Re: new here SLEEP AIDE melatonin .....

[Guest guest]

have any of you tried Melatonin to aide in sleep ? It works well for

lots of people and seems to be very effective for our kids .I used to

have some great links but have lost them here are a few to get you

started though .you can get time released meatonin at most health food

stores.

hth's,

http://www.autism.org/melatonin.html

http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/medicine_cabinet/melatonin_sleep_problem

s.html

WHEN? It should be given only once a day, about half an hour before

the regular sleep-time. Supplementing with additional melatonin in the

middle of the night may be effective, but it is not a smart policy,

for that can shift the biological clock in chaotic and undesirable

ways.

HOW MUCH? Although melatonin is very safe (people have consumed grams

each day for many day with no ill effects), very small amount can go a

long way. Commercially available preparations usually come in 2.5 or 3

milligram (mg) tablets, and a young child should do well on a third of

this amount. The higher amounts will produce deeper sleep, but the

hormone may still be circulating at quite high levels in the morning,

and there are reasons to believe that is undesirable.

POTENCY CHANGE? Melatonin usually does not diminish in its effects

even with prolong use, but for unknown reasons, this is not the case

in all individuals. If a low dose of melatonin that has been effective

for some time seems to be losing its effect (i.e., tolerance is

setting in), one is wiser to stop giving the supplement for a while

rather than increasing the dose. Some parents seek to restore the

desired effects by increasing the doses, but that only seems to

intensify the tolerance process. It is better to take a week to a

month off, and then see whether sensitivity has returned. In our

experience, sensitivity is usually restored in this way. Many autistic

children that have been receiving melatonin on a regular schedule

appear to exhibit benefits above and beyond the improvements in sleep.

They are more " with it " during the day. These may be the side-benefits

of the still mysterious restorative processes that sleep provides for

all of us. Additional benefits may arise

from the stabilization of body rhythms that may have been out of

synch before the melatonin supplementation.

Although we do know that melatonin and sleep have many bodily

benefits, we do not have adequate evidence about the many " hows and

whys. " Our knowledge of such matters has not progressed much beyond

Shakespeare's speculation that the function of sleep is " to knit up

the raveled sleeve of care " even though modern thinkers are more

likely to suggest that " sleep restores brain neurochemistries and

other bodily resources that have been depleted by waking activities. "

Melatonin appears to be a prime guardian of such restorative

processes, and without it, our lives become raveled indeed. It is

likely that the for presently unknown reasons, the brains of some

autistic children are deficient in this important chemistry. If so,

early supplementation with this hormone may be essential for

normalizing development. Unfortunately we know little about such

matters, and only future research can give us the answers that we

desperately need now.

> >

> Hi Hope, 's doctor put her on the clonidine to help her go

> to sleep, it is a blood pressure medication that slows down the

> heart rate and makes her sleepy, I hate giving it to her because

> she had some heart problems at birth but her doc assured me that

> she would have no long term problems taking this and so far she

> seems to do well with it. We tried benadryl when she was small and

> eventually it stopped working. We tried adderal and for some

> reason it made her very agitated. Our problem is that she is not

> always out of control so she doesnt need a daily medication we

> just need something temporary for when she does get out of control

> but her doctors say there isnt anything she can take on a

> temporary basis,Maybe someone in the group knows of something we

> can try.For now we just get through it somehow. Sharon

>

>