Guest guest Posted December 22, 2003 Report Share Posted December 22, 2003 Hi, . Clonidine is a blood pressure medication when given to adults and a sleep aid when given to children. My youngest daughter, , has taken it for over a year now to help her fall asleep at night. When it was given to her, the doctor told us that it has been used on children for years with very few side effects. We give her half a tablet one hour before she goes to bed and she drops off without any trouble. When we miss it, she will still be awake hours later. We have always battled sleep with . She was diagnosed with OCD at seven but had symptoms as a toddler. One symptom was the fact that she never slept--not even as an infant. We did work with her for years to teach her first to sleep regular hours (instead of two am on) and then to fall asleep on her own. Both things took literally years and we were very proud to have done it. At seven, when she had her diagnosing episode following a broken wrist, she stopped being able to fall asleep. She was given Zyprexa first, which is an anti-psychotic drug and after almost two years we switched her to Clonidine. She also takes 100 mg of Luvox and .25 mg of Risperdal. My other daughter, Hannah, is thirteen and was diagnosed with OCD at eleven (after hiding her symptoms for a year) following an emergency appendectomy. She takes 300 mg of Luvox and 15 mg of Abilify. I don't know what we would do without the Clonidine. It is wonderful to put to bed and know that she will wake up refreshed (and that I will too.) Kelley in NV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 24, 2003 Report Share Posted December 24, 2003 You are so right, . The decision to use medication is a tough one. My youngest daughter has been taking meds since she was seven (three years now) and I would never go back. She went from being non-functioning to normal-to-the-naked-eye. My other daughter, Hannah, has proven to be less responsive to the meds and I do wonder at times if they help at all. I then remember the endless hours of washing and I realize that they are helping, just not as much as I hoped they would. Today is a bit of an anniversary for us--it was three years ago Christmas Eve that 's symptoms hit the highest note. I had been struggling with her for weeks and my folks came into town and kept her for me while I went to the movies. When I got home, my dad and husband were putting a new hot water heater in for me (wonderful job on Christmas Eve) and my mom was standing at the sink with , handing her an endless supply of paper towles while washed non-stop. She became more and more aggitated as the day wore on and we eventually sedated her. Ah, how things have changed! I hope everyone out there has a good holiday. Kelley in NV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 24, 2003 Report Share Posted December 24, 2003 , After reading all the discussions about how to get kids into their own bedrooms and asleep, I had to add my two cents worth. We let Angie sleep in our bedroom. She's 6 1/2 and has her own bed along one wall of our bedroom. It works for us. My feeling is that she battles anxiety all day long. If she's happy to go to sleep in our room (which she is) and has a good sleep (which she does), then it's worth it to us. If she gets cold or has a bad dream, then she crawls into our bed with us and goes back to sleep. I realize that some couples would feel this infringes on their privacy, but my husband and I see it as a minor inconvenience given the benefits to my daughter. Just another point of view ... Sue in Phoenix mforney445 wrote: > Kelley, > I am so happy that the medication is working so well for your > daughter. I can't imagine struggling for that long with the sleep > issue. We have had trouble with our son's sleeping patterns from > infancy until now. > > I've read everything I could find re: helping one's child to sleep > and it hasn't proven fruitful. Nevertheless, we're going to keep on > trucking and once I change my mindset and accept the fact that > medication may be part of the answer, I'll get more educated about > clonidine. It is so difficult for me to come to terms with the need > for medication... but the day will come. > in AZ > > > > Our list archives, bookmarks, files, and chat feature may be accessed > at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group// . > Our list advisors are Gail B. , Ed.D., Tamar Chansky, Ph.D., > Aureen Pinto Wagner, Ph.D., and Dan Geller, M.D. Our list moderators > are Birkhan, Castle, Fowler, Kathy Hammes, > Joye, Kathy Mac, Gail Pesses, Kathy , Vivian Stembridge, > and Jackie Stout. Subscription issues or suggestions may be > addressed to Louis Harkins, list owner, at louisharkins@... , > louisharkins@... , louisharkins@... . > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > * Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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