abilify

I posted before about my bad experience with Lamictal. Thank god I'm off that. Now they have me on abilify. I got reeeeaaaaaallllllyyyy sick on it the first night, but then the nausea leveled off after a few days. Now, it is certainly controlling the mania, but I have to admit I feel generally really sleepy and detached. People around me have been commenting on how I keep losing my train of thought. It has been two weeks, but it seems like being half asleep all the time is too much to give up to control the mania. It feels like I'm taking nyquil every night, and am a little hung over from it each day.
Anyone else had similar experiences on Abilify? Did it get better?
What is lithium like? I'm wondering if that is the next one on the list.

Harpo: ... is certainly controlling the mania, but I have to admit I feel generally really sleepy and detached. People around me have been commenting on how I keep losing my train of thought. It has been two weeks, but it seems like being half asleep all the time is too much to give up to control the mania. It feels like I'm taking nyquil every night, and am a little hung over from it each day.

It sounds as if this particular med is doing what it's supposed to do (control the mania) but it comes with some unpleasant side-effects (lethargy and lack of concentration). Rather than switch to a new med -- which might not control the mania and will likely have its own set of side-effects -- you might find it more helpful to speak to your doctor about tweaking the dosage in a slightly downwards direction.

As an alternative, you may find it helpful to adjust the times when you take the medication. If, for example, you take it at 10:00 pm just before you go to sleep but find you're still dragging your butt the next morning, it might help to take it a little earlier or to take half of it with supper and the other half at bedtime. Whatever you do, take notes as to whether it's helpful and if so, why or why not. Share that information with your doc when you see him or her next.

As an additional note Harpo, check out this site: askapatient.com It's very good for offering consumer based feedback on specific medications. For example, here is what other consumers who have taken the drug had to say about Abilify: askapatient.com - ABILIFY

I take 15mg of Abilify every morning. Never been sick to my stomach or felt any lethargy due to it. I would agree with another poster that you should talk to your pdoc about decreasing the dosage instead of quickly changing drugs again.

Thanks guys. I had my dosage decreased to 5mg, and it has really helped those side effects.