Hello:

Dr. Larry Silver recommends waiting about five days with each new dosage in order to determine whether a medication is working at that particular amount. Your child's doctor should be checking in with you each week and adjusting the medication dosage until you feel it's right.

If you begin to notice side effects like lack of appetite or tics, you should contact your child's doctor immediately.

Otherwise, I would recommend giving each new dosage about a week and reading this great article about treating children with ADD meds.

Best of luck!

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Thanks for that input. I was thinking that I should have got her test by now again. I just didn't want to use her as a test dummy if you know what I mean. I will actually get her teacher to feel out another observation sheet.

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If you feel any medicine is not right for your child, contact your doctor. My son's teacher and support teacher in 3rd grade sort of "suggested" medicine for him. We never wanted to put him on medication and felt it was our last resort. Reluctantly, we gave it a try towards the end of 3rd grade. Focalin (10mg) for three weeks made him a zombie. We went to 5mg and that was better, for a while. However, over the summer we decided to try a different medication, non-stimulant Strattera. For some reason, it made him fall asleep twice in one day, one of which was during tutoring. By the fall or early 4th grade, we tried Concerta 18mg and it was fine. After a couple of months when it didn't seem as effective, we went to 27mg. In one week the change was amazing, however, we then discovered that he had developed high blood pressure. Back to square one. We tried Vyvanse, which for our child had terrible side effects of not eating at all and came home from school wanting to "just stare at a wall". Needless to say, he only did that medicine for one day. Each time he was on a medicine, I was in contact with his doctor for feedback so that WE came to the conclusion, not his teachers. I keep his teachers abreast to what is going on and look for their feedback on how he performs during the day, but not their medical advice. That's between the doctor, my husband and myself. He's now in 5th grade, had been on Concerta for quite some time, but again, showed signs of it not working and higher dosages give him high blood pressure. He is now off meds and now on natural vitamins and doing so much better. Overall, do what YOU feel is right for your child, not your child's teachers.

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