Abilify And Teens (Page 3) (Top voted first)

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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I dont know if you have recieved any help yet. I just read your post. My son is 18 and has behaved the same way. Needless to say this went on for over 6 months. Poor grades, anger, hearing voices. I took him to a hospital and he was admitted for 7 days and thru therapy and social workers talking to him. He has actually been smoking pot and experianced with bath salts which had caused a bizzare psychosis. The doctors put him on abilify which he refuses to take because of the side effects and poss long term problems ( would not recommend this for any child). He also is on carbatrol which seems to help him with control and concentration. He has not been diagosed with any mental illness. He has been out for a week and has been doing much better. He will also be getting ongoing counseling to learn to make better choices.

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*side note. my doctor started me on 15mg abilify, and it made me very nauseated, dizzy, weak, and eventually led to me throwing up. so i started cutting the pill in half, and that caused me to feel the empty feeling, and feel incredibly anxiety ridden. i started taking 2 2mg's and the anxiety still persisted, so last night, i only took about .5. maybe it won't do anything, because i am feeling a little manic now, but i just couldn't handle the anxiety. maybe i am a wuss for giving up so easily....

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My daughter is 13, she has been on Abilify for the past 5 years. When she first started taking it there was much improvement in her behavior. For the past 2 years the anger has grown, I have continued to note the emotional immaturity with her Dr. as well as her therapist, it seems to be the cause for many of her struggles with friends & school. No one has ever mentioned that the med. can hinder maturity or cause anger. If I am reading the comments right it seems there is a significant amount of talk on this. Where can I find info. on these types of side effects? At this point I am considering taking her off the Abilify, which she takes 12mg., along with .1mg of Clonodine. She has been on some type of medication since she was 5.

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My 16 yr old daughter started with 5 mg then 10mg and her attitude has changed for the worst. Gained 15bs in 3 weeks. She is also taking lexapro for her depression. I'm going to seriously talk to her dr to review her medication. I'm not comfortable with Abilify did not like it at the beginning and after reading all your comments makes me really worried.

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

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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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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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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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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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Abilify for me is a good tablet keep taking it.

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

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