melatonin

[Guest guest]

Thanks for responding! I appreciate it,

nope Sara, I am not overwhelmed, I am very appreciative! I am having trouble

getting any advice/info from DR's, apparently Kaiser doesn't treat Autistic

children, and are absolutely NOT interested in any of the possible treatment

plans out there. It has been a frustrating battle, and I just know that I

need something to start working.

I didn't know that ritalin takes that long...will keep it up, hopefully it

will start helping him collect his thoughts rather than making him struggle

as he is now. We are kind of in a tough spot here because he has really

gotten aggressive. I was OK when it was only directed at me, but his little

sister is going to end up getting really hurt. I just haven't got a clue on

how to teach him some other ways to express his anger/frustration, that don't

include pushing his sister down the stairs, pulling out her hair, scratching,

kicking, biting, or flipping furniture.

Things here have actually have been pretty mellow here lately. Same money

problems as the rest of you, but I am happy to have my house, my cars, and my

family, My heart goes out to you Tina! I hope you find a better place soon!

They say all things have a reason, and maybe you were meant to find a better

place!

I just would love to get a whole nights sleep! My kids never had good sleep

habits anyway, born late at night, and always went to sleep late at night! I

never have a moment without someone up, so things NEVER get done here!

, I had to chuckle about giving your daughter the melatonin, I was

thinking the same about mine! My neighbors are always amazed to see my kids

up at night, their kids go to bed at 7:30-8, and sleep until 8 the next

morning.....they finished their basement in the evening while the children

slept....I laughed, I sweep the floor and throw in laundry at 11:30 or so

every night! could use some better sleep habits!

Thanks

Jenn

[Guest guest]

Jacquie,

Where do you get the liquid form? LOL..snoozy

juice..how cute!

Mimi

--- doops_shmoops wrote:

> -Greggory and alec both use melatonin. We use the

> liquid form and put

> it in their juice of soda at night. It helps them

> fall asleep about 1

> hours after they take it. Clonidine worked for alec

> for about a yr

> but then stopped. Greggory will even ask for

> melatonin when he cant

> get to sleep on his own. He calls it " snoozy juice "

>

> Jacquie H

>

>

> -- In parenting_autism@y..., MomsEscape@a... wrote:

> > Hi, I am curious about the melatonin that I have

> heard a bunch of

> you

> > mention. Is this the same stuff you can buy at

> the drug store?

> How much do

> > you all give?

> > How do you get it in your child? Isn't it a pill

> to swallow?

> > Braedon (just turned 4) was given clonidine for

> bedtime, it says

> catapres

> > 0.1mg on the bottle, and I give him 1/2 a

> tablet.....well it is a

> joke, still

> > going to bed around midnight-if lucky, and waking

> a few times

> during the

> > night, and no he never naps during the day. The

> doctor also

> prescribed

> > ritalin during the day, well my son is not ADD or

> ADHD, but the DR

> thought it

> > might help curb the temper/mood swings, and maybe

> make him more

> alert. Nope,

> > doing non of the above. I know he has only been

> on both of these

> for 3 days,

> > but if anything Braedon is more lethargic, and

> having more trouble

> putting

> > his thoughts into words. I go back in 2 weeks,

> and will probably

> try

> > something new, but I am exhausted (don't know how

> you are doing it

> Jacque).

> > I have my physical tomorrow where I will ask for

> anti depressants

> too. Ugh,

> > already shaking over it.

> > I am trying flylady now too....ok, I have a shiny

> sink, but the

> rest of the

> > house is in shambles..........my DH is being sweet

> (or sarcastic?)

> enough to

> > notice that the sink is still clean........do any

> of you flyers

> have any

> > advice for a newbie?

> > Thanks

> > Jenn

>

>

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

I get it from the health food store in town. A small family run

place. I just asked if they could stock a bottle of 2 for me every

month and they did and now they stock it all the time and alot

because so many other people have started buying it. I guess noone

ever asked them to stock it before!

Jacquie H

Its made by source naturals.

