My son was on Abilify for about a year. He did really well on it except that he gained almost 50lbs. It helped him focus and concentrate but made hiim extremely hungry to the point that he was getting up in the middle of the night and gorging himself on food.
My son took Abilify for about 2 years, ages 14-16, was not approved by the FDA for him at the time. He began taking it after an episode of waking me in the middle of the night telling me that satan told him to kill himself. He was blank and lacked emotion while he was taking it (which was reported to the mental health provider), but no weight gain. He truly lost his personality and sense of humor. He has been off of it for 3 years and I personally feel he may never be the person he would have been had he not taken the drug. His sense of humor has returned for the most part, but he was always very social, and now he's much more withdrawn. He'd rather spend time on the computer playing games with online friends or texting on the cell than actually spending time with local friends. I believe that the Abilify interrupted normal brain development at critcal stages during those years that may be lost forever. He's almost 19 now, and his level of maturity is just not where it should be. My husband typically took our son in for his follow-up visits, even tho I did some of the time. We both told the provider about his blank personality. She seemed really to hear me only after I told her I was going to take him to a dr. whom someone recommended who was an endocrinologist, neurologist, psychiatrist (and maybe even other ologists that I can't recall now). She immediately suggested we wean him off the drug to see how he would do. We did that over the course of several weeks and after a few months he began to change for the better. A lot of development takes place in the brain during those teenage years, and I would get a second opinion from another very highly specialized dr. before allowing a child of mine to take Abilify! I pray you will find the answer you and your son need and not lose your child in the process.
My 12 year old daughter has been taking Abilify for 3 months. She has been doing great. Before putting her on this she was a mess. Poor grades, no focus, she was rude and unbearable. For us this drug has been a god sent.
When I was 12 years old I took abilify. I was diagnosed bipolar, but last year I found out I have PCOS which is a hormonal imbalance. I took it until I was 15 when my mother and I both decided it was giving me nothing but trouble. It might just have been because I had nothing mentally wrong with me to begin with, but when I started it, I became very depressed and suicidal (psychiatrists played on that and gave me anti-depressants that made me even worse.) While on abilify, I became dizzy very, very easily, would be too tired to do anything and wound up sleeping most of the time, and I developed the startings of an ulcer, which I suffer from very frequently now at age 18. For me, abilify did nothing but confuse and anger me. Then again, I was just a victim of malpractice. Still, I would advise parents and teens to be aware that abilify can have adverse side effects and if anything seems too off, get a second or third opinion about the mental illness in the first place - and never doubt that it could be a medical condition like it was for me.
My 15 year old daughter was recently prescribed Abilify 2 days after starting on Zoloft while hospitalized for a major depressive episode. After doing a good bit of research, and with my daughter's permission, we stopped the Abilify. I have a great deal of concern that psychiatrists are susceptible to big Pharmacy and their drug salespeople. Abilify, along with other newer medications is a big money maker and has potential for extremely dangerous side effects, including coma and death. It is not tried and true. Studies are too short term. My daughter is currently doing well on Zoloft, and is also taking natural thyroid hormone for autoimmune thyroid disease, which can contribute to depression. If you are dealing with bipolar or schizophrenia, it does become more complicated, but I don't take FDA approval as meaning that a drug is really safe, especially when it comes to my kids-they are precious. I want my daughter to be safe from the self-harm that had overtaken her, but I also don't want her to be in harm's way from the big money makers. Nutrition and nurturing are what I am adding to the antidepressant, not another drug. And all my research shows that Abilify should be used as an adjunct, not alone. I hope this helps someone. And, by the way, I am a Registered Nurse.
in 16, depressed, having frightening thoughts. started on 5 mg, got rid of bad symptoms, gave me even more less-serious side effects (but still), now im on 15mg, and it seems like its all been reversed. im right back to where i started. its not great by itself. i've been on abilify alone for 5 weeks. not even. its been hell. dont do it.
I'm 15 and was recently prescribed Abilify. Personally, I don't think it works. From what I've read, Abilify is used to treat Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia. I don't know what I've been diagnosed with because the doctor just said I'm going to prescibe you Abilify and that's it. No, diagnosis. Nothing. But to me, I'm either worse or the same. I get really irritable. Even when I can't get find anything to eat. I've even punched a wall and got a contusion on my hand, because I got so angry. I wouldn't put your son on it. But who knows, people are different. It will work for some, but for others it might not.
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