Abilify Again.

Hello my distinguished fellow bipolar sufferers.

I have a curse or a blessing. Your choice.
My Pdoc shrinkette is kind of tired fighting my suggestions and prescribes whatever I want. Her last choice was lithium. My last choice, Abilify.

She mentioned several names and Abilify rang a bell in my head. Maybe because the "a body in movement....blah blah blah" TV ad.
My main problem (like I'm alone with this) is depression ,and even if it's working(less than lithium) I wonder if I should be on it.

I'm taking Wellbutrin 300 XR and Maybe is not as effective as it should be because of the Abilify. There is another problem: Expense. 100 buck a month
compared to peanuts for the lithium. I'm splitting a 20mg pill in 1/4s. Even if I lose one 1/4 to dust, I have 3 doses of 5mg for the price of one. But still expensive. And is generic. I think they make their own generic.

I basically feel good. But I little more pep wouldn't hurt. I'm taking 5mg Adderall for now, but once they're gone, she won't refill it.
I found out that two Vistarils are too much to wake up semi fresh. So I'm taking one. With 12.5mg of Xanax for good measure.

I think this rambling comes from the fact that it's been a while since I don't write as often as before, and my head can be distracted. My apologies.
Case and point: is Abilify good or bad for me. Is there something better I'm missing?. Thank you for reading.

P.S. I don't wish to go back on lithium.

I take Abilify (generic) and it has worked for me along with Lamictal (generic). This past winter we added Ritalin in the morning and that has been a wonderful med for me in terms of lightening up the depression. I feel the best I have in a long time.

I can't take Wellbutrin, it makes me hypo (the agitated and irritable kind of hypo).

If this helps, Abilify has been great at staving off hypo/mania for me, but hasn't really helped with depression. My pdoc is now adding another med and will be titrating down Abilify because of this.

I'm so sorry about the expense. I'm lucky that my sucky insurance actually pays for it. Good luck with working this out!

I take brupropion XL generic and I have mellowed down from the IR. I was having tantrums too. Now, I was taking lamotrigine for five years and I took my last 25mg this Friday. I have balance problems. Like when riding a bicycle. Maybe is not the lamotrigine, but I had to try. Will keep all posted.

That's what I don't understand. It's an AP that calms mania, and is also an AD for depression?.
I feel more at ease with it, but need some pep. Even if I take it at night the effects remain during the day.

Hope that it helps you. I tried it twice and it didn't do a thing for me.

I am also glad Abilify helps you.

Are you cutting the Wellbutrin XL?
If so, did you check that out with a pharmacist?
Many extended release meds cannot be safely cut. It's also impossible to get an accurate dosage while cutting extended release tablets.

Lots of med adjustments happening.

Always good to "see" you around the forum.


WC

No worries. What I'm cutting is the Abilify. Nice to chat with you too!!!.

Oh!
I can't tolerate Abilify, though I know many people benefit from it.


WC

Abilify has been good to me. I take 30mgs/day. I took 400mgs wellbutrin sr with it for a while, and it was OK. I read something on PubMed or somewhere...in animal studies, Abilify makes ssri and snri drugs work faster and improves response (however they gauge that in animal studies), but they didn't observe the same with wellbutrin. bummer. Still, the combination worked for me for a while.

At 30mgs, Abilify is more anti-manic than for low end mood problems, but I do find that it doesn't --cause-- depression or make depression any worse, which is a good thing. Seroquel made me horribly sad, and zyprexa gave me akathisia, so abilify has been my go-to tranquilizer.

I read somewhere (in a diagram) that Abilify and Rexulti are cousins, with only one little spot differing in their makeups. Yet, that makes all the difference, since I can't take Abilify but Rexulti and I get along just fine.

Your reply is very clarifying. Thank you. Do you take it PRN?.

Abilify has been a good med for me, but not in a way that my doctor would agree I was initially prescribed 10mg by itself for treating a mixed depression, and it made my brain do a backflip into mania, but it immediately cured the depression! lol. I'll find out tomorrow whether I'll be tapering off or not.