Shown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by celticmom on March 11, 2005, at 22:02:22
For those of you who responded to my thread about lowering DS's abilify, I wanted to let you know it appears to be working. Unless it is my wishful thinking. He has become less resistant to work at school and home AND his speech immediately improved. It's hard to explain unless you know a child with a speech delay as severe as my son's, but when he starts taking SSRI's at all, his speech immediately improves. It doesn't matter which SSRI - they all stimulate the speech center (the whole dopamine thing).
This time when we started him back on Luvox, I didn't notice a huge difference in his speech - but now that his abilify has been lowered, his speech seems to be emerging again. It's really bizarre. It seems that the abilify was suppressing whatever speech stim there was from the luvox.
Anyway, I just wanted to give you all an update. I am very encouraged. I'm wondering now if I should completely cut out the abilify altogether, maybe he just doesn't need it. I'm sure the saga will continue. Thanks for the support and advice!
Posted by med_empowered on March 12, 2005, at 3:26:31
In reply to Update on abilify reduction for DS, posted by celticmom on March 11, 2005, at 22:02:22
hey! I'm happy for you! Given the way Abilify, and all anti-psychotics work, I think it makes sense that the med could cause some problems, and it makes sense also to try to reduce it/eliminate it (although Abilify does have a weak dopamine agonist ability, it still blocks alot of dopamine action, in addition to its effects on other receptors). If you decide that your son may benefit from total withdrawal of Abilify, I'd personally recommend seeking help in doing the taper...anti-psychotics are now thought to have their own discontinuation syndrome, just like anti-depressants, so ending treatment with anti-psychotics should *ideally* involve a doc who recognizes the importance of gradual tapering rather than "washout" and who can detect withdrawal-emergent issues (and not label them part of the condition or as a new condition).
Posted by Patient on March 13, 2005, at 22:54:45
In reply to Update on abilify reduction for DS, posted by celticmom on March 11, 2005, at 22:02:22
That is good news. Maybe it is from serotonin increase that his speech is improved since that is the main neurotransmitter SSRI's target.
Why was your son prescribed Abilify and how long has he been on Luvox?
This is the end of the thread.
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