Any Bipolar Abilify users out there?

breannanaomi47 · Sep 01, 2013, 07:27 PM

Hello my name is Breanna some of you have probably read my earlier post but I was wondering is there anyone else out there who takes Abilify for Bipolar. If so what are your experiences with it? Does it work for you? What are your side affects? Thank you all very much for looking and with much love and support Breanna

wildflowerchild25 · Sep 01, 2013, 07:37 PM

I took it for about three months. It capped any mania I had but unfortunately kept me in a depression that fluctuated between being mild and severe. When I was on 15mg I had a "slowing down" side effect where I would speak and react robotically and slowly. That went away when I went down to 10mg.

All in all it did not work for me. I feel much better now that I'm off of it. Also cost was a factor for m because of how my insurance works. It was $650 a month

BlueInanna · Sep 01, 2013, 08:01 PM

It made me worse. Pacing, anxiety, couldn't keep still, so agitated I was having really bad dark thoughts, very bad. My son took it too around age 13 for bp depression, it did not help him either, he became more impulsive, aggravated & violent.

. I'm sorry I don't have a good report for Abilify. It does seem to help some people. These meds are strong and have widely different effects on people. Be careful with them, especially you are so young and body still growing and all the other teen hormones going on on top of it all. I will read your other post too, welcome to PC

Blue_Bird · Sep 01, 2013, 08:13 PM

I take it, at first it made me pace a lot and like BlueInanna said, couldn't even sit still. Now that the dose is raised I don't have that problem and it seems to help a lot

"Tilly may" · Sep 01, 2013, 08:14 PM

I take abilify, have been on it for one year. it has taken away psychotic episodes that i was having. if i dont take it the hallucinations come back. i dont have any side effects from it. it works fine for me.

breannanaomi47 · Sep 01, 2013, 09:02 PM

Well so far I feel more calm but that's about it

Eliza Jane · Sep 01, 2013, 10:37 PM

I'm BP II, so I take it mostly for its antidepressant properties. It is amazing for me. Helps A LOT with depression and some with hypomania. I went off it to get pregnant and it was very noticeable how much it had been doing for me. I was so glad to get back on it after my baby was born!

EJ

LacunaCoiler · Sep 02, 2013, 12:02 AM

I started off with Abilify but I ended up getting one of Abilify's rare side effects called tardive dyskinesia. Basically its uncontrolled muscle movements, think Parkinson like symptoms but but painful and possibly permanent. I had to go to the emergency room and they immediately took me off of it. I am no longer allowed to use it because I've had tardive dyskinesia already.

Raindropvampire · Sep 02, 2013, 01:10 AM

I'm on 15mg and it has been a godsend. I've had no side effects and it has stabilized my mood. I can't believe how many meds on I was on before this.

Mr. Radio · Sep 02, 2013, 01:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by breannanaomi47

Hello my name is Breanna some of you have probably read my earlier post but I was wondering is there anyone else out there who takes Abilify for Bipolar. If so what are your experiences with it? Does it work for you? What are your side affects? Thank you all very much for looking and with much love and support Breanna

I got very irritable while on Abilify and I think it actually did more damage to me than good. I was unhappy and hated everything. Could be due to the fact that I was in depression as well.... but I still don't think abilify was right for me. It caused me jaw pain as do all other medicine I take.