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Abilify and Side Effects

ohjustchillin
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ohjustchillin

ohjustchillin

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Okay so I just started abilify yesterday at 2.5mg for 4 days then 5mg until I see my doctor again next month. I took it last night and very quickly I was restless but also very exhausted and out of it, as well as really uncomfortably nauseous. it's 24 hours later and I'm still nauseous and still a bit out of it. I did also take .5mg of klonopin last night and that just made me even more exhausted and didn't do very much for the anxiety, but surely that one's worn off by now?

Anyways, I'm worried about the side effects. The nausea/loss of appetite and the dizziness/general out-of-it feeling. It hasn't gone away in over 24 hours since my last dose. Anyone else have side effects from abilify? Did they go away really quickly?

I'm worried about how I'll be able to handle going to work tomorrow. I could barely handle driving 15 minutes this afternoon I felt so sick.

 

Edit: I also have a killer headache today, don't know if that's related. Tylenol did seem to help, though.

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jt07

jt07

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I had nausea when starting Abilify too. I stuck with it though, and the nausea went away one week to the day. Now I don't have any nausea at all. The "out of it" feeling will go away in a day or two.

One side effect that won't go away so quickly if you get it is insomnia. But despite insomnia, I love Abilify. I feel great on it.

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ohjustchillin

ohjustchillin

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12 minutes ago, jt07 said:

I had nausea when starting Abilify too. I stuck with it though, and the nausea went away one week to the day. Now I don't have any nausea at all. The "out of it" feeling will go away in a day or two.

One side effect that won't go away so quickly if you get it is insomnia. But despite insomnia, I love Abilify. I feel great on it.

Would it help with the insomnia to take it in the morning? I'm just worried about the out-of-it feeling driving and being at work. And the nausea, of course. Being nauseous makes my anxiety way worse, and then the anxiety makes the nausea worse. Is there anything I could take to deal with the nausea that you know of? Over the counter would be best.

It's also kind of weird that for a bipolar diagnosis, I'm only prescribed abilify, right? I didn't think that was a mood stabilizer.

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cloudmonger

cloudmonger

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I recall similar effects when starting Abilify the nausea and "out of it" feeling for sure (I get these side effects from starting just about everything, and these particular effects usually go away) All you can do is give yourself a chance to adjust to the med. It's tough to do this while you are working - if you have any extra days off sometimes it's worth taking if you feel really crappy! If it is more activating, you can take in the morning (versus the evening)

Abilify is one of those drugs that can effect you very differently depending on the dose (at some doses it's activating, some it might be more sedating) I developed akathisia (restless agitation & needing to be constantly moving) on it and decided it wasn't for me.

I see you were recently on Lamictal - if i may ask- why did you stop it? Was it not working or did you have side effects?

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melissaw72

melissaw72

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After awhile of Abilify making me tired, it became activating and had to start taking it in the AM.

Yes About  the headaches ... I was off of abilify for 2 weeks with hardly any headaches.  When I went back on a tiny dose, the headaches came back with a vengeance.  And now I get them just about every day now.

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dtac

dtac

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Abilify has a looooong half life, around 72h if I remember correctly. It takes about a week for the drug to reach steady-state, and during that time the side effects can be the worst. It took about two weeks for the nausea and out-of-it feeling to subside the last time I started it. I also found it extremely activating and could barely sleep at 2mg; anything higher prevents me from sleeping at all.

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jt07

jt07

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No, I never actually threw up from the nausea. 

As dtac mentioned, Abilify has a long half life. I doubt that dividing your dose or taking it all at a different time of day is going to have any effect.

Most AAPs of which Abilify is one can function as mood stabilizers and are prescribed as mood stabilizers although they are not "officialy" listed as such.

Really, Abilify is not a med to fear. You will either really, really love it or you will hate it, but you never know how you will react until you give it a fair trial. As I mentioned, I really, really, really, really love it. It is the only psych med that ever worked for me as the commercials said it would.

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melissaw72

melissaw72

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17 hours ago, ohjustchillin said:

Did any of you actually end up throwing up from it? 

I decided to wait until next week to start when I have a few days off from work in a row.

No, I never did.

 

For me, it took abilify just about 7 weeks for me to finally feel an effect.  So like jt said:

17 hours ago, jt07 said:

you never know how you will react until you give it a fair trial

 

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melissaw72

melissaw72

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9 hours ago, ohjustchillin said:

I'm just worried because my job has me on my feet running around for 8 hours straight and that makes me feel sore and hurting on a good day.

I think it is good that you are starting it next week when you have a few days off from work in a row.  (see quote below).  You'll know how it will affect you without worrying about being at work.

 

On 11/10/2016 at 1:26 PM, ohjustchillin said:

I decided to wait until next week to start when I have a few days off from work in a row.

 

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ohjustchillin

ohjustchillin

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13 hours ago, melissaw72 said:

I think it is good that you are starting it next week when you have a few days off from work in a row.  (see quote below).  You'll know how it will affect you without worrying about being at work.

 

 

Yeah, and then that increases my anxiety, which increases my nausea/discomfort, which increases my anxiety, etc etc. I can afford to wait too, because I think I'm not in an episode right now. I'm in a pretty good mood, and even my anxiety has quieted down a bit for the moment.

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