Brain feeling numb

Medications
1

Recently, like a month back, we decreased the Abilify from 20 mgs to 15 mgs while keeping Vraylar stable at 4.5 mgs.

After the decrease in the dose, I feel a bit like being on Haldol, the brain feels numb, like when I make a conversation with someone, it is not as smooth, I have less to say, and I don’t know how to respond. Like my brain is slowing down.

I am wondering if this is a withdrawal effect, because a lower dose of medicine should improve cognition (which is why we decreased the Abilify in the first place)? Anyone has experience with mild withdrawal from Abilify (not complete, but a reduction in the dose over the years)?

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in my experience certain antipsychotics can improve cognition so theorically by lowering the dose its procognitive effect will be lowerd as well.

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I am like this but I think it’s more to do with isolation rather than meds

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4

True, but once I forgot to take a dose, and I was felt that my cognition and general feeling improved by miles not being on the medication. Of course, I have to take it to negate the positive symptoms.

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I am sure in my case it is the medication, I am much improved from when I was on Haldol, and it was happening a lot more on Haldol. I also have social anxiety which may have peaked because of having nothing to say because of the meds.

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I’ve recently lowered my risperidone dose from 3mg to 2mg and my brain feels the same way.
It’s most likely due to the withdrawals

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7

I hope this is not the case for me

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I would give it some more time before concluding. Abilify has a very long halflife. 72hrs if I recall.

I took one 15mg tab of it once, but didn’t tolerate it, so stopped immediatly. However it took over a week to not feel the effect anymore. And that was from one dose.

So it probably takes a while for the body to actually be on 15mg. And when that happens it could take a good while for the brain to adjust and compensate for the partial drug now missing.

Abilify is also a untypical atypical since it’s a partial dopamine agonist. Could maybe produce a different reaction when tapering. At least in the short run.

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