DawnP
03-04-2002, 03:30 PM
I am the mother of two boys with ADHD. My oldest has been taking Ritalin for two years and my 6 year old who was just diagnosed is taking Concerta - 36 mg. I am already seeing benefit except he lies awake in bed at night sometimes until 11:30. Prior to this he was a great sleeper once he settled down. Has anyone else experienced this? Is it possible he'll adjust and this will lessen? It is really upsetting. Is he taking too much meds? I really think he needs the 36 mg. If anyone can relate or knows about this, I'd love to hear from you! Thanks,
Dawn
Dawn
Sponsor
mlgable
03-05-2002, 02:10 AM
Insomnia is one of the side effects of both Ritalin and Concerta. You may want to give the doc a call and see what he suggests you do about this unwanted side effect. They may advice you wait and see if he gets used to the medication or they want to do something else. Best to let the doc decide.
heatherceana
03-10-2002, 02:16 PM
Also, sleep problems are often the result of not only how much meds are taken, but when the meds are taken. My son is on Ritalin. He requires 20mg in order to be able to function. I give him 20mgs in the morning (as our schools only go to 12noon) and 10mgs around noon. If I give him 20mgs around noon, he has trouble sleeping, but if he takes even just 10mgs after 2pm, he is up half the night. He is about 20kg. That is about 50lbs.
I am also on Ritalin. I am about 185lbs. I take 20mgs in the morning, 20mgs around noon, and then 20mgs around 4pm. Although I function better on 30mgs, 90mgs is significantly higher than the maximum daily recommended amount. My 20mgs usually doesn't disrupt my sleep.
Your doctor should be able to help you adjust the dosages or times of dosing.
------------------
Take Care!
Heather Ceana
I am also on Ritalin. I am about 185lbs. I take 20mgs in the morning, 20mgs around noon, and then 20mgs around 4pm. Although I function better on 30mgs, 90mgs is significantly higher than the maximum daily recommended amount. My 20mgs usually doesn't disrupt my sleep.
Your doctor should be able to help you adjust the dosages or times of dosing.
------------------
Take Care!
Heather Ceana
DawnP
03-10-2002, 09:41 PM
Thanks Guys for your help!
Born2BuildsWife
03-12-2002, 12:44 PM
Hi...My son is 6 years old and has ADD. He is on Concerta 18 mg. first thing in the morning. I found that even with this small dose, that he had some problem sleeping at night. I found that if I give it to him first thing in the morning, Like at 6:30 am, it has worn off by nighttime, and he sleeps well. The concerta seems to be working well for him, as he was just diagnosed Last month. No huge dramatic change, but a small change that both teachers and myself can see;-), hope this helps, Alexis
Babernethy
03-12-2002, 12:56 PM
NATURAL Vitamin B complex will help with his sleep...take him off the meds and put him on a natural diet and you'll see great things happen.
B
B
heatherceana
05-14-2006, 08:08 AM
I did not mean to post twice. I wanted to delete this one.
heatherceana
05-14-2006, 08:13 AM
NATURAL Vitamin B complex will help with his sleep...take him off the meds and put him on a natural diet and you'll see great things happen.
B
I must say: I love when people say these things, because it shows an automatic assumption that people are just feeding their children meds. We tried elimination diets to see if Elijah had allergies. We do NOT feed our children fast food or frozen food. Here in Germany, these things are a lot more rare than in the US. We tried making out schedules for him, therapies - including ergotherapies. Nothing worked. :(
It is good to remind people that the diet is very crucial, but unless you are a doctor who has examined and worked with this child, it is VERY dangerous to go around telling people to take their child off of medication. :nono:
At 8 years old, Elijah could not change his own clothes, feed himself, or go to the bathroom alone - because he was constantly becoming distracted. We had them do eegs to check for all manner of seizure disorder - including MalPetite. There are abnormal readings in his left temporal lobe, but he has no epilepsy and no structural damage. We tried making out schedules for him and installed clocks in every room. We tried reward systems, posting of behaviors and consequences (but positive and negative together), and more! In the end, I still had to be beside him constantly to prompt him about what he should be doing. After he pooped in his pants one day in school and started-up banging his head against the desk and wall - again, I decided that it was time to try something else: medication.
Elijah and I changed over to the Concerta a couple of years ago. (I tried to submit this earlier, but it didn't take. :p ) He needs 36mg each morning (also taken about 6am) in order to function in school. On the weekends and during school holidays, he receives only 18mg each morning. He is a LOT less aggressive on the Concerta and it last him until about 5-6pm.
