I'm a Sleep Scientist

[Goodnightythen]

I specialised in neurodevelopmental conditions and the importance of sleep in our children's brain development. I worked a lot with children with Autism as well as other frontal lobe related conditions such as ADHD, FASD, ED, ODD, PD, etc.
I don't do much work in sleep labs anymore but AMA!

My 17 yr old son has adhd and anxiety. He has trouble getting to sleep and often doesn't sleep until 12-1am on a school night and then it's almost impossible to wake him in the morning. He is in a really heavy sleep and would sleep until about 11 in the morning if we left him. What can we do to help him go to sleep and also to get up. Thanks so much

I have been on zopoclone for a long time, probably ten years, and take the higher dose. It used to send me to sleep fairly quickly but it's gradually wearing off. Should I wean myself off it or try something else? I feel exhausted when I wake up and not like I have had a 'good' sleep.

Am on a lot of medication for different conditions including Epilepsy, cancer and diabetes.

1. Find a CSHQ and scoring sheet to identify the main problems. Here is the CSHQ - you can google the score sheet too: njaap.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Childrens-Sleep-Habits-Questionnaire.pdf
2. Find a range of sleep interventions that can be tailored to your child, based on their individual problem + the way they take to things. Each Autistic person has a unique learning style and parents know them best. Do they take to reward charts? Are they scared of the dark, scared of school, is this what is causing problems? There are loads of strategies out there but the gap in the knowledge is all around how to tailor these for neurodiverse people. https://cchp.nhs.uk/cchp/explore-cchp/school-health-nursing/school-nursing-information-resources/sleep-resources
3. This is my go-to: Mindell J, Owens J. A Clinical Guide to Paediatric Sleep. Diagnosis and Management of Sleep Problems. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins 2003.

Sounds like you have a lot on your shoulders and complex/ traumatic experiences, which should be addressed through therapy. The nightmares are an outcome of the things you have experienced in life - they are the brain's way of coping with distressing events. CBTI can help with the nightmares, as can image rehearsal therapy or EMDR. But it is a combination of addressing the things in life + addressing the nightmares that will get you somewhere. I wish you all the best x

@Goodnightythen thanks, I did wonder if it could be related to my parents getting divorced when I was young and my dad effectively abandoning us (we did see him but he let us down a lot and it was clear he didn’t care about us).

I knew it had had a major impact on my self esteem, especially as a teenager, but only recently something made me wonder if the nightmares are related so it is interesting that you’ve suggested the same.

I’ll seek out someone who can help try to resolve it.

Can issues with sleep be genetic? My mum has always been an insomniac, I started once I reached adulthood and my youngest DS has always been a rubbish sleeper. He was 12 before he slept all night in his own bed (13.5 now) - he frequently has nights where he can’t sleep until 1/2am. I fall asleep relatively easily but some night wake up hourly or for a good 2/3 hour stretch in middle of the night. We all cope well with lack of sleep but I do worry about the effect of it on our overall health long term

I'm 69 and a life-long bad sleeper - can honestly say that as an adult have never slept through the night. I can usually go off to sleep but after an hour or so wide awake then doze on/off for the rest of the night - doesn't bother me, that's just how it is! I used to hate the music from the shipping forecast on Radio 4 because it meant that I was awake.

Very occasionally, say once a month, I take a Phenergen (old style antihistamine) to help me stay asleep if I have a very early start e.g. for a flight.

My question is, bearing in mind we are told that getting enough sleep is thought to help prevent dementia, is drug-induced sleep as good for the body as natural sleep?

Great thread, thank you.

Woke up at 7. Got up at 7. Went to the sofa and out the tv on and fell back asleep. I feel terrible. DH says he's going to put "im tired "'on my gravestone. Tbh it feels like that might be the only scenario that I'm not tired. Any advice?! Feeling a bit desperate actually

My DS sleeps with LED strip lights on in his room, I would prefer he didn't as I can't imagine it being great for sleep quality, am I just making a fuss about nothing or should I take them down/insist they're switched off overnight?

