Do all antipsychotics help treat bipolar mania? I am taking an AP that supposedly helps with bipolar depression but I am confused... Since it is an AP, is it a given that it treats the mania side as well? Sorry if this is a dumb question but I am new to treatment. Thanks in advance for any feedback!!

[Clinte89]

I thought they where used just for mania and some psychotic symptoms. I have never heard of them being used for depression but Im sure they could be. I hope someone will chime in who knows for sure. This will be interesting.

[hamster-bamster]

I think that the only AP approved for depression is Abilify. But it is not very effective. In fact, the risk of akathisia is higher than the probability of success against depression.

[manic most days]

Hamster, I'm sorry but what is akathisia?

[hamster-bamster]

Akathisia is this feeling that you HAVE TO move your body, even if you are incredibly tired and sleepy, but you have to. And you move it, hoping to shake the feeling, but it does not go away and you have to move again and again. It is a side effect of some cancer treatments, and cancer patients without history of mental illness have been known to commit suicide because of this awful feeling.

And Abilify is notorious for causing akathisia - 25% of patients report having it. Not surprisingly, many discontinue the drug.

I had akathisia on a drug that normally does not cause it - Seroquel. I was among the "lucky" few.

[Clinte89]

I can vouch that abilify which did help me caused major problems with that it was terrible I still have problems with it on risperdal though. But not near as bad .

The AP that I am taking is called 'Latuda'. It has not yet been FDA approved for treatment of bipolar. It is new and typically used for schizophorenia but it is being prescribed for bipolar and I've heard some great things about it. It's supposed to help with bipolar depression but is it a given that it should help with mania too?

Hamster... Is Abilify supposed to help with mania too or just the depression side?

Thanks for the replies!

[Anneinside]

Abilify helps for depression when used with an antidepressant. I had great improvement with it. But it did give me akathisia. I take propranolol for it and it works well..also helps with anxiety. Don't know. If APs work on mania.

I know some people are prescribed APs without an antidepressant.......

[hamster-bamster]

Abilify is supposed to work on mania too.

[Eliza Jane]

Originally Posted by hamster-bamster

I think that the only AP approved for depression is Abilify. But it is not very effective. In fact, the risk of akathisia is higher than the probability of success against depression.

What makes you say that it isn't very effective for depression? Was it not helpful for you? I had an AMAZING turnaround on it and I have heard very positive things from doc's about it. I also have seen a lot of success stories here and on other forums. I'd be interested to know if you have read some stats that I haven't.

Best,
EJ

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by Eliza Jane

What makes you say that it isn't very effective for depression? Was it not helpful for you? I had an AMAZING turnaround on it and I have heard very positive things from doc's about it. I also have seen a lot of success stories here and on other forums. I'd be interested to know if you have read some stats that I haven't.

Best,
EJ

I have not tried it. I do not need anything for depression - Prozac does the job. I will try it for mania and that is why I was doing research. I was reading that 25% is the percentage of folks who get akathisia while only 11% of depressed (not bp - depressed!) folks get relief.

I will now try to find the source.

I would not have said that something is not effective based on my experience alone.

[hamster-bamster]

The reviews on WedMD are mediocre.

http://www.webmd.com/drugs/drugrevie...e=Abilify+Oral

[Blue Poppy]

Originally Posted by hamster-bamster

Akathisia is this feeling that you HAVE TO move your body, even if you are incredibly tired and sleepy, but you have to. And you move it, hoping to shake the feeling, but it does not go away and you have to move again and again. It is a side effect of some cancer treatments, and cancer patients without history of mental illness have been known to commit suicide because of this awful feeling.

And Abilify is notorious for causing akathisia - 25% of patients report having it. Not surprisingly, many discontinue the drug.

I had akathisia on a drug that normally does not cause it - Seroquel. I was among the "lucky" few.

Seroquel gave me akathisia also.

I was on abilify and it was used to get me out of hypomania. It did work for me.

[hamster-bamster]

A good critique of the article that precipitated Abilify's approval as an AD add-on

http://clinpsyc.blogspot.com/2009/01...-not-only.html

[hamster-bamster]

This is a very small positive report.

http://www.ehealthme.com/cd/depression/abilify

[hamster-bamster]

So here is the source from which I got my 25% akathisia figure
http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com...sychiatry.html
still looking for the source on low effectiveness against depression

[hamster-bamster]

OK, found it

http://www.furiousseasons.com/archiv...depession.html

FWIW

[cocoabeans]

Few years ago, discussed Seroquel monotherapy as a depression treatment option if lamictal and lamictal + max out some crappy SSRI didn't work. Never got to that point though, max an SSRI? Oh no!!!!! Decided to quit all meds 'cause when doctors don't listen to me (this SSRI makes me feel like ****, don't give me more) that I can control..then when that didn't work tred Lamictal and no SSRI which was fine.

Know of one guy who took Seroquel for depression.

I know another guy who got Zyprexa after expressing he was suicidal, nothing psychotic.

Neither bipolar labeled.

[Eliza Jane]

HB,

Thanks for the links. One caution I would put out there though is that, for the most part, these are blogs and consumer reviews. Even the positive one, didn't offer enough information to evaluate the data (eg., what criteria were used to select participants?) Even though the blogs seem informed, repeated information is often distorted or even misunderstood by the 2nd author.

Now, unfortuanely, there aren't a lot of alternatives out there for true scientific data published in medical journals for this medication. I quick search of google scholar turned up one-ish article that addressed the efficacy of the drug (and I couldn't see the full article, just the abstract).

At the end of the day though, it doesn't matter if it works for only 1% of people, if you are the patient and you are in that one percent, that's pretty much all that matters.

Best,
EJ

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by Blue Poppy

Seroquel gave me akathisia also.

I was on abilify and it was used to get me out of hypomania. It did work for me.

You are the first person I encounter who had akathisia on Seroquel. So Abilify worked? Sounds great.

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by Eliza Jane

At the end of the day though, it doesn't matter if it works for only 1% of people, if you are the patient and you are in that one percent, that's pretty much all that matters.

Best,
EJ

Yeah, so I will try it. And if it causes akathisia, I will stop at once and try something else.

[manic most days]

Originally Posted by hamster-bamster

akathisia is this feeling that you have to move your body, even if you are incredibly tired and sleepy, but you have to. And you move it, hoping to shake the feeling, but it does not go away and you have to move again and again. It is a side effect of some cancer treatments, and cancer patients without history of mental illness have been known to commit suicide because of this awful feeling.

And abilify is notorious for causing akathisia - 25% of patients report having it. Not surprisingly, many discontinue the drug.

I had akathisia on a drug that normally does not cause it - seroquel. I was among the "lucky" few.

woah!!! I was just searching around and i am getting this from seroquil right now!!!! My counselor noticed it first....

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by manic most days

woah!!! I was just searching around and i am getting this from seroquil right now!!!! My counselor noticed it first....

if you have it, it won't go away; it is not one of those side effects that go away

you either need another drug or you may try taking an additional drug to counteract this side effect

[manic most days]

****in awesome