Quote:
Originally Posted by Secretum
My pdoc upped my abilify to 15 mg to counteract my depression and hallucinations. So far, the higher dose has been working well, but I've been experiencing some side effects. At this dose, I find the abilify very sedating. It is a struggle just to stay awake as I type this, and I need to study for and do well on four exams in the up-coming week! I don't know how I am going to do it.
I already started taking it at night, but I still feel very fatigued during the day. Does anyone have any suggestions? How do you deal with being on sedating meds? More coffee?  Thanks. |
Maybe try splitting the dose to see if that helps?
In the short-term, try cold showers, opening the window to get a cool breeze, drinking lots of coffee (or caffeine pills), and just 'pushing through' the sleepiness (there are certain hours of the day that we are particularly sleepy...if we resist falling asleep at these times, we often get more alert).
In the long-term your options are to either add a stimulant (I'm thinking provigil) or to lower the abiliify and add a different antipsychotic (although most antipsychotics are more sedating than abilify, so I don't know if that will work).
It's also possible that as your body adjusts, the sedation will go away or at least lessen considerably.
Personally, if I were you, I would drop the dose back down until my exams were over, PROVIDED I could handle the hallucinations.
Also, what other meds are you on? Is there any other med that could be contributing to your sedation, that you could temporarily discontinue?
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age: 23
dx: bipolar I, ADHD-C, tourette's syndrome, OCD, trichotillomania, GAD, Social Phobia, BPD, RLS
current meds: depakote (divalproex sodium) 1000mg, abilify (aripiprazole) 4mg, cymbalta (duloxetine) 60mg, dexedrine (dexamphetamine) 35mg, ativan (lorazepam) 1mg prn, iron supplements
past meds: ritalin, adderall, risperdal, geodon, paxil, celexa, zoloft
other: individual talk therapy, CBT, group therapy, couple's therapy, hypnosis
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