Abilify for Autism User Reviews

• Jolly...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 24, 2020

"My young adult autistic son has recently began taking Abilify at 2ml liquid per day and it is nothing short of a miracle. We have had years of aggression.. hitting biting and smashing our home. He is still the same autistic boy with his usual traits but the aggression is GONE. Tried respiridol previously which did nothing so don't give up... different meds work for different people. Has been taking this for 6 weeks so far."

• Daven...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• February 7, 2014

"My stepson is now 13 years old and has been on 5mg dosage of Abilify for about 2-3 years. We discovered it when we saw a commercial for a study involving autistic children with aggressive tendencies. Since then, his behavior has improved 100% at both home and school. The only side effect, as mentioned by others, is weight gain. To this I say, take a more active role in your kid's diet and force him/her to exercise. This will offset the side-effects while still reaping the benefits."

• Tina
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• February 19, 2020

"Abilify has been life changing for our family. Our autistic sons aggression towards his siblings had been a major problem for many years and other drugs that were prescribed didn't help much. Much to our surprise, a day or two after starting abilify our son immediately backed down from arguing for the first time in his life. We were all absolutely stunned. My sons irritable and aggressive behaviour (due to his autism) wreaked havoc on our family and destroyed relationships between our kids. I just wish our son had been prescribed Abilify before so much damage was done."

• gbs...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• October 23, 2015

"My high-functioning ASD son started taking 5mg of Abilify at age 11 to control his irritability and aggressive outbursts ( never hurt anyone else, but would throw himself repeatedly into the wall when he became frustrated ). The Abilify helped immensely. At age 14, a new physician wanted to see how he would handle being off the medication. Seemed okay for the first month, but by month three he ended up in the emergency room on a hold for suicidal ideation. He was immediately put back on Abilify and things started getting better. Now at age 16, he takes 15mg once a day. He's more social, more conversational, and just doing well overall. His weight is ideal for his height."

• invol...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 18, 2013

"After much deliberation and many, many meetings, we finally decided to put our 7 year old on low dose Abilify. My child is officially diagnosed PDD-NOS, which is an autism umbrella disorder. At first the low 2mg dose seemed pretty effective in controlling the anxiety and outburst. However; when our doctor prescribed a higher dose, 5 mg, the exhaustion and weight gain were out of control. My child gained roughly 45 pounds in six months. Even when we stopped the medication for the summer months. Abilify seems to make my child very hungry, but unable to convert any calories into energy, simply storing all food as fat. We came to the decision that the side effects were out weighing the desired effects, and are trying a new medication. "

• Mariam...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 14, 2015

"Abilify changed the life of my son who is 15 years with Autism. He takes 15 mg in the morning and it has allowed me the chance to take him to a restaurant or the movies. I love the changes it brought to our life."

• krist...
• January 14, 2012

"This medicine is wonderful! My 9 yr old has been taking 5mg once a night for almost a year. Total turn around! The only side effect we have is increased appetite and weight gain. I do worry about his blood sugar...but the changes are seriously unreal!"

• Anonymous
• August 27, 2011

"My 10 year old son, was on Risperdal and it was horrible for him. He started taking 2mg Abilify along with Celexa and in 2 months in school he was doing 70% better. This medication did make his appetite increase and he did gain weight, but not too much weight. Once his body got used to it, he began to have trouble sleeping, so his doctor increased his dosage to 4mg a day, 2mg in the morning and 2 mg at night. He is sleeping well again, and appetite has seem to stabilize. This medicine has been great for my son."

• Exhau...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• September 23, 2015

"The doctor of my 13 year old autistic daughter put her on 5mg of Abilify last October. The first three months were great. Her mood swings decreased. She was less destructive and it was a lot quieter at home and in school. We started seeing the behaviors coming back a little at a time. At month 7, the behaviors were back full swing and much worse than they were before she was put on Abilify. She also gained 42 pounds and we couldn't keep her out of food unless we locked the cabinets and refrigerator. She has been off of Abilify since mid July and her behavior has turned around completely. Now she is on an "as needed" medicine that we only give her when we see a meltdown coming, and that is not very often."

• Mom...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 6, 2018

"My 7 year old son is on 2mg. It has completely changed our family. He has not broken a window on kicked in a door since starting abilify. Before birth he was exposed to drug, alcohol, violence, chemotherapy, and pain killers. I adopted him at a year. He is diagnosed with Reactive attachment disorder (RAD) and Asperger Syndrome. He is so calm now. He still gets irritated if things are not his way, but he is does not act on his anger."

• Good...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 2, 2020

"My son, 17, has been on Abilify for the last three months, and his transitions from one thing to the next is a lot less amplified and his concentration is stronger. It has only been three months, though, so I will book mark this page and let you know how he is in 3 more months. He's been diagnosed Asperger Syndrome since 5 y.o. Perhaps it works better on AS? He could definitely gain some weight since he is on a weight lifting program. He is a lot less argumentative. He also is a devout believer and biblical Christianity, so coupled with prayer, bible study, staying away from sexual or violent movies and video games, this makes a difference in this overall health."

