ADHD and Sleep Melatonine or Clonidine?

Clonidine is antihypertensive drug, but also can be used for treating sleep problems in children with ADHD. Melatonin is hormone, but can also be used for ADHD sleep problems. Is not ours to know why doctors do what they do, the only thing that matters is if Clonidine can help or not. Try it and then judge it. Clonidine worked for my daughter.

WHAT!!!!!!





Geezzz....No wonder so many docs have a god complex!!!





QUESTION ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING YOUR DOC DOES THAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!



As a responsible parent it's you job to understand why, NEVER just blindly follow your doctor. If the doc can't explain it to you, pressure them. Your #1 priority is your child, and you doc doesn't understand that it's time to find a new one.



If your child wasn't taking 6mg of Melatonin you should learn more about it. "With a dose of about 1-6 mg, 25% of their parents said the sleep problem had been solved and 60% said it had improved." WebMD,

http://blogs.webmd.com/healthy-children/2008/02/drugging-kids-to-sleep.html



My 8yr Autistic nephew is on Clonidine and it really worries me, he response well to 5mg of Melatonin, but his mom wants him on what the doctors say. He is has terrible constipation which causes him to have accidents, extreme irritability, and terrible trouble waking up.





Follow you heart when it comes your child. Investigate natural methods of treatment and look for a doc who believe in trying the natural methods first. If all else fails the doc will write you an RX.

You go girl when you say not to blindly listen to doctors. Yes, we couldn't live healthy lives without their advice and guidance, but as responsible parents, we MUST research any and everything the doctors suggest. My son has ADD and has been on clonidine since age 6, and is now 14. We tried melatonin, and an amino acid call L-tryptophan back then with no results, so we had to resort to the clonidine which is a drug. He just could not sleep on his own. He would be up all night thinking and talking to himself essentially, and be perfectly content, but awake. It made his days difficult without adequate rest and it exacerated his ADD. The clonidine has been a miracle for our family. Now that he has his puberty though, it has become ineffective, and there has been more research and information, and like our friend's reply on this blog was that 6 mg. is what the doctor told us today to try for my son, but years ago, there was no amount recommended or considered safe, because there wasn't enough research, and I only gave him 3mg. at its' highest does of melatonin and it did not work. At the pediatricians office today, we were given a few "action plans", including melatonin at 6 mg. to begin with. Then various other avenues, with other naturopathic OTC things, and maybe combining a low dose of maybe clonidine with it. We'll see what happens, but his sleep is so crucial, especially at his teen-age. We are the only true advocates for our children, and it is up to us to push on until we get the best solutions for our children. Yes, doctors care, but they are not going to be able to care for or look at your child like you. The first thing I learned when I became a nurse, standing next to my patient holding her little hand while the Mom and the pediatrician spoke, is that "The Mom is ALWAYS right and MUST be listened to very carefully when speaking about her child. As our friend stated, if you don't feel "heard" or respected for your concerns, it may be time to interview a few other pediatricians. Best of luck to you and wish me luck for my poor insomniac son, while we continue our search as well.

Dog c**p is natural but I would not use it to treat anyone, dirt, dust storms, sweat are also natural, they do not cure a thing. What everyone forgets is there is a biologic basis for ADHD. It can be successfully treated and very very frequently can be see through previous generations. I am a psych nurse who has a pedi pysch clinic. You should not be bullied into something you do not want. If your child is doing well on the melatonin and you do not want to change, don't change. This answer is based on the info above. I would also look at who is giving you advice online. A google degree in medicine is worse less than the piece of paper you could print it on. Talk to the board certified Pedi Psychiatrist about the options and give up the online idiocy. I have so many people who say that this child must be having a side effect because the internet says so, their bus driver said so, the lady in the apartment gave me this drug, supplement whatever to give my kid. There are a number of valid sites, CHADD being one of them. Use them to look up medications and see what the side effects could be and what the action could be. I also have a lot of parents who scream side effect, you stop the medicine, the "side effect" continues, and they still do not want the medication even though it was proven the "side effect" had no relationship at all to the medication. Go to your MD, write down your questions ahead of time, write down what they tell you , ask questions at that time. Tell the people around you they can offer advice after they become board certified. Just to let you know, I have ADHD, and cannot have any medication for it as I have massive cardiac issues. I squirrel quite a bit. I can also be distracted by shiny objects. You just cannot understand how good it feels when a kid who was in the office everyday now gets nominated for student of the month. that is why we do this.