Abilify - Side-effects?

Did you/do you have side-effects with Abilify?

I have found Abilify helpful with depression and use 6 mg/day. I'd like to go higher; yet, it seems to exacerbate my pre-existing neuromuscular condition.

I get a lot of muscle spasms which are very severe, all over my body, without Abilify. Either this condition is worsening and/or Abilify is exacerbating this condition. It's very painful.

The worst of the spasms are in my feet/legs.

Have you had side-effects related to muscles?
Which side-effects have you experienced?

Thanks for reading.


WC

Several years ago I had a pdoc who prescribed 30mg a day - the max dosage! I developed the shakes (some of which didn't go away), & spasms in my toes. When I started with my new pdoc, he was shocked that I was on such a high dosage. I'm now on 10mg during "normal times," but went up to 15mg recently due to depression. Since Abilify is an AP & also helps with depression, I'm glad I'm on it. Thus, it sounds like I suffer from some of the same side-effects when on higher dosages, WC. I hope your symptoms lessen!

My son was on abilify and he quit taking it because it made him sick to his stomach. He was even throwing up.

I had the facial twitches and joints were exceedingly stiff all the time, barely moveable, after I'd been on it for 5 years. I quit on my own and told my doc at next visit, about two weeks after. He said I should have called but I didn't feel good enough to walk or move so I sure wasn't going to drive to his office. I end up with the nearly the worst side effects possible from every med eventually

I had akathisia, but not quite as bad as on a different med. It turned out to either be too activating for me, or not effective enough at preventing my mania. I was also on 200-300 mg Lamictal at the time, which I'm sure is too activating for me.

I was put on 10mg/day but after about 2 weeks i started getting facial/motor twitches and tics, it also made my depression much much worse. I was put on wellbutrin instead which kind of numbed me. This was all done by my PCP/Gen Prac doc. After I got in to a pdoc, he replaced the wellbutrin with Trileptal, of which I have been on for about a week and doing well so far.

Good luck!

i got akathisia from low dose zyprexa and seroquel, twitches and inability to concentrate from risperidone. abilify @ 20mgs plus lamictal gets the job done. i also take lots of b-vitamins and antioxidants to hopefully reduce my TD risk. so far, so good; 0 EPS, 0 TD, etc.

I am on 30mg and I get muscle spasms in my arms and my neck. They can be pretty bad at times. The abilify really helps me so I live with the spasms.

I went up to 30mg and it did nothing good, nothing bad. It was a sugar pill to me.

But Seroquel on the other hand... Ohhhhhh boy was that a nightmare. I got spasms on that shiit. I know that feel.

Sorry you're dealing with spasms. They're not fun for sure.

Abilify was horrible. I was on 30 mg and it made me so suicidal. No other side effects, but I just wanted to off myself the whole time. Didn't stay on it long.

I truly appreciate all of your replies!

I am getting increasingly depressed and am trying to decide if I should increase the Abilify, change meds, or just try to ride it out.

I see my pdoc on Friday.

thanks again!


WC

Well, 6mg is pretty low and you can go all the way up to 30mg. I wouldn't try riding out the depression if you've got room to change the dose. I know that boosting my Rexulti dose a few months ago got rid of my depression within 7 days, so these things work pretty fast.

But anyway, if your pdoc decides to increase the dose and your spasms get worse, at least you know it's the med worsening things and not the condition itself getting worse. That's pretty useful info to know.

You make a lot of sense, Blue!
Thank you!

WC

I can't outright recommend it, but I use 5-htp to help with the lows. 5-hydroxtryptopan. It doesn't make me sleepy. Tryptophan doesn't do that. It gives a minor seratonin boost, which in turn lets my mood lift a little. Had some earlier and now I feel better, once it finally got here in the mail.
Another natural antidepressant I use is Yerba Mate tea. I find it's good at a mood lift too. It's probably not recommended for bipolar or anyone in psych meds but when I'm really down it does help.
My pdoc knows about the supplements and teas I use and tells me to be careful.

Thanks for your input!
I've used a lot of supplements in the past. They have not been very helpful (in my case). I saw an "orthomolecular specialist" for quite awhile. With my current med regimen, I would not add 5-htp because I don't want to get into any trouble with any "serotonin syndrome."

I like Yerba Mate teas.
Good information!
Thanks again!

WC

hi. I think dosage would depend on what symptoms show up in your depression. agitation, psychosis, trepidation, anxiety, mood instability, weight loss...then I'd consider increasing the tranquilizer.

if its apathy, lethargy, inability to concentrate, weight gain...I'd consider asking about something else.

my former shrink told me that lower doses of abilify are more "activating," and then the higher doses are better if you have lots of agitation, hypomania, psychosis, etc. basically, at the higher doses, abilify is a cleaned up tranquilizer that -some- people are able to tolerate better than full doses of some other tranquilizers (less sedation, fewer metabolic problems, usually less EPS, etc.).

age is an issue, too. as people get older, the risk of TD goes up, especially for women and people w/ mood disorders.

other drugs in the mix can affect abilify blood levels. I noticed I felt less tranquilized once I dropped wellbutrin. wellbutrin (like most antidepressants...) boosts Abilify blood levels a good bit.

hope this helps, and...sorry you're suffering.

I don't remember the dosage because it was a few years ago, but I got body tremors and twitches. It started with my limbs and worked it's way into my face and torso. It eventually became painful and I had trouble breathing. So I went to an urgent care place and they took me off it and gave me a benadryl shot and pills to take home to take ever few hours to help with the shaking, surprisingly it did help and it stopped hurting as much. Within a few weeks the shaking completely stopped and I never went back on it again. It's been brought up by my new pdoc a few times and I've refused to take it again.

Hi WC,
I notice that Abilify is sort of a hit-or-miss with people. In my case, I got side effects with Abilify, and it didn't help with the depression or mood stabilization. I was on only 5 mg, and I know the side effects would have been worse if I went higher than that. I have spoken to people on higher doses, who had to decrease due to the side effects. I'm sure it's not like that for everybody, but just sharing my experiencing. In my case, it wasn't worth trying to go on a high dose, when I was feeling no benefit at all.

I had restlessness (especially in the legs), insomnia, headaches or weird sensations in the head...almost like zaps, and my anxiety increased. I still felt "gloomy." It was activating in my case. I really wanted it to work! It sounded promising in the beginning. Switching my AP helped. When it's not a good fit, it's not worth forcing it.

Sorry that you're experiencing this.

I was put on Abilify about a year ago and recently got off of it because it wasn't working out for me. I had started off on 10mg I believe then went up to 15 .. then back down to 10 and it just wasn't cutting it. So I'm back on Risperdal now, which seems to be helping out a lot more with my depressive episode. The only thing about the Risperdal is that if I'm on too high of a dose I'll become numb to any and all emotions, which I hate so I have to be a bit careful on it.

Thank you for this thread. My pdoc recently upped my dosage from 20 mg to 30 mg to handle my anxiety. I don’t experience any side effects on 20 mg and will keep a close eye out for them at 30 mg based on the responses here.

I’m sorry you are experiencing difficulty and hope you and your pdoc can come up with a solution that is beneficial to you without the side effects. Thinking of you.