How long for Concerta to kick in? | ADHD Information

We just switched from ritalin sa to concerta last week, started with the 18 mg. Just curious of other experience,how long on average does it take to start working. The ritalin didn't help much thats why we switched.Concerta is the same class of drug as ritalin. With my son, we knew within
hours that it was affecting him. It does take up to a week to really know
how a drug is going to fully affect someone. But if it's been a week and
you're still waiting to see if it's going to kick in, I'd say it's not working.
There are other types of medications that work differently, hopefully better
in your case. Call the doctor and describe what's been happening, or not
happening.

Good luck!Hi -- newbie here -- I had a really interesting experience with Concerta about a year ago (my then 8 y.o. son had been on it for several months).  He had taken on getting up and it was 45 minutes or so later and I was trying to get him to focus on repeating his spelling words for that day. All of a sudden this "look" (don't really know how else to describe it) washed over his face -- he simply was more "there".  I said to him "your meds just kicked in didn't they?" and said "yeah".  Then I said "you can feel that, huh?" and he said "OH, yeah" (despite these responses he is actually quite verbal)...not perhaps the answer you were looking for, but I thought you might find it interesting.I do find it interesting.It's all prettyy interesting to me at this point.I know what you mean about a clear difference now. He's been on the concerta for about 3 weeks now,and we have noticed some very positive results.But then yesterday he got 2 color changes at school and his teacher had to talk to him a few times because he just wasn't focusing,etc. This was the first time since starting the concerta she noticed this problem. Well,yesterday morning he had an upset stomache and threw up after taking his med. He felt better and went on to school.I noticed when he got home he was all over the place,couldn't keep his hands to himself,etc. I came to realize that when he got sick,he must not of got the med. It reaffirms that the meds are helping!!for sure!

18 mg is pretty low dosage for Concerta.  When my dd was starting to have problems at school again we then increased the dosage and everything was fine.