The doctor questions whether this is related to the focalin he is taking. I know it is not. His history of not being able to fall asleep at night didn't just begin, it has existed as long as he has.
Even as a baby he would struggle to fall asleep and for many years he would wake up at night and cry out for me. Now that he's older, he simply entertains himself. Not with TV or Video Games. But with legos or pokemon figures.
I was asked how many hours of sleep he gets each night. It's a question I cannot accurately answer. (as I am asleep long before he is) I estimate eight. For his age (I am told) he needs 10-11. The constant shadows under his eyes seem to concur with that.
So what to do about this? As the peditrician and I discussed options, my son, just kept saying the hardest part for him is falling asleep. His mind doesn't shut off.
I wish I could say this is all new to me but we've been discussing it probably longer than the ADD diagnosis. We tried benadryl with no real result. There is the option of a sleep aid or now giving another (low) dose of focalin an hour before bedtime for the same result.
Geeze. As a parent you don't start out with that little baby thinking you'll be deciding what the best drugs are for them to take. Yet here I am. Doing just that. Watching my son listen to the options and being willing to try, bothers me too.
I relented. Agreed. We are going to try a very small dose of a seditive in liquid form that will put him out and we are going to move his bedtime to an earlier hour.
I know he needs more sleep. I know this is all part of helping him. That long road of trying different things and seeing what works and what doesn't. There is no magic solution, I keep telling myself that.
But a plateau would be nice, right about now.
4 comments:
Well...I don't know. Sounds like a spot between a rock and a hard place...
On one hand, I can understand you not wanting him to start on medication and the other, sounds like the boy needs help.
Good luck, girl!
I don't see anything wrong with a mild sedative. Especially if it will help him get some sleep. I'm a troubled sleeper, I feel crappy all day long when I can't sleep at night.
Good luck!
I will share with you what we have done with my son, who also has extreme sleep problems. First, from my own doctor, "When he is tired, he will sleep. It may not be at the most oportune moments, but he will sleep". With that being said, and with the doctors permission, we started giving my son 1 MG of Melatonin on school nights. It is not a medication, it is an over the counter herbal "supplement", for lack of a better term. It's completely natural, our bodies create melatonin on their own. And the 1 MG dose is a very small dose. It works nicely, it doesn't always put him to sleep "on time", but he did sleep better. I used it until he got onto his own sleep schedule, now he rarely takes it.
Talk to your doctor and find out what his/her thoughts on it are. It's even something that you can take, I've taken it and it does work, but I'm Asthmatic, and for some reason it seems to really trigger my Asthma, which is VERY VERY VERY rare!
Anyway, that's what I've done, just thought I'd share it with you! I will also tell you to stay away from a medication called Remeron. Several years ago, with my sons first doctor, her solution to EVERYTHING was "Lets up the dosage", and she had my son on a HUGE HUGE dose of Adderall XR. Ultimately it caused him to not sleep for days on end pretty much, so the Remeron was her solution to his not sleeping. Over a 6 month period of time he did sleep, but he also gained over 50 pounds. Thankfully the doc they have now is a firm believer in less is better!
OK, shutting up now...LOL! Good luck!
**huggles**
wow. you are facing such challenges, girl. I really feel for you. I can't imagine having to face these decisions. Hang in there.
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