My son is currently on 36mg of Concerta once a day taken in the morning between 7:00am-7:15am. He has been on the medication now for just over two months. At the end of December he had trouble sleeping, I did not think much of it as it was holiday time etc...Well this past week he has started to not sleep again. It has only been 4 nights but I am not sure what to do and what not to do. Friday night we let him sleep with us, not a big deal, except I did not get much sleep. Saturday night he stayed over at a cousins and had a hard time sleeping, again not a big deal as it was someone else's house. Sunday night, I was so tired, my husband, his Dad went and slept with him. And this happened again last night. It just does not work with the three of us sleeping in one bed. What should I do tonight??? Last night he was awake at about 11pm, which was just two and half hours before he went to bed even though he probably did not get to sleep until 9:30pm. He says he had a bad dream, but won't talk about it. I think he thinks we will yell at him or something, as it is a little frustrating in the middle of the night! But I keep telling him Mama just wants to know what is going on! I don't think it is the meds as it has not happened every night since he has been on the meds which was early December if not late November. I am just so worried about him. And know he needs his sleep. Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated. I was even thinking that maybe we should just let him sleep in our room on the floor in his sleeping bag. And the past four nights he has not watched anything disturbing on TV before bed. I don't think he is hungry. I don't know...PLEASE HELP. THANKS.
I asked the school counselor to talk to my son about this as she sees him once a week for lunch anyways.
This is what she told me on the phone late this afternoon.
There is a scary big tall not fat monster with purple hair and three eyes that
is scaring him!!!!!! The monster lives under his bed and has been scaring him since he started 3rd grade.
lives under his bed. And when he is with Mom and Dad the monster is not there.
The monster does not go after him and does not have long fingernails or
anything!
NOW WHAT???????? Asking for new advice now!!!!! PLEASE HELP!
Its the concerta and his diagnosis. My daughter is on it too. A small dose of melatonin and a weighted blanket work wonders! The blankets are pricey, so I made my daughters. The weight should be 10% of his body weight. If you want one made, we can discuss a discounted price.
Not sure if you will entertain this advice, but here goes....
I say, go to a Naturopath to help CURE the ADHD issue with appropriate diet and natural supplements, remove the MEDS from your son. The meds are just masking the ADHD, not curing it.
Please do your son this favor and get him some natural help.
Best,
J.
It is common for kids on stimulants to have trouble falling asleep at night - my 11 yr old son did until we switched to Tenex which is not a stimulant. At any rate, this is what helped my son:
- same routine every night is important - he will find this comforting
- 30-60 mins before lights out we get him a drink milk and give him 1 mg of melatonin - our pediatrician said it is safe.
- we read to him or had him read to himself in bed
- before turning lights out we put on CD of calming classical music.
By the end of the CD, he would be asleep most nights. There are times he still has a hard time falling asleep and it is usually before something big like xmas, halloween, birthday or testing at school. Sometimes it would be because he was stressed out/ having trouble at school, etc. So it helps to talk a lot and try to pinpoint what is going on. I also find that if I keep him active he sleeps better - swimming, taekwondo, baseball, etc.
I hope this is somewhat helpful - Good luck!
M.
Call the MD who is prescribing the Concerta and ask if your son can take it at night instead of the morning. Several of my students' have switched to pm dosages for the same reason. It has something to do with the absorption into the system and how quickly the body metabolizes the medication. I would also suggest making sure that the bedtime routine is consistent and that the whole house slows down for an extended period before trying to get your son to sleep.
Children with ADHD are not able to slow their brains at night and wake more frequently than the rest of us. Try playing soft music or white noise and keeping the room very dark. It may help to keep him from "hearing" every noise in the house!
Good luck and call your doc!
Insomnia and nervousness can be relatively common side effects of Concerta. It is more common in the patch/extended release form, than in the pill form. if he is getting the once a day pill form - it is suggested that it be given at least 6 hours before bedtime. iF he is getting the patch, you could ask if he could switch to the pill. Or he may need to try a different treatment. I'd suggest speaking with his doctor - if the symptoms haven't gone away by now, they may not at all. GOod luck
My son went through the same thing when he was that age. It turned out he was afraid someone was going to come in and hurt me or his dad and then he wouldn't have a mommy or a daddy. I still do not know where the fear came from but what we did was ( I know this is deceiving but it worked)I took an portable intercom system we had in the basement and put it near his bed. I told him that it was an alarm and that if anyone came into the house it would go off and mommy and daddy would rush right to him so no one could hurt any of us. Sometimes children don't know what has scared them and they can really relate to something visual rather then me just telling him he would be fine. This fake alarm made him feel safe and he never had a problem after that sleeping. After two months of waking up we were desperate and thought this up. I don't believe in lying to my kids but his fear was so real to him and I didn't know how else to make him feel safe other then sleeping with him. Which is really something I didn't want to start. He may have heard something at school or it could have been something on TV he had seen that to us is not a big deal but to him it was frightening. My son is now 24 and I just told him the truth last year. We had a good laugh over it and he understood how desperate we were at the time. He remembers driving my husband and I crazy with no sleep!!! I would try to ask him what he is afraid of and maybe you can read between the lines. Good luck!!
If he's having bad dreams, keep trying to talk to him about it...I'd mention that to your doctor too as that was a concern I read with the meds - not so much nightmares, but hallucinations, nervousness, sleep problems - the information said to talk to your doctor.
A., my son is also on Concerta but is on 72mg in the morning. He is 4 days shy of turning 13 and has been on these meds for some time. When I mentioned the not sleeping thing to his doctor they suggested Guanfacine (generic for Tenex) just 1mg one tab twice a day in am and pm. I think its for blood pressure (if I'm not mistaken) and it has improved his sleeping habits i have since reduced the amount to one tab a day in the am and it still helps. Before we started this med he would be put to bed at 8pm (thats a BIG rule for school nights) but wouldn't fall asleep until after 10 sometimes 11. and then was so sluggish in the am, so I called and thats what they gave me. I hope this helps you a little. Oh I wanted to add too that if the doctor hasn't mentioned it to you yet you should also have an EKG done on him to make sure his heart can handle the sports. Just check into it. Good Luck.
Stef F.
Your son’s problems with sleeping at night are a side effect of Concerta. Anything you do to remedy the side effect of Concerta will just lead to more long term negative side effects.
Many doctors will just prescribe more medications to cover up the symptoms that their original prescriptions created. This creates a “good patient” as they are creating the need to see you and your son over and over again without a cure in site.
I would ask your doctor if Concerta or any other psychiatric drugs have ever CURED anyone. They will tell you that there is no cure for mental illness. A point which I do not believe but ask yourself, if their methods do not lead to a cure than why subject your son to so many potential side effects if they will not lead to a cure.
I urge you to do your own research at what the side effects of these powerful psychiatric drugs are and look at the long term potential damage that these drugs do to children.
Go to www.cchr.org to learn more.
Educate yourself for the best interest of your son.
Good Luck.
Hi A.,
My kids are still younger, so I'm not sure if I'll be any help, but maybe there is something going on with him in school...It may be worth it to call his teacher and have a converstaion about him...just a thought...
Best wishes to you both
J.
add, adhd meds can keep you up at night. it's not unusual.
talk with the dr.
Sorry your son is not sleeping well! That's h*** o* everyone! We went through this a couple years ago when my son was 2. You have to let him sleep in his own bed. When he comes in your room, just gently steer him back to his own bed. It will be hard the first few nights. But it will be worth it. Otherwise, he'll never sleep in his own bed! Good luck!
