Sleep Disorders?

[kat]

I'm wondering if anyone has experience dealing with severe sleep disorders, and has found any relief from them. My nine year-old son has had night terrors since the age of 2 or 3. He was diagnosed with Tourettes at the age of 5. He has also been diagnosed with a generalized anxiety disorder, while also showing signs of inattentiveness, and depression.

 

The night terrors used to occur about 5 times per week, but during the past year they've been constant. He usually wakes up screaming every night, sometimes many times per night. The resulting lack of deep, restorative sleep has really increased his other symptoms. The horrible images that he sees in his sleep also make him afraid to be alone -- he panics if someone is not with him during the night. He receives cognitive behavioral therapy to teach him to relax and sleep on his own, but it hasn't made a difference.

 

We've tried melatonin and Natural Calm. A month ago, we started him on Clonidine. It seems to help the night terrors, but he still wakes up during the night in a panic, and has begun to have intense early morning nightmares, which are a side-effect of Clonidine. (Nightmares are different than night terrors and occur during a different stage of sleep, I believe.)

 

I plan to discontinue the Clonidine after I've discussed it with my son's doctor. She mentioned trying Klonopin next, but what I've read about this drug frightens me to no end. Instead, I plan to try a food elimination diet to see if it helps. I really feel like a good night's sleep would make my son's other symptoms very manageable. In the meantime, we're both very, very tired!

[colleenrn]

Kat-

Have you ruled out PANDAS? My daughter used to get night terrors whenever she had strep. Have you ever posted your child's history on the PANDAS section of this forum?

 

Colleen