How long for the meds to take affect?

---

I was wondering how long before I should see a change in my son? We started him on Ritalin last week. I expected a big change right off the bat but I haven't see anything and neither has his teacher. He is on the lowest dose possible. Someone told me it can take up to a month to see the improvement. Is this true or should I call the doctor now to tell him this isn't working?

It is not supposed to take a month. The good thing with these medications is, it starts working the same day and leaves the system by the end of the day. Even with the XR or the LA brands. ie. Ritalin LA. At least that is what my son's doctor told me. In my case, we started on the lowest dose, after a few days nothing had changed so the doctor said to double the dose. That was a bit too much so now my son is in between those two doses. We even switched from Adderall XR to Focalin. I really did not care for the Adderall. It made him very emotional and I was ready to just chuck the meds. But then I decided to try Focalin. It is absolutely wonderful. My son still has his little personality instead of looking like a 'zombie' and is extremely focused. His grades have improved 100%. He has made Honor Roll etc. And more importantly he feels much better about himself. He used to get very frustrated with himself. So, beleive me, if the meds are working you will know right away. I think your childs meds probably need to be increased, but you should contact his doctor. He may even need to switch meds. Good luck.

thank you. That is what I thought. We had decided to only give him meds for school at this point. We don't really like the idea of giving him the meds in the first place. I know it is to help him but I just at this point can't get by it. He is in kindergarten and is only there for a few hours so we don't need something that is that long. I will talk to his doctor and let him know that neither his teacher nor I see any change at all.

Are you sure about that? Welbutrin, for example, has a half life in the body of approximately 32 hours (I'd need to look that up to confirm it) yet it can take upwards to a month before its full effects are noticed. I took it when I was younger to see if it would have an effect on my "ADD" (misdiagnosed in my opinion) which it didn't, but it did have a positive effect on my mood. Just recently, I started it again for depression (one of it's primary uses) and I didn't notice much of an effect right away. I'm seeing my doctor after a month on it to see how it's working. This may not be the case with Ritalin, because I remember taking that when I was younger and noticing much more sudden effects, but many medications DO take upwards to a month to start working.

You realize that most kids of kindergarten age have poor attention spans right? They're little kids, and that's whey they usually only go to school for half of the day. I think that to diagnose a 5-6 year old with ADD is a little extreme and to give him meds for it is over the top. Many kids of that age are naturally hyper, can't sit still, and want nothing more than to play. If that behaviour never gets better and continues over the course of elementary, it may be a sign of ADD/ADHD (or he may just take longer to learn to focus than most kids), but isn't kindergarten a little young?

Antidepressants take weeks to work against depression, because their mechanism of action is a reaction to their immediate effect; but ADHD is different.

How do anti-depressnats work? I never understand it! Are they pills that make you happy?I wish I had those pills

They treat depression, so they make people who are depressed feel more normal. Most of them don't make people who are not depressed feel much happier.

Funny enough, there's many medications for ADD and depression that have almost identical mechanisms. There are reuptake inhibitors for dopamine and norepinephrine (welbutrin being one) that are used for ADD as well as depression. Any reuptake inhibitor, whether used for ADD or depression, whether it be for serotonin or another neurotransmitter, will take awhile to work. So it does depend upon the medication being used.

Wellbutrin is an antidepressant. I have never heard of it being used to treat ADD/ADHD. The docs will prescribe it to someone with ADD if the ADD meds are causing depression ie. Adderall. That was one of the choices I was given when my son was taking Adderall. The doctor said I could give him the Adderall and an antidepressant. Antidepressants do take weeks to have an effect, but ADD/ADHD meds do not. I could be wrong, but I highly doubt I am. This is what I was told by my doctor and what I have read in the medication booklets. I cannot understand why your doctor would treat you with an antidepressant for ADD. Maybe you should get a second opinion.On a side note, I really hate when people say things like 'it's normal for kids to have a short attention span' blah, blah. There is a BIG difference between being hyper and not being able to focus on tasks. I have made a few posts in the ADD/ADHD forum if you want to read anything I posted about my son. Deciding to medicate my son was not an easy choice to make. I tried other methods and now I am thankful that I did put him on medication. As I said before, his grades improved greatly, he doesn't feel like the 'odd kid' in school, if I ask him to make his bed he doesn't get distracted by the Hotwheel car laying on the floor, he is so very happy with himself and his accomplishments, and just last week he put an entire Lego airplane with about 1000 pieces together in two days by himself. He was so proud of himself. I can honestly say he could never have done that before the meds. He would have gotten frustrated with just reading the directions.

