Rebound

We had an extremely rough time with E last night. We were coming back from the campground and on our way up our street he saw that one of the neighbors was selling a mini-quad. He got very excited and wanted to go look at it. Tom told him he could, but also warned him that it wasn't something we would buy for him. We live in the suburbs; there is no place to ride something like that around here, nor would they appreciate that at the campground. He came back, talking about how much he wanted the quad. Tom again told him that it wasn't something that would work for where we live, etc. E ended up going to his room crying, very disappointed.

This escalated into HOURS of sobbing. He cried for at least the first hour about that quad. I told him that he was over-reacting, and needed to stop this. He then informed me that he wasn't crying about the quad anymore, but that he wanted to sell the game he had just gotten earlier at a thrift store, so he could buy a new game for his DS. I could tell we were descending into total madness at this point. He cried and carried on for another hour. I got him into the shower and found a tick in his hair. Needless to say that did not improve his demeanor.

In the meantime, he hadn't eaten since lunch and had refused dinner. By 9pm he was throwing up and we were trying to convince him to eat a few pretzels or crackers to get something in his stomach. He ate a few but threw up again, and could not be reasoned with.

I posted in a support group on Facebook and got some great responses. (Thank you, God for the internet!) One thing that was pointed out more than once was that he appeared to be rebounding. This is something I had read about ages ago, but because we didn't see this side effect on his first prescription, I had forgotten about it. Rebounding is simply symptoms that appear as the medication wears off, in addition to their ADHD symptoms returning. The person can experience all kinds of anxiety, anger, crying, etc. The group members suggested having his meds re-evaluated, and possibly adding something to help him during that transition time in the late afternoon. (His doctor had mentioned that a year ago as well.) So I'll be calling his doctor today to set up an appointment, and we'll see what he says.

The most helpful response I got was that I needed to view the situation as the Red Cross Vs. A Storm. I need to keep him safe, protect him, but I cannot stop what is happening. I need to focus on getting him through it and dealing with the emotional fall-out afterwards. I also need to keep myself in check, and be aware that these kinds of events with E are what triggers my own depression. I need to stay pro-active and remind myself that we will get through this.