Hi everyone

This is my first time at this site...My 9 year old for a year has been on Adderall. First with 10,than 20 and now 30mg XR.
He is having a very difficult time sleeping... He can be up all night if we let him... First when I asked his Dr. He said just give him Benadryl at night... but it doesn't make me feel right giving him something that is habbit forming. When I called Dr.again and asked him if there is anything natural/herbal that he can recomend, the only thing he suggested was, before bed time to give an extra dose of Adderall (like 5mg)... I don't know what to do... I thought that Adderall is the one that is keeping him awake, so how can it help him sleep at night?...

Please does anyone have an advice, on how I can keep him sleeping at night...

P.S. When I did give him Benadryl, he did sleep at night. But then I didn't want to give it to him the next night, so he was awake through the night...

Thanks.

Changing the time your son gets adderall during the day may help your son sleep better at night. IMHO, adding MORE adderall wouldn't help him sleep...but I'm not a health professional. I personally use Melatonin (natural, available at most pharmacies & health food stores) and it works great for me. However, like anything else med related, please at least discuss this with your pharmacist, if not your medical professional before trying with your son.

ahh melatonin,
i am not a doc either but i will put opinion in the bucket:
i have a four year old, and i strongly suspect he has adhd...why? b/c he acts like my twin soul and i definitely have adhd..
i definitely give you my sympathies as a parent for having to put him on meds..thats heartwrenching i know. but i'd give the benadryl to let him sleep.
if you do melatonin- just keep this in mind..melatonin is naturally produced in your body. when you ingest it on a regular basis- you body will decrease its natural production of melatonin. why shouldn't it? it thinks hey we already have our job done, lets call it a day...someone else is doing it for us....
and this isn't the best thing either so yeah
go see the doc...but i don't think giving a bit of benadryl is the worst thing you could do...
but i understand your hesitancy! i felt guilty giving my child icecream as a treat...
good luck

Hi everyone

This is my first time at this site...My 9 year old for a year has been on Adderall. First with 10,than 20 and now 30mg XR.
He is having a very difficult time sleeping... He can be up all night if we let him... First when I asked his Dr. He said just give him Benadryl at night... but it doesn't make me feel right giving him something that is habbit forming. When I called Dr.again and asked him if there is anything natural/herbal that he can recomend, the only thing he suggested was, before bed time to give an extra dose of Adderall (like 5mg)... I don't know what to do... I thought that Adderall is the one that is keeping him awake, so how can it help him sleep at night?...

Please does anyone have an advice, on how I can keep him sleeping at night...

P.S. When I did give him Benadryl, he did sleep at night. But then I didn't want to give it to him the next night, so he was awake through the night...

Thanks.

Did you notice when his dosage started going up( 10,than 20 and now 30mg XR.) that his sleeping problem got worse ..and what in the _ell was the Dr's reason for telling you to give him an extra dose of Adderall (like 5mg) before bed time :eek:

Also what time do you give him his Adderall in the morning and what time do you want him to go to bed .
I am no Dr but 30mg of Adderall seems to be high for a 9 year old child ...

hi

welcome to the forums

my son had the same problem and it was worse when he went off 'drop off' i spoke to the specialist and they prescribed melatonin which is a natural brain hormone and with the melatonin and a good routine his sleep pattern improved. the bedtime routine never altered from day to day.

dont know if that helps or not
wendy

Okay, I just had to respond here, too. There are some cases (and lucky me...I got one of them) where an ADHD child actually sleeps better if they have a small dose of ritalin before bed. Why, you ask? Because what keeps him from going to sleep is the "action" in in head. Thoughts spin and twirl, he fiddles, he sorts, he lays down, he gets up to check on this, that or the other things that he has just "thought" of. Ritalin slows down this brain spin and, voila, he can go to sleep.

When I asked our pediatrician, too, for something to make him sleep he said that what makes everyone else sleepy, wakes him up. We tried coffee first, but kids don't like the taste. Maybe a cola. One other interesting bit of information is that garlic raises blood pressure which can make you wakeful, so if you are like us and eat a lot of italian food you could try cutting back and seeing if this is adding to the problem.

That said, he was never a good sleeper, and we also had to accept that he never would be. With or without ritalin he just doesn't need much sleep which is much harder on us than him.

Hang in there.

