Went and saw my psychiatrist yesterday and she switched me from latuda 40mg to abilify 10mg… For bipolar/manic depression, not to mention the PTSD, and Post Pardum Depression and a major anxiety disorder… My brother gets his abilify by injection and says it makes him jittery, anxious, compulsive… All kinds of things. I’m just confused as to why my doctor would prescribe me something that can increase all of the symptoms I already have? I was on 150mg of welbutrine, and it made me MANIC! I literally got a domestic violence charge while on welbutrine. I was on lexapro and would sleep for 18 hours at a time. I feel like NOTHING is working for me. The only thing I take that I like and know works for me is lamictil 200mg a day. I’m just confused. I have a 3 month old and a 2 year old… I can not just be a zombie all day every day. She also prescribed me neurontins yesterday too. I lost my job over 600mg of neurontins, made me nod out horribly and they accused me of being on drugs and I begged for a drug test and it was just a temp job thru an agency but they refused BC its just a revolving door of employees and apparently wasn’t worth the time or money to test me. Sorry, I’m rambling. All these medications have me so confused beside the lamictil. Idk. I feel so hopeless. Nothing is working, nothing is helping. No one is listening or understanding and I can’t even put what I feel into words. 
Well abilify 10 mg works for me like a charm. Everyone’s different even you might be different from your bro. You haven’t tried that many medications. I tried 20 psych meds before I got my combo right. Now I have little symptoms and no side effects.
Oh I’ve tried a ton of psych meds, just not with this doctor
Paxil, Prozac, tegratol, trazadone, Geodon, effixor and more I can’t even think of atm
I tried everything and nothing worked except abilify. I’m on 10mg too. You might get lucky with it too. It acts differently to other anti psychotics.
But everybody is different. Just because some else reacts one way to it like your brother doesn’t mean you’ll react the same way.
Abilify does make me anxious and restless though. But I just take a supplement called L-theanine to counteract that.
She said she was going to try the abilify with me because my brother is on it and we are blood related and sometimes blood relatives have the same issue… Idk… I just am terrified its going to increase my anxiety… I’m agoraphobic… I can’t even check the mail or answer the phone… Such unrealistic fears… I know this but can’t stop it
I see…well you haven’t tried them all!!! I imagine. Keep trying girl!!! Since you have bipolar , abilify is a great med for psychotic bipolar as it has great mood stabilizing properties for an antipsychotic. Also regular mood stabilizers like lithium depakote lamictal have you tried those?? Also many of the meds WORKED for me but it wasn’t till abilify I found one that had bearable sideffects , so there was no reason to come off it. Everyone’s body chemistry is different but give abilify a chance. Maybe abilify will not work for you without sideffects but the next med will. Or maybe it will be perfect for you. Lots of trial and error in psychiatry. Don’t give up and don’t knock it till you know it doesn’t work for you !!
Yes, forgot about the lithium, depakote, and I’m on lamictil now
I like the lamictil tho, I KNOW it works for me as a mood stabilizer. Obviously not tremendously, but I know its doing something to help
Then you’ll have to ask your doctor about anti anxiety meds. Like I said I take an over the counter supplement l-theanine for anxiety.
She said she’d prescribe me benzos but I have a history of drug abuse and am on suboxone 2mg and have had a habit of taking far too many benzos at a time. Went thru 40 1mg xanax in less than 3 days… Ugh
I’ll definitely look into that supplement though
Ya I have substance abuse too but never abuse benzos. I’m on .5 klonopin but don’t exceed it ever. I never liked depressant drugs too much. If you struggle with benzos then say no to it!! Not worth it!!!
Yeah as much as I’d like to be prescribed them I know I’ll abuse them and I dont want the make things harder on myself. I’m a recovering heroin addict, 2 years clean from all opiates, thank God.
I was on ability, lamictal, Geodon and who knows what else until I got on lithium for my bipolar symptoms and then everything was all good.
Geodon was so awful for me. 40mg and I couldn’t even move. My boyfriend would literally have to pick me up just to get me to The bathroom. It was insane and that doctor wanted me on 180mg
Xanax is a bad drug because it’s half life is so short it can actually make you less stable. Plus people use it to get high. My dr refused to prescribe xanax for me and for good reasons. Better off staying away from the stuff.
Like @Moonwalker, I’m on abilify, lamictal, also wellbutrin and xanax. It all didn’t start working until we added Lithium. I’d actually like to stop all the others and just try lithium for a bit.
If my experience is anything I’d say you can
Well congrats on the two years clean 
Even though I don’t like alcohol I struggled with it. Self medication of anxiety with it lead to addiction and cravings of it!! Which is why I was initially prescribed naltrexone. That drug has been a godsend to me… it helps me stay away from my psychedelics of choice and alcohol as well as helping with my mental health. If you are an opiate addict I’m sure you heard of naltrexone. I think I’m rare with how much naltrexone helps me. Usually it only helps substance abuse for me it helps everything!!