Melatonin use

[ldjsue]

My son 8 yrs. old was taking Concerta for ADD but having much trouble sleeping at night. He has been on the same dose for 3 years and the rebound was awful with him getting only 7-8 hrs. sleep at night. The neurologist suggested melatonin 2-3mg. and within a few weeks he developed a finger sniffing tic. In doing research I found an article suggesting that melatonin is implicated in tics and Tourettes disorder. Has anyone had an experience with this?

 

Much thanks,

 

Ldjsue

[Guest Guest_efgh]

Claire uses melatonin for his son and he would able to give a lot of info on this. Does your son have trouble going to sleep or does he wake up in between?

By the way, what do you all think is the "ideal number of hours of sleep per day" for a 9 year old?

[Chemar]

My son is unable to tolerate melatonin at all as it increases his tics and also leaves him feeling "weird" My son has TS.

 

I know Claire has had succes using it in very low dose for her son...but it should be noted that her son is NOT diagnosed TS so that may make a difference in how melatonin affects tics.

[ldjsue]

Thanks for the responses. My son had trouble falling asleep - he'd be up till 11:00pm and then up at 6:30 -7:00am. I thought 10 hours is ideal for 7-8 year olds and that the stimulant was surely causing insomnia.

[Claire]

ldsue,

 

This is so individual. My son got tics from computer (no computer/screens, no tics), and had a terrible time sleeping at night, so his doctor give him only 1/3 mg of melatonin at night and it works beautifully. I feel strongly that the extra sleep helps him a lot.

 

But everyone is so different. I would suggest taking away the melatonin and seeing if his tics go away, then reintroducing and see if they come back. I know that much ADD medicine can bring about tics, plus many kids develop tic syndromes later in life.

 

I did a lot of research on Melatonin, and though many will rightfully have issues with no long term usage studies and the fact that it is a hormone, I saw nothing bad on tics for it. There were conflicting studies on it helping or hurting epilipsy. Could you please post the article you found on its relation to tics?

 

Does your child actually have Tourette's, or just ADD and some recent tics?

 

Claire

[Claire]

If you will look at EM doctor visit thread, you will see what I did find on Melatonin, including links to a discussion on another forum where someone did much more research than I did.

 

http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?...p?showtopic=411

 

Claire

[ldjsue]

Hi ,

 

 

This is the article I found on melatonin and TS. Check out the last sentence. My son has ADD and a movement disorder called shudderring attacks since infancy with a new onset of tics which began 2 weeks after starting the melatonin (which by the way worked beautifully for sleep). He has been taking Concerta 27mg. for 3 years with great results except the rebound and insomnia. I suspect he may have TS but of course the MD wants him off stimulants and said we'll see. It may resolve quickly or take months or not at all. I realize the likelyhood of TS is high given the comorbidity of other issues. He is sniffing his fingers alot and it looks so uncomfortable, my heart breaks for him.

 

The relationship of pineal calcification and melatonin secretion to the

pathophysiology of tardive dyskinesia and Tourette's syndrome.

 

Sandyk R, Kay SR.

 

Department of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore

Medical Center, Bronx, NY 10461.

 

Despite current intensive research, the pathophysiology of tardive

dyskinesia (TD), a serious neurological side effect of neuroleptic

treatment, is poorly understood. Prompted by the observation of an

increased incidence and severity of abnormal perioral movements in

neuroleptic-treated pinealectomized, as compared to intact rats, we

suggested that the pineal gland exerts a protective effect which mitigates

against the development of TD and, by inference, that reduced melatonin

secretion may be related to the pathophysiology of TD. To investigate this

proposition further, we studied the association of TD with pineal

calcification (PC) on CT scan in chronic schizophrenic patients. Our

findings revealed a significant association between TD and PC and suggest,

furthermore, that PC may be a neuroradiological marker of TD. Since PC may

reflect diminished secretory activity of the gland, these findings support

the hypothesis that the pathophysiology of TD is linked to disturbances of

melatonin secretion. The clinical and therapeutic implications of these

novel findings are discussed. In the following communication, in which we

introduce the hypothesis that disturbances of 5-HT and melatonin secretion

are related to the pathophysiology of TD. Subsequently, we present a series

of studies which relate to the association of TD with PC. We conclude by

presenting the hypothesis that disturbances in melatonin secretion may also

be relevant to the pathophysiology of Tourette's syndrome.

 

Publication Types:

· Case Reports

· Clinical Trial

· Randomized Controlled Trial

· Review

· Review, Tutorial

 

PMID: 1365044 [PubMed]

[Claire]

ldsue,

 

I just saw this post, thanks. I interpreted the last line and the article quite differently. It was problems with Melatonin SECRETION that might be related to a TS pathway, and in fact, early the article states there is a problem with PC caused REDUCED melatonin secretion.

 

Melatonin is a powerful antioxidant which compares with L-glutathione. L-glutathione is important in reducing elevation of heavy metals. My son's DAN doctor discussed this with me. Supplementing with Melatonin would actually be a potential solution to the problem that the article discusses. The fact that your sons new tics started 2 weeks after the melatonin seems like a long time to me.

 

However, his DAN doctor also said that given the lack of controls for over the counter supplements, he felt many brands were suspect (I think it was due to impurities). If you read the environment doctor thread (he is both a DAN and EM doctor), you can compare brands.

 

Having said this, I have 2 disclaimers: 1) I am not a doctor and you need to reach your own conclusions or discuss this article with your doctor. 2) Every child is different. Chemar's child reacted poorly to Melatonin, and did well on 5HTP, while my son responded to Melatonin and reactly poorly to 5 HTP. Again, if you are concerned, I would suggest stopping it and looking for improvement within a week. Then depending on the results, reintroduce it and see if the problems occur again. I personally am still concerned about giving it to my son long term. If he sleeps in the dark again, then I will experiment with withdrawing it over the summer. As it was, I kept cutting back the dose until I found the minimum to have impact (1/3 mg).

 

As for TV/computer, that is a very personal decision. efgh had their TV 'break'. Jean told their child it wasn't good for their child's eyes. Heather had 'no screen week' at the school. Our computer did break and I didn't fix it immediately (he wasn't watching TV then anyway). jcand...'s child was 3 and never noticed the difference. So not one of us has removed it directly in relation to tics--e.g. no punishment.

 

IF you think TV/computer is a concern, can't you just have a no screen week at your home? Nothing to do with tics? I don't believe that this is a cause for every child, and like Heather and others here, think the screen trigger will be reduced substantially once the underlying health issues are addressed.

 

Claire

[Guest Guest_teach1]

HI! I have Ts, am 49 years old, and have been using melatonin for quite a while, I only take 1/2 tab at night but i find it helps me sleep,as I am a very 'speedy' person . (My Dr thinks I have ADD as well, however, at my age, I am not willing to change my personality with medication, I am quite used to it by now!) After reading that clinical article, it sounded to me as though perhaps people with not enough secretions of melatonin have problems with Ts, although they did not really say too much or too little secretion. It's difficult to say what caused the tics, very often ADD goes with Tourette's Syndrome, but not necessarily the other way around. It could be transient tics that kids go through at that age and then disappear, my son had a vocal tic, sort of a grunt that he did for 2 years, and then it went away, it's been 6 years now and there have been no more tics. Best of luck to you! teach 1