From my personal experience, I would actually recommend the Monday.

I always insisted upon it that way, because the first day is usually the least symptom free(again, personal experience), and it gives you a chance to feel out the medicine. The second day, if there are any issues, they will usually present themselves before reaching the school. (Make sure to take them 15-30 minutes before leaving to or arriving at the school, so they have some time to take effect.)

Make sure you ask your child how he feels, and write it down to note changes to see if they differ and/or possibly concern you.(Not in front of him though, write it down after the discussion. I remember my Mother did that to me once and I felt like a rab lat...)

The reason I insist you take notes on his personal behavior, is that the teachers are 'monitoring' him, while they have a whole class to pay attention to. They won't notice the small things.

Note that this is all from my personal experience, and it may differ, especially since your child is so young.

Good luck, the road differs from person to person, hopefully yours is smooth.

=]

-ThatOneGuy

Thank you ThatOneGuy. It's good to hear that the issues usually present themselves before they will get to school. I think that is my biggest concern with all of this, is that the teachers won't and/or can't monitor for the side effects - they'll surely notice a change in his ability to focus and stay on task, but it concerns me that any side effects won't be noticed and I'm not there.

Thanks for sharing your experience and advice.. I appreciate your input. :)

Hi, again. I hate to disagree, but I must! My son's wonderful doctor always has us start a new medication with him, or even a change in dosage, on a weekend. The side effects are definitely the strongest the first few days that one tries a new drug. If I start a new perscription with him on a Sat., sometimes he has been sleepy, for example, all day long, but by the third day, on Mon. for school, he has adjusted, and is only experiencing the helpful effects. I would never send my son to school not knowing how the different medication might affect him. He had aggressive and violent outbursts on Strattera. I can't imagine the repercussions in the school system, if I had blindly sent him of to school, unaware of what might happen.

It's definitely okay to disagree, don't hate to disagree when it's your opinion.

In fact, I would prefer SpiderMom's child to follow your advice as it was forwarded from a Doctor.

That being said, my advice is from personal experience, and it definitely worked best for me, as I have tried both methods.

Have you?

-ThatOneGuy

Thank you Shhhhh for your input too - I definitely value both sides, because I really wanted to see what has worked for other members here.

My son's doctor really didn't say - he did assure me that the side effects would be relatively minor, especially on such a low dose starting off. I never thought to ask initially - and I feel horrible for not asking - but the past week has been so overwhelming with information and confusion. But I do still have a lot of questions for him prior to starting, so I will also see what he says when I go back.

I think I may try starting on a Saturday morning though, for my own peace of mind. I think I'd like him closeby so I can feel it out. :)

And, of course, anyone can have one of the supposed "1 in 1 million" possible reported side effects that are extremely negative that you can find on all medications if you read the booklet of info. that comes with them with a magnifying glass. And by "extremely negative" I am referring to things such as seizure, loss of consciousness, or anaphylactic shock. I have never started my son on any medication, no matter how low the dose, when I will not be around to observe him. Noone in the world would know what was abnormal for him or cause for alarm more than myself. As for myself, I have no problem with starting my own meds. on any old day of the week. But, I am an adult. My child is dependent on me to safeguard him and be his advocate in this sometimes cruel world. He started an "extremely low dose" of Strattera a few years ago that I mentioned, that was not supposed to have noticeable side-effects at that amount. But, he did have noticeable and awful side effects.

When it is your child, you can NEVER be too careful!!

You're absolutely right.

Is it safe to say that whatever side effects are going to happen will happen in the first few days? That's what I'm assuming..

Hello! Everything with medications is generalized: results, side effects, dosage levels, etc. Normally the first few days are the kind-of "shock to the system" days where people exp. the strongest effects of the drug and also the strongest side effects. But, sometimes side effects can be the result of cummulative amounts of the drug building up in one's system after days or weeks of taking the medication. It isn't usually the case. But, just because the first week goes well, you still have stay on the look-out for side effects popping up. My son developed a tic months after he started his medication. It isn't a big enough deal to have him stop or change drugs on its own. Though we have definitely taken note of it.

That's good advice.. Thank you!!

I just started my first ADD medication, and it took me 12 days to get over bad headaches and nausea. I started on a Saturday, and everything felt fine until about 6 days in. It's different for everyone, I guess, but hopefully once you get used to it, the benefits will start showing.

Best of luck!