i *think* that an adhd med is near in our future for our dd. i have read so much about rebound here and it truly scares me. i'm very concerned about afternoon activities and scheduling while we are just beginning this road. my daughter takes dance and gymnastics either right after school or early evening...and i truly want to avoid a *scene* at either place, if you know what i mean. how did you handle activities when you began meds?
we have an appointment for our dd to get tested by a specialist next week...and from there we will head to a child psychiatrist most likely. i just know i'm going to be scared and anxious to have her out of my sight once a med has been started. eeeccckkkkk! she's 9 and she takes the bus straight from school for gymnastics...
what did you all do precautionary when your child started a med?
shelley
We started on a Saturday to get 2 days at home. We also do this for any change in dose. My daughter has no rebound from concerta. In fact, her only side effect has been weight loss which we now have a handle on. I the diagnosis is ADHD for your daughter, you will have plenty of support here while going through your treatment decsisions.I AM ALSO ON CONCERTA AND HAVE NO REBOUND BUT EVERYBODY IS DIFFERENT AND REACT DIFFERENTLY.COULD YOU NOT START DURING HOLIDAYS?I GUESS THE NEXT ONE WOULD BE XMAS.I'm not sure how it is for others, but my son is on low-dose Ritalin
My son is on Concerta and he has no rebound, but many others' children do experience that on the same drug...it is all a trial and error for everyone. I agree with the other people who suggest beginning the medication on a weekend or a holiday from school...that way you can observe her the whole day and see for yourself how she reacts.
We start all meds on the weekend and do med changes then as well. That way DS is with us and we watch him like a hawk. We have been open about him being on meds with people. He is in karate twice a week and goes to CCD/church school on Monday nights.. 6:45 to 8:00, I let the teacher know the first day... When I told the teacher, she let me know there were two other kids in there as well who have it... Our karate teacher has been a help in the med area. He has told me several times if he thought it was working etc.. We're using Daytrana and because of the gradual wear-off time, we've experienced no rebound. It's a ritalin patch and delivers a constant, even dose and takes 2 hours to wear off once you take the patch off. We've had wonderful results.
My son is on Focalin XR (you asked in my "best day ever" post). It is an extended release, so I don't know that the afternoons are hugely worse than the earlier part of the day.
What we found was that at 7:30 at night - he would like freak out. He would get very agitated and hyper and run around and yell. I talked to him one night when he was doing this and asked if he felt funny - he started crying and said he felt funny. So, I think that when the meds left his system he felt different, and it scared him - hence him running around and being crazy - he was trying to make it go away. So, the next night when I found him getting agitated, I asked him if he was feeling funny - he said yes. I asked what I could do to help him and he said Just sit with me.
Now, he has not had any of those episodes for about 5 days - so I think that much of it was transition and his body getting used to the stimulant. Last night, I did not find him to be irritable or hyper when i got home.
I do know that some people use a short acting med for the late afternoon, early evening to get through homework and other activities.
Good luck - it is not an easy decision. Nor an easy process. But I feel very much at peace with our decision - esp when we hear of him playing so nicely with his school friends, and actually participating in school lessons.
My son takes Adderall and he does not have rebound...he did when he took the meds in the Ritalin family. Because I don't want to give any more stimulant meds, I use magnesium in the evening when he has an activity...this seems to work just fine for us.