Loon-A-TiK Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 My pdoc claims that Abilify will knock out my mixed state and agitations/anxiety without the side effects of some of the other meds. My concern is that I've taken it before with no real benefit, and also don't like atypicals in general, and would rather put up with Lithium. Have any of you really liked Abilify? What's the deal? Will it help or make matters worse in your opinion? Should I switch pdocs? (lol- she's new anyway!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dweii Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 I know I've said this before but... Some of the old antipsychotics aren't that bad. Might at least be worth a shot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatsgoingon Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 I second what Helena said. I love love love Thorazine, which is a ye olde typical. I was still badly hypomanic and a bit psychotic on the maxiumum dose my pdoc was allowed to give me of Zyprexa, so we added in the Thorazine on the off chance it might at least help with sleeping. At 50mg it helped with sleeping, at 100mg the hypomania began to go and at 200mg the voices are beginning to die. Fabulous stuff. I'd definately have no qualms about using another typical in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 I use 15 mg. abilify, but still need klonopin 4 x day for anxiety Tommy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loon-A-TiK Posted March 10, 2006 Author Share Posted March 10, 2006 Tommy- Do you think, with all the K you have to take, that the Abilify is helping? Or making matters worse, or neutral? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 It seems to help with everything but the depression. My pdoc has moved me from BP2 Mixed State to BP2 Depressed. I see her again next Tuesday and hopefully we'll make some more inroads against the depression. Going on 13 weeks with no suicidal ideation, so it is helping some with the depression -- now if I could just stop the uncontrolled weeping... Tommy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loon-A-TiK Posted March 10, 2006 Author Share Posted March 10, 2006 I know about uncontrolled weeping! It is so hard not to do in public. If it happens in public, and people ask about it, I make up some dumb reason like "I just found out my sister had a baby!" or something else lame (my sister is 14 btw) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 I just say "seasonal allergies" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loon-A-TiK Posted March 10, 2006 Author Share Posted March 10, 2006 That's great! "Seasonal Allergies". I live in the northern us so that may not help in the winter, but it will work from feb-dec! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ignorant fool Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 My experience on 30 mg Abilify supports the claims of your new p-doc. I say go for it. I've really had a good experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocd-man Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 I take 20 mg of Abilify. It works great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackCat Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 I am BP 1 my Pdoc says. I have mixed states and I can honestly say I don't notice Abilify hurting or helping.( it *is* a lower dose though) But I wouldn't give up on it just yet unless you are getting more and more mixed states. Then maybe try the other AP's as others here have suggested. Risperdal works good for me when I am really in the throes of a horrid mixed state and nothing else helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loon-A-TiK Posted March 12, 2006 Author Share Posted March 12, 2006 I wish I could do Risperdal, but it made me lactate The APs could work, but I work and don't want to go around looking like a zombie, and I'm afraid that they'd do that (but don'tknow because I haven't tried). Abilify is making me tired. It used to make me hyper. I don't know about this stuff! But thanks for letting me know that some of you like it and are doing well. I haven't heard anything terrible about it yet. Any AB haters out there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit37 Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 I wish I could do Risperdal, but it made me lactate Just curious, how long did you stay on it, and at what dose? I'm on 1mg, and for about three weeks my breasts were hurting, felt like the beginning of lactation. Now it's subsided (been on R for 2 months now), and the side effects *seem* to be lessening. However, still having some mixed state problems, so maybe it'll be changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unipolarbear Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 about the abilify: For me, I was taking 20mg a day in the morning for anxiety. It made me more anxious than I was already! I was having to take two and three atvans a day. I forgot to take the abilify one day and actually began to feel great. I only took 10mg the next day and voila! one pill (1omg) gets rid of all the anxiety! 20mg was just too activating. Abilify is weird like that.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loon-A-TiK Posted March 14, 2006 Author Share Posted March 14, 2006 As for Risperdal and the lactation, I was taking about 3mg a day, so the equivilent of 600mg Seroquel. At one point I took 4mg. So it is a lot. The lactation continued as I decreased my dose too. I'd love to go back to it but my pdoc says it is a big NO! Abilify makes me jumpy. I'll need to ask about a beta blocker. IF I can EVER see my pdoc- she's cancelled TWICE on me out of 3 times in the past 3 months due to her being sick. I can't believe my bad luck. I haven't seen the pdoc in at least 2 months. I think it has been 3 months. No wonder my moods are shit! I'm not being monitored! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fred-c Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 I am taking 7.5mg of Abilify and 300mg of Lamictal for depression. I quit the Abilify for a while because it's so expensive but could feel myself slipping into a mild depression without it. Abilify & Lamictal work pretty well for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtywonderful Posted May 10, 2006 Share Posted May 10, 2006 Why hasnt anybody really talked about this med? Is it good or bad? I am slipping into deprssion and I wonder if I should ask about it. I sleep so much lately and I'm gaining weight like a MoFo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geekstreak Posted May 11, 2006 Share Posted May 11, 2006 Abilify helped knock me out of a terribly anxious mixed state. It took a while, though. It hasn't helped my depression any, but when I tried a couple weeks without my 5 mgs, the anxiety came back even though I'm also on Lamictal. It's not activating at all for me, though. My conclusion - yup, it has helped somebody (me) and will probably help others. Give it a little time and play around with the dose. Will it help depression? Might. My pdoc says it can be helpful, but I needed the addition of Wellbutrin in order to (I hope) completely kill my depression. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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