Abilify And Teens (Page 3)
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My 13 yr old son has just been prescribed Abilify and I need to know if anyone has experience with their teen being on this.

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52

Yes, I was prescribed abilify when I was 14 in 2004.

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51

Do you happen to know if in the year of 2009 if ability was allowed to be prescribed to 14 year old females?

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50

Abilify for me is a good tablet keep taking it.

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49

My daughter is 13 and just started taking Abilify. She is at a very small dosage of 2.5. In addition to Abilify she is on fluxomamine for anxiety and severe OCD. I was VERY nervous starting her on Abilify but we have seen very positive results and no negative side effects. I think the key is making sure you are working with a really good psychiatrist. We are working with someone I trust and they are watching her very carefully. They haven't treated her ADHD yet but from what we see the medicine is also helping her concentrate a bit more

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48

When my parents took me to a crisis center when they were fed up with my daily marijuana use, i got prescribed abilify after the doctor said marijuana will "fry my brain". I stopped using marijuana and tried an abilify with a benadryl at night as that was what the doctor told me to do. It was terrible, I was thinking like I was in school even though I was in bed. I experienced dizziness and loss of appetite. I think I only got 3 hours of sleep that night and experienced muscle twitches the next day. I would never consider my self either bipolar, depressed, or szciofrenic. That will be the last time I ever take abilify.

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47

Prozac helped my daughter some but seems to have worn off some too and the response of the doctor is to add "booster" doses first of Abilify and now of Topramax, which is making her feel bad. She will stop the Topramax today. She has felt worse and has had to drop her English class which is not helping the way she feels. I don't think there is harm in these drugs if they work, but somehow when they don't work the solution is just more drugs or higher doses, which seems wrong to me. We do have her taking fish oil and a comprehensive multivitamin but she resists the vitamins. She is 18 now so I can share my opinion but I have to respect hers as well. When I was her age I took amino acids, never would take a pharmaceutical drug. Now I take St. John's Wort. I am not happy joy joy all the time, and I have to work hard to compensate for other ADD and OCD problems, but I have a good life now and in the past without pharmaceuticals. It was not suggested when I was a kid.

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46

Please check out the previous answers. I have been following this feed for a long time and am a past user of Abilify myself. It seems most of us/our children have had/are having bad experiences with the drug so it is advisable for you to research both the pros and cons pertaining to your Son. If the benefits of Abilify outweigh the risks to your Son's health, than by all means do what ever you have to. I say, read our responses on here and do some research before putting him on the drug. Just an F.Y.I., B-Complex vitamins have proven very effective for mood related disorders in children and young adults and can be an effective alternative [paired with therapy] to harsh anti-phychotic drugs like Abilify. Take your Son to a Naturopathic doctor for a non-"big-pharma" approach to his treatment plan. I have been medication-free for 7 years now and have never felt better both physically and mentally! Do your research... Thats' all I can say. Good luck to you!

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45

My son has been on abilify since he was 3 1/2 years old. And this drug has been a blessing. My child hated to be touched, had screaming fits lasting longer than two hours, and hurt himself ad others. He also had many spectrum behaviors (flipping his hands, walking on tippy toes, stemming on things) When i medicated him after the first few weeks he hugged me! i cried I was so happy. He stopped stemming on things and flipping his hands. efore I could not take a different road home or stop at a store without a fit and now I can. He is seven now and is in a regular classroom and is finally declassified from services. Without this med an the Intuiniv he takes he would off never succeeded in mainstream schooling. Granted he is still a quirky kid that has violent meltdowns but it is so much better than before!

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44

My 17-year-old daughter (See post 39) will be tapering off the Abilify. It has not helped her depression the way the advertisements claim, though it seemed as if it would help at first. The helpful effects didn't last long. Besides the one episode of trying to hurt herself (which was very much about her anger in a particular circumstance), she has been very, very tired almost all the time and had her best day in many weeks the day she forgot to take it. Her fatigue is hurting her academic performance which is one of the most important things going on for her right now.

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43

my previous comment was to autumn, still new to this website..

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42

i'm 17 as well and me and your daughter are having similar effects. i stopped taking it after i felt the urge to cut-which i havent felt in years. not that i'm just on my anti-depressant, i feel better, not totally not depressed, but i still need to talk to my doctor. Best of luck!

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41

i'm 17 and was just pescribed this medication to go along with prozac. it worked great at first, my grades improved and i became more social,but it's been about a month and a half and i feel the effects reversed- i'm more withdrawn, i've been having irrational thoughts, i cant sleep except for during the day and on top of it all i cant stop eating and i've gained about 15 pounds so far. this medicine is definintly not for my, but i have also heardgood things about it too. just do your research.

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40

I am wondering about the hormonal disorder too. During some random labs it has been discovered my daughter, (13/major depressive disorder with psychosis, psychotic episodes, hears voices, suicidal and a cutter) has extremely low prolactin levels. 4 prolactin tests have come back at around 1.1. Lowest it should be is 2.8. Now her doctor says it is probably because of her abilify 15mg and Wellbutrin SR 100mg. I'm thinking now maybe her psychological issues are related to a pituitary gland abnormality. Has anyone else had a similar situation.

