Low dose abilify tolerance?

Hi guys

I'm about a month in to using abilify at a mighty dose of 2mg every other day for bipolar 2 depression.

It has been great although made me hypomanic AF. However I feel it is now wearing off in terms of that and motivation OR increasing lamotrigine up from 125 to 200mg over the same month has protected against mania?

Any thoughts much appreciated.

Hi rovers. I think that a lot of people need higher doses on certain medications over time. And sometimes later the dose can go down again. As episodes come and go, there are changes.

HI rovers95!

Welcome to the Bipolar Forum at PC!
I hope you will find the information and the support you may be seeking.

It is entirely possible that:

- You are getting used to the Abilify and might need a higher dose in order to continue to feel hypomanic.

AND/OR :

- The Lamictal is stabilizing your mood enough so the Abilify no longer causes a sense of hypomania.

Although most of us enjoy hypomania, your pdoc is likely aiming for complete stabilization by prescribing the Lamictal.

I hope this helps somehow?

Lamictal really just works for the depressive end of Bipolar it has little to no effect on hypo/mania shifts.

It’s likely your Abilify is what’s keeping the mania at bay. Meds seldom stay the same dose for long periods of time.

Bipolar cycles and usually at some point meds need increased or a new med added etc.

It’s likely your Abilify dose will increase to keep you at baseline.

As I understand it, Lamictal treats bipolar depression (which helps to stabilize moods), while Abilify (an anti-psychotic) helps to stabilize mood by keeping certain symptoms of mania (racing thoughts, for example) calmer.


2mg every other day is such a micro-dose that, as others have pointed out, it is likely that you need a higher dose of Abilify in order to stabilize your moods. In addition, it's possible that you would benefit from an increase in Lamictal since 125mg is also on the low end.

Are you seeing your pdoc soon?

I and others have found Abilify (my friend calls it 'Abilifry') to be very effective as an anti-mania measure. But as has been mentioned, that is at much higher dosages than you are at. I actually personally have no idea what Abilify at 2 mg (no idea what your weight is) actually does for someone. I'm not sure anyone else knows, either. Be that as it may, if you are feeling pretty good with your pdoc situation, then I, personally, would run with it. As has been referenced, there will likely be a number of moves before you get to an overall regimen that is really working for you. Hang in there!!

Coincidence?
Blueberrybook has a thread about Abilify today too. I just posted to it.
Abilify made me hypomanic, even at 5 mg. I had to quit taking it. I was on it for the month of April. For me it was bad news.

I'm taking 2mg of Abilify...another night in a month of nights with only 2 hours of sleep. I'm thinking of trying your 2 every other day.