I might be starting aripiprazole (abilify) and melatonin soon. Does anyone have experience with either of these?
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I’m on abilify 15mg. It raised my blood sugar and I was prescribed metforim to treat that. No side effects from metformin. So get blood tests every 6months / a year to check your blood sugar levels.
Side effects from abilify are restlessness and anxiety. I take a lot of L-theanine to counteract that.
I’ve never tried melatonin.
From webmd :
Melatonin is POSSIBLY SAFE when used by mouth appropriately, long-term. Melatonin has been used safely for up to 2 years in some people. However, it can cause some side effects including headache, short-term feelings of depression, daytime sleepiness, dizziness, stomach cramps, and irritability. Do not drive or use machinery for four to five hours after taking melatonin.
Special Precautions & Warnings:
Pregnancy and breast-feeding: Melatonin is POSSIBLY UNSAFE when taken by mouth or injected into the body during pregnancy. Do not use it. Melatonin might also interfere with ovulation, making it more difficult to become pregnant.
Not enough is known about the safety of using melatonin when breast-feeding. It is best not to use it.
Children: Melatonin is POSSIBLY SAFE when taken by mouth as a single dose. It is POSSIBLY UNSAFE when taken by mouth or injected into the body in multiple doses in the short-term. Because of its effects on other hormones, melatonin might interfere with development during adolescence.
Bleeding disorders: Melatonin might make bleeding worse in people with bleeding disorders.
Depression: Melatonin can make symptoms of depression worse.
Diabetes: Melatonin might increase blood sugar in people with diabetes. Monitor your blood sugar carefully, if you have diabetes and take melatonin.
High blood pressure: Melatonin can raise blood pressure in people who are taking certain medications to control blood pressure. Avoid using it.
Seizure disorders: Using melatonin might increase the risk of having a seizure.
Transplant recipients: Melatonin can increase immune function and might interfere with immunosuppressive therapy used by people receiving transplants.
I take melatonin to help me sleep, because my brain doesn’t produce any on its own. I take 5 mg. It is recommended to never go above 6 mg, because higher doses are no more effective.
I like it, because it helps me fall asleep (as long as I’m lying down with the lights off and my eyes closed), but it doesn’t make me groggy in the morning.
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I have used Melatonin to help me sleep, I think it is a good sleeping pill.
How tired does it make you?
I take 3 mg Melatonin every evening. It is a miracle for me. Helps me sleep within 10 minutes max.
Abilify made me tired, so I never needed sleep aid with that med.
Melatonin made me really groggy in the mornings when I was on too high a dose. But when you get melatonin dialed in it worked decently.
Abilify made me anxious.
What are the side effects of aripiprazole like?
I had akathsia for first 3 months n some hair loss
Also feeling zoned out n needing more sleep… Could be partially or fully from the illness itself though
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High doses of melanin make you feel really chilled out. I’ve taken 40mg in one setting. Passed right out (I don’t recommend doing this)
My psychiatrist told me it won’t knock me out just help to change my body clock, but people hear seam to find it a powerful sedative. interesting.
Melanin is the pigment in your skin that gives it color.
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It’s melatonin as in the hormone involved in sleep that I might take.
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It’s definitely not a sedative in the typical fashion. Melatonin signals to your brain that it’s time to sleep when you’re lying down in the dark. If you take t and then stay active, you won’t get tired.
******melatonin.
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I believe melatonin is best for falling asleep, you know at the onset. However it is not known to be a lasting supplement, to get you through the night.
You can get extended release melatonin tablets . I like the normal ones because I mainly have trouble falling asleep.