Can someone explain Rebound Please? | ADHD Information

Gee like I staated earler I am new to this site also even though my son has had this problem for a while and been on meds. My sons condition is like others he is very smart and talented and thanks to his meds he can focus on that. I use tenex of the morning and at night along with the concerta. Some people just dont understand it and i dont fully my dad is like alot of people who think that my son just takes spells where he wants to act up as he calls it and that he can controll it but he cant. How do we make them understand

Rebound is quite common while coming off meds, however, we have found that when are at a really apporpriate dose of meds (concerta for my son)the rebound effect can be non existant. Surprisingly, too small of a dose sometimes gives him a greater rebound than a more correct or even too high a dose.

Our brilliant psychiatrist says to drink a little Orange Juice and have a little chocolate to help with rebound.

It seems like "dosng" my son correctly is a full time jb that takes a lot of attention and observation. When we're a little too high or a little too low, things fall apart.

HisMom201, You previously inquired about why I write the "hyperfocused" in the description of my son that I include at the bottom of my posts. You also asked about caffein and hyperactivity. I think you got good answers from others about caffein and hyperactivity, but "hyperfocusing" is just one form of ADHD. I got this info from doing a google search about "over-focused ADHD" and it seemed to explain more about my son's type of ADHD. If you are interested, I have written about our ADHD experience with our son on my blog... http://tomscott413.blogspot.com/2007/12/our-adhd-experience. html

I might add, I think it's great that you're willing to understand your son's ADHD. I get the feeling that everything's going to be OK because you're a caring mother who wants to learn and get the best treatment.

There are so many people think ADHD is a made up condition and that it does affect adults. As you read this forum you will find out that it really does exist and adults are affected just like children. Often how we express the hyperness changes and much of the hyperactivity become internallized.

I was told by my son's doctor to make sure get something sweet in his lunch to help maintain his blood sugar. Think about this, they rarely eat all day and then their meds run out, sort of a double whammy.

Make sure they have a good snack right after school, it really helps with the rebound. Try a protein bar after school or Carnation Instant Milk with extra protein powder.

Don't tell the cardiologist but I buy my son Wendy's Chicken Nuggets almost every day after school. He's starving by the time the bell rings since he doesn't eat lunch. I know I'm not alone there!!

My question now is how do I know when to discipline him. If he can't control his impulses, do I still have th esame high expectations I have for my other boys???

I need a support group.

willynilly this is such a good question and i wonder that too. I mean he tries so hard sometimes he even does something then much latter starts crying sayin he was sorry. And my son doesnt each lunch eather says hes not hungry but is starved when he gets home and often wants nuddybars (little Debbie) i know its wrong and a no no but i let him have it

It's so hard sometimes. Last night he told me that he wishes he didn't need medicine because even tho he knows it's not true, he feels like it means he is not a "normal boy." I am so sad this morning. I just screamed at him for not moving fast enough. And there's so little foregiveness for him with the rest of the world. If he had diabetes, everyone would help him monitor his blood sugar and he wouldn't go in the hall for having low blood sugar. But if his meds are off and he interrupts at school, then he's out in the hall. And he's one of the lucky ones with excellent teachers and a great school. Still tho, there is so much judgment. Even by me.

Someimes I just want to take him and the rest of my family and move to a farm.

hazardmom3, I tell my son (by the way he's 9) that his needing medicine is no different than dad's thyroid medicine or big brother's eventual cholesterol medicine (which he will need some day.) I tell him it's no different than glasses. But he somehow senses that it is different. We ARE what we do. I think he struggles with it because I struggle with it.

Wish you could come over for lunch!!! I don't talk abou this with most of my friends. Maybe we need to come out of the closet!

yeah I like you sometimes I do find it so hard to deal with myself. And sometimes like I said I just wanna cry for my baby. You are so right it is hard to just talk about these things with regualr friends. They dont understand. I know a couple people who says their child has it thought they act like it is nothing say i give him his meds thats it. well thats not it for me. My b/f son has adhd and his mom is the worlds worst she only gives him his meds when she wants too and refuses to give them to him when he is coming to spend the night with us. She wont ever disapline him or make him mind cause she says that is just his adhd acting up. I am sorry yes my sone does do things not so much since he is on meds but you can tell when a kid is just being mean. And he wouldn't even be like that if she would give him his meds like she should. I have even asked her about it and she says she is the mother and she descides when he is to take them. UGH

Oh by the way where are you from KY here

Willynilly

It really helps to have someone to talk to about this things. My friend, Duncan, has been godsent. We are both on the Hospitality Committee at church.