P.S. The dosage of medication will be different for every person. The correct dosage can only be determined by starting low and slow and building up until a level of success is reached. It is also an ongoing process of evaluation. I have two children, both ADD, one at the age of 9 needed 60 mg of ritalin SR, the other remains unmedicated. Our psychiatrist said that as a basis one should consider 10 mg for every 2.2 lbs. as reasonable.

Hope this helps

Kim

Ok my turn...lol

My son who is now 12 has had this issue all his life. We tried the sleep aids didn't like the hangover it gave him (mind you NOT all people who use Melatonin get the hangover feeling only a very very small minority) so we moved onto creative non-medication ways to help him fall asleep and stay sleeping. Its a long process but does work well for him and myself.

1.) About 2 hours before bedtime actually rolls around he takes about a 30 minute warm bath with scented water (lavendar works best for him) after his bath he rubs lavender scented lotion on his body, goes to his room and turns on his "white noise" machine or a relaxing nature cd depending on his mood and needs. His father or I will then read to him for a few minutes. He usually needs about 20 minutes of reading time to himself before he falls asleep.

2.) Light changes wake him up...a bomb could go off in the next room but shut the living room light off and he's up and ready to go again. He now sleeps with his door shut and has blinds and thick drapes over his window which he pulls at bedtime.

3.) He's a cuddler so we bought him a body pillow and a heavy comforter which he says makes him feel "safe" though I'm not sure that is the word he is looking for.

The thing is to get crafty, try new ideas not everything involving ADD need medicated in MHO.

Cherity

Kimalimah- I think there is a bit of a difference between adderall and ritalin. I know medications affect everyone differently but the chemical affects of ritalin aren't as speedy as Adderall. It seems to be closer to caffine topped with some seritonins or dopamine. Adderall is an extra-strength, longer-lasting medication because it is an amphetamine. I think anyone taking it would naturally have the sleep battle due to it's properties.

Matrishka- Are you giving him 5 mg's of the time realeased as well at night? because that might be waking him up through out the night. I am 27 years old and 130lbs and I take 40 mgs a day and I don't think I would ever put my child on that much. I'm not saying that since you have you're wrong, but I was wondering if you've had Adderall before? IS your son getting help outside of medication with his ADHD? Would you mind saying what your decsion was for putting him on so much?

i have always had a sleeping disorder.... i think it *could* be ADD related. i take some kind of pill (either valerian root or ambien) every night. it's miserable... i could be TOTALLY exhausted, but once i lay down i can't sleep. i know a lot of people with ADD have a hard time sleeping because they can't quiet their minds.... it's always racing. first of all, don't yell at him to get to sleep. my mom used to do that, and it just stressed me out, because i couldn't help it. no one can make themselves fall asleep.

valerian root and melatonin are two alternatives. they're in the vitamin aisle at walmart. neither work as quickly as ambien, but should be fine for a child. though i will say, if any women are thinking of trying melatonin, my doctor recently told me that it may cause reproductive problems.

i also take adderall, and i don't know why the doctor would suggest taking adderall before bed.... it's a stimulant. that's like telling him to drink 3 bottles of mountain dew before bedtime. but i'm not a doctor, so maybe he has good reason. i have to take mine no later than noon every day, and i've found that if i don't, i wake up a lot in the night.

i don't know exactly what his problem with sleeping is, so it's hard to say, but if he's having a hard time getting to sleep, i have some tips that my sleep specialist has given me.

- if he is just laying awake, staring at the ceiling, it will only make it worse. his brain will associate the bed with frustration and insomnia, and it will always be a problem. if i have been in bed for 20 minutes, and i haven't gone to sleep, i get up and read a book until i start to nod off. since he's nine, i don't know what he would do.... maybe you could read something to him? or he could draw? no TV or internet... they are "high-stimulation". i know that seems like it's encouraging him to stay up, but he should get drowsy again pretty quick.

- create a "bedtime ritual". 30 minutes before i intend to go to bed, i turn off the computer and TV (they stimulate the brain, and it takes awhile for that effect to wear off), i shower, and i read a book in bed until i start to get sleepy. if you do it every night, eventually your body will see this ritual as a cue that it's time to sleep.

i also have a light box. my sleep doctor prescribed it to me. she said i have "delayed sleep phase syndrome", and that if i left this VERY bright light on in my room for 20 mintes every morning when i wake up, it would set my body back on the right cycle. it's slowly been working. i don't know if it occurs in children, but ask your doctor about it.

