ADHD twins

[StrugglingMom]

Hi there,

I am new here and was wondering if anyone else had twins with ADHD.

Mine are almost nine and to be honest, I have no idea how we got here.

they are both now medicated with elvanse (a slow release 12 hour med) which means they can now go out and play as normal with their peers. beforehand, they could not go out as they had absolutely no impulse control and it was far too dangerous. They are now doing amazingly at school as they can now concentrate and have made loads of friends, which they never could do before.

My problem is at night when the meds wear off. we call it the witching hours. It is a total nightmare and takes at least over 3 hours to get them into bed. I have tried token reward systems, visual timers, reward charts, punishments (e.g removing part or all of their allotted screen time) but nothing makes any difference. They are both quite severely affected by ADHD...especially the H bit and when they are together and unmedicated, I just cannot get through to them at all. They are both now recently on bio-melatonin as before they would not sleep til the wee small hours, but this does not seem to work straight away. once they are asleep, they sleep well and all through the night but by the time they get to bed I am exhausted and just cannot do anything at all.

Does anyone else feel the same way? is there anything that will help?

thanks for reading xx

[Sadiewatermelon]

Hi! I'm brand new too and yours is the first post I've read. Unfortunately I do not have any insight except to say I understand how nightmarish bedtime can be. My daughter will turn 8 in a week and we are at the end of our rope. We will be discussing starting her on meds with the doctor at her 8 year check up in a week and a half. My question for you is how is it in the mornings trying to wake them up? For me it is a continuing nightmare with tons of screaming and kicking. I constantly have bruises on my legs from her digging her toes into me.

[StrugglingMom in reply to Sadiewatermelon]

just start by giving out big hugs xxx My kids don't need wakening up in the morning. they wake early no matter what time they fall asleep but I would say that morning before the meds kick in are pretty much as hellish as bedtime!

It took me almost a year before deciding that I would trial medication for my boys and now I kick myself that I waited so long. It is something that I def recommend parents of ADHD kids try.

If your daughter is struggling to sleep at night then I would recommend looking into melatonin. It has transformed things for me from getting 2-4hrs sleep a night, to getting around 8 hours.

I wish you all the best and let us know how you get on with the meds thing xx

[eeyore13]

I have 13-year-old ADHD boy twins. Boy, do I know what you are talking about!! We tried Melatonin, but it didn't work for very long. Now Thing 1 takes a small dose of Clonidine when he just can't sleep or if he took his last dose of Adderall too late in the day. Thing 2 will settle once his brother does.

We also do not allow any screens past 7 pm and they must have the lights out by 9 pm. Usually, if they have gotten enough exercise during the day sleep isn't much of an issue.

[StrugglingMom in reply to eeyore13]

thanks for your reply. I too remove screens early but I find that no matter how much exercise they have had during the day...the more tired they get, the more hyper they become! I have set times for bedtime routine but it is just a nightmare for them to stick to it. the melatonin works for mine (they only ever used to sleep 2-4 hours a night) but it takes a long time to work for my kids. Maybe they will calm down one day.......lol

[jamie_in_sc]

I just posted my first post. I have 7 year old twins with ADHD - severe. I am in the same boat as you, in that - when they are unmedicated, all I know how to describe it is traumatic. We do not have an issue once they are IN bed, thank goodness, and we are successful with melatonin (btw, where did you find bio-melatonin?), but we just started my son on an afternoon dose of a different medication in hopes of keeping him calm/stable through about 7:30/8:00 pm each night. We just started. I am praying.

[StrugglingMom in reply to jamie_in_sc]

I have to say I laughed out loud when you said 'traumatic' as this sums it up perfectly!! It is very difficult to describe it to other people who do not suffer as we do.

I am in the UK and you can only get melatonin in the form of bio-melatonin on prescription from a doctor or specialist. Good luck with the new medication and I hope it helps calm things down a bit for you xx

[floydwhite]

ask your dr. about clonidine. my sonw was the same great all day but never sleep for more than 4 hours. he takes .o2 mg before bed. i like it because hes not groggy in the morning

[StrugglingMom in reply to floydwhite]

I am not sure if that is available in the uk but I can always ask their specialist. We have an appointment at the end of the month anyway. Thing is, the melatonin has improved things...just the getting into bed that is the problem...

[floydwhite]

i see eeyore13 has success with the clonidine as well 😊