> > > Hi, I am curious about the melatonin that I have

> > heard a bunch of

> > you

> > > mention. Is this the same stuff you can buy at

> > the drug store?

> > How much do

> > > you all give?

> > > How do you get it in your child? Isn't it a pill

> > to swallow?

> > > Braedon (just turned 4) was given clonidine for

> > bedtime, it says

> > catapres

> > > 0.1mg on the bottle, and I give him 1/2 a

> > tablet.....well it is a

> > joke, still

> > > going to bed around midnight-if lucky, and waking

> > a few times

> > during the

> > > night, and no he never naps during the day. The

> > doctor also

> > prescribed

> > > ritalin during the day, well my son is not ADD or

> > ADHD, but the DR

> > thought it

> > > might help curb the temper/mood swings, and maybe

> > make him more

> > alert. Nope,

> > > doing non of the above. I know he has only been

> > on both of these

> > for 3 days,

> > > but if anything Braedon is more lethargic, and

> > having more trouble

> > putting

> > > his thoughts into words. I go back in 2 weeks,

> > and will probably

> > try

> > > something new, but I am exhausted (don't know how

> > you are doing it

> > Jacque).

> > > I have my physical tomorrow where I will ask for

> > anti depressants

> > too. Ugh,

> > > already shaking over it.

> > > I am trying flylady now too....ok, I have a shiny

> > sink, but the

> > rest of the

> > > house is in shambles..........my DH is being sweet

> > (or sarcastic?)

> > enough to

> > > notice that the sink is still clean........do any

> > of you flyers

> > have any

> > > advice for a newbie?

> > > Thanks

> > > Jenn

> >

> >

>

>

> __________________________________________________

>

[Guest guest]

It's maybe a silly question but I'm foreign. What's flylady? I am taking

anti depressants too. I stop taking them and got headaches and started to

feel cranky. My daughter's asked me about the medication a suggested that it

would be good to me to find a hobby a go to therapy to work some issues

about myself (alcoholic father who is death, some aggression in my family

during my childhood and adolescent). When I told her I wasn't taking it she

told me that I was not suppose to do that because you have to leave the

medicine gradually. I didn't tell her about my moods and headache, since she

's not my shrink. So today I take half of the doses and I am feeling really

exciting. It's like being bipolar. Do all these make any sense?

Cecilia from Peru, who is trying to keep track of the messages with no luck.

mom to Dessiree 3y (no dx, with some autistic traits not severe though)

-----Mensaje original-----

De: The Byks

Enviado el: Miercoles, 07 de Agosto de 2002 01:34 p.m.

Para: parenting_autism

Asunto: RE: melatonin

Hi Jenn,

>>Hi, I am curious about the melatonin that I have heard a bunch of you

mention. Is this the same stuff you can buy at the drug store? How much do

you all give?

Well, I get mine at the health food store. It comes in pills and also in a

liquid, usually in a spray bottle.

I put the pills in a jelly bean or other soft candy - gum drops, circus

peanuts - and Mikey takes them that way. He actually likes the spray and

will open his mouth for it. Others put the liquid in a drink. You can also

crush the pill and mix it into something.

There are two types of melatonin - time released and non-time released. If

you don't have luck with one, try the other. You can even give them both.

The standard dose is 3mg. Some people can use less than that. Some people

need more. Our developmental ped told us to use 3mg of time released and

3mg of non-time released. That works pretty well for us.

>>Braedon (just turned 4) was given clonidine for bedtime, it says catapres

0.1mg on the bottle, and I give him 1/2 a tablet.....

That is the absolute smallest dose. You can go WAY up from there. Call

your dr & tell him it's not working and ask for guidelines on increasing the

dose. Clonidine is not a med that needs to be taken for a period of time

before it works; you should see the result within an hour.

Sometimes clonidine will put a child right to sleep but he will wake up and

stay up after 4 hours or so. Ask your dr about a time-frame for repeating a

dose if he gets up in the middle of the night. Often increasing the dose by

another 1/2-1 tablet will help them to sleep through.

