rebound ? | ADHD Information

 i've been reading so much on rebound and we haven't started the meds yet in our home...is rebound worse than what your dd/ds behaved like prior to meds at the end of the day?  just curious...or does the rebound seem so much worse because your child has been focused and listening during the middle of the day?

shelley   

shelley, what type of metabolism does your child have, fast or slow?  Look at that and it can probably give you some kind of idea of what to try or how much.  Talk to your dr about it, too.  My ds has a fairly normal metabolism whereas I had a real speedy one.  I used to eat like a pig and not gain an ounce.  I also take meds and would take enough for a 250lb man when I was a 126lb woman (not anymore though, I'm nearing fifty and my metabolism has slowed down but my appetite hasn't!). If it is rebound it will not be affected by events during the day. it is the meds.My nine year old started off with the patch. We stopped, in part, because of the rebound issues. Like susieB said, every child is different. In our case, the crashes came even though the med was suppose to wear off gradually.

To answer your question, yes, the rebound was worse than what she normally went through in the afternoon/early evening prior to meds. WIth a rebound, she would become nasty, mean and talk about wanting to just die/kill herself. It came every day around the same time and lasted about two hours. (Before meds, she would just be cranky or tired like any other kid after a long day.)  Rebound is different in different people.  Some folks have really bad rebound and others (like my son) hardly have a problem with it at all. 

Rebound happens when the medication level in the bloodstream drops of sharply and quickly.  This can cause rages, moodiness and defiance to name the most common.  It has a lot to do with metabolism and dosage.  Getting the right med and dosage takes trial and error. 

My son uses Daytrana, which is a ritalin patch.  It takes two hours to kick in and two hours to wear off.  In fact, the only time he had a rebound was after a boy scout camping trip.  He'd been on the patch and we sent him with pills instead, thinking it would be easier.  He didn't sleep much on the trip and didn't eat a whole lot the last day.  It all started to catch up with him at about 6pm and he was crying and saying he was so tired and he wished he could die.  He went and laid down for a while and about 9 pm it ended.  He had gotten used to the slower drop off of the patch and when the Ritalin LA dropped off in his bloodstream, it dropped a whole lot faster than the patch did.  

I wished I knew about this board before my ds started meds. My ds is experiencing alot of the symptoms SusieB and HeyBoo described above. Knowing this was not normal for my child, I've been in turmoil trying to figure it out. His doctor said today she doesn't feel his evening tantrums, mostly erupting from wanting to control the situation, are ADHD related and more behavioral ODD. I on the other hand think it's a combination because these bouts just came on within the last 6 months and are getting worse. Can rebound appear later and get worse? She has switched him form Concerta to Daytrana, so hopefully it helps.