Amitriptyline Prescribed to 3 year old for insomnia. Has anyone ever heard of this?

Thank you, Sheena ! I’m very pro- herbal and natural rememdies . My mother is a holistic advisor for her work and we have tried many things to try to help him naturally and following some food suggestions to as far as what we should give or not give and watch his diet well too. Sadly none of this has helped him. 

Thanks for listening ! It means more than you know!

Amanda, thank you! My husband and I are very uneasy about the increasing to 10mg in the case that it just won’t even work and then what? We must bring him back down. It hardly seems worth it! So thank you I think we still stick to what we have him on until I can speak to our doctor more about this . I was very much against putting him on the medicine but in an effort to help him I felt like we had to try. But it doesn’t seem to have worked.

Thankfully I do have a pending referral to a Children’s hospital in our area (however with a huge wait list 😞 but still a referral! On the paperwork that we must send back i mentioned various times that I am deeply concerned mostly about his sleep or lack there of! I don’t know if this means they will add a neurologist to this team that we are going to see since I don’t believe it’s for the neurology department though more so On a developmental level as obviously with delayed speech & some sensory seeking behaviors (like being a busy body) there is a possible mild ASD diagnosis in our future . I know a lot of autism moms or moms with children on the spectrum but their children have all reacted well to melatonin - we did not and Our son always slept great until 2 years old. He’s a very happy and otherwise healthy guy! Very sweet and easy going ! No behavioral issues at all or nightmares/terrors either . 

My husband takes solace in the face that we cannot be the only ones suffering with this type is issue that there must be other children out there and therefore answers somewhere so actually made us feel a lot better ! I do hope they can figure out what’s going on with your friends son as well and I feel for her ! I don’t believe we have any chronic pain issues. The only major issue our son had medically was a pyloric stenosis surgery at 3 weeks old he does not seem to be in pain or have RLS . 

Hi Casey, my friends son has a form of Autism and other issues too and did not react well to the melatonin. She said it has been a struggle getting Drs and specialists to help they kept on fobbing her off so she has had to stand her ground and demand things even with schooling. I believe my friends sons issues are different from your sons, as her son was not even one when she knew something was not right as he was not  developing.  Like i said he was put on Amityriptyline for sleep but did not help after a few weeks but helped with his leg pains as he gets tired and cannot walk far. Her son also had issues with bed wetting so the amitriptyline helped with that. xx

Oh I am so sorry to hear your friend is struggling with so much ! We haven’t had to fight with much yet except our insurance does not cover speech unless he has a head injury so I had to go through a community program who assessed him and because they found he did have a delay in speech - they offered speech services for free and in home.

It’s so hard to get people to listen sometimes ! But yes, Our son has developed normal and hit all milestones normally until speech. We just assumed he would start talking as soon as speech began but it’s been a year now he hasn’t said many words we understand yet just lots of jargon still. He also doesn’t seem to have some of the more ‘classic’ markers for autism. But he does seem to have a sensory disorder. I believe he could still have autism though which is why we are seeing the team at children’s in hopes of sorting this all out. We have been trying to potty train however, but with a child who never wants to sit and who doesn’t tell you much, it’s been a challenge so I’m glad you mentioned this about the bed wetting . Perhaps that can help us in that department anyway. 

Thank you again! 

Have you tried raw goats milk from a reputable local farmer?

When my son was a baby he would not sleep, or stay asleep, and cried alot. It was a nightmare. I became very sleep deprived , was breastfeeding, pumping and saving milk, and trying to holding down a f.t. job, and up and down all hours of the night trying to sooth my son to sleep.

Anyway, the goat milk worked from the first night. He slept 10 hrs straight....It was great. And it continued to work. But then his pediatrician gave us the Oh no that might not be as good for him as formula or easy for him to digest speech and scared us into stopping. I've since learned it's much easier on digestion than cows milk, and full of beneficial probiotics, which is another thing you might try. Kefir is full of it.

Five formulas later, no success, back to sleep issues.

My husband was not working at the time but would not get up in the night to help or give me a break even though i had some breastmilk stored up. I was trying to do both bc i did not wabt to let go of breastfeeding, but with the sleep deprivatiom, i was not producing much.

I was prescribed something to calm my nerves bc of the ongoing, severe sleep deprivation, which had an opposite effect on me in that I had panic attack symptoms, which was a side effect I later learned. Long story short, my hubby, who would not get a job , and after being given the speech to shape up and help with his son, or ship out, realizing that he'd have to get a job, get up at night, and be responsible, he falsely accused me of being crazy, and sued for custody. After that I endured a several year battle trying to untangle all the lies he told and endured many helllish circumstances. He still lies about me and tries to deceive and manipulate our son.

My son has had stomach pain on and off for several years, which I intuitively attribute to all the issues perpetuated during the divorce and what he is being told. He is now 9. I feel powerless to change the situation as i cannot control his father and cannot prove anything, and dont want to set foot into a courtroom again and endure that uncertain hell. So the pediatric gastro doctor suggested low dose amitriptyline for his tummy, but I'm reluctant to try it as well, bc of his age. And given the effect the med I tried had on me, it sealed my lack of faith in them.

I wonder if none of it would have happened if we'd just stuck with the goats milk.

The goats milk is worth a try. Along with your son, you have to consider the toll the sleep deprivation can have on you, too, and possibly your marriage.

I realize that was alot to share, but it is all tied inexplicably tigether, has deeply impacted me and my sweet son, and still does to this day. All due to the sleeping issue.

You were prescribed it for sleep, Tiffany? I have barely even heard of it prescribed for that either, much less for a toddler . 

Our Ped insists it’s safe to take 10mg but my mommy feels just don’t feel right about this . I am going to seek out another professional opinion, thank you! I am sorry you are struggling with withdrawals I heard they can be very hard . 

The information is was given when I picked up my prescription said it is not for anyone under 12 yrs. I am not a medical professional so I am sure every situation is different but he is so little. I would definitely seek out a second opinion. Maybe they just need to run some tests and see what is going on. I hope you get some answers and the little guy gets some sleep ❤

Yes i had trouble when they took me off another med cold turkey! Then back on it and then they tapered me off. Because my withdrawals were so bad coming off of the last one my doctor gave me 10mg to help me sleep.

Everything I read says not for children ! Ugh but I do trust our doctor he’s very well regarded 10 mg just has seemed too high for me to give him. I have not upped the dose . I just take the no sleep and hope for he best when goes to sleep the next night lol I know my friend from work had her son on it at around age 8 I think he took 10 it was for migraines though. He’s recently off of it because he had to be put on something else due to another more pressing medical condition. She never said if he struggled coming off or switching  but still 8 years old is a lot older than 3 years old . 

I hope you get some sleep thanks for the reply !!