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ADHD
Aug 2, 2007 21:26:40 GMT -5
Post by Gina on Aug 2, 2007 21:26:40 GMT -5
I hope Amber does really well on the Ritalin. I totally understand your concern, but if it works as well for Amber, as it has worked for Ashton, you will be very happy with the results. Sometimes Ashton gets quiet, but we have not lost her personality or craziness!! Good luck
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ADHD
Aug 5, 2007 18:38:49 GMT -5
Post by hannahph on Aug 5, 2007 18:38:49 GMT -5
Ok, you all may think I am off my rocker but have your kids ever had a sleep study? The reason I ask is that somwhere like 60% of kids with DS have sleep apnea. Apnea can mimic ADHD and casue serious behaviour issues. Don't get me wrong , I understand there are really kids who have ADHD. Some kids who have apnea are very hyper and have no impulse control because they are exhausted and they are trying to keep themselves awake. Also it is very common for a form of restless leg syndrome to accompany this making it hard to sit still.Hannah had a really hard time with her impulse control and has sleep apnea. Since we started CPAP therapy I have noticed a big difference in her behaviour.You all might think I am nuts but it might be worth exploring.
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ADHD
Aug 5, 2007 20:13:07 GMT -5
Post by Chris too on Aug 5, 2007 20:13:07 GMT -5
Heather, I don't think you're nuts - it makes perfect sense to me. When I had a poor sleeper (number 4, non-Ds), I learned everything I could about sleep and found out that if little ones don't get their naps, they can't sleep well at night bc they're so tired that they're wired up with nervous energy - weird, but true. So it makes sense that if a child isn't getting enough recuperative sleep, he will be full of nervous energy and too tired to behave well.
Chris, too
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ADHD
Aug 6, 2007 13:30:13 GMT -5
Post by Gina on Aug 6, 2007 13:30:13 GMT -5
Heather, I don't think you are nuts either. I would like to hear more. What is the therapy that your daughter is doing? And what kind of treatment is there for sleep apnea??
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ADHD
Aug 6, 2007 18:55:21 GMT -5
Post by momofrussell on Aug 6, 2007 18:55:21 GMT -5
OH yes... Dr Capone at the conference talked A LOT about this... how the sleep apnea stuff can cause the same behaviors and should be looked into if there might be a possibility of it!
A.
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ADHD
Aug 6, 2007 19:57:53 GMT -5
Post by ambersmom on Aug 6, 2007 19:57:53 GMT -5
Hi, Amber was really weepy the first day we gave her the Ritalin. The next couple days after that it did not seem to effect her. Amber has had her adenoids and tonsils removed for sleep apnea. I thought that would take care of the sleep apnea. Maybe I need to talk to the doctor about it and have another sleep study done. I has been probably about 4yrs ago that she had it done. Thanks Vickie
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ADHD
Aug 6, 2007 23:12:52 GMT -5
Post by joydiane on Aug 6, 2007 23:12:52 GMT -5
Dr. Schott also talked about obstructive sleep apnea and ADHD in her session on ENT concerns at the conference. She did an excellent talk on sleep apnea and the different causes and tests for it. She thought all children with DS should be screened by age 4. She is supposed to send out copies of her slides and I'll be glad to share once I get them. Joy
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ADHD
Aug 6, 2007 23:14:57 GMT -5
Post by joydiane on Aug 6, 2007 23:14:57 GMT -5
Renee, Also, since you are from the Houston area...... the nurse from the DS clinic at Texas Children's was in that seminar on ENT issues so hopefully our DS clinic will be more aware of these issues and able to offer some help/insight in the future. Joy
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ADHD
Aug 7, 2007 7:15:06 GMT -5
Post by hannahph on Aug 7, 2007 7:15:06 GMT -5
Usually the first treament in kids is to have tonsils and adnoids removed. In a lot of cases it resolves the apnea. Sometimes that is not the case and then you have to go to CPAP (continuous positive airway presuure)therapy. It is called therapy but it is not a therapy in the traditional sense. It just means that you have to wear a mask at night to sleep. It blows air at a set pressure to keep the airways open. At first when they told me Hannah needed CPAP I thought there was no way Hannah would wear it. I am happy to say that she has been wearing it almost every night for the last three months. Hannah never has traditional ADHD symptoms but she does have some impulse control issues and at school she was completly shutting down after lunch time. Now that she is on CPAP I can tell a difference. If she has a bad night and does not wear it I really know it the next day. There are also some surgeries that can be done but it really should not be considered in a child and they are very invasive and don't always work. By the way Vickie, Hannah had the T&A surgery at age five and her apnea went away. I started noticing snoring again last summer and sure enough it was back. Also- kids can have sleep apnea without the snoring-although many DR's will poo poo it. Even our pediatrician admits he has never diagnosed a child with sleep apnea-luckily we have a good ENT who listened to us and ordered a sleep study.I think there was a thread pretty recently on apnea.
