Here is a post I wrote a long time ago

"I took Abilify for a long time. It reduced my psychotic type symptoms, decreased my obsessive thoughts some and sorta balanced me out. I had to take 2-3 other meds with it because it alone was not enough to manage my symptoms. I had tried a zillion other meds and med combos but none of them helped me. So, even though Abilify was not 100 percent effective, it seemed like my best option.

I had a lot of problems staying on the Abilify because I was still sometimes irrational, anxious or/and depressed. But, I still considered it to be somewhat of a miracle med because if I stayed on it, it kept me sane enough that I stayed out of the psych hospital. But, I never felt good while I was on it. I was just less "crazy."

For a few years I was on 30 mgs and never had a problem with side effects. But, then I suddenly started having serious side effects--severe agitation/restlessness, uncontrollable leg movements, tremors and others. I had to completely quit the Abilify because the side effects were so severe I had problems functioning and they could have become permanent.

After I had been off the Abilify for awhile, I was surprised when I started experiencing/feeling my emotions because I had not noticed they were gone. It was not until they came back that I realized the Abilify had blunted them to the point that I had felt nothing for several years. It had gradually numbed me out and it was such a slow, subtle process that I was not aware of it while it was happening to me.

I spent a very long time with no feelings about myself or the people in my life or anything that was happening in my world. There were many times I felt like my life was gray and I never enjoyed anything but I attributed it to my depression. But, when my feelings came back I knew it was the Abilify doing it to me.

Now that I look back on it, I am saddened that I spent years not feeling anything--it is like I lost a few years of my life and I will never know how I felt about them. I cried when I first hugged my dad and felt his love--I had forgotten how good that feels. I never would have taken the Abilify if I knew this was going to happen to me. I would have found another way to manage my mental health."