Only me Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 I've posted several times lately about my 14 year old dd's problem with insomnia. It has gotten significantly worse over the past 2 weeks. Her pediatrician recommended that we try Benadryl again in very small doses. About a year ago she got very hyper from it but he said to try it again. I gave her 1/4 of a tablet and she was fine. I gave her 1/2 of a tablet and she got extremely hyper (talking super fast, fast heartbeat etc.) so obviously Benadryl isn't going to help her sleep. I called the sleep specialist last week and she decided to try dd on Sonata. DD had a bad reaction. She started hallucinating and had slurred speech and alternated between giggling and crying. She looked and acted like she was drunk. Then it took her another 1 1/2 hours to fall asleep. I slept in her room to keep an eye on her and she woke up every few hours and couldn't fall back asleep. The sleep specialist said that the drug caused her to be between a state of sleep and being awake. They are going to do a sleep study on her but the doctor talked about trying other medications. At this point dd is scared to try anything else because of the reactions that she has had. Her pediatrician doesn't want her to try any other sleep medications because it is obvious that she reacts badly to them. On the other hand, the sleep specialist is saying that she might want to try dd on another sleep medication to see how she reacts to it. I realize that she is a specialist and knows more about the medications and insomnia but on the other hand we have been going to this pediatrician for years and I feel that he knows my daughter better. Who would you listen to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 That is really a tough call. All I can do is send you a :grouphug: and a prayer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 :grouphug: That is hard. Can you ask your ped to call and talk with the sleep specialist and let them discuss it? Your dd's ped has her history and the sleep specialist has the expertise in the field, so in theory they should be able to come to some sort of conclusion. Docs do consults all the time, and this might put your mind at ease. Hopefully she can get some good rest soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jensway Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 What about talking to your ped. about something natural. My ds has insomnia off and on. During these bouts he just cannot get to sleep. It will be like 4 am and I'm still up with him, once asleep he's good and doesn't wake. We just started on melatonin 10 nights ago. Since then we've only had 1 night that he didn't fall asleep easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newlifemom Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 What about talking to your ped. about something natural. My ds has insomnia off and on. During these bouts he just cannot get to sleep. It will be like 4 am and I'm still up with him, once asleep he's good and doesn't wake. We just started on melatonin 10 nights ago. Since then we've only had 1 night that he didn't fall asleep easily. I was thinking the same thing. I have absolutely no experience with this at all, but I know that melatonin works wonders for my sister and sister-in-law. I am sorry your dd is having such a hard time. I hope b/tw these two drs you all can come up with a viable solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber in AUS Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 Could they admit her for a controlled dose of this medication so that they can see what it does to her? I know over here if they are expecting a bad reaction to something they call it a challenge and can admit the person to monitor reaction before declaring it safe or unsafe for that person. Maybe wait until after the sleep study to see if anything else shows up??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 As somebody who has odd reactions to medications (Benadryl makes me hyper, too, among other things) I would have to weigh how badly I wanted to address the situation - and it seems like chronic insomnia would be something that would need to be addressed - and then work with the sleep specialist to find something that works well. Different medications are in different "families" and work differently so, while one may have nasty side effects for your daughter, another may not; one may actually alleviate the problem and one may not work at all. It seems to me that a sleep specialist, with the sleep studies, will be better able to isolate the root cause of the disturbance and prescribe something that addresses that, rather than just trying various sleep aids, you know? I'm studying to be an herbalist and I do avoid symptom-masking drugs. But I will also point out that natural remedies are not without side effects, they work over the long term, and that (in my not so humble opinion, which seems to be shared by herbalists in general) mass produced herbal supplements, particularly herbs powdered in capsules, are just not effective. And, as above, the correct herb that addresses the root cause of the problem needs to be used. We had some major sleep deprivation in our house when the boys were infants/toddlers, and I remember how horrible it was; I spent about 2 years on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I can't imagine what your daughter is going through - not having an end point in sight must just add exponentially to the stress. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Only me Posted May 23, 2009 Author Share Posted May 23, 2009 We finally have a sleep study scheduled for next Thursday so hopefully we will come up with some answers. We have already tried melatonin without success and the two sleep medications (sonata and trazadone) had bad side effects. I spoke to the sleep specialist yesterday and she agreed that we will hold off on any new meds until after the sleep study. