Vallergan to help sleep

[claw3]

Ds was prescribed Vallergan on Friday to help with sleep.

Apparently, according to Paed who prescribed it has no side effects. When i googled it had a whole host of possible side effects.

Has anyone used it?

[meltedmarsbars]

Yep, we use it and Vallergan Forte (the stronger stuff).

No bad side effects but the Forte stuff is great for a 10 hour drive back from France on Hols - kept her dopey for ages

The pharmaceutical Companies are obliged to report every possible side-effect.

Every drug has some side-effects, but they often do not materialise in most patients. You have to try it and weigh up the positive effects on your sleep with any negatives.

Good luck

[jemmm]

We were prescribed Vallergan Forte too by our paed, for our 2 year old ds who is ASD.

We were warned by the paed that he may have certain "hangover" type symptoms the day after use - at the time we were on the end of a run of 14 totally sleepless nights and went for it.

We've only used it twice I think since - it really does knock him out - and he really does know about it the day after. We've reduced the dosage that we've given him the other times that we've used it.

I don't know whether I'm right here (think I am!), but I think it's what they use to sedate children before operations - (anyone verify this one?!).

We still have a bottle in the back of our cupboard. And I wouldn't discount using it again should the need arise, but we would I think only ever use it sparingly - as a last resort. It's a balancing act isn't it - we all need our bloody sleep! Except sometimes it seems our ASD dc's...

Have you tried Melatonin? I know it's a bit hit and miss - kind of worked for us - he goes to sleep now - doesn't sleep through - generally though he settles quite well, quite quickly when he wakes through the night.

[donkeyderby]

We use it regularly and have done so for years. A decade with little sleep means we felt we had no choice. Great stuff but of course has side effects, though none we've noticed in DS. It's in the same family of drugs as Chlorpromazine which is an old-style anti-psychotic, but doesn't seem to induce the dribbling and other horrors of that drug.

My DH always tries a dose of any drugs DS is prescribed to see how it makes him feel. It does have a bit of a hangover effect but DS is now on a much lower dose than when he started. It has been our life saver.

[jemmm]

DD - brilliant idea about your DH - out of interest how old is your DS and what dose is he on - because we halved his dose - and still saw the "hangover".

Agree - at the end of the day/night - lack of sleep is totally debilitating - we do what we need to do.

[claw3]

Paed tells me melatonin would be next step if this doesnt work.

Ds is 5.5 and has NEVER slept, ive tried really hard to avoid drugs, but im just so so tired, i cant function.

Every night he is awake until 3.30am and up again at 7.30 and still wakes up several times in between. During this time, i have to rock him and physical restrain him to stop him throwing himself around the bedroom.

I have been told to give him 5ml? how much do you use?

[claw3]

Thanks LBC - Ds already has very vivid dreams/nightmares, so perhaps melatonin wouldnt be quite right for him.

I will be picking up the prescription tomorrow, chemist had to order it and will give it a try.

[claw3]

Will do LBC - although i havent picked it up yet.

I feel really guilty about it, when i know i shouldnt.

[jemmm]

Claw - from what you've said about the amount of sleep you get - you have nothing to feel guilty about - hope it works for you!

[claw3]

I suppose where i will benefit from him sleeping, it seems to be i am doing it for me, rather than him iyswim. Although as LBC has said he will benefit too. Im just being silly, everyone needs sleep.

What is a normal bed time for a 5.5 year old?

I know this sounds like a silly question, but ds has never slept.

A good night he is asleep by 12, bad night 3.30am. I suppose i need to be realistic, Dr told me about 1 hour before.

[claw3]

Yay good news, asleep by 10pm tonight and only took an hour to fall asleep, instead of the usually 3-6!

[donkeyderby]

Claw3, great that you have finally got a reasonable night's sleep! I am so relieved for you!

I'd say most 5 year olds will be in bed between 6-8pm and up between 6-8am.

DS is on Valergan and melatonin. Melatonin gets him to sleep, Valergan keeps him asleep. There is a study that suggests that the melatonin reduces the chances of a potential (but rare) side effect of Valergan (tardive dyskenesia). Also, I know from taking melatonin myself that it makes you feel 'up' in the morning so could help with the hangover 'low' of Valergan.

jemmm - ds is 13yrs-old, average weight and is on 1 - 2mls of Valergan Forte (30mg in 5mls strength). Used to be on 7mls on occasions. He still wakes up in the night regularly mind you, but it's a great help that he falls asleep at a normal time. I know he feels better for sleeping longer as his mood is bad when he has been up a lot at night.

[claw3]

Donkeyderby - He actually slept right through the night too, which is unheard of, he has never slept all night!

He usually wakes at about 7.30 by himself, but this morning i had to wake him at 8am and he was still very sleepy and quite agitated. But he seemed fine once he was fully awake.

He is on normal Vallergan btw not forte, 7.5mg and takes 5ml (wasnt sure until i picked it up from the chemist)

I didnt sleep too well, kept waking almost in a panic at regular intervals, so used to ds waking up. Perhaps i need to take some too!

[meltedmarsbars]

So glad it worked!

Great isn't it - it took me a long time to stop waking up automatically. Actually, I still do.

[jemmm]

Brilliant news!

I might have to have a word with our paed - we've got Vallergan Forte - but we only use it in emergencies... couple of nights with no sleep. Donkeyderby - we use Melatonin in the same way - it get's him off to sleep, it helps with routine, and because he goes to sleep at a reasonable time, and gets up at a manageable time we deal with him waking a couple of times in the night - we've got used to it.

But if a low dose of normal Vallergan will help him sleep all night then it maybe worth a shot - our DD is the same - much better for a good nights sleep - has horrible days if he has a bad night.

The thing about waking up better for it - I've heard of adults using it to help with jetlag - almost like re-booting their sleep cycle.

Enough of us - Claw - really glad you've had a good nights sleep - hope you get many many more!

[claw3]

Not so good news, ds came home from school complaining that his head was hurting, apparently it had been hurting all day and he even laid down on a bench in the playground.

His eyes were also very red and sore, not sure if this was where he was still tired and had been rubbing them or a side effect. His eyes are extremely sensitive.

Didnt give him any vallergan last night, he still seemed quite subdued, but he was asleep by 10 again and slept all night.

Will lay off the vallergan until next Paed appointment

[donkeyderby]

Tricky isn't it. There are lots of bugs going round too which may explain why he slept without the Valergan. Maybe too, just one or two good night's sleep will help get him into a habit of sleeping better. Hope he feels better!

[claw3]

Thank you DD, he was feeling fine this morning. Although he often gets headaches, he is hyper sensitive to noise. It may have just been a very noisy day in school.

[jemmm]

DD, DP and myself - have all just had a 24 hour bug - vomiting one day - fine the next.