My Abilify Experience so far

So far, I’ve been far less delusional than usual. Had one lone hallucinatory incident that was more loud/distinct than usual. I’m more manic/depressive than usual, more restless than usual, minor muscle spasms, and WAY more anxious than usual. So nothing too major aside from the anxiety. Similar experiences? Advice to make my med transition from Risperdal to Abilify any more comfortable?

What dose of risperdal were you on?

1 mg as needed, I usually took .5 mg though. Larger doses of anti-psychotics kind of terrify me. Like the idea of it.

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Ok, so you were never actually on an antipsychotic in the first place. That’s not a theraputic dose either.

I don’t know what to say. It sounds like you’re on an expensive placebo with side effects.

To answer your question about anxiety etc, I take l-theanine for that and it works really well.

Consider going to 10mg as it acts as an antipsychotic at that dose.

30mg is the max dose for abilify, so 10mg is still a small (but effective) dose. I’m on 10mg.

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Thank you for being so blunt. There’s not enough of that lol. I’ll talk to my doctor.

Does Abilify work well for you?

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My experience with Abilify was similar to yours. I thought that Abilify actually helped with my negative symptoms. The problem was the anxiety - or the antsiness that came with it. Maybe you should give it time to see if the anxiety subsides. It might be worth it to get rid of some of your negative symptoms. Maybe a benzo would help with your anxiety, but I hate to tell someone to load up on med’s. I guess you have to decide if the anxiety is worth the benefits. I would have preferred to stay on Abilify, but other people made the decision that I was too antsy on it.

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You should’ve stuck to your guns, that doesn’t sound fair to you. Schizophrenics deserve our share of basic human respect, y’know?

Abilify works very well for me. But I couldn’t take it without L-theanine because of the anxiety it causes. And like I mentioned previously it raised my blood sugar, so I have to take metformin for that. So make sure you get regular blood tests.

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Thank youuu. (:

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I think my behavior had gotten out of hand enough that they might have made the right decision. I was drinking a lot at the time, and I think they were desperate to change my behavior. A lot of the drinking was caused by the anxiety I felt on Abilify. I couldn’t relax.

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I’m the same way, except with painkillers. Congrats on overcoming your addiction. Hope I can do the same someday.

Be patient I take 20Mg ablifiy and it does excellent , but depression is like a side effect I think. I too am talking to pdr about this as well.

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I think lower doses like 10mg are activating and higher doses like 20mg are sedating.

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When I was on it I worked my way up from either 5 or 10mg (can’t remember which) up to the max dose of 30mg. It worked well and more effective as the dose went up. but the higher the dose the more restlessness and anxiety I got.

It never felt sedating for me, which is unfortunate cause that might be helped me sleep better. I went on the injection for a while 400mg every 4 weeks i think which also worked, and didn’t make me quite as anxious and restless

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I feel very refreshed and my mood is very stable. I’m enjoying the reprieve lol

I’m somehow in a really good mood this morning lol

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i am on abilify and xeplion(invega sustena)
i find it helpful with my symptoms
but when i stopped abilify cold turkey i went psychotic
and the symptoms wouldnt stop until i was put back on abilify even when i was starting the xeplion injection

a friend of mine tried abilify but got insomnia and is back on olanzzapine now but the withdrawls from abilify are making him have insomnia still

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