Thanks. We have definitely changed his diet, my grocery list and talked about making better food choices. Luckily he loves fruit and veggies. I've also started packing his lunch, as I found out he was taking ice cream and fruit roll-ups in the lunch line (even tho I had told him not to). Also, we're going to give indoor soccer another shot.
He's averaged 2 to 2-1/2 in growth per year, for the last 4 years or so; I'm thinking he's due for a spurt, but maybe not just yet. My older had one just before 3rd grade, so who knows. Guess I have to keep reassuring him. I was just concerned because of the things I've read about Abilify and weight.
My DD used Abilify for about 4 months. She used it because at that time NOTHING else worked, it is often used as a 3rd line med for ADHD, it is an anti-psychotic.
DD gained roughly 40 lbs in 4 months on Abilify, and this was not acceptable. DD is already a bit chunky, and 40 lbs is ALOT!
Risperdal, abilify, zyprexia, etc are all anti-psychotics and one of the side effects is appetite increase and weight gain.
That so stinks!! There ought to be a med that can do the trick w/o making the kids gain so much weight! They have enough problems w/o adding excess weight to the mix!!I do not know about the drug in question, but I think that weight loss in children happens less often than just hoping to maintain at the weight until normal growth happens.
The weight may not come off, but if it levels off and he stops gaining, as he grows taller, he will thin out. I told my son (when he gained a lot of weight and had not grown taller) that he had to concentrate on making good choices when choosing snacks, and to eat healthy foods, and eventually when he grew taller, everything would work out.
It did, he grew 5-6 inches in the last 4-5 months, and is no longer looking overwieght. It has made him realize that mom was right , and he thinks about his food choices more now.
We are switching my 8yo DS to Abilify this weekend (Psych wants to wait until then in case it affects his sleep). He was in Risperdal with wonderful results, but side eff. were bedwetting and weight gain. Continued weight gain on Zyprexa - gave it a month with no positive results. Took him off about 10 days ago after his pedi was concerned (with us) about weight gain (15 lbs in 2-1/2 months!). Has anyone switched between these meds and seen the weight come off? It's really bothering my son that his clothes are tight and think's he's "fat" - like we need a body image issue on top of everything else! Input much appreciated!
We switched to Daytrana, it is the ONLY med( besides straterra, and that even caused weight gain) that has not made her tic. The Straterra weight gain was alot slower though, not quite the "bottomless pit" effect we had on the Abilify. On abilify I honestly could not feed her enough, and we eat about as healthy as anyone possibly could, no wheat, no dairy, no meat, no processed foods.everything we eat is from scratch.
ebson - Thanks for the info - that's what I was afraid of. His psych. said to monitor his weight, and if he puts on more than 5 lbs, we will switch again. Keeping fingers crossed! What did you switch to, if you don't mind my asking?
Thanks. The Abilify dose we're starting is 2.5 mg (have to cut the 5 mg in half). He took it w/the antacid last nite and had no side-effects. Seems more himself last two days (not so nasty) so here's hoping! Thanks so much for your comments!
DD did extremely well on Strat, but some kids don't. What is the doasage? It is very weight deonedednt and startting too high will cause the dise effects and nausea. Try giving it at night for the first couple of weeks, that helped alot also.Thank you. The Dr. said Straterra is the next move if he puts on more than 5 lbs on Abilify. We started last night, and he got sick a little this morning, and thought he was goinhg to throw up about a dozen more times. Now he's perfectly fine (and home from school). I read that this is a common side-effect - just not having luck with meds here. Did this happen w/your DD? Daytrana (then Focalin) were our first tries. First 3 days on lowest dose of patch (10?) showed no results except irritability. Dr. asked us to try upping dose on 4th day to see if it would help (15). After about 2 hours he went nuts - switching between incredible irritability and sobbing. Focalin XR wore off after about 3 hours and big rebound; that's when we switched to Risperdal. I have a call in to see if I give it another try tonite (possibly with some type of antacid) or what. UGH!!!!
Most people just stop meds over the summer to help with weight gain.
If you started Straterra it would take 6-8 weeks to work, and by then school woulod start again.Strat also has to be taken every day.
This is interesting. I have a son who has been on Concerta for awhile. It works well except he is very thin. Has anyone tried switching to Strattera over the summer to help with weight gain? Last summer we went with out meds and managed to gain a couple of pounds but vacations etc were hard.