Ritalin Rebound - Need advice | ADHD Information

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10 year old DS has been taking 20 mg of short acting ritalin (generic) 3 times
a day for school. His rebound is horrible. He basically has a panic attack
really bad and gets really nervous. Is this typical? I don't want to give it to
him anymore. We had to go to short acting because the longer acting meds
were not lasting long anymore (Daytrana, Concerta, etc.) It is freaking me
out a little. Any advice?

Sorry I haven't replied to this sooner - I haven't been online for a while! My son (almost 9) was taking 20 mgs of Ritalin 3x a day for the past year. He had horrible rebound issues, was very thin and would have a lot of anxiety. He had a horrible time with the longer acting meds too. We tried Vyvanse and Adderall and had bad luck.

So once school got out this year we decided to try Intuniv (a non stimulent medication). We started with 1 mg for one week and it was not enough so we have increased to 2 mg. It takes a few weeks to see the full effects, but things are definitely improving so far. The first day was horrible, but every day has been a slow improvement. We have seen a HUGE increase in appetite, a serious decrease in anxiety, and virtually no rebound effect since the pill stays in your system for 24 hours.

 

 

Since my last post, ds started Intuniv 2mg and went back to concerta as well.
I was able to lower concerta to 36mg for summer. I am hoping that his
doctor will increase Intuniv dose to 3mg for school. Anxiety went away
thankfully and I am happy with Intuniv so far.