Hello everyone,

I was going through my old emails and remembered my post for help here on January 2020. I would like to give you all a follow up 16 months later, I hope it can help others in similar situations.

Shortly after trying the new medications and still not sleeping, as well as acute panic attacks, I decided to ask the hospital to take me in and address this urgently. They did - it would seem 15mg Abilify can cause sleep problems (at lower doses I was fine), it was an almost instant change after that was changed - if anyone is having sleep issues with Abilify please take this into consideration and talk with your doctor.
I spent a few weeks in the hospital, started sleeping again and decided to regroup and go back to basics: I flew back to my home country to recover and decide what to do next. And a month later the pandemic was declared, because of course it was...!
I got a new psychiatrist who put me back on Lithium. After 2 weeks I was sleeping very soundly. It took around 4 months for the anxiety and depressive thoughts to go away, I also got a psychologist and frequent therapy sessions - now I only see her occasionally. I'm not a big fan of the physical symptoms lithium is causing me - hair loss, hands shaking, cotton mouth & thirst, and frequent toilet breaks. But we played around with dosage and with just 100 mg below my current dosage all the physical symptoms go away but I start having anxiety attacks and depressive thoughts. And nope, nope, nope. So I'm learning to live with it.

After a few months staying with friends, I got back to my own house, started taking walks once a day and try to have a very consistent routine, from waking & sleeping to meal times. I now start to get sleepy at around the same time every night: I sleep like a baby. I am completely self-sufficient, I cook my own meals and lost weight, I started a new job 2 months ago.


Reading my own post from January 2020 feels a reality away. I know more about being bipolar now and I am very attentive and cautious to any warning signs (my doctor says a bit too much, but I'm not taking any chances). I got better at relaxing but while I am only good at meditation some days, walking it off seems to work wonders: I guess whatever works for you.

Sorry for the long post but I thought you would like to know this particular situation did end up well, even if it took some time. Thank you for your help.