Medications and Anxiety. Please help!

Trigger warning for mentions of weight gain and anorexia!

Hi, I finally went to see a psychiatrist about my issues (I've made many posts on the anxiety forum about my problems!). She didn't diagnose me with anything, since it's only my first visit. She asked me a bunch of questions and prescribed me with some medication... that I'm sort of confused about.

I was given Aripiprazole (Abilify? According to Wiki). And it's an anti-psychotic, isn't it? Given that I have a history with Anorexia that's only partially solved, wouldn't taking this medication make everything worse with the weight gain and stuff? I've never experienced any sort of psychosis. So I'm wondering if she accidentally prescribed me with the wrong medication?

Should I start taking them? I'm scared. Please help!

Lots of times, pdocs will prescribe a med off label for different uses. Even though Abilify is an antipsychotic, it can also be used as an add-on to an antidepressant. It can also be used for anxiety or other uses.

As far as weight gain goes, I've heard that Abilify is usually pretty weight neutral. Not very many people gain weight on Abilify like they do on other antipsychotics.

I second what Kori said. Medications can often have a main classification but also be used for other treatments as well. I have often been on anticonvulsants for seizure control which I found out were also used for mood stabilizers. I wouldn't put too much stock into a medication's main classification. I was on a sleeping med which was classified as an antipsychotic also. What matters is that it treats what you suffer from and the medication matches your ailments.

She probably rxed you Abilify because it's a partial agonist of the 5HT1A serotonin receptor which is associated with feelings of anxiety. In Theory, 5HT1A partial or full agonists should lessen anxiety. What concerns me is that she Rxed you this drug as your first option; seems like you might want to try Viibryd first and see what that does for you before going on an AP. Viibryd also has partial agonism at 5HT1A but usually only at the 40mg dose. Of course, Viibryd comes with its own host of side effects... usually not weight gain, though.

She could also try you on Buspar which is another 5ht1A partial agonist but it's kind of a pain in the butt to take it since it's so short acting and some pdocs don't believe it does anything.

Another 5Ht1A full agonist is Brintillex but it won't be on the market until October at the earliest, if approved. Good luck, I've struggled with finding non-sedating drugs for anxiety it's a winding road.