Abilify

[anon4now]

I'm reaching out to anyone with information, or who's google-fu is stronger than mine and can find some information.

DS's pdoc wants to start him on abilify. I'm terrified because on their label there is the following warning:

If you have diabetes, or risk factors for diabetes (for example, obesity, family history of diabetes), or unexpected increases in thirst, urination, or hunger, your blood sugar should be monitored. Increases in blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia), in some cases serious and associated with coma or death, have been reported in patients taking ABILIFY and medicines like it

I mean, he has diabetes. But I don't know if that means prolonged high blood sugars. I mean, what happens if he spikes? I don't know. I'm conflicted.

Anon

[katiekat]

Sean has been on Abilify for a while now. I will say that we have seen amazing results with it. But as far as the diabetes I don't know. The thing that always concerns me is the effect on the heart. What was the dr's thoughts on taking it with diabetes?

[anon4now]

I don't want to make excuses for the guy, but you know how it is. He only sees DS once a month for 30 mins. It's not like he's going to remember everything. The first time I talked with the pdoc, we skipped over abilify as an option because of his diabetes. And he went straight to lithium. The lithium isn't up to par, so he wants to add abilify. I asked him about the diabetes, and he told me not to worry about the increased hunger. I know you guys don't understand what we go through with his diabetes, but increased hunger was NOT what I was worried about. But I can't expect him to be an expert in his field and endocrinology.

Think of it this way. My son's diabetes is a ticking time bomb. At any time it can explode for no logical reason, and no warning. This is just biology at it's best. Not everything is predictable. His sugars can go really high and cause DKA which causes dehydration and can land him in the hospital. Or his sugars can drop, which robs his brain of glucose and can cause seizures and major organ failure. Of course, the body has a few safety features, but those are not 100% fool proof. Now when you add lithium, thorazine, and now abilify...just think of it like adding a few mines arround that time bomb. Now every time we approach a symptom, we have to watch where we step first. And if that bomb goes off...the mines can make the destruction much more worse.


I'm going to call his endocrinologist, and possibly talk to the therapist there too. She may even have other families in the same situation that she can talk to.

Thanks for listening,

Anon

[katiekat]

Yeah, I would definitely talk to an expert in the area. I know I always spoke to the cardiologist whenever a new med was suggested for Sean.
It makes it so much more difficult when there is also a medical issue thrown into the mix.

[jj]

Yes, you need a second opinion. Sometimes doctors are so distracted or casual about somethings ya just want to smack them.

[charliegirl]

I think you are doing the right thing with talking to the endocrinologist first. He will know more about the risk than the pediatrician. With the problems you have controlling his diabetes it doesn't sound like it is necessarilly a good med for him to me.

[bugsmom]

I agree with the others, check with your doctor. I can't imagine Abilify being an option for your son with this kind of warning.

My son was on Risperdal for a little over a year. Although it is not the exact same med, they are very simular. I remember having to sign a waiver with my son's doctor that I was FULLY warned that diabetes could develop from this type of medication. When my son gained 25 pounds in a year, his doctor was afraid he might develop diabetes and we took him off immediately. There is something that can trigger this in people that take it.

Keep us updated on what your doc says.

[anon4now]

Well I talked to my endo yesterday...who I completely love and respect (which is hard to do with doctors!)



Anyways, she said that she sees a lot of kids (with diabetes) that need a medication for another condition and she always advises to do it. If it helps, great. And if it changes the diabetes, we will handle it. I read the warning to her, and she said it means the medication could induce diabetes, and diabetes could (and does) cause those problems if untreated. Since my son is diabetic, and is getting treated, we will just continue as is. There's also a chance I will need to increase his insulin, but that's ok too.

Thank you so much guys for your support. Now that I put myself through all of this, I hope it works!



Anon

[katiekat]

I really hope it works for him Anon. Like I said this was the first med that really made a difference in Sean. The results were (and still are) nothing short of amazing. Once he started on the Abilify we never again had the hours of crying and raging and smashing his head into furniture. Also the physical violence toward others dramatically decreased. His behavior in school did a complete turn-around almost overnight. His teacher was amazed at the difference it made and so were we. I think it has been close to a year since he started on it and things are still going well.
Fortunately he never had any side effects. However the first week or two he was on it he was absolutely exhausted. You could see it kick in about 1/2 hr after he took it. He was in a "zombie-like" state which was concerning enough for me to call the psych. He told me to give it time and that would go away, and it did. He has been doing great on it ever since. He takes the Abilify in combination with Trileptal.
I hope this works for your son and does not have any negative effects involving his diabetes. Keep us updated.

[anon4now]

KK,

How long was it until you saw a change when starting abilify?

Wed night was his first dose. He said Thursday during the day he felt tire during a math test and he thought he might have gotten some of it wrong. Then he went to bed cranky. I spent the time with him until he calmed down and when I went in to talk to DH he and I both commented that it was a "different" breakdown compared to other nights. He got another dose that night and this morning he had another breakdown before school. We sent him to school anyways and the nurse reported "fine mood" so we'll see what happens.

I was just wondering if we were imagining things last night, or if he could already be feeling affects of the med. I worry about the increase of depression that abilify could cause in bipolar kids.

TTYL

Anon