He still has trouble sleeping. What I have done is to teach him relaxation techniques (tensing and relaxing of major muscle groups) and I do guided meditation with him. We have created a comfortable, relaxing place for him to go which will signal to his brain that it is time to shut-down. It is important for the child to understand that they may NOT use their special place to escape from unpleasant situations. They may only go there when it is time to sleep.
Elijah is now 12 years old. The biggest benefit that we see, on a long-term basis, is: He matures a LOT each year. He was, and is, intellectually like an adult. Emotionally though, he was like a 4 year old when he was biologically 8 years old.
He will never be able to learn slang without a concentrated effort on his part, nor will he ever be fully cognizant of the reactions of others during social situations. He will likely always have a hyper-developed sense of right vs. wrong. Does this remind you of Autism? Problem: German doctors in Rheinland-Pfalz haven't the first idea of the difference between Aspergar's children and children with other forms of Autism. They only diagnose low-spectrum Autism. If the child does not have that, they do not think that the child can be Autistic.
Elijah rarely ever gets less than 95% right on his math and english work or less than 80% on his science work. He rarely gets less than 70% on his german work, but he also rarely gets better than 70% in PE. He goes to the Gymnasium - which is the top-level high school in Germany: a sort of College-prep school.
We have been told a couple of times that our 6 year old may also have ADD. She was examined by the doctor for admittance into the school (which happens here in the 1st grade). The doctor said that Roswitha (our 6 year old) gets bored very quickly and begins looking for something more interesting to occupy her brain. The doctor said that her brain just goes too fast. Rosie asks lots of questions and examines everything! This is how her brother is too, but after being fussed-at, criticized, and made fun of so often and for so long, he started just shutting-down.
So, think about relaxation techniques and guided meditation. Also, remember that these ADD meds are only like speed for people without ADD. For people with ADD, these meds actually help them slow-down and pay attention.
Remember to be sure not to let your little person have caffine or refined sugar too near to bed-time. Make sure that they sit on the toilet, so that they do not have to awaken in the night and disrupt their sleep. Also, try not to let them watch TV for at least an hour before bed-time. TV stirs people up. It increases the adrenaline in your system, because of the combined visual and audio input to your brain. Since we are overly-dependent on our sense of sight, this makes our TV experiences too life-like.
We let ours have reading time right before lights-out - in their bed, with a soft-lighted lamp.
Hope this helps someone out there. Just thought I'd update.
Heather Ceana
B
I must say: I love when people say these things, because it shows an automatic assumption that people are just feeding their children meds. We tried elimination diets to see if Elijah had allergies. We do NOT feed our children fast food or frozen food. Here in Germany, these things are a lot more rare than in the US. We tried making out schedules for him, therapies - including ergotherapies. Nothing worked. :(
It is good to remind people that the diet is very crucial, but unless you are a doctor who has examined and worked with this child, it is VERY dangerous to go around telling people to take their child off of medication. :nono:
At 8 years old, Elijah could not change his own clothes, feed himself, or go to the bathroom alone - because he was constantly becoming distracted. We had them do eegs to check for all manner of seizure disorder - including MalPetite. There are abnormal readings in his left temporal lobe, but he has no epilepsy and no structural damage. We tried making out schedules for him and installed clocks in every room. We tried reward systems, posting of behaviors and consequences (but positive and negative together), and more! In the end, I still had to be beside him constantly to prompt him about what he should be doing. After he pooped in his pants one day in school and started-up banging his head against the desk and wall - again, I decided that it was time to try something else: medication.
Elijah and I changed over to the Concerta a couple of years ago. (I tried to submit this earlier, but it didn't take. :p ) He needs 36mg each morning (also taken about 6am) in order to function in school. On the weekends and during school holidays, he receives only 18mg each morning. He is a LOT less aggressive on the Concerta and it last him until about 5-6pm.
He still has trouble sleeping. What I have done is to teach him relaxation techniques (tensing and relaxing of major muscle groups) and I do guided meditation with him. We have created a comfortable, relaxing place for him to go which will signal to his brain that it is time to shut-down. It is important for the child to understand that they may NOT use their special place to escape from unpleasant situations. They may only go there when it is time to sleep.
Elijah is now 12 years old. The biggest benefit that we see, on a long-term basis, is: He matures a LOT each year. He was, and is, intellectually like an adult. Emotionally though, he was like a 4 year old when he was biologically 8 years old.
