Original Comment:
| Jason | Abilify | May 12th, 2008 | Rating: 6.2000 |
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| It seems like alot of comments here are BS. I suspect many are probably from people who work for other drug companies trying to scare people and push their drugs. This drug is at the top of the class for people with schizophrenia and works great for some people and has minimal side effects. Maybe there are others who have side effects, but probably the only people writing here are the 1% with complaints. | |||
Replies:
| Tom | Abilify side effects | August 19th, 2007 |
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| I want to alert all users of abilify to watch very closely the effects that this drug has on their children. A little over two years ago my daughters doctor prescribed abilify to smooth out her moods. After taking the drug for two or three weeks she got very lethargic, then one day my wife and I found her on the floor of the bathroom. We called an ambulance and took her to the hospital where her condition got worse. The doctors were worried she might die. After four days of trying to flush the drug out of her system they were finally successful and her condition improved. The doctors said it was the abilify. So please be very careful when using this drug. It can be deadly. | ||
| Lisa | major depression | December 3rd, 2005 |
| My 15 year old daughter was diagnosed with major depression and suicidal tendencies at the age of 12. Since middle school she has suffered socially in terms of fitting in with other girls her age. She has always been quite shy, quiet, and perfectly happy doing many activities on her own or one on one. She is very intelligent and has always done very well in school without working hard at it. She has been hospitalized several times in the past few years, and has been on several medications that have not helped. During the past 5 months she has been on Lexapro and Wellbutrin which has helped tremendously, or so we thought! She is not forthcoming in expressing any feelings or emotions to anyone, therefore, while we though the medications had improved her depression she now says on a scale of 1 - 10 she would rate the medications as 3 as far as her depression impoving. Well, 8 days ago, just when I was convinced that she was on the road to recovery, she swallowed a lethal amount of tylenol while she was home alone! Thank God above she instantly decided to call a friend and her life was saved. Now she has been hospitalized for the fourth time in three years and she just started taking 5mg. of Abilify, as prescribed by her psychiatrist. It feels great to have hope once again but after all that I have read, I am scared to death. Is there any where that I can explore current research that will give me some peace of mind? Someone please respond with any informantion and or similar experiences. Lisa | ||
| concerned stepparent | abilify | December 3rd, 2005 |
| Well Jason, I don't work for a drug company and I don't think doctors have any business prescribing Abilify for children unless there are no other options. These comments aren't scare tactics. The majority of them are probably true. I have a 9 year old stepchild that takes Abilify. This child walks around in a fog and can't remember what she had for lunch today. Now she's developed a tic. From the meds, I'm told. "It should go away." OK, but when? And what on earth is this stuff doing in her brain to make her have tics? Meds that are used to treat adult Schizophrenia should not be used on ADHD children. I think these children are used as guinea pigs to see what works. In my present situation, if the custodial parent had tried to discipline the child and take up a little time with her instead of shoving pills down her throat, she might not have been behaving uncontrollably. She no longer acts like a normal child. Will she ever again or is the damage irreversible? Only time will tell... | ||
| Guilty Parent | No Subject | January 13th, 2008 |
| I'm sorry that you feel that these postings are a conspiracy. My child's life hangs in the balance of believing his teachers that meds were the answer to his problems; ie; anxiety, depression, insomnia. He started on abilify, 10mg. they felt it needed to be increased to 15mg. This child age 16 has never been on meds before. Is diagnosed as high functioning autism/aspergers Extremely intelligent, and is now walking around like a zombie, confused. He was medicated in Oct 2007, in conjunction with his first hospitalization, by way of his teachers emergency petition. Prior to all of this drama he was home schooled he wanted to return to school for socialization, prom etc. After his forth visit to the emergency room in 2 months. Ive just been able to piece this puzzle together. He is suffering from negative side effects of Abilify. Here they are in the order of severity. 1. Increased thoughts of suicide/ which lead to hospitalization, triggered by the stress of school 2. Akathisia He can not sit a chair, Is now complaining about red traffic lights he hates them. 3. Decreased Blood Pressure Low bottom number 4.anxiety impulsive behavior poor decisions 5. increased weight gain/ uncontrolled eating 6. Signs of TD with his tongue 7. confusion 8. forgetfulness 9. Rash My hope is he will be home for xmas. But you can bet he will be weaned from this med slowly with or with out Dr conscent. The Drs answer is more meds. I was strongly against meds any way especially meds for kids. Never again. I just want my child back alive. I'll educate him myself. | ||
| Got an Idea | No Subject | February 7th, 2008 |
| It's probably best that if anyone is prescribed medication for themselves or their child, to do some research. Before you give your child any pills, get on the internet, go to Wikipedia.org (or any other reliable site), and do a search on the drug and learn as much as possible about it. If you can come to a conclusion where you believe your doctor was wrong in prescribing the medication...then call him and tell him you do not agree with his assesment and that you want a different medication. It's best to learn about each category of medications so that you'll know what options are open to you. It's sad but true...doctors will sometimes make it seem like there's only one pill that will treat the problem, or that your running out of medication options. Do Not believe this...there are Tons of medications and different combinations, and if your doctor is not compliant...find a different one. Just because a doctor tells you to take a pill doesn't mean you have to blindly follow his will. Just because he's a doctor it doesn't mean he is all knowing and all powerfull. Doctors can and do make mistakes...they are not perfect, just like we all aren't perfect. Educate Yourself...take the time to research, and more importantly take the time to Ask Questions. Don't be afraid to read the list of side affects that comes with your bottle of pills...yes, you may have one or some of them, but there's a good chance you won't have hardly any of them. But in the end, it's safer to know ahead of time what you and your child is getting into before he/she swallows a pill. Prepare yourself for an emergency. Call in sick at work, set aside all other plans you had that day and spend time with yourself/child at home in a secure environment after taking a new medication for the first time. Hell, give it two or three days...whatever it takes for you or your child to be physically safe. The emotional, mental, social, and psychological problems should take a back seat to you or your child's immediate overall physical health. | ||
| Anonymous | To Lisa | February 7th, 2008 |
| To Lisa: Abilify is an atypical antipsychotic mainly used in the treatment of people with schizophrenia and manic/mixed episodes of bipolar disorder. If your daughter is suffering from depression it might have been best to have her take an anti-depressant med that works better in unipolar individuals. Antipsychotics can often make a depressed person even more depressed, and I think that from what I've learned, Abilify should probably not be taken by children at all or people suffering from depression. It seems to work best for people with bipolar 1, schizophrenia, autism, dementia, and alzheimers. | ||