Abilify has been used in recent clinical trial for ADHD in kids:
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/gui/show/NCT00221962
It is an atypical (2nd generation) antipsychotic used in schitzophrenia and bipolar. The advantage of Abilify over the others in this class of med is that it does not cause the weight gain. My youngest is on a related med-Risperdal. She was doing well on focalin and guanfacine until teasing at school increased her anxiety and aggression. We have seen no side effects, and have seen positive effects with this med. She is on risperdal rather than abilify because she could really use the weight gain side effect.
I was glad our doc used guanfacine first for the same reasons you would like to try it. It may be that the doc does not have enough experince with Tenex to be comfortable managing this med, or he/she thought a stronger treatment was needed.
After trying only one stimulant for my DS (jut dx'd as adhd and odd), our psych prescribed Abilify. We're trying the lowest dose for a week and have seen some improvement in oppositional behavior. But I'm concerned about using this instead of something like Tenex. Neither are approved for use in kids, but Abilify seems like a bigger step than something like Tenex. Anyone else using it?
Also - can anyone else here use the search function? It's never worked for me!