Author: Abigail Sullivan Moore

For Kevin, a bright, sociable 8th-grader with ADHD, the first week of school was rough. After stopping Adderall over the summer, he restarted it, knowing it helped him stay focused at school. But for the first few days he had trouble falling asleep — a common result when resuming stimulants. It also didn’t help, says his mom ruefully, that “we had run out of melatonin.” Neither did the switch from a late-rising summer sleep schedule nor his tendency to be a night owl, anyway. Predictably, Kevin’s appetite for lunch waned — another side effect: “This is always an issue. I…

At least 1 out of 3 Americans reports having sleep troubles. Many people do not get evaluated for their sleep problems and instead seek out a quick fix in the form of a prescription drug. According to the New York Times, 60 million prescriptions for sleep aids were handed out in 2011, a number that represented a 20 percent spike from 2006. In this second of a 2-part Q & A with sleep expert Maha Ahmad, MD, MMSc (pictured), Associate Director of the Sleep Disorders Institute in New York, MedShadow explores the most widely used drugs to treat insomnia and…

At least 1 out of 3 Americans reports having sleep troubles. Many people do not get evaluated for their sleep problems and instead seek out a quick fix in the form of a prescription drug. According to the New York Times, 60 million prescriptions for sleep aids were handed out in 2011, a number that represented a 20 percent spike from 2006. In this 2-part Q & A with sleep expert Maha Ahmad, MD, MMSc (pictured), Associate Director of the Sleep Disorders Institute in New York, MedShadow explores behavioral approaches to remedying insomnia in Part 1 and asks about the drugs…