I switched to Abilify Maintena from Invega

I switched because of akathisia but my akathisia is still ongoing!! when will it subside!?
I got already got 2 abilify injections by now.

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How has the switch been like? I’m also on Invega but still hear voices. Consider asking my pdoc for Abilify.

Oh Abilify is much better with lesser side effects…you’ll like it. And more expensive too.

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Weren’t you on Abilify b4?
Abilify didn’t give me any akathisia.
Latuda did.
Abilify gave me addiction issues.

I switched to Abilify from Zyprexa four weeks ago. My pdoc gave me 5 mg Abilify, and I started hallucinating on it. Last Monday my primary care doc gave me 10mg Abilify, and I’m doing better on it. Friday I didn’t hallucinate, Saturday I may have had a hallucination.

The only side effect I have had is I’m having problems sleeping. My arthritis seemed to hurt worse when I started taking 10mg. I’m losing weight on Abilify and have no appetite like I did on Zyprexa. My sexual functioning has returned on Abilify too.

Yea Abilify is like an aphrodisiac for me, it made me way too much hypersexual, that’s one of the reasons I stopped it. My sexuality is normal now on Risperdal. I guess its good if you have low sex drive.

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A thing about Abilify. The copay for it with my insurance company is $242.00. But if the pharmacy sells it to me without the insurance, it’s $28.00.

Its generic? We have two brands here, one expensive by Otsuka pharma and another cheaper locally made.

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The expensive one here looks like this, I was taking 20+5mg:

Yes it just became a generic. I just have to remind the pharmacy not to file it on insurance.

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I went from Invega to Aristada which is very similar to Abilify. I really like it and feel like it’s my "miracle ".

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Hard to say what will work, every med works with everyone different, ability maintena would wear off for me after 2 weeks and my symptoms got worse til I got next injection. 30mg in pill form gave me worst pacing of all time.

I’m glad the pdoc agreed to switch to Abilify from Invega shots.

DearZombie,

Can you give me any information about your experience with Aristada compared to inVega? I’m dealing with feelings of discomfort (not akathisia). I feel like the inVega blocks a lot of dopamine receptors. I don’t just feel tired or sedated though, I feel uncomfortable throughout the day like “something isn’t right”.

I’m new to medication (234mg inVega per month), and am hoping my brain adjusts to it so this discomfort goes away, or that I can try a different medication at a different dose so I don’t feel this discomfort and anxiety/low self esteem. Thanks for any information on this!!!

http://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(19)31135-3/fulltext

This might help you decide which medicine to take

On Invega I experienced a lot of side effects, the ones I couldn’t live with were the apathy and lack of motivation. I just felt blah all the time. Because of the lack of motivation everything around me fell apart because I just didn’t care to do anything to take care of things like housekeeping. I always felt as if I was in a fog.

With Aristada my entire personality is back to what it was before I got very sick and had a breakdown. I’m clear headed, can concentrate, feel motivation, and emotions again. My friends say I show more enthusiasm and am animated when speaking.

I’m on Aristada 441. This is my first month.

Oh, I know it takes care of all my positive symptoms because I was off Invega for 6 months and the sza symptoms were coming back. Aristada took care of them, including the mood swings from the bipolar part of my sza.

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I’m currently trying to get switched from invega to abilify. Anything has to be better than invega. Just have no desire to do anything. No joy in anything.

By the way, @Struggling1, if you want to tag someone you need to type @ right before their name like I did yours. I didn’t know you asked me anything, I just happened to see the post

@anon4362788 thanks so much for your reply. I’m going to ask my psychiatrist about Aristada. Looks like it helps block the mesolimbic action while ENHANCING mesocortical action in the brain.

So basically you can prevent positive psychotic delusional symptoms while not dampening out the persons personality, functionality, or emotions.

That is so cool! If I could find something like that I’d actually PREFER taking it over not being on meds. My brain is so cluttered and I always thought it was from a dysfunctional mesocortical dopamine pathway.

Is Aristada expensive? I know inVega is only $10 with the discount card (which I’m currently using), but after a year you have to pay full price which is crazy. Is Aristada a new medication without generics? How long does the injection last for?

Thanks again so much for having such a useful perspective to help me through this

I hope you don’t get serious side effects like I did on Aripiprazole 25mg.