Hi -- just found this forum and this is my first post. I'm hoping there are some folks here with the benefit of experience who can give me some input. My 10 y.o. DS was diagnosed with ADD (primarily inattentive) 3 years ago. We have tried a number of stimulants (Concerta, Focalin, Adderall, Dexadrine) as well as Strattera, and none have been acceptable. The stimulants helped with DS's focus but each one caused bad side effects. Concerta and Focalin made DS feel like throwing up all day and severely impacted both his appetite and his sleep. The Adderall and (later) Dexadrine were both much better in that regard until DS told us that they were making him see/hear things that weren't there. (Needless to say, we took him off each of them the second we heard that.) The Strattera did absolutely nothing for him. He has also taken some anti-anxiety medication which also seems to have little effect on the ADD. (It does improve his anxiety, but that's pretty mild anyway, and unfortunately the meds were causing some behavioral issues.)
Long story short, his psychiatrist is now suggesting that we try Abilify. She says that a lot of kids that can't tolerate stimulants do well with Abilify. It might be that he would ultimately need to take Adderall or Dexadrine with it -- since Abilify is an anti-psychotic medication it should prevent the hallucinations. I know there are some potential risks -- weight gain, increase in blood sugar, etc. -- but the doc thinks that as long as we do periodic blood testing as she recommends we should be able to head off any real problems. Still, I'm concerned. Has anyone here had experience with this medication?
Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom.
I've not heard of Abilify being given for ADD. DS has been on Abilify for almost 2 years now but he is on the Autism Spectrum (coupled w/ADHD; ED). Abilify is a totally different drug family than a stimulant. It takes probably 2 months for efficacy to be established. Stimulants leave the system quickly and you can pretty much tell right away if they help or not for the ADD. Abilify is a sister drug to Risperdal (only drug approved by the FDA to treat aggressive element of autism). Abilify can have some pretty serious side effects and, of course, there have been no studies done with children. When putting DS on it we basically agreed to it because he was unable to function in the outside world.
Okay, just read the other thread about Risperdal and see that it is being given to treat ADHD. You learn something new every day!
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