He will never be able to learn slang without a concentrated effort on his part, nor will he ever be fully cognizant of the reactions of others during social situations. He will likely always have a hyper-developed sense of right vs. wrong. Does this remind you of Autism? Problem: German doctors in Rheinland-Pfalz haven't the first idea of the difference between Aspergar's children and children with other forms of Autism. They only diagnose low-spectrum Autism. If the child does not have that, they do not think that the child can be Autistic.
Elijah rarely ever gets less than 95% right on his math and english work or less than 80% on his science work. He rarely gets less than 70% on his german work, but he also rarely gets better than 70% in PE. He goes to the Gymnasium - which is the top-level high school in Germany: a sort of College-prep school.
We have been told a couple of times that our 6 year old may also have ADD. She was examined by the doctor for admittance into the school (which happens here in the 1st grade). The doctor said that Roswitha (our 6 year old) gets bored very quickly and begins looking for something more interesting to occupy her brain. The doctor said that her brain just goes too fast. Rosie asks lots of questions and examines everything! This is how her brother is too, but after being fussed-at, criticized, and made fun of so often and for so long, he started just shutting-down.
So, think about relaxation techniques and guided meditation. Also, remember that these ADD meds are only like speed for people without ADD. For people with ADD, these meds actually help them slow-down and pay attention.
Remember to be sure not to let your little person have caffine or refined sugar too near to bed-time. Make sure that they sit on the toilet, so that they do not have to awaken in the night and disrupt their sleep. Also, try not to let them watch TV for at least an hour before bed-time. TV stirs people up. It increases the adrenaline in your system, because of the combined visual and audio input to your brain. Since we are overly-dependent on our sense of sight, this makes our TV experiences too life-like.
We let ours have reading time right before lights-out - in their bed, with a soft-lighted lamp.
Hope this helps someone out there. Just thought I'd update.
Heather Ceana
Tammyshell
05-18-2006, 02:37 AM
Hi. I recommend that you talk to your doctor about maybe giving your kiddo a vitamin/supplement I don't know what it falls under, but it is called Melatonin. I've got 2 ADHD boys, both on high doses of Concerta and they were having trouble with sleeping too. So I talked to their Doc and she suggested the Melatonin and it works. Give it to my boys about an hour before bedtime and they go to bed and go right to sleep.
but talk to your kiddo's Doc first. Don't do it without consulting first.
Take care and good luck.
but talk to your kiddo's Doc first. Don't do it without consulting first.
Take care and good luck.
blindsided
05-18-2006, 01:41 PM
Melatonin is good. That is what is released when you warm up milk. That is why people always suggested warm milk before bedtime to help the children go to sleep.
Reg83
05-18-2006, 05:21 PM
My son's neurologist suggested Melatonin.
nickkaylee
05-18-2006, 08:17 PM
My son has been on Melatonin for about a year now. It works great for him and it is non-prescription!
Tammyshell
05-18-2006, 10:03 PM
Yeah, I don't know about you guys and where you are, but we have dollar stores in my town and I can often find bottles of melatonin for a buck a bottle! When I do find it, I buy it in major BULK because it just works so perfectly for my rambunctious boys!
nickkaylee
05-19-2006, 08:38 AM
We have dollar stores here too. I only buy a certain brand of Melatonin for my son because I bought the Rite Aid pharmacy brand once (against my friend's advice, who told me to only buy the brand I buy now) and it didn't seem to work well for my son. The brand I DO buy works awesome. He takes it about an hour before bed and goes right to sleep! I don't know, maybe it was just the brand I bought first that sucked but I dont dare try anything else lol.
Tammyshell
05-20-2006, 12:39 AM
yeah, you gotta go with what works!
harleybluz
05-21-2006, 02:54 PM
Hi Dawn,
I called my Pharmacists and was told that is was safe to take Benadryl. It helped me sleep, as long as I gave it 8 hours, I was fine when waking. I can now sleep without it so there is hope. You may want to talk to either Doctor or Pharmacist so they know what other meds he's taking, if any.
Hope this helps. It's hard having a child who can't/won't sleep. Been there.
I called my Pharmacists and was told that is was safe to take Benadryl. It helped me sleep, as long as I gave it 8 hours, I was fine when waking. I can now sleep without it so there is hope. You may want to talk to either Doctor or Pharmacist so they know what other meds he's taking, if any.
Hope this helps. It's hard having a child who can't/won't sleep. Been there.