Can you share your experience with Abilify?

[Aniusia]

My son was diagnosed with ADHD last September. He is 13 yo. Typical adhd, problems with attention in school, motivation, staying on task.

Ritalin worked ok for couple mos but it stopped.We are searching for new meds.Yesterday he started Adderall, but he did not like it ( shaky hands, filling hyper ) His doctor wants to go back to Ritalin combined with Abilify. I am traumatized by those meds. How did your kids react to it?

[phillycodehound]

I was on it for a bit. It worked for the most part.

[Elijah1]

Abilify does little for the core ADHD symptoms but can be very good for the behavioral inflexibility that can occur with ADHD (difficulty dealing with unexpected change and easy upsets). The typical side effects, if they occur, is tiredness and increased appetite (there are more but they are less common). When it works, it is very helpful (who wants to live with lots of yelling and tantrums?). It also has a modest effect on anxiety. Make sure you understand why it is being used.

[Aniusia in reply to Elijah1]

Thank you Elijah1. My son is skinny like a stick so a little weight gain is ok.