There is an excellent book called _Sleep Better! A Guide To Improving Sleep

For Children With Special Needs_ It is fairly anti-med and pro-behavioral

techniques. There are a LOT of techniques and guidelines on choosing the

one(s) that will fit your child the best. This is for infants through

adults & it is not the same tired cry-it-out advice. There is a CIO section

but there is MUCH more to the book.

>>The doctor also prescribed

ritalin during the day, well my son is not ADD or ADHD, but the DR thought

it

might help curb the temper/mood swings, and maybe make him more alert.<<

Ritalin IS a med that needs to be taken for at least 2 weeks in order to see

the true effects and allow for adjustment to the side effects. There is

quite a range of dosage here as well and the dose may need to be tweaked a

few times before you give up on it and try something else. Some doctors are

quicker to switch meds than others. Some feel that if a med is going to

work you will see fast results and THEN need to ride out the 2 weeks & tweak

dose etc. Others are more conservative and start on a very low dose or even

half of the lowest clinical dose and very slowly build up. This approach

minimizes side effects and ensures that the child takes the smallest amount

of medicine that will help his symptoms, but it does take considerably

longer.

Personally, I might try the clonidine by itself first, and see if just

getting a decent night's sleep helps with the temper and alertness. But I

don't know your situation - I don't know how bad things are there - so you

do what you think is best.

One thing you should know about autism and ADD meds -- often, taking meds

for ADD will greatly improve some symptoms but make others much worse.

Anxiety, OCD, rituals are commonly increased. Antidepressants are often

used to combat these side effects.

Conversly, when a person with autism takes andidepressants, they will often

worsen the kinds of symptoms that ADD meds help. It is very very common for

them to have to be taken together, and the dosages played with quite a bit.

Some kids will respond beautifully to extremely low doses; others will

require much higher doses than usual. I hope I am not discouraging you, or

overwhelming you with too much information...

>>I have my physical tomorrow where I will ask for anti depressants too.

Ugh,

already shaking over it.

Best of luck!!

>>I am trying flylady now too....ok, I have a shiny sink, but the rest of

the

house is in shambles..........my DH is being sweet (or sarcastic?) enough to

notice that the sink is still clean........do any of you flyers have any

advice for a newbie?

Baby steps, Jenn, baby steps! The MOST important part of Flylady is

establishing those routines. Get up, get dressed, make your bed, and shine

your sink. Give yourself time to get that routine set before you add

anything else. Flylady is not about getting the whole house clean NOW. It

is about *changing your lifestyle* for *permanent* results. This takes

TIME. If you try to jump in and do it all at once, you will burn out and

next week the house will look as bad as ever. If you take it one little

step at a time, ingrain those routines until they're habits, do a little bit

every day -- before very long you will really see the difference. And it

will feel almost effortless, and it will be *wonderful.*

Best of luck to you in all things.

-Sara.

[Guest guest]

I feel relived reading about sleeping problem. Dessirée sleeps like an

angel. She slept through the night when she was a month year old. I

remembered myself sitting beside the crib checking if she was breathing. She

almost never cried I was all over her so I don’t know if I didn’t give her

time to cry or if she was to quiet to be NT. Maybe both. She did wake up

sometimes and still does but go back to sleep quickly. Now I start getting

her ready to bed at 7:30 pm and she’s sleeping at 8:00pm and wakes up

between 6:30 to 7:00 am. The best part is that when she wakes up she wants

his daddy to go with her, poor daddy he works like a dog.

Cecilia from Peru, who is trying to keep track of the messages with no luck.

mom to Dessirée 3y (no dx, with some autistic traits not severe though)

-----Mensaje original-----

De: Penny

Enviado el: Jueves, 08 de Agosto de 2002 06:47 p.m.

Para: parenting_autism

Asunto: RE: melatonin

This struck a chord with me...

Other parents are always telling me about their kids' bedtime...you know 7

or 8 o'clock.

Jacqui's bedtime has NEVER been that early....EVER.

