Our difficult child finally got a prescription- his first ever. Thoughts on Abiify?

W

Weary for Hope

Guest
This will be his first ever medication, other than some emergency prescription given last summer - that we couldn't get him to take. No diagnosis yet... But he finally has a psychiatric & a new therapist. 5 mg Abilify. & to my amazement, difficult child has taken it 2 Days n a row. Wow. I know he really needs medications to remedy things in his brain & it's a relief, but still felt a little sad last night that he has to do medications & start this journey- & a little worried how they will affect him adversely (ESP when you read things like, this drug can increase suicidal feelings. wHAT?? Is that because instead of being aggressive, it will turn into self anger?) he has choked himself in the past.

Wonder your thoughts/experiences on Abilify. Did it work? Has it contued to work? (my son get severe rage & can be violent- usually can't cope with anything that is out of his expectations/desires.
He already seems to be hungrier, sleepier, a bit more mellow (could it be the drug this soon?) & said he felt a bit nauseous at school.

He slammed the door on his new therapist & left 5 minutes early on Friday. Now he says he is refusing to go back & see her. But ths is his controlling ploy. Any tips on this? We found a new clinic that has everything in one place, including neuropsychologist evaluation (that is our next step) & it takes our insurance.

Thanks for listening.
 

buddy

New Member
This will be his first ever medication, other than some emergency prescription given last summer - that we couldn't get him to take. No diagnosis yet... But he finally has a psychiatric & a new therapist. 5 mg Abilify. & to my amazement, difficult child has taken it 2 Days n a row. Wow. I know he really needs medications to remedy things in his brain & it's a relief, but still felt a little sad last night that he has to do medications & start this journey- & a little worried how they will affect him adversely (ESP when you read things like, this drug can increase suicidal feelings. wHAT?? Is that because instead of being aggressive, it will turn into self anger?) he has choked himself in the past.

Wonder your thoughts/experiences on Abilify. Did it work? Has it contued to work? (my son get severe rage & can be violent- usually can't cope with anything that is out of his expectations/desires.
He already seems to be hungrier, sleepier, a bit more mellow (could it be the drug this soon?) & said he felt a bit nauseous at school.

He slammed the door on his new therapist & left 5 minutes early on Friday. Now he says he is refusing to go back & see her. But ths is his controlling ploy. Any tips on this? We found a new clinic that has everything in one place, including neuropsychologist evaluation (that is our next step) & it takes our insurance.

Thanks for listening.

so great you found a clinic that has so many services. It is scary to start a new medication but I have to say that every single medication, even all the ones on TV....if you listen say those same warnings. It only makes sense that for some people when the brain changes its chemistry it may be in a not so great way. If you notice changes that are not favorable and it is not that you are just not at the right dose yet, then trust your gut and tell the doctor you want to try something else. It is often true that it takes more than one try...sometimes one painfully irksome try.

Let us know how it is going as taking the medications continues.

I dont know what to do about leaving the therapy. Is the therapy helpful???
 

keista

New Member
I have a love/hate relationship with Abilify. It's the first and only medication son has taken. It has been AMAZING for him - probably saved his life.

on the other hand, Abilify is what landed DD1 in the psychiatric hospital for crisis stabilization. So very much the absolutely wrong medication for her.

Yes, Abilify can start to work that quickly. For son, we saw results the same day, and can tell by his behavior if he missed his dose in the morning.

Just watch his behavior. If things get better, keep going, if they get worse insist on a change.
 

StressedM0mma

Active Member
Abilify has been a great drug for my difficult child. It has helped so much in stabilizing her moods. She still will get angry or mouthy, but it is more in a typical teen way. It seems to be helping with the depression too. She is up to 10mg. now. It has caused her to gain a little weight, but she needed it.
 

StressedM0mma

Active Member
typical teen is typical teen, and a psychiatric hospital is a psychiatric hospital, or the psychiatric unit of a hospital. I missed the part that your son self harmed in the past, my difficult child was "cutter" and the Abilify has not caused that to start again. (as far as I know.)
 

keista

New Member
Thank you. What is typical teen? & what is psychiatric hospital?

typical teen is Typical Teen and psychiatric hospital is psychiatric hospital. Usually there is a dotted line under these things and if you mouse over, a small pop up will give you the "translation"
 

JJJ

Active Member
Any word or acronym that you don't know, if there is a squiggly line under it, hover your cursor over it and a little bubble will appear with the meaning.
 
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