I feel stupid. Hard to think. Is this a side effect from Abilify or a sz thing? I have 25 mg Abilify.
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When I was on Abilify for years, it made me pretty sharp, although I felt flat at the higher doses.
Abilify is not know for its cognitive dulling effects - it could be the illness itself, but everyone reacts to these meds differently
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I’ve been stupid for a couple of days now. I upped Abilify 3 weeks ago. My demon is gone. But now I’m stupid instead. And feel chased. It’s like I can’t think. It’s empty in my head.
We’re all stupid
Is the Abilify making your thoughts race? More than likely it is a sz thing.
No racing thoughts. I get calm with Abilify.
Maybe it’ll just take a little time to adjust to your dose.
I feel this way today without my klonopin in 2 nights, but abilify makes me sharper for sure. I’m restarting my klonopin tonight. I thought I’d go off it since it’s a narcotic but nah its good
I sometimes have a empty head and It’s makes me feel very uneasy on Zyprexa (Olanzapine). I also sometimes stomp round the house whistling to my self or put the music on, when no one else is in! I sometimes wish the voices would come back just to break the silence, sometimes they do!
Do you find your thoughts are blocked when you try to answer someone? {thought blocking}
Can you hear your own thoughts in your head? As I can’t atm and I have a appointment with my Dr next week.
I guess the psychiatrist would say that your meds working!
Yes. My thoughts are blocked. I have a lot of voices in the evening. Last night I heared singing.
Yeah, it sounds like Abilify isn’t for you.
I guess you could explorer a meds change. However if your not getting the more nasty side effects why change meds esp if your demon is gone?
I’ve been on 4 different anti psychotics and none have made everything disappear. At that point they suggested a older depot medication or clozapine. {I decided to just stick it out!}
I’d guess they would suggest some watchful waiting!
Personally I’d suggest getting therapy, or if your more functional than me getting CBT self help book off Amazon.
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I can’t read long texts. So no book.
I’ve seen a psychologist for many many years. She is cbt trained. But it feels like we are talking/doing the same stuff over and over again.
Met a nurse last week instead.
What nasty side effects are there from Abilify?
I take Oxazepam in the evening to quiet down the voices.
Not Oxazepam every night. Only when they get really bad.
Glad your getting to see a psychologist, I had to wait 1.5 yrs to see one on the NHS (in the UK).
Here is some info on the drug: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aripiprazole
It was the 4th anti psychotic I was on and I had to stop it because it game me nausea, dizziness vomiting, agitation and Insomnia. I’m not sure if I had any others because it made me too ill to stay on.
You could maybe see if there are other types of therapy out there that might help like MBCBT or schema therapy. I did both as well as CBT and it probably wouldn’t hurt me to do some top up CBT.
I still use the mindfulness tapes i was given and play them on my mobile using headphones.
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Wow. So many side effects. Lucky me I don’t have any. I’ve had a little head ache. But that could also be stress. I have Abilify in the morning and evening. It doesn’t cause insomnia for me.
Ițve been on Abilify for half an year or so, and I thought at first that the stupor I felt was the result of the medication. I researched, asked my husband who researched also, got to terms with the fact that the drug itself has no such side efects and realized it was simply me missing the manic states. My brain was wired such as to enjoy the rushes of dopamine that came with the psychosis and believe that I was smarter during my episodes, even though that was not a conscient belief.
I realized then that I’m not neither depressed, nor stupid on Abilify, only ahedonic (I was missing the iks of having thoughts running through my head at a high speed as I mentioned). So what I’m doing now is to change the way I act, try to get feedback from friends and family regarding my behavior, my attention to stuff and my mental abilities, get involved in my own life and try to learn new things all the time.
Bottom line is, as my pdoc said: when SZ, you have to be aware that you have a difficult life to live, but by focusing on your abilities you get to live it fully and not have that horrible feeling of inadequation that the disease and not the pill is giving you.
Abilify is meant to give you room to express your own personality, even some of the symptoms. Since SZ starts at an early age, personality is under-developed and this is why you can feel that your only personality is the one you have during the manic/psychotic episodes. This is a hard to digest truth, but after you finally integrate this information, the drug gives you the ability (pun intended) to actually express yourself, and not the disease.
You are not stupid, @Comatose . Ask your friends and family if they honestly think that without medication you are smarter. The most honest of them will tell you that you were simply more agitated, had more disfunctional thoughts and were not able to concentrate on a single subject. It’s just a darn feeling that comes with the lack of stimulation. Everybody lacks stimulation, every non-SZ person, they are only used to it, and don’t think much about it. I got to accept that very, very slowly. I hope it will be easier for you and that you will find the resources to make the best of your personality. ALso, a Sz person can think sometimes that they can tackle any intellectual subject. Medication makes you realize you have limits, ant that’s a good even though uncomfortable thing. Use that ability to focus on your stronger points instead, is my advice to you and to me equally.
I hope this helps.
Love,
Zupa
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I’ve been on Abilify for two years. It was a night and day experence compared to Zyprexa and Flupentixol. My mind started working and I became more of myself. Before Abilify I was a zombie. I was pre psychotic three weeks ago and increased Abilify. Maybe it’s the psychosis lurking making me feel this stupid. Hard to read or think. Or keep a conversation going.
I have no manic episodes. I have never been manic. I’m not bipolar. I have had depressions but never psychotic when depressed.
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