Sleeps great. ADHD

[Jkurkie0612]

hello - my 8 year old was diagnosed with ADHD in the last two years. Really starting to dig in and learn.. one thing that seems to be a strong symptom in kids with ADHD is poor sleep, but my son sleeps great! But he tells us he’s tired a lot. Any thoughts or anyone that can relate?

[kdali]

Mine sleeps well also. Occasionally up at 5am, and rarely makes it past 9pm. I think when mine says she's tired it's mostly because she hasn't eaten enough, but today it was because she was not interested in doing homework.

[Jkurkie0612 in reply to kdali]

Yes. This sounds like him. I do give me iron after we got his lab checked.. he was slightly low, but barely. I also think maybe he says he’s tired when he’s not interested or doesn’t want to.. random.. does your child get migraines. Mine was sent home yesterday because he was crying his head hurt so bad and then he threw up. I brought him home. He laid in bed, watched tv, wanted to eat and I didn’t let him thinking it’s a bug and this morning he seems completely fine. Wondering if it’s a migraine of some sort. Never happened to him before, but he has thrown up for odd reasons before like.. he was sleeping a music in the park and when we got him up to go home, he start screaming like maybe he was scared and then he threw up. He told me the next day it was because the music was too loud

[kdali in reply to Jkurkie0612]

She's had a few bad headaches, but not migraines, and has cried over her ear when sick (no concerns on exam). The first time her ear bothered her she was suddenly screaming and freaked out her teacher, but she couldn't communicate at the time it was her ear. Mine will puke and be fine soon after. So many germs right now it's hard to tell 🤷‍♀️

[Aspen797]

Does your child snore? Sometimes sleep issues caused by enlarged tonsils/adenoids can result in behavior that mimics ADHD but may be treatable by treating the sleep obstruction. Being a bit anemic can also make you sluggish. Pediatrician could check labs.

[Jkurkie0612 in reply to Aspen797]

I did have his labs done and he was barely low on iron so I do give him and iron pill every other day. He does not snore. Thanks!

[TinyDinosaurs]

Mine is also a great sleeper (he just turned 6). He pretty much exhibits everything else, combined presentation. I just count my blessings - life would be a lot harder for all of us if he had sleep issues too.

[Laura3456]

Mine diagnosed at 8 with inattentive adhd. Sleeps very solidly and always has for hours! I always found it a bit strange, given as you say sleep is often an issue. We are now at 14 and reducing meds slowly as things seem to be improving. I wonder if it was/is adhd at all.... we have some mildish OCD going on. Overall though i will say once we started meds at 8 there have been no material issues, best thing we did - although a personal choice of course.

[tootsmom]

My 6 year old son has inattentive type and sleeps well (knock on wood). I think poor sleep can often go with the hyperactive type?? My son also has some mild sensory e.g., auditory processing issues. He doesn't like loud crowd noise. It makes him anxious - but we have not experienced headaches - kow again

[Mamamichl]

my kid says she has trouble sleeping. When we cosleeping, I see her tossing and turning like in a half sleep. Sometimes she says she has trouble and sometimes not. My brain wakes me around 3 am and I can’t go back to sleep.

[MaudQ]

ADHD fatigue is different from physical tiredness. It’s more work for an ADHD person to do tasks that a neurotypical person doesn’t even think about and it can be exhausting. Your kid is probably masking at school and working really hard to keep up with expectations (and dealing with the fallout when he can’t). If your kid is 8 he probably can’t articulate where the exhaustion is coming from, though. When my kid was younger she was exhausted after school and slept a lot - especially on weekends. Now that she’s older and we all have more skills, she’s not as wiped out. She used to get crazy headaches, including a few migraines, and really bad stomach aches. She still gets them occasionally but now we’re all more aware what’s going on. If you search for fatigue on a site like ADDitude you will find lots of articles with strategies. Also, recharging doesn’t just come from sleeping or vegging. Your kid probably needs to do more of both of those things than an NT kid, but doing preferred activities that are fun and challenging in a good way are also necessary. And it couldn’t hurt to have your provider do a depression screen.

[MaudQ in reply to MaudQ]

TLDR: it’s great that your kid is sleeping though the night! I’d just look around for another cause for why he’s still saying he’s tired

[Aloysia]

Please have a sleep study done on your kid. You do not need to snore in order to have sleep apnea. Other common signs are sleeping with your mouth open, tossing + turning a lot during sleep, being tired after a full night's sleep, etc. It's best to just do the sleep study to rule it in or out.

Yes, it also sounds like your kid might be having migraines. Talk to your Dr about it. Start keeping a journal so you can figure out the triggers. There are a huge amount of potential triggers including various foods, low blood sugar, stress, exercise, dehydration, lights, sleep (too much or too little), smoke, hormones, and even smells.

[Klmamma]

This is one of the hallmark symptoms of ADHD. He's likely not sleepy tired, he's ADHD tired. This type of "tired" can be a variety of things. He's understimulated/bored or he's exhausted from just being him. It's a constant struggle all day long when you have poor executive function skills and your brain is so very loud. Most ADHD people have a constant buzz of noise, ideas, thoughts, sensory input, etc CONSTANTLY going on in their brains. The #1 thing adults notice when they try medication is how quiet their brains can be. It's elicited tears from multiple people I know that tried meds for the first time in their 30s.

If your child isn't medicated, I'd highly recommend trying meds. ADHD isn't just about paying attention and sitting still. It's about being able to follow three step directions, remember social skills, pick up on social cues, etc. Untreated children leads to depressed and anxious adults.

My child is very self aware and has spent 6 years in therapy and still has a hard time identifying if he's sleepy tired, or ADHD tired.