Hi. I need some advice on my 8 YO son's meds. He currently takes 15 mg Adderall XR and 25mg Zoloft in the morning and 0.1mg Clonidine at night to help him sleep. The time between 3pm and 7pm is very difficult and our doctor has suggested 5mg of Adderall around 2:30pm to help this. Is it normal for kids to need this afternoon dose, yet then to need something in the evening to help them sleep? Without the Clonidine he is awake til midnight and that obviously is bad for everyone, so I don't want to stop that med. I just feel like I am giving him so much. Advice/opinions would be greatly appreciated!

Hi Josiekat,


Actually needing a second dose isn't all that unusual at all. Adderall doesn't give you full day coverage with one dose. I take Concerta which is suppose to be full day coverage and I still need to take a second dose at noon. Everyone metabolizes meds a little differently.

As far as the sleep thing goes, Dr. Dodson who does research in his clinic on ADHD meds told us at the ADDA Convention that he frequently gives a later dose of stimulent medication and it frequently helps kids go to sleep. Just as ADHD kids have trouble transitioning from one activity to another during the day they have the same trouble transitioning to sleep. I know when we were flying out to Orlando, I gave my 8 year old her Ritalin and within minutes she was sound asleep for the next two hours -- this also happened on the return flight. I'm sure there are always exceptions, but this might not be the problem you fear. ADDers have a paradoxical reaction to stimulents -- it helps them relax! Just be sure and avoid any caffeine. I can go to sleep fine on my stimulent medication unless I've had caffeine -- then all bets are off -- caffeine just hits too wide a spectrum of neurotransmitters.

Scattered

I agree, mine is on Adderall XR 20mg, and I've noticed lately that between 5 and 800 ish she is extremely emotional and nasty (obviously withdrawal starting around that time) I have asked daycare (which she is in from 700 am to 500 pm) to change her med time to 1000 am, still when she came home tonight she was emotinal, crying, nasty and full of attitude. Hopefully the change will set in otherwise, I think I am going to have to get the "interm" pill for the hours she is not getting the meds. Sheesh, if this isnt a pain in the rear. One minute things are going along great and the next the meds are running out sooner than they are suppose to and boom, here you are having to medicate a second time. What a frustrating position to be in. Mine does sleep fine though, she gets a no later than 830 bed time and as soon as she is tucked in she is rubbing her eyes and complaining she is tired. Thats the way it should be. And isnt it odd the fact the kids who are moving at 1000 miles an hour and slowed down by something that would make the rest of us move at 1000 miles an hour. Some days, I am just sooooo confused by it all.

It falls under the category of "You might be ADD if stimulents make you sleepy!":faint: The first time I took Concerta I felt like crawling into bed for a nap, and the first time I tried Ritalin I just couldn't stop yawning. Strange creatures we ADDers!:p


My explanation goes something like this -- it's like being in a noisy room with the TV turned up loud and the kids running and jumping and yelling and suddenly someone turns off the TV and chases the kids outside -- the quiet the filter of stimulent medication provides is kind of like that but on the inside. It allows you to relax from the barrage of stuff coming at you -- both external and internal assaults.

The more technical explanation has to do with the fact that the stimulents "wake up" the sleepy cortex so it can do it's job of filtering stimuli and inhibiting response. Kids zoom around the room or talk a million miles an hour to wake up their brains -- just different kinds of stimulation.

Scattered

very well said, my daughter describes it as "fireworks" going off in her head, she says there is sooo many of them she cant deal with it all, when on the meds the fireworks go to sleep and she can focus on what is front of her and not everything else going on around her.

Thank you both. It really is a day to day trial and error thing with kids and meds!! We are starting the second dose for him this week, so hopefully we will have good results!!

When ever I read these type of posts I have the question, what time do they get up in the morning and what time do they get that first dose?

I don't mean that in a critical way but in a request for more information kind of way. During school I get mine up at 7 am but if I run into this I am wondering if it means that I might have to face getting up at 6 to make things easier for him. I know it makes a difference how early I start my day on how my meds land me.

He gets up at 7am and goes to bed at 8pm. I have tried adjusting his morning time, but that really does not seem to have an impact.

Josiekat, it's not unusual for ADD kids to have trouble sleeping on or off medication. It is possible that the second dose of stimulent medication might help him get to sleep even without the Clonodine -- every person is different so there is no way to predict that. The Zoloft might be part of what is keeping him awake too. Some folks sleep better on SSRI's and some have more trouble sleeping. It's really the pits that there is still so much trial and error involved in this process, but for now it is the best we have.Scattered