ooohh, to stay in a normal house

[shazian]

ds age 10, has been up since just after 2am. mid term break here in glasgow and a lie in until even 5am would have been good. lots of banging, shouting, emptying fridge etc. he is on risperidone to make him sleep, lol. and also started strattera 5 days ago to calm him down. he's wired to the moon today, does anyone know how long strattera takes to work? sooo tired, as is hubby n 2 other ds. extremely hyper, cant keep up with him. BTW i actually had respite fri - mon 2 weeks ago, but that seems like a lifetime ago (though i know im very fortunate to get this, and there are others who dont get, so i do appreciate). wouldnt it be bliss just to have a wee lie in, n a nice quiet day. oh well allowed to dream eh! smile be happy and never say never!! but wouldnt it be good to stay in a normal house. :)

hi shazian. I feel your pain! DS is on Risperidone too, but not for sleep - it's an anti-psychotic that's used in autism. DS is on Melatonin and Valergan Forte for sleep.

Have you tried Melatonin? Works for a lot of kids to get them to sleep. The Valergan is heavier stuff and keeps DS asleep - sometimes

donkeyderby tried melatonin few years back then vallergan they both worked initially but after a while he seems to be immune to them. i know his risperidone ia an anti psychotic he has severe autism but paed said this has been used on occasion for sleep problems. he has been on for year and half now when first started he was asleep within half an hour and for whole night. think he's just use to it dose has been upped but paed wont up anymore due to his age. she thought putting him on strattera for adhd would calm him in day and by night after taking his risperidone he would then be ready for sleep. but no joy, only been on strattera few days so maybe not kicked in yet. some nights he only sleeps 2 hours its hard work. dont know if anything will work, had a general anaesthetic last year for op and was supposed to sleep all day, half hour after op he was running about hyper as usual. if GA doesnt knock him out, what will. what age is yor ds? has he been on vallergan long? my ds seems immune after about a year.

You do need to review doses as they grow, although DS lost so much weight when his eating got sorted out that his dose has stayed the same for some years. We have Risperidone to reduce anxiety but have found that it can help with sleep. DS has melatonin to go to sleep but if he wakes in the night, Risperidone will get him back to sleep quite well, no longer than 2 hours awake and sometimes less. Mind you, if he's going through a "really wired" phase as he does every now and then, nothing works! Luckily these phases usually only last a few days.

my ds always seems to be going through "really wired" phase. also really hyper because this is our Feb mid term break and he has been off school from thursday and doesnt go back until this thursday. he cant cope when not at school and out of routine. ok for weekend but no longer. just hope he's tired n sleeps tonight, though like a maniac today so we'll see.

mine is now, should i wait( as hes hyped up at moment a lot of changes happening inc changing to SS) to get something to calm him and something to help him sleep he sometimes at 2 am sits there and asks mummy help me but my GP refused both i did explain how bad his sleep patern was he was only getting 2/3 hrs at the time he has improved now hes on about 5/6 but he used to get the full 8 hrs sleep now hes waking regularly and taking 2 hrs to get to sleep to start with and that he was being violent at home and school which he didnt used to be untill the sleep patern went haywire

Sorry, didn't mean to sound patronising re Risperidone! I just meant that DS is on it for anxiety and obsessional stuff and aggression, rather than sleep.

DS has been on Valergan Forte for years now. It's not Valergan plain and simple, but the stronger stuff, so the Forte bit is vital! I would love him to come off it but no sleep would make us collapse.

I really hope you get it sorted out. Sounds like you've tried lots of different strategies

Donkeyderby i knew what you meant :) its ok i never took wrong way and hope you dont think was being cheeky with reply . Have also tried valergan Forte. Your right no sleep would make you collapse. What can you do eh!, nothing smile cos tomorrows another day :). Bettyboop perhaps GP doesnt realise how bad the problem is, mines hopeless always sends me to see paediatrician who is a lot more understanding. my ds already at SS nurses on hand there are great and always get onto paed who visits school at least once a week, if i have a problem. due to your ds being violent and unable to get to sleep and being anxious, i would push for some kind of medicine. as i already said my ds age 10 (same as yours i think saw on another thread) has been on meds for years. Hopefully this strattera that he started 5 days ago will make difference and he will be bit calmer during day.

What is Strattera? I've seen it mentioned on here a lot recently.

Strattera aka atomoxetine was invented as an antidepressant, now used mainly for adhd. Suits some people who ritalin etc didn't help.