Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+1 for sleep study. May be a sleep apnea.

Very low chance of that. Sleep issues are VERY common for people with ADHD and Autism.

I know, but still good to rule it out. It's not very hard to do.

Anonymous wrote:+1 for sleep study. May be a sleep apnea.

Very low chance of that. Sleep issues are VERY common for people with ADHD and Autism.

+1 for sleep study. May be a sleep apnea.

magnesium glycinate has worked really well for getting our child to sleep and keeping them alseep till the morning.

OP. Thank you all for the replies. I appreciate it. I've never heard of stellar sleep so will check it out for sure. Longer term, we are open to anything: sleep studies, ENT, CPAP, psychiatric care, and/or OTC/prescription medication. Never occurred to me to audio-record sleep before.

One thing complicating all of this: DC is a type 1 diabetic, so needs to be awake enough to respond to blood sugar alarms. The sleep issues pre-date T1D, but living with alarms that go off in the middle of the night compounds the issue.

Would the right next step be to find a good psychiatrist who can look at meds and make a referral for a sleep study? (Or would the sleep study be done first so a psychiatrist has the info?)...while in the meantime trying CBT/app and maybe audio-recording?

Really appreciate your thoughts.

Melatonin (and anti anxiety meds at the right dosage) worked wonders for my DC

A pediatrician is not going to be of much help for this. You need a psychiatrist who is going ot adjust his meds so he gets sleep.

I would get a sleep study if DC will tolerate it. If not, consider (with their consent) making an audio recording of them asleep. Then you can check for signs of apnea. Also an ENT workup. You can rent CPAP machines if you'd like to try it. Even if DC can only tolerate the machine for one hour, an hour of real sleep is gold and that will shed light on what's happening.

I recognize this is very tricky. My AuDHD kid tried the Stellar Sleep app method (it costs some money but you can cancel afterward) and some of the advice in there helped some.

I know that isn’t a terribly inspiring review but even some progress felt like a huge win for her. If you are in the same situation it might be a low cost option worth checking out?

It’s just something they have to learn to cope with. If he is asking for help he is old enough to do CBT-I for insomnia.

AuDHD DC (now a teen) has had sleep issues since birth. Has always struggled to fall asleep, and also to stay asleep. This is hardwired somehow — there has never been a time when it wasn’t a serious issue. (We have another kid who was an amazing sleeper btw). Has been on adhd meds, and has not been on adhd meds. Same deal.

Pediatrician hasn’t had much to offer, says all the usual things (routines, exercise, no-screens-at-night). But this is beyond all that. It’s an issue when they run daily, or lift weights, or meditate, or have screens, or follow long-term soothing/wind-down routines. Now DC is driving, dealing with new levels of responsibility in school, job, etc, and is asking for help.

Have any of you dealt with a seemingly hardwired sleep disorder? Did anything work? If there is a previous thread on this topic I apologize - I didn’t see one.