So I’ve been on olanzapine which was too sedating. Especially with an 8 month old!
Then risperidone which was giving me an overall sense of dread constantly and extreme anxiety.
So now I’m being changed to abilify on Friday, which can apparently give anxiety too. But if it does, I’ll be going on sertraline again but I hope it doesn’t come to that 
I hate anti depressants. But hey whatever works.
Anyone’s experience of abilify? Please and what dose are you on?
Abilify gave me really bad anxiety/restlessness. However it tended to subside after a couple weeks on each dose. Once I got to 10 mg though I couldn’t tolerate it anymore. It gave me other stuff too like twitching in my hands and mouth and made my attention span garbage and whatnot.
Risperidone didn’t give me any anxiety at all though so we may not have similar reactions.
Abilify has been the best AP for me. I used to take 15 mg/day, but now I’m on the shots, 400 mg every three weeks. I don’t experience any noticeable side effects from it, but everyone is different, of course.
Abilify was ok i was on it for 8 years my dose varied form 15 -30mg … never really had sedation with it, i did have to take Procyclidine for restlesness on 30 mg
Abilify 15mg was a nightmare for me but e erything is relative it may have been worse on other aps but I never tried them. I could not jog. My hair was falling out a lot. I was zombified. But apparently it did get rid of me hallucinations. Sleeping pattern was terrible,… Still is not back to normal this stuff.
I was on abilify 10mg. 5mg in the morning and 5 at night. It was really good at first and then gave me anxiety and insomnia so now i only take 5mg in the morning. It still gives me anxiety but i take a medicine called artane to knock that right out.
I’m on abilify and it works well for some things.
My visual hallucinations are all but completely gone,
And the voices are totally muffled and non-violent.
However,
I suffered extreme anxiety on Abilify,
So much so that my hair began falling out.
Now I’m on Zoloft too and it seems to be helping,
Although, its a little early to tell.
In some ways Abilify is the best AP I’ve been on,
I don’t feel drugged up and haven’t gained any weight.
You just have to keep your doctor informed if your anxiety goes up so you can address it quickly as possible.
Good luck @spiderpig! 
5mg abilify here. A little sedating, no Weight gained, makes me a little slower (dumb) and ofcourse less motivated.
I couldn’t tolerate more then 2 mgs a day at the time I took it. I got constant and severe akathesia at 5 mgs dose. However, our bodies are always changing so I may be able to tolerate it now. If the Abilify doesn’t work, try Vraylar or Rexulti if you can. They can be stimulating a bit and not so sedating. Also with any med give it a little while, sometimes side effects like anxiety go away. I am on 12 mgs of vraylar (twice the recommended does), and it is an amazing med for me. I have a lot more energy than on other APs. Abilify is similar to Vraylar in how it works so if one doesn’t work for you, like me, maybe a different one will. Good luck.
I’m on Abilify 400mg shots (plus Haldol 100mg shots) and notice that I’m having fewer intrusive thoughts and reduced hallucinations but have problems with sleep…but I’m not having too many side effects on it. My thinking seems to be less obsessive overall and I don’t crave food like I did on Vraylar. After losing 75lbs this year I didn’t want to crave to eat all the time. I didn’t like having to get the shots before but now they are starting to seem like a good idea.
My situation is similar to @WhiteRaven where I get 400mg shots of Abilify every 4 weeks. I take either a 50mg or 100mg (2 pills) of Seroquel for sleep.
I wish you and your son the best @spiderpig!!!
Thanks everyone for your answers and suggestions of what could work for me! Really struggling to find an AP that fits into my life style
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