rexulti for the lows?

blah. i take abilify. its OK. i think i need to stick with D2 partial agonists, because zyprexa triggered akathisia, seroquel made me deeply depressed, risperidone was mind numbing...like a chemical ice pick in my brain...

so, yeah. i seem to need a major tranquilizer. i can tolerate abilify, but i think that since i'm so prone to depression, not as much mania (hypomania here and there, not a bad thing...), maybe...maybe...

rexulti? shrinky shrink was pushing vraylar on me, but that's more for mania. maybe i was too chipper at that appointment? mania...not a huge problem for me. depression...big, big problem for me.

so...rexulti....what say you? :-)

I haven't tried it but I can tell you what my pdoc told me when it was first out and we were trying to find a way to get samples for me to try (my hospital doesn't allow samples except in specific, extreme situations). Anyway, my pdoc is also a pharmacist and she gets excited about how meds work and differ and how new meds are going to help people. So when she met with the Rexulti people she learned that when they prepared to make rexulti they sat down and asked what they wanted abilify to do that it didn't and that was the goal of the new drug.

So it may be a boost beyond abilify and it may have something not good that would make you miss abilify.

I'm sorry--I'm confused. You need something for the lows, but you also need a tranquilizer? Can't those two sort of be at odds sometimes? Like, Klonopin works great for my panic attacks, but it makes my depression worse. So, no-go. Could you just clarify, please?

i have had a couple manic episodes, but...overall, its severe depression. we're talking multiple episodes of severe psychotic depression, with all the agitation and blah blah blah that accompanies it. my mega-manic episode was actually triggered mostly by untreated psychotic depression...i flipped, into psychotic mixed mania. yay!

anyway...the big, big deal is that I seem to require a tranquilizer, but tread lightly; the severe depression involves both agitation -and- concentration difficulties, etc., so a tranq can take away agitation (yes!), but also flatten mood (boo!). maybe its mixed states? i dunno...

point is, im kinda hoping for a kinder, gentler antipsychotic experience. maybe a lower dose?

To me rexulti is the greedy abilify......abilify is a generic right now so the company just made a version 2 so they could keep making money, they aren’t actually that different.

Here’s a side by side comparison...

Abilify vs Rexulti: Main Differences and Similarities

Abilify works as an add on for depression as well as a mood stabilizer....technically you should be able to add an antidepressant safely if you need something for depression.

Personal opinion only: abilify does almost nothing. I don't know anything about rexulti, so I'm no help there. Lamictal lifted my depression.

Abilify kept pooping out on me after every time my pdoc increased the dose (i.e., it'd work for like 2-3 months and then stop working), but Rexulti works like a charm. In fact, I think I've been on it for I think 2 years at this point? It helps a lot with depression. Has not pooped out on me like Abilify has.

Rexulti is one of the (few) meds I have not been on.

Last year at this time, following a terrible IP with a florid mixed state, I slammed into a vicious depression. I was ready to do ECT. Dr. W. suggested that we try 1 more med before going for ECT. That med was Pristiq, which is used for unipolar depression, but is often used for bipolar depression. It turned out that Pristiq worked magic.

I'm sorry I can't provide info on Rexulti.