But how do they treat it? I thought Psychiatrists do that.

In reply to:Deficits in dopamine levels are implicated as one of several possible causes for Adult attention-deficit disorder (AADD), and some types of medications used to treat Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD/ADD) will help to stimulate dopaminergic systems, leading to potentially heightened sensation, for those afflicted by it and receiving treatment for it.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopamine Welbutrin affects dopamine and norepinephrine, which is why it is occasionally, but not often, used in ADD/ADHD as opposed to most anti depressants which work on serotonin levels. Funny enough, amphetamine medications like Adderall and Dextroamphetamine (another one I used when I was younger) also act on norepinephrine and dopamine, but work primarily by increasing their release rather than preventing them from being taken up after being released. Methylphenidates like Ritalin have the same function as Welbutrin, except they act solely on dopamine. As I read on wikipedia, apparently there's also a recent ADD medication that acts solely on norepinephrine without affecting dopamine (which is usually held responsible for the symptoms of ADD).

They act on chemicals in the brain - generally serotonin, or sometimes dopamine and norepinephrine, to increase their availability in the brain. These chemicals are associated with feeling good and enjoyment. They're not the only solution, but a combination of medication to correct what is truly a chemical imbalance (or more specifically deficit) and good social help such as psychotherapy or even just having someone to talk to can lead to alleviation of depression. The social aspect is necessary because talking with people is a great way to enhance mood and also helps to sort out any other problem that a person may deny or not address on their own.

Not directed at you RobBobThis is a good link that tells you when the meds start working and how long they last, how effective they are etc.: http://www.webmd.com/content/article/107/108528.htm

That's a good site, but I wish I could enlarge that chart because it's difficult to read.

I wish I could enlarge that chartIf you're using Firefox, hit "CTRL +". Opera has something similar, or go to View-->Zoom-->150%.

Unfortunately I'm just using IE 6. And because the chart isn't written in plain text changing the text size does nothing for it.

Actually, it is in plain text, inside a table, but the font size is specified (horribly) by a style sheet.In IE6, go to Tools, Internet Options..., and on the General tab, click Accessibility..., then check "Ignore font sizes specified on Web pages".

IE 6Yet another reason to scrap that steaming pile of s**t. The other browsers are freely downloadable; I'd give them a shot, and see if you like at least one of them. All else being equal, I'd lean toward Opera, although I tend to use Firefox out of inertia.

I totally understand where you are coming from but you also have to understand that my son has been dealing with this problem for quite sometime now. He has been through preschool where he couldn't pay attention to simple instruction. And is now here in Kindergarten is becoming a big problem. He wasn't making friends becasue of his behavior. And the other kids tried and so did he. His problems with inattention and hyperness are beyond his control. Even a specialist that comes to the room a few times a week for another child can't keep him even semi focused on what is at task. He couldn't learn like that and neither could anyone else. I myself really looked for other ways to control his behavior but the whole simple truth is is that I can't be there with him his whole life and if this is going to help him for a short time then this is what has to happen. I personally didn't want to give him these drugs but his is to hyper at school. He doesn't get these drugs for at home only for school. My son doesn't have the ablity at this young age to focus. I will when he is only and is able to understand how to control his behaviors better get him into behavior therapy so that I can hopefully get him off of the drugs all together.