Hello and thank you for taking the time to read my message. I sit here feeling wiped out after another long night of my 8 year-old son's crying until 2 a.m. My son was diagnosed ADHD (it runs in my family and my husband's as well). He began taking Concerta 18mg in February. By March he began not being able to sleep every night. I believe this is due to the fact that the sun was out later in the evening and the fact that my son didn't want to trouble us with his wakefulness.

By mid-March he would start crying right around bedtime and uncontrollably cry for HOURS. We would have to go in his room and lay down with him to get him to calm down. The only way he is able to sleep is if I lie down with him for sometimes up to an hour. He says he feels "weird" and that his stomach aches when he goes to bed.

We have tried talking to the doctor on several occasions. The doctor told us to "keep with it and it will get better." It has gotten worse. The Dr. then prescribed Melatonin 3mg, 1-3 hours before bedtime. We tried 3 hours with no luck. We tried 1 hour with no luck. I've tried warm milk to calm him down. The milk only makes him cough a lot.

We've put another call into the Dr. and have taken him off the Concerta until we hear back from him.

I have 2 questions. First, has anyone else experienced a delayed reaction in coming off meds (i.e., we took him off on Monday and he still had some trouble sleeping Tuesday)? Second, will my son, my husband and myself ever get sleep again? Sorry to sound so dramatic, but this issue is beginning to tear my family apart. My husband finds that his fuse is shorter with my son around bedtime lately. Lack of sleep is killing this family.

We haven't had much experience with coming off of the meds with our kids, as they have stayed on them. Sleep is an issue though. My daughter (9) has had a few nights recently in which she has had trouble sleeping.

A couple of suggestions, some of which you may already be doing:
- He should take the meds as early as possible, even if it means waking him to give him the meds, then letting him go back to sleep for a bit.
- Take the meds with food, or at least a big glass of milk, to coat his stomach and help with the pain.
- Talk to the doctor about changing the med or lowering the dosage.
- I believe there are some meds available as patches - they will not bother his stomach and may provide more consistent effects throughout the day.
- If the doctor seems disconnected or disinterested, consider finding another doc. Not every doctor excels in dealing with ADD/ADHD.
- You and your husband should take turns getting a good night's sleep until you get past this. Having you both exhausted every day is not helping. (I work over 100 hours in a typical week, praying to get 5 hours sleep on a good night, but I will still pitch in at moments like these.)

I hope you all find your rest soon!

- Chris

(we took him off on Monday and he still had some trouble sleeping Tuesday)

Hi ptaylor,

I just wanted to toss in a comment regarding the quote above. If your son has been on Concerta since March and was just taken off on Monday, I would expect the night time restlessness to continue for several days. The reason being is that since he's been taking it steadily for 2 months, there is a slight physical dependency component. If the medication is stopped suddenly, there usually will be subsequent withdrawal symptoms and one of the most annoying symptoms is insomnia.

Since he wasn't on a large dose, these symptoms shouldn't be very noticeable or too troublesome for your son, but the sleep issue is usually the last to subside. Give it a few more days and see if it improves. You may also want to ask the doctor if it's okay in the interim to give him 25mg of Benadryl at bedtime to help him fall asleep.

Good luck!

(Ritalin withdrawal symptoms include: agitation, nausea, insomnia, severe depression, over-activity, irritability, suicidality, worsening of ADHD-like symptoms, anxiety (http://www.anxiety-and-depression-solutions.com/main/anxiety.php), exhaustion, and abdominal cramps)

Note....don't be overly-alarmed by the "suicidality" warning....I think that is only a concern for those suddenly stopping very high dosages. I'm including this just to make you aware of these withdrawal effects.

Thanks for the much needed replies. The last 3 days have seen my son having panic attacks/anxiety, since he went so long not sleeping. This seems to be our last hurdle. He's fallen asleep by 10:00 for the last 3 nights, but continues to tell me he feels "weird," like the feeling you get from being on a roller coaster. He's complained of anxiety for about a month now and we'll just have to work through it. I have tried giving him relaxation techniques and tried to talk him through his fears, but I think to unlearn the habit will take some time.

I agree Chris, my husband and I will start switching off the duties. The mother in me hates to see my son in pain, so I worry about him even when my husband is up with him. I should use some relaxation techniques on myself and realize that he'll eventually fall asleep.

I really like the Benadryl idea. I think we will try that. In the meantime, with only 2 weeks left in school, we will discontinue the meds and try some alternative stuff over the summer to see if it helps. Luckily, my son is on the mild end of the spectrum. Hopefully something other than Concerta will work for us.

Thanks again for your 2 terrific replies!