, with an optional dose of Ritalin when she needs to be "together"in the evening after it wears off. She also takes Clonidine to calm her enough to get to sleep. It used to work like magic, but now does not seem to work atall. Some nights, she is still awake at dawn. When she finally gives it up and goes to sleep, she does sleep calmly and a normal number of hours (if she does not have to be awakened sooner).
It does not seem to make a difference if bedtime is 12 hours after she took her Concerta or 14 hours or even 18 or twenty. Nor does the Ritalin dose, when s he gets it, seem to make a difference. Some nights, it seems like she can only go to sleep if she has meds in her system still to help her lie still long enough to get to sleep. But on others, she'll read until she gets hungry and by the time she has a snack, the meds are gone and she's up til dawn.
I've tried lying down with her to be sure the light is out and the books and toys left alone, but she simply cannot keep still - physically or verbally. My husband at one point said, ok, just let her sleep every other night if that is what it takes. But I cannot leave her awake alone in the house at night and I can't sleep only every other night.
She's only been on the Concerta a couple of years, but started on Ritalin at 3 1/2 and Clonidine shorlty after.
Is there something else that will work like the Clonidine used to? 20 - 40 minutes after taking it she'd be out like a light. I've heard about Strattera, but our insurance company won't pay for it atall and it'd be an awfully expensive experiment if it does not work for us. Our doctor seems to be clueless about what to do next. And he's the best available to us with our insurance. Trying another doctor is not only beyond our bedget, but very difficult at this stage of the game as it's hard to begin in the middle with someone you've just met. We've had 4 or 5 good doctors move out of state on us in the last decade - disappointing.
Anyone been there and done that? I think if I come armed with a good idea, our doctor will be willing to try it.
Thank you.
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We were told to use Benadryl, and I must say it is helping our little one! You might want to talk to your doctor about this as an option. We were told if this didn't work they could prescribe a sleep aide for him. Our son was only getting 7hrs a night, and wasn't taking naps. He still isn't taking naps but he's getting to bed earlier and is averaging about 9-10hrs a night now.
We're all sleeping better now.
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My godson was diagnosed ADHD. His parents were having the problems with him sleeping at night. He would sleep for 3 or 4 hours a night at age 3. His parents would sleep in shifts. His doctor did some tests and discovered that his body did not produce enough melatonin to allow him to sleep at night. Now his mom gives him a few drops of melatonin about an hour before bed and he sleeps 10-12 hours a night. He is still ADHD but he is much calmer now that he gets enough sleep at night. Ask your doctor about this possiblity.
Before you go chaning your child's meds or adding anything...You should discuss this in detail with the physicain prescribing the meds. It that person a Board certified child psychiatrist?
Many children with Attachment Disorders, and other conditions, have sleep problems...you may want to consider that. In that case, you will want to get an evalution by a licensed mental health professional who has experience and training evaluating and treating adoptec and foster children. You can find someone in your area at [URL=http://www.attach.org]Assoc for the Treatment and Training in the Attachment of Children[/URL]
regards,
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I agree with the person who suggested that the meds are the culprit. My daughter was on adderall, 10 mg. She started behaving extremely irritable. She was diagnosed with ODD and given risperadol.
When we lowered the adderall to 5 mg a day, the ODD misteriously went away. She is now using some natural vitamins and minerals and is sleeping like a baby, and no ODD.
Be careful of the meds and diagnosis. I am not against the meds at all, it helped us through some very hard times. However, when the choice became to up the meds are try something else, we opted to 'try something else'. And guess what!! It is working!! She is off meds completely and doing fine.
Make sure you check into everything else before you choose medications as a permanent solution. I think it is not for evey kid!
Sue
I have been where you are. Our 10 year old son did the same thing. Couldn't sleep and would stay up all night and fall asleep through the day.We mentioned this to his therapist and we added trazodone. It has helped him to no end. Its a pill he takes(about an hour before bed) and it relaxes him enough to rest and he's usually ready for bed! I hope this has helped!!
