Re: 5 year old stays awake
 

It does sound like "more" and others with experience in that are responding. :)

What jumped out at me as I read was the twice a day treatments. When dd was quite small and we were first learning to manage her asthma, she was admitted to the hospital three times. The breathing treatments were much needed but they drove her pulse rate up and her sleep was really impacted. Have you discussed any possible side effects of the treatments and a possible link to sleep disruption? Obviously they're needed meds but perhaps there's an adjustment or something that can offset it if there's a connection.

Re: 5 year old stays awake
 

He needs to get a good physical from his pediatrician, along with standard bloodwork, plus the thyroid stuff mentioned earlier. Other things, like b12 and vitamin d should also be looked at. Start there, and then I would have a behavioral evaluation done by a psychologist after you get those results, if they don't find anything. You said he goes to preschool? How does he do in that group setting?

Re: 5 year old stays awake
 

I also think that would be a disaster.

And it seems you have a lot more going on in your home than just this. Maybe separate issues, maybe not. Kids absorb much more than we think they do or like to believe and they are often not part of the working out and resolving things. I also noticed you are a 'ministry wife'. Be careful that that you don't let that status be part of what keeps you from getting help.

You also mentioned that your son had an illness. That is another reason to start at the pediatricians office. My son's autoimmune condition was triggered by an illness. Also, if autism is a possibility, they can help you find resources to get help.

---------- Post added at 10:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:05 PM ----------

Just rereading and something else occurred to me....your son isn't taking Singular by any chance is he? It can really mess up some kids...anxiety, night terrors, etc....I know from personal experience

Re: 5 year old stays awake
 

I would read up on the side effects of his breathing treatments. I know some make for some really hard to deal with kids. Not saying not to provide him with medical care, but that may be part of what is going on.

I hope you find some solutions for sleep and peace in your home.

Since you had someone bring up autism below, I'll let you know that my family is looking into the possibility of my daughter being autistic. So far, the family and friends we've reached out to have been very, very supportive. While we've got a long way to go as a society in making room for neurodiversity, I have been encouraged that we might get less pushback from loved ones than I feared.

Re: 5 year old stays awake
 

This is tough stuff but, being afraid to let a counselor in on it isn't good. You need to be vulnerable if your family is going to heal. You do not need to go into any detail here but "back to how it was" means that you're back to how things were before the traumatic event. Which means it could happen again. And your kids know that, at least at some level. For them to feel safe, life cannot go on as if nothing happened.

Again, no need for you to share any details that you don't want to. Just throwing that out there.

Re: 5 year old stays awake
 

Also one of the side effects from asthma meds can be restlessness. Can you try doing the neb treatment earlier in the evening?

Re: 5 year old stays awake
 

We haven't been using extended release lately. What I had in the medicine cabinet when I first gave it to him, Melatonex, worked awesome, but I'm not even sure it's on the market anymore.

Re: 5 year old stays awake
 

Sounds so rough. You have gotten a lot of good input. I would personally dose him with Benedryl at night to see if that helps him to sleep. While there are other things to investigate and try that might help, if you can get immediate gratification with that then it might reduce some of the sourrounding anxiety. I would not just do that, but worth a try in this.

Having studied pharmacology I feel very comfortable with using a sedating antihistamine to help sleep when needed. As long as you follow dosages on the bottle it is very low risk.

Re: 5 year old stays awake
 

This sounds like my dd2 :hugheart she would.not.sleep. from 18months to age ....6? Somewhere at 5 it got better at 7 things really turned a corner now at 9 it is just once or twice a month she wakes me.

It wasn't behavioral. :no it wasn't anything we were doing wrong. I had 2 other kids who had been sleeping through the night for years and There she was waking and waking and waking me up. There was an underlying need. :yes

One thing that really really helped was audio books. She learned to enjoy them and she could listen to them all night long when she couldn't sleep (locked down kindle fire, she couldn't access anything else but audible and it has the blue screen on it so she wasn't looking at blue light in the night turning on her book). I still hear her audio book going some times in the middle of the night.

The other thing was helping heal her gut and lower inflammation, we are still working on

Maybe you are already tried everything, but have you looked into the potential connection of conventional dairy and respiratory issues?

Re: 5 year old stays awake
 

I’m so sorry. You’ve got a lot going on. So many have mentioned autism as a possibility, but you also mentioned ADHD. I would definitely get a physical from your pediatrician and also ask for a referral to a child psychologist. Some psychologists specialize in testing for ADHD and learning disabilities. They could also evaluate him for anxiety and OCD. I’m not sure what kind of resources you have where you live, but I think you need some professional help. At the very least, you’ll have some insight into what is causing these issues.

We had my now 8-year old daughter tested for ADHD about a year ago, and my suspicions were confirmed - she has it. We were referred by the psychologist to an occupational therapist and that evaluation revealed that she also needs OT. Someone mentioned above about the possibility of him being stuck in the fight or flight mode and that’s one of the issues my daughter has. We are finally in the process of getting her on ADHD medication as well as getting the OT she needs. The delay was due to me procrastinating, for several reasons. I know that not everyone will feel this way with a diagnosis, but just knowing that there were legitimate medical/physiological reasons behind some of her issues was such a relief to me.

If side effects of his breathing treatments could be causing his behaviors, or contributing to them, I would guess there may be different medications that treat the same condition. Do you see a pulmonologist? My niece had to have breathing treatments a few times as a toddler and if the doc put her on Prednisone, it totally changed her personality while she was taking it.

Also, a lot of counselors will see patients on a sliding scale, meaning they will work with you to set a fee within your budget. If your family income is under a certain amount, maybe you could qualify for your state’s (assuming you’re in the US) children’s Medicaid program. I’m sorry you’re going through this. I pray you can get the help you all need.


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Re: 5 year old stays awake
 

Astma meds absoultely can cause ADHD symptoms that can include feeling restless and jittery and anxious and talkative like you have had too much coffee :hugheart

---------- Post added at 07:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:42 PM ----------

Have you tried saline treatments alone?

Re: 5 year old stays awake
 

None of my children have needed a nebulizer; is that how the breathing treatments are delivered? Can saline treatments be delivered through a nebulizer? I am not suggesting a neti pot or sinus rinse for a 5-year old, but I will say that my husband has severe seasonal and environmental allergies, and using the NeilMed Sinus Rinse has been extremely helpful for him. So if saline in a nebulizer is a possible treatment for asthma, maybe that could be helpful, with virtually zero side effects.


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Re: 5 year old stays awake
 

Wishing he'd watch TV, I remember those days. I remember telling people I left the TV on all day, but my brain was so fried, I couldn't muster the words "hoping he'd watch it." Who knows what they concluded from that snippet.

Re: 5 year old stays awake
 

Often they have kids use nebulizers to administer the meds. Saline neb treatments can be very helpful to help moisten and loosen up the airways so they can move stuff out