[VJOSTO706]

I recently went off my Zyprexa cold turkey & replaced it with a low dose of Abilify per my doctors order. It's been about 2 weeks of doing the switch & not only have i had some unpleasant side effects (nausea, decreased appetite, interrupted sleep) i'm not sure if these are in fact side effects of the Abilify or withdrawal symptoms from stopping the Zyprexa. Thing is...i feel great. I've had more energy than usual (my diagnosis is Major Depressive Disorder with Psychotic Features) i feel focused on the tasks at hand & able to see them through to completion. I also started writing again which i was in too fragile a state to do the last time i tried. Anyone experience anything like this? Is increased energy & focus one of the upsides of Abilify?

[Skeezyks]

Hello VJOSTO706: I don't really know the answer to your question. But I saw no one had replied to your post. So I thought I would.

I've never been on Zyprexa. I was on Abilify for a short period. (It made everything I ate taste metallic & pretty-much totally killed my appetite!) You mentioned you went off the Zyprexa cold turkey. I don't know how long you had been on it. But typically people are tapered off of psych med's gradually. So going off Zyprexa cold turkey could certainly be one problem here unless you had only been on it for a brief period.

Beyond that the one thing I can say, based on my own experience, is that changing med's can be confusing. Stuff such as you mention (nausea, appetite & sleep difficulties) occurs & there's really no way to know for certain what's causing what. All you can do (at least based on my experience) is to wait & see if it all settles out after three or four weeks or so of having been on the Abilify. If not, then it's probably time to talk with your doctor.