I guess it's probably different for every kid, but if it were my son I wouldn't want to make any major changes at the same time he's starting a new school year unless it's absolutely necessary. It sounds like it may not be necessary for him yet. It might be worth waiting a few weeks to let him get settled before adjusting anything with the meds.
We went through a similar experience with my son who started kindergarten last Monday. For several months now he has seemed like he may need a med adjustment but it wasn't really that bad. We decided to see if we could put it off until he got settled in school. The second day of school he had a HUGE meltdown and it was clear that we didn't have a choice anymore. We increased his meds yesterday and he seems to be doing much better now.
I'm not sure what the answer is and I know it's hard when it's not obvious what to do. It's almost better when they have the big meltdowns. At least then you know what the answer is! Good luck!
Hubby & I are in that questionable place right now, not sure what to do. DS7 currently takes 4 mg Guanfacine (max dose 2 in the am & 2 in the pm) and 30 mg of Daytrana (max dose). We have wondered for about 6-8 mos now if DS is getting full effects from meds but have been reluctant to making changes cause it hasn't been horrible so why change a good thing?? He struggled the last few months of last school year, mostly with impulse control but we didn't know if it was because of the end of the school year jitters or if we needed a change. Psych was reluctant to change meds cause we still feel like we see positive effects from them, it just seems that it's less & less....more & more if that makes any sense. DS struggle more & more with impulse control & seems more easily frustrated as time goes on. I should mention that he also has SPD but we haven't changed anything in our sensory diet, we still do the brushing & joint compressions at night before bed and make sure he gets plenty of sleep. We plan to return his bubble seat & compression vest to school next week when the new year starts up again. Psych has sort of indicated in our past two visits that he's not sure what else to have DS try for meds if we make a change and honestly....a complete change in meds scares the crap out of me! We've had this combo of meds for a couple of years now and it has been our "comfort zone" and I'm scared to death of the transition to something new. Hubby reminds me that it's not about us, it's about DS but I'm in fear for him to transition also. We have our appt with Psych this afternoon & I don't even know what to ask for...do I ask for a change or do we just stick with what has seemed to work (mostly...anyway)? Starting a new school year next week is going to be anxiety filled enough as it is but at the same time, it puts him back into his routine. I just can't decide if a change is good along with the change of going back to school, or if we'd be better waiting a month or two to get back into routine & re-evaluate then. The only thing I keep pondering is that he did struggle the end of the school year last year...so it's not just disrupted routine that makes the difference. Ugh....I'm just at a loss...my gut isn't even giving me any kind of feeling!