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Original poster

Am new- Advice on Melatonin( Circadin Tablets) please!

14 replies

Brownally · 08/01/2010 00:03

Hi all, this is my 1st post on here although i've lurked around the corridors of MN for quite a while since my DS(2.5) was dx ASD at 18months. He's also Severely Sight Impaired although you could be forgiven for doubting that dx if you saw him running & climbing all over the house :-) He's such a sweetheart despite all the challenges he has had to deal with and and we feel so blessed to have him. I know from reading on here that lots of your children also suffer from sleep disorders and i'm hoping someone might be able to provide us with some much needed advice. DS has really bad sleep probs and was just recently prescribed melatonin tabs which we were told had to be taken whole but we just can't get him to not chew them. He chew everything & anything he can get his hands on anyway so i didn't think it would happen but the pead said to place it in a spoonful of yougurt or similar during dinner/desert. Needless to say, he finds it every time and then chews it thoroughly before swallowing. It appears to send him to sleep but not for long at all( no longer than pre-tablets) and i'm wondering if he'd sleep for longer if we could find a way to get it down him whole as recommended. I think these are the slow release tabs we've been given(2Mg).
So does anyone have any tried & tested methods for getting one so young to swallow a tab whole or should i go back to the pead to request the liquid form? Can you get the slow release version in liquid? Is one better than the other? Any thoughts/advice most welcome. thank you

OP posts:

Marne · 08/01/2010 07:35

Hi, you need to ask for the capsuals, as far as i know there is no liquid form. We use the capsuals and open them up (empty the powder) into a drink

bonkerz · 08/01/2010 07:38

my DS is 9 and has the melatonin in liquid form, apparently the liquid form isnt licensed for children though but DS has amazing gag reflexes and would never have a tablet! The pead prescribes the melatonin and i have to go to a specific chemist who do a special order for us! not sure if its slow release though. My DS is currently on 7ml half hour before bed time

sneezecake · 08/01/2010 17:49

slow release doesn't come in liquid form, sorry.
will he swallow anything whole?
this might sound a bit gross .....but i have known it to work.
give him a but of bread and ask him to chew it let him get it all mashed up and ready to swallow, then ask him to show you it before he swallows it ( you might have to be a bit inventive to conince him why you need to see it) then get the tablet and push it into the chewed bread and hopefully he'll just swallow it.
like i said sounds a bit gross but needs must!

DJAngel · 08/01/2010 20:56

We have the capsules too that you open and we put in small amount of yoghurt. They are tasteless so dd2 goes for it no probs.. Not sure they are the slow release or not. My understanding was that melatonin helps with the getting off to sleep only.. Not staying asleep alas..

Original poster

Brownally · 10/01/2010 21:36

Thanks very much for your replies ladies. We are seeing our pead again this week and plan to ask for the capsules or liquid.

OP posts:

donkeyderby · 10/01/2010 23:27

We get the slow-release capsules which we open up and mix contents with food. Inside the capsules there are lots of tiny little 'pellets' or balls. If you can get those down your DS mixed with food, I think it will still be slow release as you have to crush them to make them quick-acting.

Ours have 'LifeExtension' on the bottle and 'Melatonin 6 Hour Timed Release' and are manufactured in the States

shelly33 · 30/06/2011 16:16

hi my 11 year old son has just been put onto circadin 4mg today by the hospital he has been taken off melatonin 5mg capsules which i cannot see what the difference is when he was small like your child i used to empty the capsule into his yougert and it worked really well this is in the uk so why not ask about the capsules hes been on them since he was 5years old . the only difference i can see is the tablets you can get from your gp but the capsules only from hospital , if any one has any information on DAMP i would like to hear from you as this is what my son has now been dignosed with.

unpa1dcar3r · 30/06/2011 18:01

My eldest is prescribed it in capsule form ( he's 14) but we don't bother giving it to him as it makes little difference really. It sends him off quicker but doesn't keep him asleep.
TBH sometimes if I have trouble getting to sleep i take some but the same for me, gets me off to sleep but still wake up 2 hrs later!
It's only a chemical version of what our brain is supposed to produce to send us off so there's little harm in it even if you broke the capsules into a drink or something.

londongirl4 · 30/06/2011 18:17

Hi- we use the liquid as the slow release didn't work for us as the small dose released wasn't enough to put our DD to sleep (and even though she's 8, she can still barely swallow a tablet!). As previous posters have said, you can't get slow-release in liquid form, but does he need this? It may be that the big hit provided by the liquid is enough to get him to go to sleep and after that he may stay down. This has been the case with my DD (although sometimes we do have to put up with her getting up at midnight and prancing round the house for hours). Swings and roundabouts I suppose :)

runningonmt · 01/07/2011 23:44

Hello - My DS (age 11 and ADHD) has tried both standard melatonin and slow release circadin.

Melatonin - great - helps him get off to sleep if he is quiet and wound-- down. He can over-ride it if he is a bit on the high side or he doesnt want to get to sleep. I have always had a problem with him getting up in the night at least once so doctor changed to slow release circadin as one of the side effects of melatonin can be wakeful periods.

Circadin - not powerful enough to help get him to sleep and didnt seem to help keep him asleep either so we have gone back to melatonin as getting to sleep is better than nothing.

I have been told by chemist that circadin is a lot cheaper than melatonin so doctors do prefer to prescribe this for obvious reasons (I had quite a battle to get them to convert back to standard melatonin).

I have friends over in the states so when they come over they bring several bottles for me (you can buy it in supermarkets out there as it is with the other 'vitamins'). I think it costs the NHS an obscene amount as it is "not licenced for children" I think. It only costs a couple of dollars in the states !!!!
My friend gives it to her dog when they are going on a very long car journey to help him stay relaxed !!!

Melatonin is produced by most of us in our body when it starts to get dark which is what triggers production. It is a naturally produced hormone. It is produced in the body by the B6 our body stores.

Some kids (particularly ADHD and ASD) cant retain the B6 in their bodies from their daily intake from food. Without the B6 the body struggles to produce the melatonin.

Mine takes B6 each day in an attempt to help/boost the natural production.

Sorry it doesnt help with the table / liquid issue. x

PS it is 11.40pm and mine has just dropped off to sleep !!! I wish I had a sleep disorder sometimes just to keep up with him !!!!!

unpa1dcar3r · 02/07/2011 07:26

Don't worry Running, your time for sleep disorder will come trust me!!!
14 yrs of not sleeping worked for me , hardly sleep at all now!
Maybe when son has the melatonin you could grab a couple of Proplus!!!

ilovesprouts · 02/07/2011 20:22

they is no liquid for i have a capsule that i mix in a yogart

LyonMum · 17/10/2011 14:56

Melatonin versus Circardin. My DS2 has ADHD. Not medicated but night time he takes ages to go to sleep and does not stay asleep. We tried Melatonin and it gets him to sleep but he sleep walks up to us in the night then goes to sleep in my bed (age 12!). I get in his. With Circardin it seems to do the whole night magic. HOWEVER Im still not convinced that there is enough research into whether Circardin can be used in the under 18 years of age. Has anyone researched this or been reassured by their GP?

XxAlisonxX · 17/10/2011 21:37

My DD1 has very severe SLI, with a lot of ASD quirks. she has been on the liquid melatonin 5ml on a night now for quite a few months, and omg it worked wonders upto the point where she was prescribed i was lucky if she was asleep before 1am somenights it had been gone 2am, 3am, before she nodded off and then she was back up again at 7am to get ready for school, i was physically and mentally drained but now im in bed before 11 and it was bliss to finally get a decent nights sleep.

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