I’ve always considered Abilify to being a weak antipsychotic.
But compared to some of the other antipsychotics I’ve tried, I came to the realization that it’s a pretty potent AP.
I took it when Abilify first came out and remained on it for over 10 years.
Not once did I go to the hospital.
It was a pretty good mood stabilizer as well.
Then I find out it’s as effective as Risperdal.
Yeah I may give it another try.
Going to bring it up with my doctor.
I was taking Tegretol with Abilify during this time.
Then I found out that there is a major drug interaction between these two drugs.
Apparently Tegretol renders Abilify to be less effective.
Abilify didn’t do jack shite for me.
Well, it did make me tired and numb my emotions. But I kept havibg to up the dose to combat the symptoms, and when I reached max dosage I told the pdoc it was time to try something else.
It was what they first put me on when I went psychotic and it worked really well for me for about 7 years. Then I went off it at the advice of my (very stupid) doctor and went absolutely batshit. Tried it again several times over the last ten years and it never worked again.
I take 5mg to lower my prolactin
They tried me on 30mg of Abilify before, and after about 2 months I was psychotic and in hospital
Not sure why it didn’t work
I was stoked to be put on it, as this was after the weight gain on Olanzapine and I thought this would work
I don’t know now I’m having second doubts about going back on Abilify.
I wasn’t that stable while I was on it but I was also taking Tegretol.
I remember becoming more stable on this drug as time went by.
Maybe at higher doses.
I can certainly try it out again and see how I do.
But man it made me very anxious to the point I became paranoid.
I was able to lose over 60 pounds on this drug while following a low carb diet.
But yeah weight loss was possible.
I’m managing to lose some weight now but not enough.
I’m stuck at the 199 lb mark.
I can’t seem to go lower no matter how much I diet.
I’ll see what my doctor thinks about me switching APs.
I’ve been pretty stable on Risperdal all these years.
It kept me out of hospital and psychosis free with minimal mood problems for over 10 years. It is the best med I tried. Rispirdal did not work for me.
But to be honest I wasn’t that stable on Abilify.
But yes I was on Tegretol.
I’m doing so well on Risperdal.
It would be a shame to throw it all away.
If it is working I wouldn’t risk changing it to something that doesn’t work as well…
Unless the side effects are severe enough to warrant it…
Also, sometimes a med that didn’t work so well in the past can work well in the future… you never know.
No it is not. Abilify has good side effects profile but its not effective as per the data. [1]
Everyone is different. Some people are stable on less effective antipsychotics while others need high effective antipsychotics
[1] https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(19)31135-3/fulltext
Honestly the anxiety on Abilify was unbearable for me.
I couldn’t drive into town by myself or had a difficult time taking short walks close to home.
I was even taking Klonopin on a daily basis with it and I was still extremely anxious.
Maybe I’m better of remaining on the Risperdal even at a lower dose.
I hate having to rely on APs.
But I need to stay on them.
In that case I’d stick to resperdal…I know what you mean about the aps though, but better to stay on them to prevent such episodes.
Thanks for the info @clinic but the medical literature claims that Abilify is just as effective as Risperdal but yeah I have my doubts.
Thanks for your help @anon80629714
Here’s another study which claims abilify is not as effective. [1]
[1] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)60733-3/fulltext
Ok thanks 151515
How tall are you and what’s your bmi
Why are you asking me this?
To check whether you are below the average weight on risperidone, I have some statistics on abilify and risperidone for average weight
I’m 56 years old
I’m 5 foot 6 inches tall and weigh 199lbs
My BMI is 32.1
I’m considered obese class 1