Penny

>>>>>

My neighbors are always amazed to see my kids

up at night, their kids go to bed at 7:30-8, and sleep until 8 the next

morning.....they finished their basement in the evening while the children

slept<<<<<

[Guest guest]

I don't have big problems with aggression either and I am feeling guilty my

issues seem so little compared with these.

Cecilia from Peru, who is trying to keep track of the messages with no luck.

mom to Dessiree 3y (no dx, with some autistic traits not severe though)

-----Mensaje original-----

De: The Byks

Enviado el: Viernes, 09 de Agosto de 2002 11:24 a.m.

Para: parenting_autism

Asunto: RE: melatonin

>>nope Sara, I am not overwhelmed, I am very appreciative!

Oh good. I go overboard sometimes...

>>We are kind of in a tough spot here because he has really gotten

aggressive.

I actually have not heard of ritalin being used for this. I am under the

impression that generally an anti-anxiety or anti-depressant is used here.

But I am far from an expert.

It IS really hard to deal with the agression. Mikey will be 3 in September

& is over 40lbs. It is astonishing how much damage a fairly small child can

do to an adult...I know other moms here have had broken noses and fingers

from their kids attacking them...it's just awful.

>>I just haven't got a clue on

how to teach him some other ways to express his anger/frustration, that

don't

include pushing his sister down the stairs, pulling out her hair,

scratching,

kicking, biting, or flipping furniture. <<

You need a psychiatrist or behavioralist who knows about autism to help you

here. Are you on your state list? They'd be good people to ask who to see.

>>I just would love to get a whole nights sleep! My kids never had good

sleep

habits anyway, born late at night, and always went to sleep late at night!

I

never have a moment without someone up, so things NEVER get done here!

, I had to chuckle about giving your daughter the melatonin, I was

thinking the same about mine! My neighbors are always amazed to see my kids

up at night, their kids go to bed at 7:30-8, and sleep until 8 the next

morning.....they finished their basement in the evening while the children

slept....I laughed, I sweep the floor and throw in laundry at 11:30 or so

every night! could use some better sleep habits!<<

Oh how very very familiar that sounds...I used to think, " 8pm

bedtime...that's insane! If I put him to bed at 8 he'd be up at 4! " We all

went to bed around midnight and got up around 7 or 8 -- on a good night. We

went through MONTHS of him sleeping 3-5 hours a night. No naps. Ended up

in the ER because I could not cope any longer. They put him on valium,

which had no effect. *sigh*

Do check that book out. Mikey now goes to bed around 8-9 and gets up about

8am. Not every night, and we have bad stretches, but I know how to get him

back on track and we work toward it again. I used to think he just needed

less sleep than other kids, but that wasn't true. We saw a lot of changes

in him once he started getting the sleep he needed. And I can't tell you

how really lovely it is to put him to bed and then have another hour or two

for myself at the end of the day. Or go to bed with him and get an extra

hour or two of sleep!

Good luck, & come vent here any time you're feeling exhausted &

overwhelmed...lots of us here go through the sleepless nights & we know.

-Sara.

[Guest guest]

>>I don't have big problems with aggression either and I am feeling guilty

my

issues seem so little compared with these.

Don't feel guilty.

We are all in different places. Don't try to compare them. What you're

going through is hard, and you need help. It's not any less hard for you

just because someone else is going through something else.

Oh and don't worry about keeping up with the list. Nobody does!

-Sara.

[Guest guest]

I was able to last night for the first time in over 2 years. It was

great! I sleep until 1 in the afternoon. I went to my class reunion

yesterday and it was very boring. We had over 100 people in our

class, maybe 30 showed up. The picnic afterwards was fun. Then my

BF and his friend came to my house after the bar. I could handle

getting that much sleep though every now and then, I feel great today!

Tina W.

> > I just would love to get a whole nights sleep!

>

> I hear ya!

>

> Sissi

[Guest guest]

> I just would love to get a whole nights sleep!

I hear ya!

Sissi