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39

My 17-year-old daughter is on Abilify and wants to continue, but her personality has changed. She is tired all the time and her affect is flat. She doesn't smile much anymore and her depression has increased. When I ask her questions, the answer is usually a monotone "I don't know," which was never the case before she started the Abilify. The point of the Abilify was to boost the antidepressant. She hurt herself recently. The doctor's response is to increase the dosage. It's not working so they give her more? I am at my wit's end. She will be 18 next month so there is no point in putting my foot down - she is intelligent and wants to be on this drug. I cannot find any evidence of these deleterious side effects in the literature, but this forum is full of these stories. What is going on here?

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38

I just took my 12 year old off of Abilify after 5 months. I didn't think that it was dong anything except causing enormous weight gain and loss of his personality amd sense of humor. He has been off of it for 3 weeks and there is no change what so ever,which leads me to believe that it was useles to him. my nephew was on it and it was causing in increase in his tremors so he is being weaned as well. my friends 9 year old is on it too and she says there has been improvement but also weight gain. It is all so difficult! Good luck to you and your son

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37

My son is 16 years old and has been on Abilify for about 4 months now. His symptoms are coming back, he sees negative imagines and has paranoid thoughts. I am questioning my judgement for letting him on it. He also takes Lithium. He has lost his personality, drools, and feels like a zombie. I doubt his diagnosis is even correct. I feel as hopeless as he does. He was told he has psychosis personality disorder unspecified and manic depression unspecified. He does have anger issues and has hallucinations but started smoking kitchen spices-literally- and they helped, he did not smoke nutmeg, thank goodness. Anyway, I question what is better? Lithium and Abilify or smoking Chili powder, Oregano, and parsley? Any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated.

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36

It's good to read information on other's experience with this medication (drug). I'm a divorced father, my two kids live with thier mother, son(13), daughter(14). I have them every weekend. I noticed an additional medication pill in my son's backpack - my ex-wife never mentioned anything about it. He is taking Abilify in the mornings not, slong with five other prescription drugs (daily!) I'm very upset and obviously concerned for my son. I'm calling the doctor on Monday to question and contest the purpose for adding yet another drug into my son's body. He's now taking Limictal, Risperdal, Zoloft, Tenex, Adderall and now Abilify - good lord, this scares me to death!

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35

I am the previous poster. Taking your daughter off the abilify sounds like a good idea. If I could go back in time to when I first started taking the drug and having complications, I would have gotten off of it right away... My doctor gave me inaccurate and incomplete information regarding my concerns and questions. I struggled with anorexia before abilify and during. After I started gaining the weight without even making a change in my diet, I felt so out of control. I could no longer loose weight by not eating or maintain it. Nothing I did would stop the weight gain. I still don't get how it was possible to gain so much weight out of nowhere. I have been off meds for 4 years now and although I am heavy and sick, my mental clarity is so much better without all of the toxic medication. I have found b-complex vitamins (especially the inositols) to be extremely helpful for stabilizing my mood and concentration. I have no fluctuations in mood or depression whatsoever and rarely struggle with concentration issues. It's worth looking into for your daughter even just to add to her regimen.

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34

My 13yo daughter started and took Abilify 2mg for 7 days, then 5mg for the next 13 days. I stopped it because for 2 days, she complained of unexplained chills and was literally shaking. I have some medical background so my first thought was tremors and diabetes. We watched her diet and kept her covered with blankets - she improved after the 3rd day of not having it and avoiding sugars and starchy foods. However, we continue her 100mg Zoloft and await our next appt. I knew that Abilify was affecting her but just didn't realize how much.

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33

I know this is a very old post but I felt the need to share my experience with abilify. I am 22 years old now (female) but I was prescribed abilify from age 16-18. I was rebellious and free spirited in school. I skipped classes and defied my teachers and parents. I saw several psychiatrists and therapists (none of them could figure me out) for over two years and I was never diagnosed with anything besides adhd. I was prescribed and took, Adderall for adhd, Stratera for adhd, Abilify for a condition I did not have, Geodon for a condition I did not have, and Rispridol for a condition I did not have. Now, medication free for 4 years, I look back at those doctors with disgust... I don't blame my parents and teachers for being concerned by my bad behavior, but the doctors responsible for the unnecessary medications are very questionable. I do not struggle with mental illness today and am living a productive and independent life. Even after being off abilify for 4 years, I am still dealing with the long term effects of the drug. Before the abilify, I was very little in size (98 lbs) and after 1 month of being on the drug, I had gained 20 lbs (118lbs) I complained about this to the psychiatrist responsible and she told me it could not be because of the medication and even if it was, It would all come off after stopping the drug. So I continued taking the drug for 2 whole years by the end of which, having gained over 50 lbs! (I went from 98 lbs to 155 lbs) a year later, I was diagnosed with insulin resistance and subsequently, polycystic ovarian syndrome (pcos). I found out that the psychiatrist should have ordered blood work during the course of treatment with abilify to check for glucose tolerance but she never did. The side effects of the drug have evolved into a full blown mess of medical conditions and my weight is still climbing -- I have now gained over 100 lbs, I have secondary amenorrhea (no period - stopped 1 year into taking abilify), Infertility, pre diabetes, the list goes on... I recently came across an article describing the correlation between abilify (and drugs like it) and pcos in women. I can't help but be completely devastated and am really just hoping to get control of my condition before it's too late. Just thought I should put this out there hoping that someone else in the earlier stages of my condition (i.e just started the med) will read this and find a way to get off the poison that is abilify or find a better means of treatment.

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