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ADHD
Aug 7, 2007 7:21:28 GMT -5
Post by hannahph on Aug 7, 2007 7:21:28 GMT -5
here is a picture of Hannah with her CPAP: By the way, didn't mean to hyjack the thread-just know that there are connections between ADHD and apnea.
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ADHD
Aug 7, 2007 10:37:45 GMT -5
Post by Renee' on Aug 7, 2007 10:37:45 GMT -5
Holy cow...how in the world did you manage to get her to keep that on? I know Lauren has sleep apnea. I am a Repsiratory Therapist and I can hear it. She would never keep that on. They are the same age. Where in upstate NY are you? We were just in Albany this weekend
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ADHD
Aug 7, 2007 10:49:40 GMT -5
Post by chasesmom on Aug 7, 2007 10:49:40 GMT -5
Yep...Chase had his tonsils and adnoids out and still has sleep sleep apnea. He refuses to wear a cpap so they have let him wear just a oxygen mask and it helps but not like it should because it isnt a cpap. But blast it ....you threw me with the restless leg syndrome, darn it!!!!!!!! That had never even crossed my mind and how dumb of me, my dad had restless leg syndrome, I HAVE restless leg syndrome, my oldest son Mike has it and why did I never think about the possibility of Chase having it? Now how in the world am I going to get that checked? How would you figure out if a child w/ DS has it? Is there an easy answer that I am missing? Dont say ask him because he'll tell me yes to anything LOL But aside to all of this..Chase does indeed also have ADHD too hugs, Robin
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ADHD
Aug 7, 2007 11:59:05 GMT -5
Post by hannahph on Aug 7, 2007 11:59:05 GMT -5
Renee, we live near Lake George, about an hour north of Albany. We are actually in Albany every two weeks to see the sleep DR!!!! Robin- The restless leg thing can be picked up during a sleep study. In a lot of cases it is labeled as periodic leg movement disorder.That is actually a secondary diagnosis to the apnea. For Hannah she had somehting like 176 movents of her legs and then when she started CPAP the number went down to 8. Most of the time the CPAP helps but sometimes they need to be medicated. If Chase had a sleep study , which it sounds like he did I am sure they would pick it up. As far as leaving it on...it is a process. We started with giving her a mask to play with at home not hooked up to anything. We started having her wear it a bit to watch tv and stuff till she was not scared of it. Then we started putting it on her hooked up. The first two weeks were hell, I had her sleep with me. She would make it about two hours and then wake up and panic and rip it off her face.We just stuck with it and the time got more and more. About three weeks into it she really started being ok with it. I have found that if she falls asleep before I get the mask on, there is no waking her up to do it.Her dad also has sleep apnea so she was used to seeing the equiptment in the house and I think that helped.She seems to understand that her mask helps her feel better.I am sorry you are having struggles with Chase, maybe when he gets older he will be more able to try again.You make me laugh about asking him....Hannah does that too!
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ADHD
Aug 8, 2007 10:36:08 GMT -5
Post by Renee' on Aug 8, 2007 10:36:08 GMT -5
We were actually at Lake Burden. It was a great time!
I am going to break down and see about getting her a sleep study. I have to get the hearing aides first. Shoot...one thing at a time. I hope she will keep the H.A.s on too.
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ADHD
Aug 20, 2007 9:39:46 GMT -5
Post by rickismom on Aug 20, 2007 9:39:46 GMT -5
Renne-- Rina DEFINATELY has ADHD-- I could write you tons... I even wrote an article on it once, for Downs ED. Since the article is still copywritted by them, I can not post it on -line, but I will copy it to your message box. Good luck!
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