I did some checking, and the good news is that the two serious side effects, tardive dyskinesia and neuroleptic malignant syndrome, are not only rare but reversible when the user stops taking the medicine. Also, the same two conditions can also be produced by other antipsychotic drugs, so they aren’t limited to just Abilify.
Maybe I should have been clearer in the OP. I’d like to hear of people’s own experience (or someone they’re close to) with Abilify. And I thank everyone who has responded; it’s really been helpful.
Or maybe I should read more carefully. LOL
Our son who is autistic takes it (along with busoirone and guanfacine and Lamictal ). He has some sensory processing and quite a bit of anxiety which gets manifested as aggressive behavior, and probably a bit Add, he struggles with sudden plan changes and realy doesn’t like to get things wrong and so we generally have a whole lot of plan Bs ready to go.
As far as the Abilify went he got quite noticeably more tense and aggressive when he started, we adjust the dose and ramped down then up again and now seems to be a little less ‘on edge’ on the whole.
He did get a lot hungrier and wakes up and devours a French stick for breakfast (although he slices of a thin slice from the top as it’s too crunchy) and over all eats more but hasn’t put on weight like we heard from some other families although he has been growing a lot recently in height.
He gets a little more tired at night and as a 14 year old boy he let’s us know several times a day he will be busy in his room and to leave him alone so err no effects there I guess.
He is under care of a neurologist and psychiatrist, so getting everyone aligned on what’s needed or not as far as medication goes can sometimes be convoluted.
Anyway other than the staging up, nothing bad and probably an overall positive.
We will probably start adjust down some of his other meds, probably Lamictal, and see what changes as it is quite hard to know if the behavior improvements are due to medications, his maturing (not that being a teenage boy ever helps with calm rational reactions ) and the other therapy work that he does.
I agree, but I just want to point out that sometimes mood stabilizers are prescribed for other reasons than bipolar. I have tried I can’t tell you how many medications for recurrent Major Depressive Disorder and for some reason mood stabilizers are more effective for me than SSRIs. I’ve also taken antipsychotics for PTSD. But all of this is really complex and I am really leery of any GP trying to play the role of psychiatrist.
In this we definitely agree. And I’m always interested in learning about other people’s experiences. My understanding is that, very unfortunately, some people have real challenges to find the right combination of medications to feel balanced. Sometimes someone is lucky with a SSRI and their GP. But I think these patients are the minority.
My son is clinically diagnosed as bipolar and ADHD and had some problems taking lithium (the flattening of affect is difficult for him because he doesn’t have much of the mania side of things and it was making him even more depressed) so he’s on a combination of Lamictal, Abilify and hydroxizine and he reports he’s feeling much better–I’m really glad because the lithium side effects had him spooked to the point where he was refusing all meds and that wasn’t working out well for him. His affect and mood do seem to be much improved and stable and the intrusive thoughts and occasional voices (that say he really ought to kill himself) are quiet. So in his case, it’s doing a good job, may it continue so.
I’m very grateful to all these responses.
I’ve been on Abilify for about a year now. I have depression and anxiety. I take it along with fluoxetine. I feel a lot better with it. I haven’t had any terrible side effects except that I have to take it in the morning or I can’t sleep at night. I am currently trying to lose weight and, while it has been slower than I would like, it hasn’t been impossible. My blood sugar and other number, which the psychiatrist wants me to check once a year, are all staying normal (I’m also obese so I should be making sure I’m not getting diabetes anyway). Overall, I like it and will keep take it as long as I need it.
However, I am not sure I would have taken it without my psychiatrist prescribing it. These drugs have the potential to go wrong in deadly ways so it really is best to see an expert. That said, I understand that access to psychiatrists may be limited for some people due to cost, availability, insurance coverage, etc.
(Puzzlegal: I made some very minor edits for RivkahChaya to correct some sleep-inspired errors.)
I take 5mg/day. That’s not very much, and if I took it as an anti-psychotic, it probably wouldn’t do me any good. I take it for insomnia. My doctor started prescribing it off-label, after I had a sleep study-- the doctor was a psychiatrist I was seeing specifically to have the sleep study done, and do the follow-up in regard to it.
My sleep is “disorganized,” if that makes any sense. I don’t predictably go through the cycles of sleep, and I also tend to startle awake just as I am going into REM sleep. I also appear, according to a sleep journal I kept, to have “non-24,” which is circadian rhythm disorder. The doctor tried to fix it just with melatonin, and that didn’t work; at the time, there was no medication on the market specifically for “non-24.” So he put me on a very low dose of an amphetamine to wake me up in the morning, strict instructions to get my ass OUT OF BED and take it at a specific hour. If I couldn’t get up at that hour due to illness, or having stayed up late due to work, DON’T TAKE THE AMPHETAMINE. It woke me up, but it wore off around noon, and I really wanted a nap then, but I couldn’t take more, so I’d take caffeine. It was a mess.
Took me off the amphetamine (after about 3 weeks) and put me on bupropion (Wellbutrin). I tried the SR (sustained release). Turns out I cannot take that after 10am. So I take an early morning dose of the SR, and an 11am dose of the regular stuff (which is hard to find). There is an extended release version, which if I merely look at, I cannot sleep.
I don’t remember what transpired, but the doctor wanted me to have something else to enhance the bupropion, but did not actually want to give me more of it. He tried a couple of different anti-psychotics, and a number of them are approved for use in small doses in depressed patients and an enhancer for their antidepressant, so that the side effects won’t be heightened if the primary drug is increased. I tried quitiapine (Seroquel), Risperdal, & Geodon. The Geodon did nothing, and I had to take large doses of the Seroquel to feel an effect, which sort of defeated to purpose. The Risperdal was great, and even helped with my headaches. I’m not sure why my doctor wanted to take me off of it and try Abilify. He must have read an article, or something.
But the Abilify works just fine. I’m actually on four different Rx meds, plus the OTC melatonin, and am up now, past my bedtime, because my son got me up, and not I’m trying to wind back down to go to bed again.
Anyway, a lot of anti-psychotics are “dual use drugs,” completely by accident. They may help with headaches, lack of appetite, anxiety, AD[H]D, OCD tendencies, lowering blood pressure etc. If the patient has psychosis along with another condition that is effectively treated by the antipsychotic, the newer drug may get tried first.
Wow. Sorry for all the typos in that: like I said, I’d been asleep, and my son had just awakened me, so I was killing time until I felt like I could sleep again. If anything isn’t clear, just ask.