[hypomaniac-eric]

My pdoc is trying me on Abilify to see how it does for me before taking me off lithium. So far it's been about 4 days and all i want to do is sleep. i had lots of lawn and garden projects and house projects i have been wanting to do. And now that we have nice sunny weather to work in the yard and cool off in my pool, I"m too tired to care about any of it. i slept the last few days away after finally having days to myself to work outside. I"m bummed and feel lazy and disappointed about it all. is this normal with Abilify? how much longer will it make me feel this way?

[bizi]

what is your dose of lithium. That sounds like more the culprit.
abilify can be activating.
it is for me...
having an episode now....
bizi

[Sunflower123]

I take 7.5 mg of Abilify in the afternoon and I don't experience that. Are you on a high dose? Could you take it at bedtime?

[hypomaniac-eric]

Originally Posted by bizi

what is your dose of lithium. That sounds like more the culprit.
abilify can be activating.
it is for me...
having an episode now....
bizi

My lithium is 1200mg. I've been on lithium since Feb. I am past the side effects of it. I have been active in the backyard with lawn and gardening every chance i get all summer. i practially spend all my time outside. pulling weeds, baby trees, deadheading flowers planting more grass etc. I"ve never be so phsycially active since i was younger. now start abilify and now I'm tired and sleeping all the time. Not sure my dosage on the Abilify. My care provider fills my planner and i don't have the info on the new one. it's a big yellow pill. i could ID it on WebMD.

[bizi]

If you were feeling good on the lithium....why start abilify?
and I would need to know your dose.
I take 20mg.
bizi

[hypomaniac-eric]

Originally Posted by bizi

If you were feeling good on the lithium....why start abilify?
and I would need to know your dose.
I take 20mg.
bizi

Because of the weird vision problems. I was going to make a thread specifically for that for others that may have that problem. I have noisy peripheral vision and blind spots that comes and goes if reach for something or get up and walk across the room. Or if I'm in a daze or daydreaming. It's almost like the ocular migraines I have on rare occasion but I know it's not that.

[bizi]

So you are getting weird eye stuff with the lithium?
I am sorry for that.
Do you think the activity that you were experiencing was hypomania or just you living life?
bizi

[hypomaniac-eric]

Originally Posted by bizi

So you are getting weird eye stuff with the lithium?
I am sorry for that.
Do you think the activity that you were experiencing was hypomania or just you living life?
bizi

They eye problems is all the time regardless of hypomanic or depressed. It has gotten worse since the last dosage increase several months back. The eye surgery dr couldn't find anything wrong with my eyes other then the optic nerve drusen i was dx'ed with several yrs ago. in rare cases i read lithium can cause increased pressure in the brain from increased fluids or whatever.

[lost_lover]

I don't know if this is any help because I had an unusual reaction to ability, I always get the rare side effects lol, I was also extremely situationally depressed on top of my normal issues at the time.

I did not get out of bed for a couple weeks, until they too me off of it. I got horrible RLS, that eventually turned into my whole lower body being cramped up from all the twisting and shaking of my legs. I get RLS from a lot of meds though, even what I am on now I will occasionally have a night I need to take an extra klonopin at night so it calms me down.

I have been on damn near everythin that didn't just come out, I take Latuda which is a pretty new med. Abilify was probably one of the worst three-ish weeks of being on a medication other than the time I got severe Steven Johnson's from depakote, but that is a whole different type of bad.

When I did get out of bed I would soak in a hot bath in hopes of relaxing the muscles but it never really worked. All that being said when they switched me to Effexor it was great, I didn't want to take it because all the withdrawal issues but I have been on if for a few years now and it helps greatly.

Basically what I am saying is if it is not working like it is supposed to after you have given it an honest try don't waste your time suffering. Call your doc, move up your appointment, and tell them exactly what is going on and that you are not happy with it.

[bpforever1]

Abilify took me about a month before it started to be truly effective. When I first started it, it caused me restlessness and more agitation. Now, it makes me sleepy when I take it. I like it now because it helps with my mania and psychosis. I don't take any other medication but do have side effects of akathisia and at times tardive dyskinesia. They come and go for me and are tolerable. Also, to find out if it really works, you should take the medication for about 2-3 months and ride out the initial problems it may cause. I believe initially, Abilify caused me to sleep less and more problems with my mental illness but I got sick of taking Geodon at the time because it was not working for me and decided to stick with Abilify for some time. I'm glad I did because it worked well for me. I did not like taking Geodon twice daily because each time I took it, it knocked me out causing me sedation then uncomfortable muscle twitching. Going through with these side effects twice a day for two years was a pain. Thus, I am happy Abilify came out when it did, it saved my life. I take about 15 mg daily.

[Wander]

Abilify rarely made me tired, and I was on 40 mg a day. 20 mg am and 20 mg pm. I stopped it because it wasn't working. However, I have heard of people getting very sleepy from it. Talk to your pdoc about it, maybe there is something s/he can do to help.

[hypomaniac-eric]

Originally Posted by bpforever1

Abilify took me about a month before it started to be truly effective. When I first started it, it caused me restlessness and more agitation. Now, it makes me sleepy when I take it. I like it now because it helps with my mania and psychosis. I don't take any other medication but do have side effects of akathisia and at times tardive dyskinesia. They come and go for me and are tolerable. Also, to find out if it really works, you should take the medication for about 2-3 months and ride out the initial problems it may cause. I believe initially, Abilify caused me to sleep less and more problems with my mental illness but I got sick of taking Geodon at the time because it was not working for me and decided to stick with Abilify for some time. I'm glad I did because it worked well for me. I did not like taking Geodon twice daily because each time I took it, it knocked me out causing me sedation then uncomfortable muscle twitching. Going through with these side effects twice a day for two years was a pain. Thus, I am happy Abilify came out when it did, it saved my life. I take about 15 mg daily.

I have never heard of Geodon before. One problem I have is Orthostatic Intolerance related to my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. i noticed bipolar meds causes dizzy spells and light headedness. I that makes my OI worse. Not to the point of fainting but hard to do physical labor sometimes. Getting off of my blood pressure meds helped some. But i read Abilify has dizziness and lightheadedness as side effects. ugh!!!

[bizi]

I was on geodon for many many years but it finally puttered out.
It is weight nuetral and I never had any dizziness taking it. Never had any side effects from taking it either.
bizi

[hypomaniac-eric]

i found out i'm taking 5mg of Abilify. So that's a low dose.

[bizi]

I don't think abilify is right for me.
I have been hypomanic for a while now.
eating drinking and internet too much as well as other self indulgent activities....
bizi