Sleeping Pills

[jacmurphy]

Hi all. I would appreciate some advice.
My 14 year old is sleeping up to 18 hours a day. I see him when the fatigue gets too much and his whole body just seems to shut down. He tries to make it up to his bedroom.. put has to crawl up the stairs... if we're out when this tiredness hits him it takes 2 of us to get him to the car and into the house.
Well.. Had an appointment today. They seem to have gotten tired of telling me it's just him being a teenager. Now they say he's not getting quality sleep and they have prescribed sleeping tablets for him.
He used to be a light sleeper.. now I have to shake him to wake him up. I'm still waiting on a sleep study to be done.
So my question.... Have any of you gone down the road of sleeping pills? Do they work? Do I even go ahead and give these to him?????
Thanks in advance for your help.

Jackie.

[selmaS]

Hi Jackie...I too was given sleeping pills...they did not help...I even tried a glass of wine b4 bed...nothing....this fatigue is part chiari and part pain.....

But a sleep study  was never done on me as the sleep clinic dr felt I needed to learn how to relax...I stopped going as he was taking my money, but not doing the testing I went there for.

The meds I was given did affect my IBS issues which took almost a yr to get back to  normal.

I wish I had a better reply, but we r all diff and this just might work for ur DS???? We do not know unless we try....I understand ur concerns....just have o idea what u can do as ur country has ur hands tied as to who and when u can see someone.

Please keep us posted
"selma"

[n40066]

oh no.....you are in a bit of a spot then.  do you know where ray got his study done?  maybe he might know of some place that works with kids...  if you can afford it, are you allowed to travel elsewhere to have it done?  if his dr feels confident he has sleep apnea, is there anyway he can get him a cpap to use until he can get the test done?  (maybe they can do something off the books?)  
i don't blame you a bit for being a lunatic mother!  you don't eeeven want to know what i would be like!!!  lol
i wish i had an answer for you.....
elizabeth

[jacmurphy]

Hi..
I'm in Ray's Country. Ireland.. All of 20 NL and 10 NS for 4 million people. And most of those don't see children under 16.
My doctor is trying to find out if I can get the sleep study done privately.. but so far no luck. The only ones she has found are for adults not children. The NL has agreed to one.. that was back in June. I've been told January is the earliest but  we are also on a cancellation list. My son's hospital only does the sleep studies the 3rd week of every month.
This is not my son's only issue.. but they tend to pick one thing that they think they can explain and ignore everything else that's going on with him.
And after today I know for sure they see me as a Lunatic mother!!! lol
But to say I'm frustrated and worried and scared would be an understatement.

[n40066]

can you travel to the next town over maybe?  it is well worth it to find a good/knowledgable dr!!! can you schedule the sleep study yourself or do you have to wait for a referal from his gp?

[jacmurphy]

HI.. Thanks to you both. Yes.. that's my thinking too. I've been very worried about sleep apnea and wondered if his fatigue is related to that.. so it doesn't make any sense giving him something that will put him into a deeper sleep until we know.
I'm afraid it's not so easy to get another NL here. There's only 4 that see children and they all have long waiting lists.
Don't know what I'm going to do.

Jackie

[n40066]

i am rather surprised that a dr would give a 14 yr old sleeping pills WITHOUT first testing for sleep apnea!!  i am be no means a dr, but i wouldn't give them to my son until he had the sleep study.  to me, it doesn't make sense to further depress his system when he is already sleeping so much....even tho i understand the dr believes that he is not getting "good" sleep.  please be very careful and i don't think it would hurt for you to take him to see another dr. !
please keep us posted!
elizabeth

[WarriorMomma]

I had taken sleeping pills for two months. They did help me; however, I found it was hard to operate (go to work) on them. I was dx with Chiari in August 2008 and dx with Sleep Apnea June 2010. I would suggest testing for sleep apnea. Good luck!