Melatonin??

[Sixofus]

Has anyone had experience with Melatonin?

Just went to a CHADD meeting last night and some parents suggested giving my 8 yr old son melatonin to help with his sleep problems. He's taking 20 mg of dex spansules and 5 mg of dex tab mid day. Seems to be working in every way except the sleep side effect. Most nights it's not before 10:00pm that he falls asleep. We have a strict schedule in evenings and calming techniques that help but he still has a hard time falling asleep. He says his brain won't shut off.

[StoicNate]

You can try Melatonin. Go to your local Trader Joe's and they have chewable Melatonin.

If that doesn't work then try Chamomile tea. It puts me to sleep too.

[itsanADHDthing]

My friend (female, 120+-lbs, 5,8) takes 2-3 melatonin (3mg each)

She was told by a doctor to take it to help with constantly being awake.

I tried one but it seemed to do nothing for me going to bed 2 hours later. Yet I sleep normal anyways (besides the add).

[m1trLG2]

Most of the kids in my treatment center were on melatonin and my cousin swears by it. I'd say give it a try... I have to say that the kids that took it were out pretty quickly and I hear it's not addictive.

[Lv2sleep]

My 11 year old has been on and off melatonin for 5 years with excellent success.

My 6 year old with adhd has been on 5mg of melatonin for about a year and a half with good results.

It is a safe, natural product and works for many people. We buy the sublingual tablets at our local health food store.

I suggest having your child take them about 30-60 minutes before bedtime.

[Luvmybully]

We tried them for our daughter but they didn't help her much.
No side effects though so safe and worth a try.

[MuscleMama]

LOVE melatonin!

It's not a drug. More is not better for dosing. It's a powerful antioxidant. People with ASD may have lower than normal levels of melatonin.


"Research shows that after melatonin is administered to ADHD patients on methylphenidate, the time needed to fall asleep is significantly reduced. Furthermore, the effects of the melatonin after three months showed no change from its effects after one week of use."

"Studies from MIT have said that melatonin pills sold as supplements contain three to ten times the amount needed to produce the desirable physiologic nocturnal blood melatonin level for a more rapid sleep onset. Dosages are designed to raise melatonin levels for several hours to enhance quality of sleep, but some studies suggest that smaller doses (for example 0.3 mg as opposed to 3 mg) are just as effective. Large doses of melatonin can even be counterproductive: Lewy et al. provide support to the "idea that too much melatonin may spill over onto the wrong zone of the melatonin phase-response curve". In one of their blind subjects, 0.5 mg of melatonin was effective while 20 mg was not."


The wiki page has TONS of great info about melatonin:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin


My son takes 3mg almost every night and it works wonderfully. I often take it, too, and get a better nights sleep. Just the cheap drug store brand works great for us.

[ronball]

Sorry to derail...what city are you in? I meant to go to the CHADD meeting in Calgary yesterday..but I forgot

Did you hear anything else that was helpful?

But yes, I hear melatonin is pretty good. I haven't tried it myself though. I do normally take L-tyrosine in conjunction with my ADHD medication. It with all my other supplements have really reduced the restless feelings etc when my medication has ran it's course.

[Harrier]

A friend of mine's daughter is on ADD meds (don't know what) and Melatonin. She has zero issues on it!

I use it to and love it.

[CrazyLazyGal]

Melatonin doesn't work at all for me, but it works for a lot of people and is safe, so it's definitely worth a try.

Was your son a good sleeper before the medications, or has he always had sleep problems? Also, when he can't get to sleep, do you think it's because he's genuinely not tired, or is he hyper from the medications wearing off?

Some other tips that you may have already tried:

--Administer the medications an hour earlier.

--Nothing stimulating at least an hour before bed. No energizing food, television, video games, not even interesting books or puzzles.

--You mentioned practicing calming techniques. Can you elaborate? What about meditation-type techniques that are geared toward children?

--Dim the lights while practicing the calming techniques.

--Shower or take a bath in the evening rather than in the morning. I do this because I'm soooo not a morning person and am always waking up as late as possible. I also find it relaxing. Also brush his teeth earlier at night because even that activity can be stimulating.

--Have you tried lowering his dose? Maybe it's too high a dose. You can always go back to the current dose if that doesn't work.

--What time do you eat dinner? Maybe he's still energized from the food.

Finally, some people just need less sleep. The oft-repeated 8 hours (for adults) is only an average. Some people need more, some less. One sign is whether he is able to get up easily in the morning feeling energized. That's doesn't mean for sure that he needs less sleep than the average person, but it's worth considering. A professor of mine only sleeps four hours a night That's all he needs for his brain to refresh.

[MGDAD]

3mg did not help my daughter, but 5mg worked great. 5mg was the dose recommended by her doctor. As is typical he said sometimes it helps sometimes it doesnt, but is worth a try.


It helps me when I have sleep problems, but it gives me really wierd and frequent dreams. My daughter also mentioned that she has strange dreams when taking it.

[ronball]

Children need more sleep than adults. It scales as you get older. Just as heart rates decrease as you get older.

[qanda]

My daughter could never fall asleep. I used to have to read to her for 45 minutes, then even massage her after that. And even after all of that we had to postpone her bedtime so that she was only getting about 9.5 to 10 hrs of sleep or else she could not fall asleep at night. Now she takes 0.5 mg of melatonin about 1 to 1.5 hrs before bedtime and actually ask to go to sleep. I cut a 1 mg tablet in half. A 1 mg tablet gave her vivid dreams which scared her but 0.5 does not give her these vivid dreams. I have read that melatonin can give vivid dreams. I'd try a very small dosage first. Maybe you'll luck out like we did. I have not read others who fall asleep with such a very small amount. She is definitely in a better mood in the mornings now that she's getting about 11 hrs of sleep.

[Dovie]

FYI: Valerian root is another great one. That's what helped me sleep all through high school. It's 100% natural, stinks to high heaven even in capsule form, but it knocked me out in minutes for a natural sleep that wasn't too heavy for me. I tried other sleep aids that always ended up in me not waking up when I had to go to the bathroom or something. NOT COOL for a 15 year old. >.< We've actually considered it for Joey because it's even safe for toddlers. Pretty awesome natural drug and easily found even at a big box pharmacy.

[daniele]

I use melatonin once in a while for sleep! My doctor says it is perfectly fine as long as I am not having any drowsiness from it during the day. I find that it works best for me if I take it 15 or so minutes before bed, and make sure I go lay down right away. It is a natural hormone, so it won't knock you out like Tylenol pm or other medications like that. With those I feel like I cannot get up in the morning :/