I came across the ‘put frozen peas on your upper chest to alert the vagus nerve’ treatment for early hours waking, was first on TikTok. This makes your body calm down from it’s too early cortisol high(I believe) - once I’m cold the anxious worries that appear in my head when I wake in the early hours fade and when I’m cold after 20 mins I can cuddle down under the covers (peas-less) and often get back to sleep.
Do you know of this?

What an interesting AMA!

My neurodiverse son currently sleeps pretty well. But we are considering putting him on medication for ADHD and I'm worried about it potentially disrupting his sleep. Is there anything I can do to mitigate negative impact of the meds on sleep?

@Goodnightythen are you going to be back? I was really interested in this one!

I second this being a fantastic AMA!
I'm awful for not being able to sleep before important/exciting events. Any tips or am I doomed to be exhausted through every important event in my life?!

Any advise for parasomnias? I have both rem and non rem. I'm also nd and it's looking like my 2 year old is the exact same. Would be great to know if early intervention can help at all? Or is it all just medication?

Our 10yo DD has never been good at getting to sleep or staying asleep. We are exhausted. We have tried literally everything. Apart from melatonin. Is it worth trying to get a referral for it?
Is it now considered part of a ND diagnosis?.I'm thinking she has a lot of ADHD traits. So so tired and really worried about her not managing at secondary school next year

My eldest is diagnosed with autism and ADHD (he is medicated for ADHD). He also has severely restricted eating (possibly ARFID). He can't sleep without melatonin even if he looks tired as he says his brain won't let him. What causes his sleep difficulties?

I also known a 7 year old child who has no bedtime or sleep routine and rarely goes to bed before 10.30pm on a school night and often much later at the weekends as her parents keep her up late most of the time. She looks permanently exhausted. It seems to be having a detrimental impact on her learning in school. How damaging could this potentially be academically and socially etc to her long term? Can this damage be undone?

Do children with asthma need more sleep?

Thanks

Hi op, interesting thread! Can you please help me with my sleep query? I've always been a bad sleeper, I remember laying wide awake as a child all night. Now I'm an adult, I can be absolutely shattered during the day due to poor sleep but then as bed time draws near I become more and more awake. Until I'm wide awake and then can't settle down and sleep until about 1am. And then get tired again because I'm up early, spend the day tired and the cycle continues. Any idea why I do this?

I’ve never been a great sleeper, but the last few months have been awful. I cannot fall asleep at night. It can take hours, until 2am often. But the weird thing is I can sleep in the day. I don’t let myself nap though, because I don’t want to ruin my already crap sleep.

Why can I fall asleep easily in the day and not at night?

@SocialistSally im like that as well I think it’s sleep phase disorder where you’re circadian clocks wired different

I would love to have dreamless sleep. I dream all the time, quite vivdly, but often reasonably mundane apart from added themes like constantly running late. It's really wearing because I can feel like I've lived a day twice, especially if there's a work thing I'm not really looking forward to.

Why am I hearing banging and knocking in my sleep? Twice this summer I’ve heard someone knocking loudly on the front door but cameras show no one was there and no sound heard. Last night I heard a bang in my bedroom in my sleep, like wardrobe door banging closed. It was loud. Why am I hearing this? Like exploding head syndrome? Thanks!

Bella, I’m not the OP (think she’s now left the thread) but sometimes people hear ‘noises in their head’ like this when they wake themselves up snoring, or their heart ‘skips’ a beat (rather like when you’re dozing off and dreaming you’re falling off a cliff, then wake with a start). Maybe get your sleep patterns and heart trace checked out?

@NumberFortyNorhamGardens Thanks, I might have to. It’s really weird and I’ve been to the door each time to answer it with no one there! I do have a slight heart issue but it shouldn’t be that really.

Why am I grumpy in the morning

@BellaTheDarkOverlord i hear talking as I fall asleep, whistling noises once, faces flashing behind my closed eyelids when I’m overtired