ADD and sleep connected?

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Forum -> Parenting our children -> Our Challenging Children (gifted, ADHD, sensitive, defiant)

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amother

Sat, Oct 23 2021, 10:05 pm

Anyone else here have kids and or husband with ADD that can not get up in the morning? I’m starting to wonder because my kids who have ADD all sleep really deep and would sleep until 2 in the afternoon if I didn’t literally shlep them out of bed. And my husband is the same. He works very hard on it but it’s still a real issue. If I were ever to not be home one morning my house would be chaos and no one would get up.
It’s specifically my husband and children who have ADD that have this issue. My kids who don’t struggle with ADD have no issues getting up.

And if this is one of the effects of ADD anyone have any advice? It gets them in real hot water at times.

Thank you!

amother

Blue

Sat, Oct 23 2021, 10:13 pm

Whatever it is that’s messing with the brain and causing the symptoms that you’re calling add is likely also messing with the part of the brain that controls sleep.
Is your kid medicated?

amother

Sand

Sat, Oct 23 2021, 10:14 pm

Maybe because they have trouble falling asleep?

My son has ADHD and always woke up early. Now that he's on meds and having and also older so wants to be up later plus having a hard time falling asleep so wakes up late.

My husband possibly has ADHD also goes to sleep really late and wakes really late. Interesting. I never connected the two.

amother

Sat, Oct 23 2021, 10:17 pm

So they are all on medication for ADD. And still have this issue with sleep. The only one not on medication is my husband. And he has the same issues as my kids.

Not adhd.

amother

Sun, Oct 24 2021, 8:03 am

No one else has this experience?

Maybe they’re not really connected…

Refine

Sun, Oct 24 2021, 8:46 am

I know someone who has sleep apnea who was like that.
His adhd really faded when his sleep apnea was treated. Apparently, sleep deprivation and adhd symptoms are similar.

amother

Apricot

Sun, Oct 24 2021, 8:49 am

Of course it’s connected. It’s called delayed sleep phase syndrome and it’s something no one will ever tell you about, even though about 75% of people with adhd have it.
In general people with adhd need help falling into a good sleep cycle, whether it’s something natural, melotonin, or a sleep medication.

amother

Sun, Oct 24 2021, 8:53 am

So I want to reiterate. We are dealing with add not adhd. They are all very chilled, slower paced, have difficulty focusing and transitioning from task to task, getting through tasks, time management…. I think this is quite different than adhd.

amother

Apricot

Sun, Oct 24 2021, 9:00 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

It’s not different. In fact ADD is no longer used as a diagnosis, it is now called adhd-inattentive.

amother

Sun, Oct 24 2021, 9:22 am

amother [ Apricot ] wrote:

It’s not different. In fact ADD is no longer used as a diagnosis, it is now called adhd-inattentive.

That’s interesting. I am working with professionals and have never heard that.

amother

Birch

Sun, Oct 24 2021, 10:01 am

Yes it is 100% connected. The best advice anyone ever gave me was to set an alarm for half an hour before wake up time. Have pill and water next to bed. Don't need to wake up fully, just barely enough to take the pill. Then wakeup will be much easier. I would recommend trying this with your family.
Hatzlacha.

amother

Apricot

Sun, Oct 24 2021, 10:28 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

That’s interesting. I am working with professionals and have never heard that.

In which country?

FranticFrummie

Sun, Oct 24 2021, 10:37 am

amother [ Apricot ] wrote:

I have ADD (no meds for it), and I've had an inverted sleep phase my entire life, even as a baby. My mom used to joke that nobody knew what color my eyes were, because I would sleep all day, and play in my crib all night.

I have tried every trick in the book to regulate my sleep cycle. I have been fired from almost every single job because of sleeping through the alarm clock. I take prescription sleeping pills because it is extremely rare that I can just fall asleep, no matter how tired I am.

I've finally come to the conclusion that I don't have insomnia. I just don't sleep when other people want me to. I'd be a great night shift worker.

According to evolutionary psychology, some people needed to have ADD and stay awake all night because they needed to be hyper alert and stand guard over the other people who were sleeping. Tents and caves don't exactly have locks on their doors. As my sister once said "I'd want to have you with me if we went camping."

amother

Dustypink

Sun, Oct 24 2021, 11:09 am

What medications are they on?
Guanfacine for example causes tiredness, so I give it pretty early in the evening, in the hope that that side affect won't affect him by the morning.

amother

Sun, Oct 24 2021, 11:58 am

amother [ Birch ] wrote:

None of them wake up from an alarm. We’ve tried every alarm clock that exists. I am the alarm. They’ve missed important appointments, flights, not to mention the bus/ride to school more times than I care to remember. If I am not involved they don’t get up.

amother

Blue

Sun, Oct 24 2021, 12:08 pm

Low Thyroid can cause extreme fatigue and also symptoms of inattentive add

amother

Sun, Oct 24 2021, 12:16 pm

Also they’re not generally fatigued. They just have an extremely difficult time transitioning from sleep to waking up.

paperflowers

Sun, Oct 24 2021, 12:33 pm

Yes, me. I have a seriously hard time managing alertness and arousal. So it’s hard for me to get together the energy and motivation I need to start tasks, hard to sit down long enough to complete them, hard to settle down at night, and hard to wake up in the morning. ADHD inattentive and hyperactive are really just different manifestations of dysregulation of arousal.

Coffee first thing in the morning helps. Some people take a stimulant half an hour before they want to wake up and then go back to sleep. Waking up gently is better for me than all at once. For example, a jarring alarm clock will get turned off in 0.5 seconds and I’ll fall back into an even deeper sleep. But if the light slowly turns on and I have a gentle alarm that gets louder, I’m more likely (maybe) to wake up. Having clothes picked out etc. helps because there is just less to do in the morning. There were times I set up negel vasser next to my bed so it was one thing I could do without getting up, and that helped me wake up.

paperflowers

Sun, Oct 24 2021, 12:37 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

That’s interesting. I am working with professionals and have never heard that.

Colloquially they might call it ADD but technically it’s ADHD-inattentive. Ask them about it.

amother

Birch

Sun, Oct 24 2021, 12:40 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Ok so go to wake them up 30 minutes before they need to be up, arouse them slightly to take the medication. Let them know the night before that you are going to try this.

This is a first step to getting them into the habit.

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