Moe gave up his nap. Then, slowly, his nighttime sleep got worse and worse. At first he had trouble falling asleep. We tried behavioral techniques, sensory calming techniques and eventually melatonin. Then he started having trouble staying asleep. Sometimes the melatonin wouldn't work. We would have good cycles and bad, but the last six months or more have been awful. Moe rarely slept through the night, and his awake times would often span several hours. It affects all of us, including four year old Jelly.
We had to get a handle on this, so we found a psychiatrist.
Side note: finding a good psychiatrist is hard to do. Most of the ones I contacted aren't taking new patients or have waiting lists of several months, some up to 8-10 months. Many do not take insurance. Still, time and persistence and perhaps a bit of luck paid off.
Over the past two weeks, we had several appointments with the psychiatrist. At the last one, she recommended some medication. I am thankful we have options, and yet we do not rush into meds lightly. Moe cannot tell us how he is feeling. He already has trouble learning new skills. We want to make sure his mind is still sharp and that he is able to learn.
Our primary goal was to tackle sleep. After that, we wanted to address some emotional dysregulation, impulsivity, some aggression, as well as hyperactive behavior. It is our belief that most of these come from being over tired and over stimulated, but we can't get a baseline on those behaviors until he's sleeping well. We do not believe Moe has ADHD.
So we discussed options, and have decided to go with a medication that will help with sleep, and should also help address some of the above, as well as anxiety. I'm not sure yet if I feel comfortable talking about Moe's specific medications on this blog, so I'm going to hold off on that for now. (If anyone has specific questions, feel free to contact me here or via my Facebook page).
Last night was the first night, and we will slowly ramp up the dose over the next week if he tolerates the medication. We were worried about getting him to swallow a pill, but it is very small and he swallows it down with a spoonful of pudding. I hope that will continue.
It took two hours for Moe to fall asleep last night, but he slept through. It wasn't a great day for him today. It is hard to know if that is because of the meds or if he just had a bad day.
Tonight, he fell asleep at a decent time as well. I will be tracking everything, from asleep and awake times to overall mood.