I read online that it can take 1-2 weeks for abilify to work against psychotic symptoms. I’m switching to it and the plan my doctor has made is to take abilify for a few days (5mg), then starting to taper off the drug I’m switching from (zyprexa).
I will follow my doctors plan and see how it goes, but I’m still a bit worried because of the information I found online saying it takes up to weeks for it to work.
It will be aight. Deff way better drug.
I also transition from this two when I have symptoms
It can take weeks to months in some cases, you’ll just have to wait it out and see. That is what makes treating SZ such a pain.
If it takes that long I don’t understand why my doctor planned for me to be on abilify for only a few days before tapering down on my old med.
He might be doing what’s called “cross tapering”. That’s where they lower one med and increase the other.
That’s the plan, but if it takes maybe weeks for the abilify to work it would still be an issue, right? Anyway I’m following his plan and I’ll see how it goes.
I’m sure he’s done this before. The sooner you get to 10mg Abilify the better though.
Yea first time round, it took perhaps over a month for the abilify to have an effect on me
I mean if you’re already on another drug I’m sure they’ll have some cross over… Like if you’re weaning off one and starting another?
One thing I’ve noticed after starting abilify is that it hurts slightly to take a sh!t. I feel fine otherwise though. Poop comes out but maybe less than it used to. Constipation?
That’s likely. Many meds cause constipation. Increase your fiber intake.
It took me bout 6 weeks for it to be fully effective
@Zoe @anon25873142 were you coming from another med and transitioning over to abilify, or was it from 0 meds to abilify?
I have tried Abilify.
Didn’t work
It was from O meds…
This was recently I went from zero meds to abilify cos I had come off all meds before that. I was on abilify for 10 years before that
Constipation has been an issue for me even before the illness. I eat probiotics and it helps a lot.
Abilify completely blocked my voices after 3 weeks.
5mg is temporary, I hope. Eventually you’ll be taking at least 10mg, maybe even 15mg or 20mg, depending on how bad your positive symptoms are.
I made the switch from Zyprexa to Abilify more than 10 years ago. I quit Zyprexa cold turkey and started Abilify immediately at 15mg.
I felt like crap for about 2 months. I blaimed the Abilify but my pdoc said it was probably withdrawal symptoms from the Zyprexa.
I’m now on 25mg Abilify.
I got a pretty good increase in physical strength from Ability, but it wasn’t from the action of the drug on my body. It was because I felt more motivated to work out while I was taking Abilify.
@crimby you’re not taking abilify anymore? What made you switch?