Slow release melatonin

[Loveanewsponge]

Hi, my daughter was diagnosed with Autism a couple of years ago, we've recently been prescribed slow release melatonin. We started off really well and was able to hide it in her food and give her the first mouthful and she ate it without a problem. A week in and she is finding it and gagging on it and point blank refusing to eat! We're really struggling on how to give it as she won't drink pop with it in either. She's an overly fussy eater and will eat a selection of about five meals at most. Does anyone have any advice as it was working when she was taking it. We're open to any tips to try. We have three other children, two school age and one toddler and the sleepless nights are really affecting the whole house

I found my child just actually preferred the tablet- unusual I know. Initially I used to crush it between 2 spoons so it’s a fine powder and give it in a thick homemade Nutella milkshake drank with a straw - to make the milk shake 2 tbsp Nutella in a glass of milk mixed

My DD was a Teen by the time she was diagnosed and can understand that taking the tablet equals sleep.

I hope you find a way for her to take it

@TwinklyRoseTurtleShe won't let the tablet go anywhere near her if she sees it so no chance of her taking it willingly. I was a bit iffy about crushing it as it says not to be chewed or crushed but she has such a limited diet now and the only fluids she will take is orange squash so it's tricky to hide it. I did put it in her squash and it doesn't seem to dissolve or come up for her to drink even with a straw it just kind of stays at the bottom

You mustn't crush or dissolve the slow release as the shell is what's designed to release it slowly. Having it all in one go would be a massive dose! Sorry - not much useful to add but just to reassure you that you're right not to open it up!

@BunnyRuddingtonoh, our DD was five, but was suspected from 18 months. She's non verbal and doesn't understand with things like that and shes very particular so its difficult to convince or compromise with her her. She's examining her food now before she eats it and last night gagged and made herself sick and it was even in that piece of food. Until last night night i would cut the first mouthful of food for her, hide it in there and then she would eat her dinner how she pleased as shed had the medication. Im just stuck on what else to do really as couldnt think of any outside the box ideas to try. She wont eat any yoghurt, custard, ice cream, etc. So difficult but it's such a shame

@Ffsadhdi read this on a thread late last night. I had put it into her squash last night as a last resort in hopes she'd gulp it without realising but it just hung round at the bottom but didn't dissolve. I'm a bit glad they're not dissolvable because she'd have to have the whole drink to ensure the whole dosage though. And in her food, she doesn't chew properly so I thought it would be a safe bet. I did speak with the paediatric upon prescribing it and she said it was fine. Thank you for the reassurance😊

Would she eat the gummies? Mine has prescribed melatonin but won't take it as they now give liquid- she'll only take tablets so we buy gummies from Biovea

@RachelsPeeves We've not tried gummies, I saw they was an option last night, though I'm not sure they do them as the slow release ones as the paediatric said there was no other solution to the tablets as she won't take medicine so these were the best option, they're micro tablets. But I'd have to try them and see if she'd accept them if they are available as at this point I'm kind of willing to give anything a go. Thank you for the suggestion

I really feel for you @Loveanewspongesadly I haven’t got much to offer you in terms of advice.

@BunnyRuddingtonsometimes I just think it's nice to hear other people's situations and experiences so you can learn from it or try it out and just so you know your not the only one or things get better or easier

My daughter was prescribed Circadin and claimed it did nothing for her so I started buying her CBD gummies instead and these seemed to help. Sadly, I don't thinkyou can get them on prescription, but worth giving them a try. H&B sell them and there are plenty of online sellers too.

Why does it need to be slow release, does she wake through the night?

If it’s a problem with getting to sleep in the first place then quick release is what you need.

Circadin did nothing for my DD1 who woke through the night. However my DD2 who struggles to drop off has found liquid melatonin from Piping Rock (not prescribed, I buy it) very helpful. Liquid better than gummies IME.

@mugglewumpour daughter is on Slenyto 2mg. As far as we can tell it's working as of now, it's just getting her to take it which is the issue. Paediatric said if they didn't work they would increase the dosage to 5mg. I did ask if it didn't work was there an alternative as I thought the medication could be like trialling which could be best suited and was told no, melatonin was the only thing for her age

@minipieyeah she wakes through the night and sometimes can get into bed with us and goes straight back off but 9/10 she will be awake for hours. But she does have the problem of initially falling asleep too so the slow release was to try to improve both. She goes to bed later and later as of now she won't go to sleep any earlier then 11pm. The tablets were the better option for her as agreed by the paediatric as she won't have a bar of liquid medication

I've been advised by an NHS pediatrics MH nurse to just crush them to hide in food for my child who was 11. It's not an issue. Please remember when people talk about a "massive dose" as a pp said, this wouldn't even NEED to be prescribed to you in most countries and you would choose the dose yourself. She's not going to OD on melatonin.

My Dc has a prescription but I actually buy the gummies from Piping Rock now and we take a higher dose than prescribed as that dose did fuck all. I'd suggest reading a US or Canadian forum so you can see what other people are doing for their children. You can also buy from Europe but may not understand the languages of course!

*edited to add you wouldn't need a prescription abroad.

crushing-melatonin-leaflet_final-11-10-2022.pdf https://share.google/xml5VIUipuCflmsfq

This is a good info sheet from a health board re crushing prolonged release melatonin

We crush ds's and put it into a half a tsp of nutella on the end of a breadstick... he knows its there because this is the way we have been able to give him other medications when he needs them (... although this took a long time to build up to!)

This does mean that it only works for helping to fall asleep initially, but that's the best we've been able to manage!

@HazeyjaneIIII've recently found a new way to give it to DD. She now takes 4 tablets so its quite tricky. But if I cook things a little longer to crisp up the edges it works well. Things like chicken with batter and fish fingers are good to use. Also, the chips with pointy edges, wedges, etc. I cut a small incision into the food, put 1 tablet per mouth piece and use a knife to push it close to the crispier bit then cover the incision by fluffing the food back round it. This seems to be the best way for us and the easiest I have tried by far as she doesn't detect it's there. We was told the meds wouldn't keep her asleep but if she woke through the night would make her feel sleepy to go back to sleep and this method works for doing that. Hope this helps if you decide to try it, the things we have to do lol x