Abilify
we didn't have any luck with-abilify. it was too strong a medication for our difficult child, she becam loopy on it, her affect was totally diffferent. we had to pull it after two weeks.
yet every child's biochemical make up is different as you know. if you go that route just go slow on it, low dosage to start titrate up slowly i'm sure doctor will say.
good luck
yet every child's biochemical make up is different as you know. if you go that route just go slow on it, low dosage to start titrate up slowly i'm sure doctor will say.
good luck
J
Junglelandmama
Guest
My difficult child has been on Abilify for about a year or so. They started her on too high a dose, she does well on 5mg. She has had weight gain, but she is very tall and proportioned pretty well, she also grew about 3 inches during that weight gain. So, kinda hard to say. But see improvements in behavior and mood when on it.
BrainGoBoom
New Member
My difficult child started Abilify a week and a half ago, is on 2.5 mg. The improvement has been dramatic. Weight gain is not a huge concern for him right now, he started underweight, so a bit of weight gain would be good. I don't see him eating much more on the drug. He also takes Straterra.
There is a long list of drugs that didn't work for him--stimulant ADHD medications and SSRIs were not helpful. The addition of Abilify to the current cocktail seems to be quite good.
To reiterate what Jena said, though: your mileage may vary. We're all just walking chemistry labs.
There is a long list of drugs that didn't work for him--stimulant ADHD medications and SSRIs were not helpful. The addition of Abilify to the current cocktail seems to be quite good.
To reiterate what Jena said, though: your mileage may vary. We're all just walking chemistry labs.
pepperidge
New Member
we had pretty good luck for a couple of years with it--helped with focus etc when difficult child couldn't tolerate stimulants. Not huge weight gain. My son did best at a reasonably low dose--we started at 2.5 mg and went up to 5 mg, higher than that I forget what happened but wasn't so good. If stimulants haven't helped this may be something to try. Biggest problems we were trying to address were impulse control and emotional dysregulation.
H
HaoZi
Guest
Mine is on 15mg Abilify, she hasn't added any weight but hasn't lost her Zyprexa weight either. Also the Topamax she's on counters that a bit, so she's closer to her pre-Zyprexa eating but her weight hasn't dropped. She's got time to put on some height to even it out, though. Her current medication mix is pretty good for her most days (not all days, but even her bad days aren't as bad as they were).
Abilify - difficult child 2 was on it for almost 2 years. Helped but not as well as the Geodon has done. BIG weight gain here plus liver enzyme abnormalities and red blood cell abnormalities too. Nothing seriously serious but I am very glad he's off it. There have been no problems like that with the Geodon since he started it a year ago. All his labs are picture perfect now.
We draw labs every month due to difficult child's physical health issues or we would not have known about most of those irregularities since they are not things that would cause obvious symptoms in most people. And it may have been the interaction between the Abilify and the other medications he is on for his GI problems. But there is a known signficant risk for new onset diabetes and major weight gain with Abilify.
Of course Geodon comes with the risk for heart rhythm changes (long Q-t syndrome) that can cause sudden death. So anyone who starts Geodon is supposed to have an EKG done first and then after they've been on it a little while and then again every so often.
If your difficult child has any health concerns or there is a family history of liver problems or metabolic issues like diabetes I would want some preliminary labs done and then monitored regularly = every 3 months or so.
Patricia
We draw labs every month due to difficult child's physical health issues or we would not have known about most of those irregularities since they are not things that would cause obvious symptoms in most people. And it may have been the interaction between the Abilify and the other medications he is on for his GI problems. But there is a known signficant risk for new onset diabetes and major weight gain with Abilify.
Of course Geodon comes with the risk for heart rhythm changes (long Q-t syndrome) that can cause sudden death. So anyone who starts Geodon is supposed to have an EKG done first and then after they've been on it a little while and then again every so often.
If your difficult child has any health concerns or there is a family history of liver problems or metabolic issues like diabetes I would want some preliminary labs done and then monitored regularly = every 3 months or so.
Patricia
SearchingForRainbows
Active Member
The combination of a mood stabilizer (Trileptal) and Abilify worked really well for difficult child 1. He didn't gain weight or have any other negative side effects while taking it.
JJJ
Active Member
Love all of the APs (Abilify, Geodon, Zyprexa, Risperdal, Seroquel, etc). They can help the aggression when nothing else has touched it. And, at least in our case, once the aggression was under medical-control, we were able to get a lot of therapy done with calming techniques, social skills, language, etc and then wean off the APs and the aggression did not return. We did have some of the side-effects (weight gain, lactation, tics, etc) but they were worth it. Amazing medications, simply amazing.
Wiynter
New Member
Unfortunately Abilify didn't help my difficult child, her symptoms continued, and on top of that her memory was completely shot. She couldn't remember conversations from 5 minutes before, and school work was a nightmare because she couldn't remember anything she learned in class, which in turn amped up the aggression. She was on it for about 3 months before ending up back in the psychiatric hospital.
exhausted
Active Member
We never did Abilify but did a trial of Seroquel-made my difficult child aggressive and loopy for the first time in her life. Wait gain after the first week and she is already so overweight. But for us it was a bad diagnosis at the psychiatric hospital-after only one day there. Not the right class of medications for her. It sounds like it has worked well for many here.
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