Sleep aids

[SAR2011]

My son is 5 yrs old and 50 lbs and we've been unable to find any prescription that effectively allows him to fall asleep and/or sleep through the night. His anxiety seems to spike as bedtime approaches.

We've tried ambien, doxepin, melatonin, clonazepam, clonidine, etc, but we've been wildly unsuccessful in finding the answer. We've also driven him around in the car for up to 2 hrs in an effort to get him down but nothing is working at this point. And when we do finally get him to sleep, he usually wakes up 4-5 hours later and then is up & down through morning. It seems as if he simply cannot turn his mind off at night.

Does anyone have any suggestions for something that has worked well in helping young children with extremely high anxiety sleep?

Thank you in advance.

Edited December 31, 2016 by SAR2011

[Gpookie]

Magnesium.

[SAR2011]

Magnesium.

 

Gpookie - thank you for responding. Any particular brand/dosage that worked best for you or are they all essentially the same? Did you find it more effective for getting them to sleep or keeping them asleep (or both)? Thx again

[MomWithOCDSon]

While I wouldn't recommend any of them for long-term use, we found (incidentally) that a number of the "heavy-hitter" anti-psychotics can have a significant tranquilizing impact. Stuff like Seroquel and Risperadol. Again, I personally don't care for them and wouldn't recommend them for any kind of ongoing use; however, I've seen for myself that they can provide some much needed relief and rest for the kid and the family on an occasional or short-term basis. Sometimes, desperate times call for desperate measures, especially when all the other interventions have proven to be of no avail.

[KLW]

Hi - I see you listed melatonin, but have you tried 5HTP? In very general terms, it is a precursor to the production of serotonin, which is converted to melatonin when it is time to get sleepy (think tryptophan+B6 > 5HTP > Serotonin > Melatonin) . If 5HTP is low, then serotonin won't be made and there will be no bioavailability for conversion to melatonin.

 

We battled going-to-sleep issues for years before we tried melatonin. He would normally not be able to fall asleep until 2 or 3am. I, too, would drive around for hours until I realized it took him the same amount of hours to fall asleep in his room, so I stopped wasting the gas. Remember, with supplements brand matters as there is no consistency among brands/manufacturers as there are with medications. We use Dr. Amy Yasko's Melatonin Sleep Spray. It was a life-saver. While I'm aware that one is not supposed to use melatonin long-term so as to not mess with the body's natural rhythm, he had NO rhythm so I have had no problem with staying on it for years. Then last year we were introduced to 5HTP by our integrative MD. While he wasn't waking in the night I didn't realize he wasn't sleeping deeply until we started the 5HTP and his sleep quality went way up. I, too, began taking it and it did amazing things for anxiety (that I was really close to speaking with my doctor about) and joint pain (which I was attributing to age) as well as sleep quality and elimination of racing anxious thoughts when trying to fall asleep. I love the stuff. We use Ortho Molecular Products 5HTP. It is worth reading up on it to see if it might be for you.

[SAR2011]

Hi - I see you listed melatonin, but have you tried 5HTP? In very general terms, it is a precursor to the production of serotonin, which is converted to melatonin when it is time to get sleepy (think tryptophan+B6 > 5HTP > Serotonin > Melatonin) . If 5HTP is low, then serotonin won't be made and there will be no bioavailability for conversion to melatonin.

 

We battled going-to-sleep issues for years before we tried melatonin. He would normally not be able to fall asleep until 2 or 3am. I, too, would drive around for hours until I realized it took him the same amount of hours to fall asleep in his room, so I stopped wasting the gas. Remember, with supplements brand matters as there is no consistency among brands/manufacturers as there are with medications. We use Dr. Amy Yasko's Melatonin Sleep Spray. It was a life-saver. While I'm aware that one is not supposed to use melatonin long-term so as to not mess with the body's natural rhythm, he had NO rhythm so I have had no problem with staying on it for years. Then last year we were introduced to 5HTP by our integrative MD. While he wasn't waking in the night I didn't realize he wasn't sleeping deeply until we started the 5HTP and his sleep quality went way up. I, too, began taking it and it did amazing things for anxiety (that I was really close to speaking with my doctor about) and joint pain (which I was attributing to age) as well as sleep quality and elimination of racing anxious thoughts when trying to fall asleep. I love the stuff. We use Ortho Molecular Products 5HTP. It is worth reading up on it to see if it might be for you.

 

 

I haven't tried it (or heard of it) but will certainly look into it. At first glance, it looks like it only comes in capsule form. Is that right? That may be an issue for our son but worth a shot. Thank you for responding.

[Gpookie]

My kids get 400mg magnesium per day. We just go by what's on sale, but mostly citrate.

 

The recommendation is to start at 200mg and uncrease until you get diarrhea and then go to the highest dose that didn't cause diarrhea.

[NancyD]

We tried everything and what I found most helpful for my DD is Glysom, which consists of glycine, an amino acid critical for deep sleep. My DD has low levels of glycine. I pour a packet into a bottle of water and have her drink 1/2 at 8:30 pm and the other half at 11:00 pm when she takes her nighttime pills and she sleeps right through to morning.

 

http://www.glysom.com