• Anon
• December 6, 2016

"At age 9 I was put on a low dose ( 2 MG if i remember correctly ) and continued to take take until i was 16 1/2 (almost 17) having had most of my problems figured out and looking at trying to live without it. over those years I went from 2 MG a day to 5 MG a day, and then at its worst 7 MG a day. almost 19 now (and after having to get medical help for not being able to hit puberty (unrelated, we checked)) I am looking at taking it again to help with the stress of the work environment. (as a side note; I have a weird middle ground of Asperger's and High functioning autisim)"

• KrisS...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 31, 2018

"My 7.5 yrs old son has High Functioning Autism and we had tried 10 different meds in the past almost 3 yrs with zero success. Finally tried Abilify and it has been a miracle drug. He eats like crazy but no weight gain but he is super active. He is so happy most of the time, getting great grades now, and wants to got to school. What a God send! 2mg at night"

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 22, 2013

"My autistic 12 year old son was put on a low dose of Abilify in August 2012 to help with mood swings and anxiety. His emotions stabilized beautifully, but he gained an excessive amount of weight and an extreme increase in appetite. In a matter of 5 months he went from 100 pounds to 139 pounds. We've had to stop the Abilify and find an alternative so we can work on getting him to a healthier BMI."

• Mac
• December 31, 2020

"My son was prescribed Abilify years ago on a low dosage and it seemed to help him a lot. He had some weight gain but not much. As he got older and bigger he started having issues again and he was taken off Abilify and put on Risperidone. It was a complete disaster and things got bad really, really fast. Eventually he was put back on Abilify at a higher dosage and taken off Risperidone and things are much better. I recommend Abilify over Risperidone any day for autism."

• Anonymous
• March 4, 2012

"Our 11year old son with autism began Abilify mainly to combat fears (thunder, loud sounds, etc.) and to allow him calm down. It helped with that. It also regulated his sleep cycle very nicely. But he has put on a lot of weight. I tried taking him off of it, but the facial hitting (he hits himself) and screaming were really bad. Overall a good, benign medicine."

• jbsmom
• April 6, 2015

"My autistic sons behaviors were out of control. Self injury. After four months and twenty pounds his behaviors came back. He is now an insulin dependant diabetic. I believe the med trigger diabetes. Although I am fully aware diabetes is an autoimmune disease. I caution all parents to have A1C and have a baseline of blood work. It's not just managing calories. His appetite was insatiable."

• Anonymous
• August 29, 2012

"My 6 yo was on Abilify for two months. His temper tantrums and ability to concentrate were greatly improved, however, the gained 20 pounds and the doctor took him off it. He was also very weepy and emotional on it."

• Mom...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 5, 2019

"My 13 yr old has been on this for about 6 months and the dose went from 5 to 10mg to 20mg and were holding there. Weight gain has been from 165-215lbs. She is 5'8" so the size of an adult lady. She is so much more in control of her emotions. Her rages are gone, her meltdowns are gone, she is more normal then I've ever seen her be. She gets along with friends and family better. She feels better on it as well. She says she can focus and feels in control of herself."

• Lost...
• May 28, 2017

"My child has been on Abilify for a while now and we have not noticed any changes really. He still has aggression, self injurious behavior, and extreme levels of impulsivity. I can't take him out in public because he randomly hits people especially small children. If he is prevented from harming others he starts hurts himself until we have to restrain him. He has callouses on his wrists from biting and hitting his mouth repeatedly. The doctor has already increased his Abilify up to 10mg twice a day and he's on Clonidine 0.1mg 6 x's a day, Concerta 54mg a day, Ritalin 10mg a day, and Vistarel 100mg a night and melatonin at night. It's like he is on nothing though. I am terrified to take him off because it might make him worse. I'm so lost."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• October 2, 2020

"My daughter (13) was put on Abilify when she was 7 for aggression and severe behaviours. At first it seemed to help but after awhile she was just back to her usual severe behaviours. She use to be a tiny girl but she became over weight very quickly with this med. We had to put locks on the fridge and cupboards but then she literally ripped the doors off to get to the food!! Over the years we tried to wean her off several times but the side effects of weaning were terrible so every time we would put her back on. This time we have been weaning her off very very slowly over several months now, weaning down 2.5 mgs a month and it’s been much easier on her system. We have noticed a dramatic change in her seizures and she hasn’t had one in months now. We haven’t seen any changes in her behaviours, she isn't any worse, the same today on 2.5 mgs as she was when she was on 20mgs. So we really don’t think it was doing anything for her."

• KALAW...
• March 13, 2017

"After 15 years of suffering from all kind of behaviors and agression we found the best neaouroligist in the world who cured my son from autisum, and it was a cure, if he was able to control the bheavior then he cured him to me. My son took 7. 5 abilify in the morning along with 2500mg of depakin chrono at night he took one 25 mg seroquel and depakin and 0. 25 clonozepam.. My life has changed life is beautiful once you find the right combination .. Abilify is a good medication. I love it"

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• May 31, 2016

"the med did make him gain weight in the beginning but I put him in special needs track and I make him go hiking, walking and running to help keep him fit he is the size for his height I noticed a lot of people said weight gain. We initially needed the med for my son who is 14 years old and autistic-semi to non verbal , who became somewhat aggressive once puberty hit and I had no choice . so he has been on it for about 2 years and it seems to be working but I fear what will happen if he ever is taken off of it"

• Red...
• December 6, 2015

"My 8 year old has been on abilify for almost a year now. She has gained about 30 lbs, but she is very active and still fit. She is autistic and has severe aggression tendencies toward herself and others. She had been on respiridol before and it did nothing for her. Now, she takes 11 ml and we increase it 1 ml every four weeks until she is more stable. She has greatly improved on this medication but still has a long way to go."

• Mamma...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 27, 2019

"We recently tried this for my autistic 10yo son. His dose went from 1ml to 10ml over two weeks and his behaviour spiralled out of control with every increase. He just went from bad to worse to horrific. He couldn’t control his thoughts! He became uncontrollably aggressive and wanted to hurt himself. We ended up phoning Emergancy Pediatrics and they put him back onto Risperidone and everything returned to normal. This is an awful medication."