Abilify? | ADHD Information

My older son is on Abilify ... we were using it to tame
the EXTREME aggression he had while on Paxil (horrible,
horrible, horrible!). Ever since going off Paxil though,
he's no longer aggressive (even on the Paxil w/ the
Abilify, he was still VERY aggressive).

We are currently using Abilify to help him sleep at
night... that's it. He uses it in conjunction with
Clonidine, Melatonin and Benadryl. We've been able to
halve the dose of Clonidine and Melatonin and we're
planning to halve the dose of the Benadryl next. We'll
see how it goes.

We've had no side effects since starting it (in December)
and he hasn't gained any weight while on it either. He's
back to being his chipper self, but then again, Paxil had
him in a horrible downward spiral for a few months....
the only thing that stopped that spiral was taking him
off of it.

We're working in conjunction with a Pediatric
Psychiatrist with a specialty in pediatric
psychopharmacology. He KNOWS his stuff. We don't want to
use Abilify long-term for sleeping... but for now, it's
WORKING WONDERS!Hi I'm new to your message board but was hoping someone has some experience w/ the medication Abilify.

For the past 2-3 years we have been trying every approach we can to help my now 6yr old boy. We've done diet, we've done lots and lots of behavioral modification and skills building classes for him and for us as parents, and we've tried medication. We've done OT for his sensory needs. We've spent a lot of $$ on seeing the best doctors/therapists. It's been exhausting.

We had some success before when using Abilify after trying all kinds of meds (i.e. ritalin, adderall, tenex, wellbutrin, zoloft, vivance).  There has not been a lot of positive information out there supporting it and in Oct 09 we decided to stop after using it for 4 months, even though we did not experience hardly any side effects. We decided to really work on more skill building and behavior modification (which we have been doing w/ or w/o meds) and we continue to modify our diet as a family. He's made lots of improvement w/o meds but socially he is struggling. He constantly is telling me no one likes him and that kids don't want to sit by him. He is so emotional at times to the point where it's difficult to console him. He is very sensitive to other being unkind, even on movies. When watching the Olympics he burst into tears and was extremely angry and upset when they DQ'd Appollo Ohno.  He will often say...I'm just a bad kid. He's very distracted in class and is constantly moving around. His teachers have been very patient but he's still struggling.  He's also very aggressive at times and impulsive. He has very little fear of danger. If you ask him what made him do something he'll say I just felt it in my body. I don't know. I just feel really mad or really sad or whatever it is.

As you all know the decision to medicate or to not is not one that comes easy. I feel so much uneasiness either way. When he's on meds I worry about whether I'm doing what's best for him and when he's not on meds I worry about the same thing.  After much thought/prayer and concern for him we are putting him back onto Abilify. I'm hoping that some of you out there might have had some positive experience w/ this particular medication. I also am interested in knowing what some of the side effects are that you have seen or experienced w/ your children. He's only been back on this med for 2 days but he's having bad headaches (I dont' remember that from before). From what I read it sounds like it should go away?? We'll see I guess. I'm also worried about weight gain.

Anyway, if you have any experience w/ this medication will you please share your thoughts and experience.

Thank You!
Rane


My son is not taking the same med, but it sounds like the two are used for the same purpose (mood swings, aggression, self-injuriousness, melt-downs, etc). My son just recently started taking risperidone (Risperdal). We tried just about everything else out there too. I do know that in pediatrics both of these meds are approved for kids with autism, but that some kids with ADHD also take them.

Our pediatrician does not want him to be on this for long-term because he isn't real familiar with it, but for now is using it like a stop-gap until ds can get in to see a child psychiatrist (there is a looooong waiting list). Before I started with this med I read through some older posts on the "Medications" forum on this site. I haven't checked to see if there is an Abilify thread, but there might be so you could check there. It eased my mind some to at least know there were others out there trying the same approach.

Good luck and I hope you find some useful information.



So I guess the Abilify is not so great for us after all. My son has cried and cried and cried. He is very emotional and seems zoned. And even though he's really sad...it's like he doesn't really know why he's sad. He cries over everything and anything. It's hard to explain. He's normally so cheerful and he's not bubbly and happy like he normally is. He's crazy tired. He keeps falling asleep.

So I reduced the dose and it was very much the same. The past 4 days have been horrible for him.

His teachers told me that on Thurs and Fri that his focus was worse and it reached a point where they actually just took his work away because it causing him to be so distraught and they just felt bad. Clearly...this is not going to work.




I'm so sorry Rane. Neurotransmitters are the pits. I'm pretty sure that even the professionals don't fully understand how they work or why. Whatever you do, don't beat yourself up over it.

Do you feel strongly enough about it to stop giving it to him today? He may have a bad day tomorrow, but I always figure I can deal with my son's 'typical' behavior because I've been dealing with it all the years before meds, so maybe you'd feel better doing the same.

It always breaks my heart when my son gets locked into an emotional state and I can't seem to help him. I'm learning to really appreciate the smooth days and I look forward to more of the same. Best wishes for you and your family in finding a solution. Hang in there.I am going to stop giving it. I did not give him a dose this morning...i figure i can handle him today and keep him home from school tomorrow. Yesterday was just so hard for him and us...and the thought of sending him to school w/ this medicine seems like setting him up to fail.

Yesterday, it reached a point where we had to ask his friends to leave b/c he was so emotional. He got so upset a couple of times that he was swearing at them and just not himself.

I have always kept a Journal and will contact our Child Psychiatrist in the morning. I did find my notes from when we were on the Abilify before and even though he showed some success on it, I have lots of comments about how emotional it made him and that it seemed harder for him to focus. So I think we have our answer, at least for this medication.

Thanks for your post. And I wish you and your son success.
Rane

Hi, Rane,

We started our now 12 year old daughter, ADHD and mild/mod Aspergers, last June.  We had some success with the stimulant drugs controlling her ADHD, but were having continuing difficulty with her radical moodiness--just grumpy and unpleasant and nasty and argumentative and changing the way we wanted our home to be.  It was really awful.  Abilify has been a remarkable drug for us--we call it Abilitastic.  She is pleasant, funny, and things roll off her back way more than they used to.  It has really evened her out to our everlasting joy.  The only side affect we've had is weight gain issues and are working on that now, but I'd rather have her a little pudgy and happy, then thin and miserable.

I know every family is different and lots of people have differing opinions on medicating their children.  And you do have to make the best decision for your family.  My attitude, and my husband's, is that we need to do our best to make sure our kids have what they need to be as happy and independent as they can be and to give them the tools they need to succeed in whatever they choose to do.  We put our daughter on meds to help her be successful in school, to make social situations easier for her, to make her life better, so every little thing isn't such a struggle.  They have helped improve her self esteem because she's able to concentrate in class and get the grades she deserves.  They prevent her from acting out and sticking out in social situations.  

Our attitude going in was that we could always take her off the drugs if they didn't work.  But we felt we owed it to her to try.  It's her life, we can't live it for her, we need to help her as much as we can.  Good luck and good thoughts to your family, especially your son.