Abilify for Autism User Reviews

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

"My young adult autistic son has recently begun 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 Risperidone previously, which did nothing, so don't give up... different meds work for different people. He has been taking this for 6 weeks so far."

• Dav...
• 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."

• Tin...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• February 19, 2020

"Abilify has been life-changing for our family. Our autistic son's 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 son's irritable and aggressive behavior (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 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."

• inv...
• 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 a low dose of Abilify. My child is officially diagnosed with PDD-NOS, which is an autism spectrum disorder. At first, the low 2mg dose seemed pretty effective in controlling the anxiety and outbursts. However, when our doctor prescribed a higher dose of 5mg, 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 outweighing the desired effects, and we are trying a new medication."

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

"Abilify changed the life of my son, who is 15 years old, 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."

• kri...
• January 14, 2012

"This medicine is wonderful! My 9-year-old has been taking 5 mg once a night for almost a year. Total turnaround! 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 at 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 2mg at night. He is sleeping well again, and his appetite seems to have stabilized. This medicine has been great for my son."

• Exh...
• 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 or kicked in a door since starting Abilify. Before birth, he was exposed to drugs, alcohol, violence, chemotherapy, and painkillers. 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 does not act on his anger."

• Goo...
• 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 are a lot less amplified, and his concentration is stronger. It has only been three months, though, so I will bookmark this page and let you know how he is in three more months. He's been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome since he was 5 years old. Perhaps it works better on AS? He could definitely gain some weight since he is on a weightlifting program. He is a lot less argumentative. He also is a devout believer in biblical Christianity, so coupled with prayer, Bible study, and staying away from sexual or violent movies and video games, this makes a difference in his overall health."

• Ano...
• December 6, 2016

"At age 9, I was put on a low dose (2 mg if I remember correctly) and continued to take it until I was 16 and a half (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. I'm 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 autism)."

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

"My 7.5-year-old son has high-functioning autism, and we had tried 10 different medications in the past almost 3 years with zero success. Finally, we tried Abilify, and it has been a miracle drug. He eats like crazy but has no weight gain, but he is super active. He is so happy most of the time, getting great grades now, and wants to go to school. What a Godsend! 2 mg 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."

• Anonymous
• March 4, 2012

"Our 11-year-old son with autism began Abilify mainly to combat fears (thunder, loud sounds, etc.) and to allow him to 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."

• 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."

• jbs...
• April 6, 2015

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

• Anonymous
• August 29, 2012

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

• Los...
• 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 hurting 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 10 mg twice a day, and he's on Clonidine 0.1 mg 6 times a day, Concerta 54 mg a day, Ritalin 10 mg a day, Vistarel 100 mg 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."

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

"My 13-year-old has been on this for about 6 months, and the dose went from 5 to 10 mg to 20 mg, and we're holding there. Weight gain has been from 165 to 215 lbs. 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 than 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."

• 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 behaviors. At first, it seemed to help, but after a while, she was just back to her usual severe behaviors. She used to be a tiny girl, but she became overweight 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 mg 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 behaviors, she isn't any worse, the same today on 2.5 mg as she was when she was on 20 mg. So we really don’t think it was doing anything for her."

• KAL...
• March 13, 2017

"After 15 years of suffering from all kinds of behaviors and aggression, we found the best neurologist in the world who cured my son of autism, and it was a cure. If he was able to control the behavior, then he cured him to me. My son took 7. 5 abilify in the morning, along with 2500 mg of depakene chrono. At night, he took one 25 mg seroquel and depakene and 0. 25 clonazepam. 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 a 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 nonverbal, 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 Risperidol 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."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 13, 2023

"My 8-year-old son is on the autism spectrum/ADHD and started this medication two months ago. It has worked tremendously well! He can focus and concentrate without getting distracted every few minutes, and his meltdowns have decreased so much that he rarely has any. Before the medication, he was having meltdowns at least five times a day and was frustrated and irritable. This medication has definitely helped with all of that, and I am so thankful to have found him something that helps him. The only side effect he has had is headaches."