Medicine question *PIOG*

[ilovemykids79]

I am curious how many if any of you moms out there have a child taking Abilify for Bipolar? If so how do you like it, what is your and your childs experience with it, and has your child suffered any side effect? If so what?

My dd is being treated for bipolar with this medicine. So I am curious who else has advice about it. thanks in advance.

[workingmom39]

hello my son is 13 he just start taking lithum twice daily have you heard anything about this med.

[sara1983]

i personally have taken it and it made my muscles crawl and i felt like i couldnt sit still and couldnt focus to drive. i had a bad reaction to it so i had to be taken off of it. aparentlly the commericals say the muscle problems are rare but i think fatal.

[ilovemykids79]

I have not heard much about abilify, but lithium yes. I have taken lithium.

Quoting workingmom39:

hello my son is 13 he just start taking lithum twice daily have you heard anything about this med.

[CoolGirlChris]

My son was prescribed Abilify a couple years ago for his bipolar.  It didn't really do much.   I don't recall any adverse effects other than it just wasn't working.   He still had mood swings.  So I removed it after about a month. 

My son was also prescribed lithium on top of the seroquel he was already taking.   It was hard to tell if the lithium itself did much because it was combined with the anti-psychotic.    Based on research that I did back then, lithium itself - in small doses - can actually do a good job.   The adverse effect on my son, was urine leakage.  Not fun.    He stopped the lithium and seroquel a year later because we moved and didn't get another prescription.   We tried Lithium again, by itself, but this time it gave him really bad stomach aches so I stopped the lithium too. 

[jlemaycox]

My son Elijah is on a combo of Abilfy 15 mg, Lithium ER 300 mg am-450 mg pm, and Clonidine .2 mg at night.  He is doing better than he ever has.  He was put on the Abilify during his phosp stay in February and at that time his Lithium was raised to the therapeutic level.  Since his release he is like a totally different child that I did not know was hiding inside my little man.  I am very glad that I have had a chance to see the sunshine in my boy's heart.  He is stable for the first time in his 7 long years.  He used to suffer rages which were nonstop for 1-5 hours at a time several times a day, night terrors, suicidal thoughts, and more.  Now all of those symptoms are gone.  He is doing better on this med combo then he ever has in his life. 

Janice

Mom to:

Elijah age 7 dx: BP, ADHD, SPD, PDD-NOS

Charlie age 15 dx: PTSD, ADHD, ODD, Mood Disorder NOS, CD

and 2 daughters w/o diagnoses