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 I have a family full of insomniacs and several of us have strange reactions to Benedryl. It also makes my youngest hyper. It doesn't make me hyper but it definitely does not make me sleepy. When allergey season is in full swing, I take the maximum dose of 12 25 mg. tablets a day and I am wide awake and functioning normally whereas one pill will knock my hubby out. One dd throws up every time she takes Benedryl. Trazadone is an older anti-depressant that works on the seratonin system and also has somnia (sleepiness) as a side effect. Sonata is not a very strong sleep agent. Neither have worked for my family. We have also tried melatonin and Lunesta and both lead to that horrible in between sleep stage. Rozeram is a new one that works on the seratonin system but it functions like the newer anti-depressant classes and can take up to four to six weeks to start working. It did not work for me either. Elavil is another option that is sometimes used but to tell you the truth, IMO it is a nasty drug and I would only use it as a last resort when it has reached emergency proportions. It is an older anti-depressant that also works on the seratonin system and can have some pretty rough side effects. My 16 year old and I both currently take Ambien and it works great. It is the drug of choice for insomnia. I know many people who use this and are quite happy with it. There is a period of time (about 15 to 30 minutes) between when it first starts working and you actually fall asleep in which you act almost drunk. My family can always tell when this starts (my speech becomes slown down and a little slurred). There is also amnesia during this time period (info not committed to memory) so they are always informing me of things I said during this time period. Some of them are quiet amusing. They just steer me to bed them and all is well. You can prevent this by taking it right before you lay down. It will take you about 15 to 30 minutes to fall alseep but you won't have the above problems. You can build a tolerance to this drug and after awhile it doesn't work as well as it did in the beginning. If you take a few days break (which will be rough nights in which you do not sleep) then it will start working again. If she only has periodic insomnia then she can take it only on the nights she is having trouble falling asleep and never run into this problem. Or you can choose to just give it to her every other night and nights where she really needs to sleep. It comes in two formulas, regular and extended release. Regular is for people who only have trouble falling asleep but can stay asleep just fine. It is available in generic form and it much cheaper. Extended release is for people who have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. It is not available in generic and therefore cost more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 Going to sound a bit counterintuitive, but what happens when she drinks coffee? I knew this guy in college who tended to have opposite reactions to some drugs. Benadryl made him hyper, and coffee had the opposite effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Only me Posted May 23, 2009 Author Share Posted May 23, 2009 Kidshappen, did you try Sonata? I was wondering what reaction you had to it. DD had the horrible in between sleep stage with it. She had hallucinations, slurred speech and was very uncomfortable. Her eyes were wide and dilated and she also seemed drunk. It also took her over an hour to fall asleep on it and she woke up several times during the night I'm just worried to have her try Ambien because Sonata is supposed to be a lot weaker. If she had that reaction to Sonata I'm worried about what Ambien will do. That is the med that the doctor mentioned that she might want to try next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danestress Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 and refuse to try other medications until you have whatever information that can give you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Kidshappen, did you try Sonata? I was wondering what reaction you had to it. DD had the horrible in between sleep stage with it. She had hallucinations, slurred speech and was very uncomfortable. Her eyes were wide and dilated and she also seemed drunk. It also took her over an hour to fall asleep on it and she woke up several times during the night I'm just worried to have her try Ambien because Sonata is supposed to be a lot weaker. If she had that reaction to Sonata I'm worried about what Ambien will do. That is the med that the doctor mentioned that she might want to try next. I never actually tried Sonata so I can't give you first hand experience with it. Here is a link to the wiki article on it. It is actually quite complete. You may especially want to look at the side effects. Her reaction to it does not sound unheard of. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaleplon As a comparison, here is the wiki article for Ambien: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zolpidem I do know that while they are in the same overall class of drugs, they affect different areas of the brain and work on different neurotransmitters so they have different mechanisms of working and different side effect profiles. Your dd will not neccessarily react to them the same way. And I can tell you from personal experience that you sometimes have to try every different kind of medication for a given problem to find one that works. It really depends on how bad her insomnia is. When I go about three days without any sleep at all I start having serious mood problems as well as hallucinations. If it is that bad then it needs to be treated in some way. If it is just a very difficult time falling asleep but she actually does sleep then it is just annoying but not neccessarily in need of treatment. These choices are always harder to make for children. So sorry you are both going through this. I hope you find something that works soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Talk to your pharmacist. They can tell you whether there are other drug classes to try or not. I would also consider calling a children's hospital and ask to talk to a pharmacist there. Sometimes different medications get the same results (ie sleepiness) but their mechanism of action is different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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