Cinnamon Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 This is sort of related to another question I asked... 1) If you have taken Abilify for mania, did it work? 2) How long did it take to feel any effect? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Marshall Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 It always works for me. Normally it's about a week or two to behave normally, full recovery takes some time though. I need couple of months to get me there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted May 20, 2018 Author Share Posted May 20, 2018 3 hours ago, Dr. Marshall said: It always works for me. Normally it's about a week or two to behave normally, full recovery takes some time though. I need couple of months to get me there. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt07 Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 Abilify is approved for major depression and schizophrenia. It's not approved for bipolar disorder and there are solid reasons why such as its ability to push people towards mania, especially at the beginning of therapy. I'm no doctor, but I agree with your other thread that a short course of Zyprexa would be better at beating down the mania. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Marshall Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 I'm not sure if I can totally agree with you @jt07. I'm not a doctor either, my username is just the character from the book by Chuck Palahniuk, to make it clear. But in Europe Abilify is approved for BP I too. I don't have only bipolar, but also schizoaffective disorder, so mayby that's why it works good on me. But as far as I know Abilify works both ways, can stimulate you when depressed, but can cure your mania either. I can tell it from my experience that it always calm me down while on mania or psychosis. I don't know if it's typical reaction as my pdoc says I don't react on the med as many patient do, cause I also sleep a lot on Abilify, but it definately helps me to deal with my mania, as I don't have many depressive periods. Like I said I'm not the pdoc, I only shared my experience. And I agree it should be real doctor that knows the best what will help in this particular case. I hope you get the best possible med option to cure your mania, it doesn't have to be Abilify, but it helped me @Cinnamon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt07 Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 I should have stated that it isn't approved for bipolar disorder in the United States. @Dr. Marshall There are exceptions to every rule, and a sizeable subset of patients find Abilify sedating. But the majority of patients, myself included, find Abilify very energizing. Plus, when I began to take it and it began to work, it put me in a state that could be described as hypomania if I were bipolar and this state lasted 10-12 weeks for me. I loved it because it pulled me out of depression and put me in bliss, but I can see how it could easily push someone with bipolar disorder into mania or hypomania. Furthermore, we do have people on this site who cannot take Abilify because it makes them manic. As for me, I'm no longer in that state of bliss that I enjoyed at the beginning of my therapy with Abilify, but if I stop taking Abilify I become depressed and lose motivation. It definitely keeps me motivated to live life. I don't mean to bash Abilify. It has changed my life. It is the only med that has helped my lack of motivation -- no other med has even come close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Marshall Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 I'm really happy for you @jt07 that Abilify works that well. It is the drug of my life too. Yes, I know that Abilify can make some people manic. I know somebody personally who reacts like this on the med. And I'm aware I can be exception on that matter, I just shared my experience, maybe it will help. I hope that pdoc of @Cinnamon knows what is doing and know the case well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonderful.Cheese Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 (edited) I hate to disagree but according to www.abilify.com (whether abilify alone itself is the best at squashing mania is a whole different discussion I guess... personally I have to take a high dose Seroquel xr with it to take care of mania but ymmv) What is ABILIFY for? Use as an add-on treatment for adults with depression when an antidepressant alone is not enough Treatment of manic or mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder in adults and pediatric patients 10 to 17 years of age Treatment of schizophrenia in adults and in adolescents 13 to 17 years of age Treatment of irritability associated with autistic patients 6 to 17 years of age Edited May 20, 2018 by Wonderful.Cheese Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellifluous Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 i've taken it/am taking it for OCD (intrusive thoughts, specifically), but i haven't taken it for schizophrenia because i get agitation a lot and it's said to be activating if that's already a big problem for you when psychotic. i would say it helped with the intrusive thoughts within a couple of weeks. i only take 10 mg though. i take it in the morning because it would keep me up if i took it later. i think it should work fairly quickly for you or you should check in with your psychiatrist. x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
browri Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 On 5/20/2018 at 8:54 AM, jt07 said: Abilify is approved for major depression and schizophrenia. It's not approved for bipolar disorder and there are solid reasons why such as its ability to push people towards mania, especially at the beginning of therapy. I'm no doctor, but I agree with your other thread that a short course of Zyprexa would be better at beating down the mania. On 5/20/2018 at 4:14 PM, Wonderful.Cheese said: I hate to disagree but according to www.abilify.com (whether abilify alone itself is the best at squashing mania is a whole different discussion I guess... personally I have to take a high dose Seroquel xr with it to take care of mania but ymmv) What is ABILIFY for? Use as an add-on treatment for adults with depression when an antidepressant alone is not enough Treatment of manic or mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder in adults and pediatric patients 10 to 17 years of age Treatment of schizophrenia in adults and in adolescents 13 to 17 years of age Treatment of irritability associated with autistic patients 6 to 17 years of age Yeah I'm not sure that's correct @jt07. Abilify is approved for the following specific bipolar indications by the FDA: --As monotherapy or as an adjunct to lithium or valproate for manic or mixed episodes associated with Bipolar I Disorder in both adult and pediatric patients --Maintenance treatment of Bipolar I Disorder It looks like Seroquel and Geodon were the only other two that I can find of the AAPs that got a bipolar maintenance indication and their indication is specifically worded that they're only approved for that use as an adjunct to lithium or valproate, not as monotherapy. So Abilify is definitely unique in that regard. But acute manic/mixed as monotherapy or adjunct isn't really anything special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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