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Sleep Problems during Exacerbation


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My ds12 is on his second cough (virus/bacteria) since getting diagnosed. The first one, we were able to get abx with a day and he recouperated fairly well. This time, he did not get the abx for 2 days and his PANDA symptoms have really ramped up and sleeping is his major anxiety trigger right now. He asked me to see if any of you have any ideas that we have not tried.

 

We have tried reading to him, hot baths, movies, talking, and papaya. He is on abx, naproxen, and naturopathic/homeopathic vitamins.

 

Any help would be appreciated!

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Hi - yeh, melatonin is great at getting my kids to sleep too but I can't find anything that will keep them asleep. My dd gets "bad thoughts" as she falls asleep, even during mild times, that really make her anxious. She loves that the melatonin knocks her out quickly. I'll even use it in the middle of the night if both wake up and it all goes to ######, to get both back to sleep, otherwise we could be up for the night.

 

So far though, nothing will stop them waking. We tried valerian and GABA for our dd which seemed to do nothing and for our ds it made things worse, he seemed to have a paradoxical reaction to both.

 

I'd be interested in anything that'll keep them asleep....

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WE did melatonin alone for a long time, but with the last exacerbation we added 5htp as well. We do 100mg of 5htp and 1.5mg melatonin for my 13 year old. The combination seems just right and I do notice a better mood the next day with the melatonin (fewer meltdowns / more tolerant)

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Graceunderpressure - I haven't tried the time release to date 'cos I had assumed that it was in pill form and so far neither of my kids can swallow pills but would love to give it a go when they are willing to do so. It may be worth trying.. my ds3 is the really bad sleeper. How young can kids be taught to swallow pills whole?

 

thanks..

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dut, that depends on the child. Physical development & the ability for them to understand the idea to swallow without chewing are major, but their temperament plays a huge part as well.

 

My now 7yo son, who always wants to be doing what everyone else is doing, learned at age 3. My youngest who is now 4 & is much more "his own man" only just learned a few months ago. But my two youngest have always seen the rest of us taking pills so they pretty much took it in stride - I guess one of those "I'm a big kid now!" kind of things, lol! Those sippy cups do seem helpful for teaching them as well because of the way they have to put their mouth when they drink.

 

OTOH, my dd struggled for a long time with it (I did, too, I was still taking chewable multi-vitamins when I was 18!) - she was 10 when we started taking supplements & pretty resistant. But she has always been oppositional & she probably would have been resistant no matter what the age, sigh. (I used to have to pin her down as a toddler to brush her teeth - it was awful. Those of you who have to deal with oppositional-defiance have my complete sympathy!) She's 15 now & can take pills en masse, but if she can avoid them, even if it means sneaking them into the garbage when no one's looking, she will.

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What about early waking, guys? Almost every fall my ds experiences an early waking problem. It's funny because he sleeps well the rest of the year but the change in seasons really gets to him and he wakes around 6-6:30 but would like to sleep until 7 or 7:30. Sometimes it's anxiety related but he also has the same problem as me; once we wake in the AM we don't fall back to sleep. He does not have any trouble actually falling asleep at night and he sleeps soundly all night long.

 

Thanks

Bonnie

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OK here is our sleep arsenal for exacerbations as my DS' tics can get so bad at night he (we) cannot sleep at all.

 

Magnesium citrate powder "natural calm" can get in health food store, super helps.

 

Inflamaway by Natura health products in am and pm, helps reduce the inflammatory thing so that my son doesn't run off and pour himself a handful on motrin in the middle of the night.

 

Tranquil Sleep by Natural Factors

 

And something we recently added but i don't know if its right for your child, but our pediatrician's office also has acupuncture /chinese herbalist and she put my son on this "coptis purge fire" and it has helped not only with his sleep and tics but with his skin rashes as well, just in the past few days, as he was coming off of a steroid burst and having so many rebound tics and sleep problems. When i looked up the coptis formula it says it is specific for infections like strep in the throat head sinus etc.

 

Anyway i hope this gives you some ideas, and good luck.

amy

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Graceunderpressure - I haven't tried the time release to date 'cos I had assumed that it was in pill form and so far neither of my kids can swallow pills but would love to give it a go when they are willing to do so. It may be worth trying.. my ds3 is the really bad sleeper. How young can kids be taught to swallow pills whole?

 

thanks..

Hi Dut:

 

My dh got a spray from Whole Foods from Source Naturals called "NutraSpray Melatonin". One spray in the mouth is 1.5 mg (time release). Will try tonight and let you know how it works.

Edited by JuliaFaith
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My ds12 is on his second cough (virus/bacteria) since getting diagnosed. The first one, we were able to get abx with a day and he recouperated fairly well. This time, he did not get the abx for 2 days and his PANDA symptoms have really ramped up and sleeping is his major anxiety trigger right now. He asked me to see if any of you have any ideas that we have not tried.

 

We have tried reading to him, hot baths, movies, talking, and papaya. He is on abx, naproxen, and naturopathic/homeopathic vitamins.

 

Any help would be appreciated!

Did you try Epsom Salts in the bath? It really helps! Many times trouble sleeping has to do with magnesium deficiency, so replenishing magnesium via a hot Epsom Salt baths is very relaxing. When I am restless and can't sleep, I take a couple of calcium/magnesium pills and it makes me settle down very quickly. So you could try that as a supplement as well. It works best if you break it up during the day, rather than taking all of it at once, as you can't really assimilate a large those.

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Did you try Epsom Salts in the bath? It really helps! Many times trouble sleeping has to do with magnesium deficiency, so replenishing magnesium via a hot Epsom Salt baths is very relaxing. When I am restless and can't sleep, I take a couple of calcium/magnesium pills and it makes me settle down very quickly. So you could try that as a supplement as well. It works best if you break it up during the day, rather than taking all of it at once, as you can't really assimilate a large those.

This is very interesting since we do use this in the bath for his aching muscles. Never really knew why. We are trying this as I write. Thank you so much. Best wishes - Julia

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