Hey guys, I was on a very low dose of Abilify (oral 2mg’s) and now I am stopping it because my doctor said I could since I was doing well already (it’s been 5 years since I was last in the hospital).
But not sure what to expect out of this in terms of withdrawal, has anyone here done the same and how long did it take you to feel normal again?. I googled it and it said about a month, but I think maybe less than this because I was on such a low dose?.
I couldnt really get an answer from my psychiatrist on this, but so far, I’ve had some head aches and I am still sleeping excessively. I stopped Abilify 3 days ago. That’s one of the main reasons I am quitting medication because of the side effects, I just couldn’t stand it any more…
Every time I stop meds Im just fine…other than the fact that I go completely insane.
So there is that one small detail.
Good luck.
PS. I went years without going in the hospital as well. But if you are trying it with your doctor, theres not much more someone can ask for. Again, good luck.
Half-Life:
The half-life of aripiprazole in blood is approximately 75 hours (3-4 days) in healthy adults. This is the time it takes for the drug’s plasma concentration to decrease by half.
Active Metabolite: Its main metabolite, dehydro-aripiprazole, has a longer half-life (~94 hours), which contributes to prolonging its therapeutic effect.
Total Elimination (Time to Complete Elimination):
In pharmacology, a drug is estimated to be almost completely eliminated after 5 half-lives. For aripiprazole:
5 × 75 hours = 375 hours (~15-16 days).
However, due to the active metabolite, total elimination could be extended up to ~20 days in some cases.
If I start to feel like what I felt before I will let me doctor know, and maybe ill make a post here but, I’ve wanted this for such a long time. I was put on the needle for 8 years with no option to get off of it and I sleep excessively every day. Anyways I guess that the feeling that I may experience in the next few days will be the same as stopping any other drug.
And thank you Nirvana for your post, that is great to know.
I’m starting to realize that meds, at least the med Im on, is not as much of a barrier to weight loss and doing things as I used to think it was.
And Im on abilify maintaina. Really…no joke…a lot of it, at least for me, was getting going.
What started out as getting married turned into looking for a house and getting a job and lots of exercise and all the other stuff that has snowballed with it.
I really have so much more energy now and can do things. I am kind of pushing myself to the limit right now, but it has done wonders for my weight, energy level and life situation in general.
I think what a lot of people need is a motivating factor to get started and then just keep pushing forward with what you want.
I mean, I still have trouble enjoying some things and concentration issues…but my life has improved so much in so many ways. If I can just get on part time so the job doesnt break me, I will be in great shape…
Anyway…I guess my point is, you dont have to get off meds to make progress.
Thank you for your feedback Bowens. I may change my mind in the future (depending on how I’m feeling) but, I guess for now this is what im gonna do since I haven’t had any options until now.
I agree you can make progress while on the meds, that’s definitely possible for sure.
Your dose is oral and really small, so I really can’t see it lasting more than 2-3 months tops.
You might not even notice it. I had a side effect situation caused by withdrawal that was tough so I know it can happen though… but 2 mg is pretty darn small and oral leaves your body pretty fast.
I stopped them just recently since I thought I was only bipolar with psychotic features, which actually made no sense since I hallucinated all day everyday for years. Stopped AP and found out for sure I’m schizoaffective very quickly.
Back on meds and grateful for them and to know my real diagnosis.
Sharing a tip I learned - when a person stops their meds and psychosis returns, it is often worse and an even higher dose is needed to receive the same results as before.
I was on 2mg of Abilify
This is such a low dose but I am also on Risperidone
I had to come off of Abilify because it was turning me into a sex monster.
It was also making me very impulsive.
I had no trouble coming off of the Abilify
2mg is very little, and sleeping too much is only a inconvenience as opposed to insomnia.
Hopefully you will transition easily to beeing medication free. I would guess it could take no more than 3 months to get totally back to a pre meds state from such a low dose.
I didn’t get any notifications of all these replies, sorry I’m so late. If the thread is closed before I can post an update in the future I will create another post with an update maybe. Anyways, your all probably right about the dose being very small so the meds should be out of my system pretty soon. The past couple days I haven’t had any head aches so thats good.
Yes, of course, give it go. Stay off substances and don’t abuse them. You will be fine. What makes you think you are not normal because you take medication ?