There is another option that some Child Psychiatrists are using when traditional stimilants are causing side effects like eating issues, weight loss, sleep problems, hyper-vigiliance etc. Provigil is a prescription drug that helps with attention, focus, and concentration but has a totally different mechanism of action, it works very selectively in the brain. The best part it does not interfere with sleep. You can nap on this product. The Child Pyschs back off the stimulant dose and add on the Provigil around 12 or 2pm to get the kids through the afternoon. It doesn't work for everyone but it's an option. Ask your Doctor.
Good Luck!
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This may sound dumb but have you tried physical exercise an hour or so before bedtime? My adhd son used to do jumping jacks, leg lifts, push ups and set ups until he was physically exhausted then take a warm shower and went right to sleep within 15 minutes after the shower. He just had so much energy before bedtime he could barely sit still, the physical exercise gave him something to do instead of thinking about how he was going to go to sleep. He does not do this as much as he used to but when he was having problems sleeping he would excercise for 15 to 30 minutes straight (or till he was exhausted) then brush his teeth, warm shower, hugs and kisses to mom and dad then off to bed, usually asleep within 3 minutes his head hitting the pillow.
hello I have children that are on meds and they go to a child nreralgest ever other month your child may have bild up a talrent to the meds have you ever did a med vaction has your child had blood work done you are giving your child meds one of them are a long lasting and one is short term. you need to ask your self are this pills working for thr right efect dont keep adding med to react to the first meds. the dr wanted to give my son a hiblood pre med to make him sleep I said no some meds that are used for ADD or ADHD or ODD makes them worse talk about hyber One of my sons whear be tread for ADHD he never had it he has Bipolar so the meds he was tacking whear makeing him worse the first thing you have to do is to find a DR that you trust and is not a pill pusher Good Luck
caffine kicks in up to six hours after you drink it
ridelin is very strong meciication ...mixing the two seems
very strange ..too much meds poor kid...
try meeting with someone to help you through this
homework time without meds ...the old fasion way..
patiience.....and redirection... most children are restless at
homework time ...its not the add....
my daugther was on adderal as well ten mg
then 5 mg ..now she is off..but still needs redirect
better than all this mind medication..that could cause
affects in the long run...
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I've heard about Strattera, but our insurance company won't pay for it atall and it'd be an awfully expensive experiment if it does not work for us. Our doctor seems to be clueless about what to do next. And he's the best available to us with our insurance. Trying another doctor is not only beyond our bedget, but very difficult at this stage of the game as it's hard to begin in the middle with someone you've just met. We've had 4 or 5 good doctors move out of state on us in the last decade - disappointing.
Anyone been there and done that? I think if I come armed with a good idea, our doctor will be willing to try it.
Thank you. [/QUOTE]
We also have to deal with the sleeless nights with our eight year old son. Last fall we tried Strattera. He slept great. In fact, the first night after starting on it he fell asleep watching a movie, the first time in years. However, that was the only good thing about it. He was sick to his stomach every morning, whether he took it on an empty or full stomach. And he was really struggling in school. He was very frustrated. When trying to do his math homework (which is normally very easy for him) I had to remind him on every problem how to add or subtract. We put him back on the Concerta and it was like night and day. We try to get him to go to sleep at a decent hour, but some nights he is still awake at midnight. On weekends I tend to let him sleep in to catch up on missed sleep.
Our 10 year old son is on 72mg of Concerta and I hate the sleepless nights. Once he falls asleep at 1 or 2 am (bedtime at 8:30) he only gets a few hours of sleep when I have to wake him at 6:30 am to get ready fro breakfast then school. Then he's so tired through the day that the behavior problems start to arrise at school. He started taking trazadone before bed, it only works somewhat, we still have sleepless nights.
I know about the insurance thing. Does your insurance company allow referels. Thats how we got to see a mental health perfessional. There are someplaces for mental health that will go off your income. We still payout more than I want to but I know my son is gettin help he needs! DON"T BE A FRAID TO ASK FOR SAMPLES!! Alot of these DR.s get samples from the companies to promote thier products. We get 30 day samples of concerta from our DR ask, then ask them if they have programs to help iwth the cost of the the medicine you want to try. Explaining that the insurance company won't pay, maybe they can help. I know we summit a written statement from our DR to the insurance company stating we have tried everything else
Hope this helps ANY
Brandy