Abilify- How quickly did you see results?

[Anonymous]

Hi all-

My son was just put on abilify to deal with temper tantrums, irritability, and moodiness. If your child was on the medication, how long before you saw results? Were they more apparent in school or home? What side effect(s) were the hardest to deal with? By the way, he is on 1 mg for the first week and then we are supposed to up it to 2 mg. Thank you so much for sharing!

Obviously I have tried every other way to deal with the situation before allowing my child on this medication- so please no judgement and have comments related to the actual question please!

[Anonymous]

Abilify was a miracle drug for my sister. I don't know how long it took, but the results are nothing short of amazing.

[Anonymous]

It took about 4 days to start to see improvement when my DS started at 1 mg. I think the half-life of the drug is about 72 hours, so I think you'll see close to the full effect in 2 weeks or so. We stayed at 1 mg for about a month before increasing to 2 mg. Good luck

[Anonymous]

10:31...as for side effects, the only thing we saw was an increase in appetite, which wasn't a problem for us since DS was very thin to begin with and sometimes refused to eat before starting on Abilify. We saw positive effects across the board at school and home.

[Anonymous]

Of those that have posted and had success, can I ask what diagnosis your children had?

[Anonymous]

It was about 3 days for us and the improvement was miraculous. DC has severe ADHD with irritabilitly, moodiness and outbursts. He did gain weight at first but he really needed to because he hadn't gained anything in a year on just stimulants. Now we are off the stimulants and do Abilify and Intuniv with the hopes of weaning off or tapering down the Abilify over the summer because he's been on it for 2 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of those that have posted and had success, can I ask what diagnosis your children had?

1031 and 1033 here. At the time Mood disorder-NOS. doctor suspected bipolar.

[Anonymous]

schizoaffective disorder for my sister and 20 years of nothing else working

[Anonymous]

No judgment here but do be fully aware of the potential side effects of these medications (anti-psychotics), esp. possible signs of NMS which is rare but potentially fatal and possible when taking any anti-psychotic medications (probably at higher doses than your child will be using--and I don't know if NMS has been documented in children--hopefully not). I know several people who felt their cognitive abilities were hampered by taking Abilify, but these were adults and probably taking at much higher doses. These drugs are being overprescribed and overmarketed to adults--now for depression (the ads don't mention these are anti-psychotic medications). I do understand sometimes such drugs are needed for aggression in children so I do not judge. But do be aware as these are only newly being used with children (and adults for that matter) and to exercise caution and stay at low doses.

[Anonymous]

My son is on meds and has been for 3 1/2 years so no judgment here either. I just wanted to warn that he had rage seizures on Abilify and ended up in the ER. It was absolutely terrifying -- he was there physically but not there at all mentally. They lasted about 10 minutes each. We immediately took him off the Abilify.

I understand Abilify can work great for plenty of people, but if you see really unusual behavior (aggression, but without any words and not seeming conscious AT ALL of the world around him), call your dr. immediately.

[Anonymous]

Op here- thanks for your responses. Yesterday was day 2 and we saw a touch of improvement (though that might have been some wishful thinking on our parts)! So far the only side effect is fatigue, so we are giving it to him an hour before bed. It has made getting him to sleep VERY easy, which we are not used to- a definite positive for us. Doctor and responses all lead to better behavior normally reported around days 3 and 4 so fingers crossed!

Thanks

[Anonymous]

My son is almost 15 years old with partial trisomy 8. He is severely disabled with both physical & mental impairments. He is non-verbal, GT dependent, diaper dependent, etc. He began having aggression & rages 15 months ago. They have continued to escalate out of control. He is aggressive towards caregivers, siblings & self-abusive for the majority of the day. We have been working with a psychiatrist & the anti-anxiety & anti-depressant meds have not worked. In fact, he has exhibited more aggression with some of these meds. We have lost 2 out of 3 of his nurses & now have him home from school - my husband is working from home to help me care for him safely.

I am curious if anyone has a case like ours. I have asked to have a discussion with our psych team about anti-psychotics, specifically Abilify. My research proves to be encouraging & frightening all at the same time. Bottom line, like I am sure all of you - we want to help him feel calmer & more stable throughout a day, thus improving his life & our home life of those who love & care for him. Thanks for anything you can share! ~ jk

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No judgment here but do be fully aware of the potential side effects of these medications (anti-psychotics), esp. possible signs of NMS which is rare but potentially fatal and possible when taking any anti-psychotic medications (probably at higher doses than your child will be using--and I don't know if NMS has been documented in children--hopefully not). I know several people who felt their cognitive abilities were hampered by taking Abilify, but these were adults and probably taking at much higher doses. These drugs are being overprescribed and overmarketed to adults--now for depression (the ads don't mention these are anti-psychotic medications). I do understand sometimes such drugs are needed for aggression in children so I do not judge. But do be aware as these are only newly being used with children (and adults for that matter) and to exercise caution and stay at low doses.

Not OP but sure OP is fully aware. We SN parents tend to read all of the side effects. Today DS's psychiatrist is switching him from risperdal to abilify. So I searched for this thread and appreciate the information provided. Question- if he already gained wait on risperdal, will he gain additional weight on abilify? Starting with 1mg of abilify as he is weaned off of risperdal. The end goal is no risperdal and 2mg abilify. Intent is to calm DS enough to make him receptive to therapy. Diagnosed Aspie with OCD and suspected bipolar (but he is young so who knows). Just want the moments of rage to stop. Unless you've BTDT, hard to understand living with a young child who attacks you.

[Anonymous]

My child tried ability but it did not work for him. It was for a mood disorder (he was 5 at the time and unable to go to school). We took him off and now have him on Zoloft and it was an immediate change. The mood disorder was changed to an anxiety disorder. It was a long road, but we are finally seeing improvement. GL!