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mellymel

MELATONIN

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My local CAMHS team have prescribed 3 x Melatonin 3mg, but there has been no change at all. They have now told me if 3 doesn't work nothing will. J (asd and adhd) only sleeps about 2-3 hours and you can bet your bottom dollar as soon as J falls to sleep. my 14month old son will wake up. I don't know how i'm coping but yesterday i went for a walk on my own and didn't return for a few hours, I really can't even tell you where i went i just seem to be drifting through each day in a blur.

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Mel

 

Melatonin seems to have almost no side-effects but it is sadly the case that it does not work for some children. If 9mg in a single does doesn't do the trick, the it may well be that you are one of the unlucky ones.

 

It is possible that the sleep problems are related more to his ADHD than to his Autism. You may find some useful information at

 

http://www.addforums.com

 

I'm sorry I can't offer any specific advice as melatonin did work for us. Hopefully someone with more direct experience will be along in a bit.

 

Simon

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Hi Mellymel,

 

How old is your son? My son is 6 3/4 and he has ADHD and probably AS too. He never used to have such bad sleep problems until he started on Ritalin.

 

Is your son on medication for his ADHD, and if so what dose is he on and what times do you give it?

 

Ritalin acts as a stimulant, therefore keeping the child awake.

 

Kai would NEVER sleep without his Melatonin. He takes it 30 minutes before bed (diguised in milkshake), then i put a video or a story tape on. He focuses really hard on the video/tape and that seems to make him fall asleep. I suppose he's not thinking about sleeping, then the Melatonin kicks in and he's gone!

 

If i just put him to bed without a tape or anything, the melatonin doesn't work.

 

Maybe you could try it? Anything's worth a go.

 

Loulou x

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My son takes Melatonin , it does get him to sleep but he doesn't stay there so I know how you feel as I usually get about 4hours max myself. Its got to be given at the right time I have found, if any later than 1/2 an hour before bedtime it doesn't work, so I set a 'realistic' bedtime of 9pm and he takes it at 8.45pm , so it takes affect when he is in bed.

 

I did find a good things with motivating by using a sticker chart reward system where he gets one for going to bed and another for staying until morning, which was signified by an alarm clock as he didn't realise when morning was, its not when the suns up, sometimes 4am :rolleyes:

 

I do know my friends son took concerta and couldn't sleep from after he started taking it so he now takes 2 ritalin a day one at 8am and one at 12 noon same as my son does then we just deal with the more extreme behaviour at home so he at least gets some sleep as going to bed at 3am isn't my cup of tea :hypno:

 

I'd discuss the problems further with your sons consultant as its not good fo him or you, I'm used to it unfortunately and even if he stays out which is rare I still don't sleep more than about 4-5 hours

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Sam was prescribed melatonin from 2. He was sleeping for patchy half hours throughout the day and barely for three hours in any 24.

[Hence me paying cheerfully for him to be in a private special needs nursery. I would have gone insane from exhaustion without that]

 

The melatonin helped by over time pulling the few hours he does sleep into one block but it was not instant and increasing the dose did not make him sleep longer.

It helped him to learn to drift into sleep.

Ritalin and ConcertaXL where both tried but it amplified the paranoid side of his ASD and stopped Sam sleeping. Eek.

Yes it DID improve the ADHD but it made the ASD so in your face it prevented Sam from learning.

 

Sam does not settle down until 9pm. He is allowed to read his science books for an hour or play with his train sets as long as he stays in his room reasonably quietly. He can tell the time and knows that 10 pm is lie in bed time and look at pretty lights . For Sam soft diffusing lights playing on his ceiling help him calm down as does his hand held soft diffusing light (Thank you Au Natural!) Toys for the handicapped make ones suitable for children who destroy and dismantle everything but they cost one heck of a lot more than Sams.

 

Having a gradual slow down ritual helps him and us and he has a pecs symbol with times written by his door to double check if he gets anxious.

 

As a family we are very lucky, I do the night shift with Sam and Nathan until they both discover sleep at 12 ish then my husband does the early morning as he unlike me can get up at 4am.

My eldest daughter does a 'keep an eye on them' between 7-9am at the weekends in exchange for music lessons and other things she would like to do that she knows we would have to make an extra effort to let her do. we go back to bed .....to sleep!

 

Nothing makes Sam sleep more. All we could do when he was small was Sam proof the house to the best of our abilities so that every room and exit downstairs was locked and every window was locked upstairs. We had a hyper sensitive circuit breaker fixed and EVERY room has a smoke alarm and in Sams room is a carbon monoxide alarm just in case he has a science idea whilst we are asleep.

 

These days with his huge train set he stays in his room until 4am but you can still hear 'woowoooo' softly echoing through the night.

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wow how do u cope? my son who is 12 never goes to sleep before midnight and can often be heard talking to himself at 2 or so, I dont sleep cos im afraid he will wander around the house at night.

 

He does get up but makes himself something to drink, coke or something then goes back to bed.

 

 

I often wonder what would happen is someone broke in and found him wandering around, the mind boggles. :tearful:

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An entirely differnt approach is to use the optimeyes - changes arousal levels immediately for some.

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