Our sons have similar problems and even look alike (long lean blondes). Her son is 10 years older. He has a job. He is working on his Associate's degree so he go to work for Fish and Game. His successes give me hope that my son can live a relatively normal life, whatever that is.

Reta

Okay that just broke my heart so much can I have often heard my son say that he is a freak for having to take medicine all the time and it does break you heart . And he knows he has to take it but still asks why he is like that and i have tried to explain i am so glad that there is support on here

Thanks, reruho. I have shared with a few people--very few, but I want to protect my son's privacy so I'm very careful.

I have the highest expectations for my son. They are no different than those I have for the other two boys! Mine will go to a great college and be a doctor or a scientist or the best plumber or a teacher...the ski's the limit.

yeah at 12 she wouldnt understand. Does she spend a lot fo time with you guys? Thats going to be tough.

The rebound can be dealt with, or even a trial of a different med. Thats wonderful that he is haivng some success with it though. In the meantime as a bridge until the psych appointment, I found a few tricks for helping with rebound, caffeine being one. I would let her have tea or Pepsi when I felt meds were starting to wear off. Some people use chocolate. Really physical excercise can help, but hard this time of year. Food seems to be a good one. People hate caffeine, but it's only temporary until you see the doctor, might be worth a try.

[QUOTE=Diane V]

yeah at 12 she wouldnt understand. Does she spend a lot fo time with you guys? Thats going to be tough.

[/QUOTE] You mean GIVE him caffeine? I always thought caffeine would be a major No-No forADHD children. I purposely DO NOT give it to him. So it can help this somehow? Please explain more.

Oh and my niece lives with us so YES it is VERY difficult.Please don't get me wrong, I love her like she is my own, but OMG they drive each other nuts. Sometimes she is trying to "mother-hen" him to death. Then she picks at him like a 4 yr old. Nervwracking to say the least.

for my daughter it helps.

My 13 year old is a mother hen (she is the one with ADHD) and she very much mothers my 5 year old, even when I am right there!

I will definately try that. My drink of choice is Mountain Dew which is full of caffeine and he love it but I don't let him have it cause I thought it would make things worse. It never dawned on me that caffeine is a stimulant. I will give it a try and see if it helps. Thanks a million.

Eating really does not do anything considering he completely loses his appetite while on his meds. I try to get him to eat and he just says" Mom, I'm NOT hungery"(He does not even want junkfood) I am not really concerned about that part just yet because he was slightly overweight but now he is getting back to where he is suppose to be. My Dad was concerned about his weight-loss and I told him I am not gonna worry about it till he get below where he should be then I will address it with the ped.

I don't have time to read the 2 pages of this post, but I want to share info. the developmental pediatrician told me today. He said that you can lessen the effects of rebound by having a high protein snack/meal about 2 hours before the rebound typically occurs.

Also, months ago my child's dr. started my child on guanfacine to lessen the problems in the evening after the stimulant wears off. It took about 3 weeks to start working, and it's been great since then. I'm not saying our evenings are as good as when the stimulant is in his system, but it's manageable.

Another thing that can help is Omega. Omega 3 is the most important one, but 6 and 9 also are important. I've been doing this for a few weeks now, and I think it's helping some throughout the day. It takes a few weeks of doing this daily to start noticing a difference. Oh, and the dr. said having Omegas a couple of hours before rebound won't make a difference; it's more of a long-term benefit (taking it daily for awhile will help, but it doesn't make a difference just a couple of hours after taking it). See the alternatives board for more info. about Omegas.

Sorry if I'm repeating what someone already has said.

Mom2ADHDboy39470.8858333333

We do have an appt with the the psychiatrist next Tuesday. I had taken him to his Ped. to get the process in motion and it was going to be 2 months before they could get us into the psychiatrist. I had to call the ped back and ask if there was anything we could do in the meantime until I was able to get him to see the psychiatrist. He had gotten into trouble again in school and i was at my wits end. I was scared they were fixing to start suspending him because he is argumentitive(stubborn and hard-headed) and can't sit still. After seeing him in the office I guess he knew what I was talking about and he wrote the script for the VyVanse. The meds are doing very good for him. He has not been in trouble since he started them. I wrote his teacher a note and let her know that he should be calming down in a few days and he has not had a problem since.

Like I said the problem I am having now is the rebounding. It is making it worse because like you Diane, my niece likes to push his buttons. She is 12 and she tells me all the time(he can control it) which makes me want to pull my hair out. I just keep telling her if he could control it, I would not be having to give him medicine to slow him down and keep him calm. Somtimes I just want to scream.