My son 13 now had the same problem, we would give a nicewarm bath a couple of hours before bed time, (As futs has suggested) then we would read a book for a while and have some sleepy time tea. It really helped him and The "us" time was great.
Iif they recently uped the dosage it will take a little while for thier system to become acustom to the new dosage, this to should pass...
It ended up having to come off of it because of his weight loss.
Hes now on strattera.

Koda is on Strattera as well we have noticed a little weight loss issue but its leveled out nicely since we fattened him up a little before starting the med lol. He's also been working on weight lifting and walking...regular excercise is beneficial and helps wear them out just do NOT excercise two hours before you want to go to bed for some reason Koda was more pumped and ready to go when he excercised before bedtime. Play with your sons schedule a little, be creative.

Thanks, Nice to meet you all.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

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The primary reason my son went on Adderall, because schoolwork and homework was a challenge for him to do.. In 1st Grade he was acting up like "I won't do it" so the teacher complained. (I thought how she could possibly not like my little boy) but when he started 2nd and 3rd grade, all the teachers were complaining. By the way he is very bright child. He loves math. Working with Dad he is doing Math on 9th grade level and he is only in 4th grade... mind you we don't really push him but he likes it. He is though has a very hard time with writing. So went to see a Dr who is specializing on ADD. He called it interverted ADD. I never heard of it before. Then, he would be OK, and can get very extremely sensitive emotionally. And of course sleeping... <o:p></o:p>

He always had trouble sleeping but it did get worse since he's been taking Adderall.. I wasn't aware that 30mg was to high, not according to Dr.. We increased the dosage since the emotional and physical situation start occurring more frequently... I didn't like the idea but reluctantly agreed. It did help (I still don’t like it) he did lost a lot of weight. He seems OK or I got used to him looking like this... I haven't started him on additional 5mg yet. He is taking Adderall XR 30mg early in the morning and by 6pm I can see a change, much more irritable and sensitive... and of course hard time falling a sleep or staying a sleep. Trust me we have tried just about everything It seems working better if he sleeps with us. But we can’t allow it to happen all the time. Did any one of you heard of ComeForte?<o:p></o:p>

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Sorry it's such a long response.<o:p></o:p>

Matrishka,

Wow, I think Futs had some great ideas! I'll have to try some of those out myself!

I agree, too, that Adderall is not Ritalin...here I can only ask if your dr. has enough expertise in ADD? Maybe a second opinion? I simply wanted to point out that each medication and person and response to medication is different. I don't recommend relying too heavily on comparisons between us, but would encourge anyone struggling with a medication issue to find a doctor they trust.

I was also wondering what other therapies you have tried. I thought yesterday that my response was a bit misleading because medications have only been a small part of the treatment program for my "extreme" son. We have done occupational therapy, physical therapy, behavioural mod. therapy, and family therapy and without all of them and the support of those people we wouldn't be where we are today.

Keep us informed.

Kim

Hi, I'm new, but wanted to respond to your problem with your son sleeping. Over the years, my eight year old son, (we adopted him 3 years ago) has been varios meds for his ADHD. His sleep habits have varied also. At times, he has taken somenting such as clonedine or imprimine (SP) to help, but currently does not take anything for sleep. He does have trouble falling asleep, but most nights does okay. Every now and then he's up til midnight, but very infrequently. I have found that not watching tv or playing play station within 2 hours of bedtime helps. We have a regular routine and he is in bed reading with me at 8:00. At 8:30, he has his own quiet time and either reads on his own or uses his leap pad. Lights out at 9:00. We let him know that it's okay if he does not fall right to sleep, but that he can not keep others awake. (calling out for me,, singing, playing with the cat in his bed, etc) At a friend's suggestion, I have ordered one of those nature sound machines, and am waiting for it to come. We tried the radio or one of his CD's but found them too stimulating. My main guide as to when to be concerned about him not sleeping is how readily he gets up in the morning and if he seems tired during the day. I hope this helps some, or at least confirms that you are not alone in this problem!!! Pam

re. stimulants at bedtime....

there are some old threads on ADDF that address this issue pretty thoroughly and might be worth a read-through.

Here's a single post, the rest of the thread may be relevant too, it's a long one though... http://www.addforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=111988&postcount=30

This thread is one that I remember as being especially helpful. http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7205

If you have lots of time to read, try searching "sleep" in the advance search options, you can opt "search by key word" and "thread titles only" in that little drop down thing-y.

Good Luck!

Wheezie