Weight gain on Abilify?

[Guest guest]

Hi! Please keep an eye on your child. My son was put on Ritalin and Paxil

when he first was diagnosed. He weighs 180 and he is as tall as a full grown

man.

He is only 12 years old. I know my son's meds got him super fat. He began

eating peanut butter all the time, and now he has learned to eat better but the

weight is impossible to get rid of. I got all types of advise, but it is no

good. He is hungry at certain times and he wants to eat. I gave up the fighting

to limit his food intake, he cries and tells me he is very hungry. I can't take

it, I don't like seeing my son cry because he is hungry. As you know,

Autistic kids keep a limited food list that they do actually eat. I love my son,

but

don't really know how to get around his autism. In Texas, MHMR does not

provide me with any help of any kind. I also can't afford insurance. So, we are

stuck. I am hoping to get some fruits and veggies into my son's body every day.

I

have to blackmail my son into eating 1-2 tps. of veggies every day. Do pickles

qualify as veggies?

Cristina R. & AS family

[Guest guest]

The dark ring around the neck is an early indication of insulin resisitance,

according to my kids pediatrician, and the note sent home from my daughters

elementary school nurse. I just found out about it myself. I have taken my son

off the meds during the summer, in hopes of getting him interested in outdoors

activities and proper nutrition, ie. fruits and veggies.

He seems to be coping pretty good, and perhaps growing up. He even started

wearing clothes around the house, instead of just his undies.

Cristina R. & AS family

[Guest guest]

My son just turned 9 and just started on 5 mg of Abilify to maintain

an even keel. His latest dx is AS/ADHD combined type. We just got

our first dx this fall (PDD-NOS/ADHD), and just started the med route

last month. The psych seemed to think that starting Abilify would

make a better first impact than a stimulant due to the nature of

his " hyperness. " He has pretty good focus, actually.

Anyway...

At the doc's office on May 20, he weighed 77 lbs. At home, he weighed

74. Now, just a month later, he weighs 80 at home. He has always had

a pretty good appetite. Let me rephrase that. It is perfectly normal

for him to down a 1/3 lb hamburger the local joint has on their

*kid's* menu, plus fries and dessert. (I love this restaurant--all of

that is $3.99, and it's a sit down, very nice atmosphere place that

people regularly go for dates.) And he can easily handle an adult

steak dinner.

But now it seems like he's eating often, more often than before. We

don't keep alot of junk in the house, so it's mostly peanut butter

crackers and pretzels. But 6 lbs in a month? I think he hasn't

gained that much in the last year.

Another change is that he really gets into video games, and jumps up

and down while playing them. I was concerned about Osgood-Schlatter

(inflamation common in kids that do sports that involve a lot of

jumping) since he has limped a few times in the morning. So I have

been making him sit or kneel while playing. Now I am wondering if I

should let him jump and down and burn some calories again.

Or, it could be a growth spurt to go along with his new sunny

disposition.

Any experience with Abilify and weight gain? I would say he is no

longer lean, but not chubby by any stretch of the imagination. I just

don't want a side effect of weight gain if this is going to be a long

term thing. I'd have to come up with a snack strategy. He still fits a

10S pants but outweighs his 11yo " count my ribs " brother by 10 lbs.

TIA,

Jackie

[Guest guest]

I am hoping to get some fruits and veggies into my son's body every

day. I

> have to blackmail my son into eating 1-2 tps. of veggies every

day. Do pickles

> qualify as veggies?

>

We have veggie avoidance, too, although apples and raw carrots make

it down the chute. (And french fries and hash browns--sigh). He

literally gags at peas or green beans. Making smaaaall strides

towards broccoli, only the lettuce in tacos is okay. How did I get

kids that don't like summer fruit? Peaches, apricots, pears...all

very iffy. And they don't like bananas although they like banana

bread.

He is such a meat man. And I have been so lazy lately we've

probably had hot dogs 7 or 8 times in the last 3 weeks. He eats

lots of crackers, both low sodium Ritz and the readymade pb

crackers. He'll eat quesadillas and chicken nuggets just about

anytime I'll offer to fix it. Tonight we had a Tony's pizza and he

ate 3/4 of it. It's a smallish pizza, but still.

We don't go back for a regular med check for another month, but I

think we are going to the regular pediatrician before that. (New

doctor there, too.)

For the time being, I will get him more active (I took him to the

park today and bought him a bike at a garage sale this week) and get

good snacks in the cupboard and frig.

Jackie

[Guest guest]

He already is showing the dark ring around his neck that early

> diabetes is starting to show. >>

I hadn't heard of that as a sign. I will keep that in mind, as I know

there are concerns with blood sugar and triglyceride levels.

My FIL has diabetes for the past couple of years, and my dad does (100

lbs overweight) so I guess I should assume it runs in both families.

Jackie

[Guest guest]

I am sorry I am late to respond..my son has been abilify for about a year..over

the year he gained about 80 pounds...and then he leveled out...we also changed

he's eating time and pill times so that when he took his pills that he would eat

about hour and half after he took his pills and that has helped alot...hope this

helps..ivy

w6pbj <jackie@...> wrote:

My son just turned 9 and just started on 5 mg of Abilify to maintain

an even keel. His latest dx is AS/ADHD combined type. We just got

our first dx this fall (PDD-NOS/ADHD), and just started the med route

last month. The psych seemed to think that starting Abilify would

make a better first impact than a stimulant due to the nature of

his " hyperness. " He has pretty good focus, actually.

Anyway...

At the doc's office on May 20, he weighed 77 lbs. At home, he weighed

74. Now, just a month later, he weighs 80 at home. He has always had

a pretty good appetite. Let me rephrase that. It is perfectly normal

for him to down a 1/3 lb hamburger the local joint has on their

*kid's* menu, plus fries and dessert. (I love this restaurant--all of

that is $3.99, and it's a sit down, very nice atmosphere place that

people regularly go for dates.) And he can easily handle an adult

steak dinner.

But now it seems like he's eating often, more often than before. We

don't keep alot of junk in the house, so it's mostly peanut butter

crackers and pretzels. But 6 lbs in a month? I think he hasn't

gained that much in the last year.

Another change is that he really gets into video games, and jumps up

and down while playing them. I was concerned about Osgood-Schlatter

(inflamation common in kids that do sports that involve a lot of

jumping) since he has limped a few times in the morning. So I have

been making him sit or kneel while playing. Now I am wondering if I

should let him jump and down and burn some calories again.

Or, it could be a growth spurt to go along with his new sunny

disposition.

Any experience with Abilify and weight gain? I would say he is no

longer lean, but not chubby by any stretch of the imagination. I just

don't want a side effect of weight gain if this is going to be a long

term thing. I'd have to come up with a snack strategy. He still fits a

10S pants but outweighs his 11yo " count my ribs " brother by 10 lbs.

TIA,

Jackie