When our son was diagnosed 2 years ago and prescribed a stimulant drug to control his ADHD, he also experienced a worsening of symptoms each day, about 5:00pm. He became more hyperactive, louder, weepy, irritable, and confrontational. Like you, we searched for an explanation and understood it to be the "rebounding" that many people have with various drugs.

Take for instance, when people take a decongestant to stop their runny nose. Their nose stops running, but after the decongestant wears off, their nose starts to run again, worse than before. Sometimes, their nose runs for a couple more days ,even after they no longer have a cold. So it is with drugs that treat ADHD.

As with any drug, you should always talk to your physician about side effects, whether they are strong or weak. It's important that your son's drug therapy works well for him. When you talk to your doctor about this, a new drug may be prescribed or the dose may be adjusted.
Sometimes, a doctor will have a child take 2 pills each day, one in the morning and one at lunchtime. Typically, these are pills that last 3-4 hours. Other doctors may give up on short-acting drugs and try a drug which lasts longer. When we talked to our doctor about our son's rebounding, he prescribed a different drug, one that lasted about 8-12 hours. He also split the dose so he could take a pill in the AM and one after school. That solved our son's rebounding. The only thing we didn't like about spliting the dose was that it cost more.

Until the time comes when you and your health care provider have found a solution to your son's rebounding, you can help control his symptoms by maintaining a daily routine, offer high protein foods, and engage him in less demanding activities that allow him to have a lot of space to walk around and do things that are calming.

Welcome to this forum! Please keep us informed of your progress! Good luck!

so he is on meds, but not been diagnosed? I'm not sure I understand. This should be your first step. A SOLID diagnosis by a psychiatrist or a neuropsychologist. His medications if diagnosed should then be managed by a psychiatrist, rather thana family doctor.

The differences are there are several subgroups to ADHD. ADHD inattentive is a child who does not have any hyperactivity, but cannot focus or complete tasks, ADHD hyperactive explains itself, or ADHD combined which is both. Many children have other things, like the above with gifted, or your son. Not all children with ADHD are gifted. There can be a lot of coexisting or comorbid conditions that are quite common in children with ADHD.

I want to thank everyone for their responses thus far. I am going to keep reading to get more info. I am still very new to this and I have not even had a formal diagnosis yet so alot of what I am reading here is still not making much sense to me as far as the type of ADHD that these children have. I have also noticed on some of your siggy's for example:

Me: 46 (suspected adhd-caffeine)
Mom: 44
Jacob Age: 8 - 2nd grd (hyperfocused-hyperactive-gifted - dx 2006; Strattera; doing good)

The parts I have highlighted in red, I do not know what all the differences are. I hope to learn more as I read and I do thank each of you for your replies.

Oh and my Tomas is also in the gifted program in his school. This is one reason I went ahead and pursued taking him to the doctor. He is soooo very smart and I don't want him to lose any opportunities because he can't handle what is going on with him alone.

Rebounds are common as the meds are wearing off. Some people chose to switch meds in hopes of finding something that has an easier or slower release and others chose to add a short acting stimulant that will help get them thru the afternoon and evening. We are trying Tenex also. It's a blood pressure med, but with small doses are actually suppose to help ADHD kids with hyperactivity and impulses.

I wish I could say it works wonders but so far, I haven't seen anything. They say it takes a good month to get in his system, and we are taking 2mg. I'm hoping it works soon. We also started Vyvanse but this is just day 2.

Sometimes it takes a lot of trial and error to find the right med combo for each person. We've tried just about everything out there.

Hang in there! It's a bumpy ride!

My son's doc gave him a short- acting pill at 1/2 his regular dose for the afternoons to help ease the rebound. It worked really well and made homework time more pleasant on the days we couldn't get it done before the meds wore off. We only used it daily for a couple months until the rebound had seemed to be lessening. We still see a little rebound but it's managable; I'll still give him the booster dose if he comes home from school in a really bad mood though because that typically means he'll be really unpleasant when the meds wear off.Today is my first day on this website and I have already found one of my son's biggest problems with his meds. I am reading that it is called rebound. I am noticing that when Tomas' meds are wearing off for the day that he seems more easily angered and agitatedSP? I am glad to know I am not just imagining things. He has only been on his meds for approx 6 weeks and I don't like this rebound thing. Can someone tell me about their experiences with this and how I can help to comfort my babyboy when he gets so angry? He will be 7 years old in March. It just breaks my heart that I don't know how to make him feel better.