Autismkids
Member
I have not posted my 5 year old difficult child's entire history, but he's got a lot of issues with the primary dxs being Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified, ADHD, sleep disorders, and asthma.
He's had 2 sleep studies. Both studies show severe sleep fragmentation. In his last study, he was asleep for 5 hours and had 94 arousals not related to specific limb movement or breathing episodes. He only had 2 cycles of REM sleep during each study, and his sleep seemed normal compared to home. He did not have enough apneas or hypopneas to warrent xPAP (any type of positive airway pressure) which was my goal (it's sort of an easy fix, and xPAP is not new to over here).
His sleep Dr said we should try clonazapam. It can have the opposite effect and reduce REM sleep, and he has none to spare. But the doctor's theory is that the medication could basically shut off his ADHD enough for restful sleep.
When I looked up the medication, my biggest concerns were that he would need blood draws to check the levels, and it did say to let your doctor know if you have asthma. I'm assuming it can cause issues in asthma, but doctor knew nothing of it.
Also, if the medication seems to help his sleep, he'll need another study while on it which he does not want. No, I don't let the 5 year old make medical decisions, but he does play a part since he has to learn some time.
If we do decide to try the medication, it's effectivness will be based on behavior. If his behavior tanks, we're going to assume he's not getting any sleep and taper off. If his behavior gets better, we'll assume it helped his sleep and repeat the study.
What do you think?
He's had 2 sleep studies. Both studies show severe sleep fragmentation. In his last study, he was asleep for 5 hours and had 94 arousals not related to specific limb movement or breathing episodes. He only had 2 cycles of REM sleep during each study, and his sleep seemed normal compared to home. He did not have enough apneas or hypopneas to warrent xPAP (any type of positive airway pressure) which was my goal (it's sort of an easy fix, and xPAP is not new to over here).
His sleep Dr said we should try clonazapam. It can have the opposite effect and reduce REM sleep, and he has none to spare. But the doctor's theory is that the medication could basically shut off his ADHD enough for restful sleep.
When I looked up the medication, my biggest concerns were that he would need blood draws to check the levels, and it did say to let your doctor know if you have asthma. I'm assuming it can cause issues in asthma, but doctor knew nothing of it.
Also, if the medication seems to help his sleep, he'll need another study while on it which he does not want. No, I don't let the 5 year old make medical decisions, but he does play a part since he has to learn some time.
If we do decide to try the medication, it's effectivness will be based on behavior. If his behavior tanks, we're going to assume he's not getting any sleep and taper off. If his behavior gets better, we'll assume it helped his sleep and repeat the study.
What do you think?