View Single Post
 
Old Jun 27, 2016, 03:39 PM
BeyondtheRainbow's Avatar
BeyondtheRainbow BeyondtheRainbow is offline
Legendary
 
Member Since: Apr 2015
Location: US
Posts: 10,177
I had akathesia and double vision when I tried Abilify too. I took only 2.5 mg for maybe a week at most and had double vision for a month. I was too sick to be scared. I also toppled over without warning several times and bruised myself badly. It was my first AP and just the beginning of my battle to tolerate one normally. The akathesia was bad but I've had it much worse, requiring hospitalization. That was from some drug given during surgery. We guessed which one but surgery is always scary after that.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rainyday107 View Post
Jacky, how are you doing? Oh man when I had that akathesia for a week while adjusting to Abilify, I was also very sedated. So basically I wanted to just crash and sleep but it was torture trying to sit more than a minute or two. I was lurching around like a zombie in my house for a week. It's funny in retrospect but terrible.

A rare side effect of Abilify is double vision. Most people don't experience that side effect. Guess who did? Me. I had double vision for six months. I was worried. I asked my pdoc if it would go away and he honestly said he didn't know for sure. Fortunately, it did. I was taking Lithium too and I had a lot of side effects. I was in such bad shape from a mixed episode with psychosis. It lasted six months and those two drugs along with Lamictal and Xanax finally stabilized me. That was the worst time in my illness. My pdoc saved my life. We tried so many meds and I was in a bad place for a long time. I was terrified. I would do it again, those meds, if I ever got that sick again and that was the only thing that worked. I also gained 40 lbs on Lithium but I was so psychotic and unstable I didn't even realize it until I stabilized.

Antipsychotics are strange drugs. I'm comfortable with my Geodon and no side effects. I hope I'll never need to try a different AP again.

Abilify works great for a lot of people. Once that akathesia goes away it maybe the golden ticket for you. Hang in there. Thinking of you.
__________________
Bipolar 1, PTSD, GAD, OCD.
Clozapine 250 mg, Emsam 12 mg/day patch, topamax 25 mg, ,Gabapentin 1600 mg & 100-2 PRN,. 2.5 mg clonazepam., 75 mg Seroquel and 12.5 mg PRNx2 daily