Hey HBomb. I'm not a doctor obv. I've had nine pdocs though and so I can tell you things they said.

I am going to be honest. Personally I hope I don't ever have to take an antipsychotic long term. And before I did I would look into the research studies that were conducted and see if there is any evidence of them working for what you are hoping they work for. Your specific one. I mean. I looked up Abilify after the fact and saw that indeed was not that qualified for what I needed it to do and what she told me it would do.

I was on Abilify for mood stabilization as my first med. It was a miserable experience for me. I went off finally after nine months. I know that APs are widely used for mood stabilization and I am sure they do do that for some people. I will tell you that I have had four pdocs express horror and outrage that other pdocs use APs for mode stability when they are not proven and are powerful drugs that should be used in short term situations when there is psychosis and or major mania or mixed going on. They have said they are amazing life changing drugs but not mood stabilizers. And that they were the wrong drug for me. They all said first line treatment is a true blue mood stabilizer which you seem to be on. Now a that said it definitely seems to me like some people do really well on a combo of real mood stabilizer and and AP and if I really needed it to be healthy I would definitely do that but never in place of a proven mood stabilizer. Am I making and sense? You know I'm not my best self right now. I have heard some great things about Latuda. I think meds are an extremely individual issue as well all have different brains. So you never really know what is going to work for someone. In my experience the AP did a number on my body and brain and life. It simply was not the right med for me. Obv.

I know I may need an AP again if I get going that way and I would def take it to knock out whatever craziness was happening. I would hope for me that I could taper off after months or a year or whatever it took. But who knows.

I don't want to offend anybody. I'm just sharing what docs have said to me and my experience to help you sort through this. I can't say enough that I think it is so individual. It may be a great med for you. But if you can't stick with it cuz of the insurance seems like a different med might be in order.

If you take it and stop you will then have to taper off and deal with the crap effects of that whether it helped or not.

Can you go back to her and explain this and ask? You mentioned you aren't at the therapeutic level for your Lithium. Do you think that fixing that might cure what ails you? If she wants you to take an AP short term than perhaps the Latuda is the ticket but maybe by short term she means six months so that wouldn't work.

Yeah I don't know. That was obv just a big stream out of my brain. Hope it helps and doesn't hurt. I'm in paranoid mode it will upset you somehow. I'm going to hit submit anyway cuz I'm just that nuts.