[Ryask]

I have been prescribed Abilify after refusing to take quetiapine (Seroquel) and i am just wondering what to expect if anyone is taking it or has taken it...I'm really scared to take it.

[SunReach]

Originally Posted by Ryask

I have been prescribed Abilify after refusing to take quetiapine (Seroquel) and i am just wondering what to expect if anyone is taking it or has taken it...I'm really scared to take it.

Hello Ryask,
I was prescribed Abilify at first - now I'm on Seroquel - and it didn't work for me. But that's just me, I've come across people on boards etc that are happy with Abilify.
What it did to me was to make anxiety so much worse that I couldn't handle it, even with sedatives, especially since, at the same time, it made me drowsy! (Insane as it sounds..) I just felt 'wrong' and it did knock me out for a few hours in the mornings and it wasn't supposed to do that! And it also made it impossible for me to keep my blood pressure from dropping, as I already have aproblem with that and Abilify made it worse - I was feeling faint all the time..
So, I would say try it for a few days, have your phone at hand in case sth goes wrong, and if it's not right for you try something else..But give it a shot, I wish I could be on it, no weight-related problems have been reported and apparently it doesn't bring sedation in most people...Almost sounds too good to be true for an antipsychotic..!

Good luck dear

[Ryask]

did it make you feel high at all or give you a head rush or anything?

[SunReach]

Originally Posted by Ryask

did it make you feel high at all or give you a head rush or anything?

After the first few days the doctor increased the dose and that made me hyper. I started getting up at stupid o' clock and I did feel a bit like I was on some SSRI concoction! But it wasn't pleasant!

How are you getting on?

[Skully]

I took it with no issues. I found that it really helped with the depressive episodes.

[crzyladee]

I took abilify also. It seemed to help with my moods with no huge side effects until I was raised to 20mg then I started getting stiff muscles and a general all around 'sore' feeling in my body. He took me off that and put me on lamictal.

[kitty004567]

Why are you scared to take the Abilify? And why did you refuse to take the Seroquil? I took Abilify in my search for the right medication. It did nothing; positive or negative. That being said, everyone's different and something that didn't work for me might work for you. I actually ended up on Seroquil and Gabapenten and xanax.

[Ryask]

To be completely honest i don't know how I'm doing. When i first started taking my meds i was on cloud 9 within a week. Life was awesome for the most part. I felt energized and really happy. I was out every day, and lost like 20 pounds almost over night.That was a big deal to me because my last depression was long, and i almost lost my job because i called in sick every day. But i wasn't sleeping or eating and I had some major spending issues to the tune of about $6000 in a very short time. My doctor told me the antidepressant was making me manic. I was prescribed the seroquel to bring me back down and make me sleep. The first time i took it got knocked out for 16 hours and missed work and an appointment.Out of desperation (i hadn't slept in 3 days) I decided to try one more time but i was really scared. The next time i had a panic attack. To be honest i don't think i was really scared of the medication, i was scared to come down off my antidepressant high. Now i had an excuse not to take it though and so i didn't.

After a few months i could feel that again depression kicking in and i was petrified at first, but in an odd way i wanted it back. It's like an old comfy sweater, it's always been here for me and it's soft, relaxing and wonderful. I went off my meds and just let it take hold. I stopped going to work, or leaving my house at all for that matter.I refused to get dressed, or brush my hair, and i stayed in bed 90 percent of my waking hours.My husband finally forced me to go to my T again where i cried the whole time, yelled and screamed at him had a panic attack then stormed out after insulting him.

So i started taking the antidepressant again and i was supposed to take the abilify too, so i wouldn't go manic, i didn't take it. I impulsively went on vacation, spent our money for a down payment on a house on the trip, cameras and equipment and bought a $40,000 vehicle, i can't even drive i don't even have my learners. I'm really mad and i want to blame some else.I want to blame my husband for letting me do this, and blame my T for not making me take the medications but in the end it really is my fault.

The antidepressant isn't working anymore because i'm getting depressed again. It's just making the highs and lows cycle faster.I am fighting the urge not to go off it and start it again to make me happy. I really don't want to be depressed and i really can't afford to be happy.I don't know what to do. I feel like my doctor will just make me take more meds or actually take the ones I'm supposed to.I don't want to take meds. I don't want to be depressed and i don't want to be manic and spend myself into divorce. In fact i don't want to have bi-polar.

[kitty004567]

Unfortunately, you don't get to choose if you have bipolar disorder or not. However you can choose to commit to taking the meds until you find the right combination. The way my doctor explained it to me is everyone's mood cycles. With people with bipolar disorder the cycles are about 100 times larger (imagine a line graph with "normal" mood being the axis) you then go up or down from there.

The goal with medicating bipolar disorder is to bring the highs and lows closer to the axis line. In other words you don't go so far down and so far up. With the right medication combination you can still be happy and sad and angry and all you emotions, just not to the extremes where they can be damaging to your life.

Give the medication a try. The worst thing that can happen is that you're not happy with it which means you're one step closer to finding the right medications for you.

Originally Posted by Ryask

...When i first started taking my meds i was on cloud 9 within a week. ...My doctor told me the antidepressant was making me manic.
So i started taking the antidepressant again and i was supposed to take the abilify too, so i wouldn't go manic, i didn't take it. I impulsively ...<did manic things... my words>...The antidepressant ...It's just making the highs and lows cycle faster...I don't want to be depressed and i don't want to be manic and spend myself into divorce.

Sounds familiar! I was immediately put on a full dose AD by GP and felt better big time in just 2 or 3 days! That should have been the first tip off...Was given no mood stabilizer (because she was out of her psych knowlege league and stuck with the misdiagnosis.. simply upping and adding on more ADs by themselves) Highs higher, lows lower (which didn't seem possible, yet was physically compelled to jump out into traffic, which isn't even my "style" so to speak, when it became clear that something was VERY wrong with this treatment. It went on for 3 years.) and cycling much faster. I didn't know what "cycling" even was at the time.

Your next to last sentence says it all. That is EXACTLY what mood stabilizers are for. Try the mood stabilizer, give it time and if that one doesn't work, try another. And another if necessary till you get things at a decent place.
Current strategy not working, right? We don't choose to have BP, but we can choose to do what we can to manage it, right? Don't suffer unnecessarily and wait to lose it all, ok? Please keep us posted, ok?

[Moose72]

I had tardiv diskinesia on abilify. Can't really say- was 2 days. Sorry fir spelling errors

[wing]

I know Abilify has side effects for a lot of people, but if you're able to take it, I say do. I'm on a relatively huge dose (30mg) with no side effects and was able to stop taking an antidepressant. It has been a wonder drug for me, and I've been able to get down to Abilify and Lamictal as my only BP meds. No hypomania, no depression, no paranoia. I have BP 1, so that's major.