I’ve been on Abilify off and on for fifteen years.
This most recent stint has been three years straight.
I mentioned my weight at my appointment just now and the doctor wants to switch me to Caplyta.
I’m skeptical.
He says it’s similar to Abilify.
What are your thoughts,
Would you switch or just go on an aggressive weight loss plan?
I’d switch because of all the things I heard about caplyta before it came out. If you could eat more than what you eat on abilify, would it be worth it? I’m not sure if you have a slowdown of your metabolism because of abilify though?
I have to be honest, no matter how much dieting and exercise I did on gabapentin (and I was diligent, not a cheater) I still gained 80 lbs. It was only switching my meds that made my weight lower. I think for people who are susceptible to weight gain as a side effect, it will happen no matter how much personal effort you put into it.
Switching meds has been great for me so far. I would be hesitant to try a brand new med, but it has a pretty low side effect profile so far.
Weight gain is a serious side effect and if you can find a med that has similar effects on your symptoms with little or no weight gain I’d say go for it.
Happy cake day @Blizzard !
Mirtazapine on I gained 24lbs.
I’m at a similar impass with Zyprexa. I’ve ballooned from 180 to 203 on this medicine over the last three months. For some reason it wasn’t causing weight gain initially but just kicked in recently.
I feel like I got jelly rolls in my gut and my belly is poking out from some of my smaller shirts, it’s really annoying.
I can’t imagine being off Zyprexa though, it does such a good job as an antipsychotic.
I think you could try it, statistically they aren’t much different, but yeah for some people abilify is a weight gainer.
For the last 5 years I have refused any AP that has weight gain as a main side effect
I am pretty much on the last one now, so if that fails me, then I am screwed.
You cannot accept the risks of obesity and the health problems that causes in exchange for stable mental health.
There has to be a balance.
I lost 23 pounds when I went to Aristada. But it’s very similar to Abilify.
when i was on 15 mg of abilify i weighed 96kg.
now on a lower dose of that ap i weigh 69kg.
i guess you could argue that im taking my weight more seriously now, but its a possibility that it could be due to the abilfy…im not sure.
i personally am a fan of keeping ap changes to a minimum so if i was you maybe see if you can adjust your food options first and see if it helps and is possible.
but if you feel you are ok with changing the ap then i guess that might be useful, idk
No caplyta and abilify are very different meds if your doing good on abilify I would stick with it and just try diet and exercise
Thank you @Andrey.
personally I don’t think I would change my AP for weight gain but then again I gained some weight but not crazy and now it seems to be stable so maybe if i was in the case where i kept gaining weight i would consider it.
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