Abilify and agitation

Last week, I started taking 0.5 mg of Abilify. Everything seemed fine until about three days ago. Now, I am getting periods of agitation. When this happens, I want to yell and break things. Is this a normal side effect?

I have taken other antipsychotics in the past and never experienced anything like this.

I had this exact same problem. I suggest being really descriptive with your prescriber about how you feel. I gave it some time to see if it was me and my illness or if it was the Abilify. Also, the pharmacist told me to give it time to see if the side effect would go away.

It didn't go away for me and I stopped the Abilify. It really was an awful feeling> I had to get up and move and I wanted to break stuff and throw stuff too. I did a lot of screaming. I walked 5 miles in the hot sun thinking the exercise would help, and I still couldn't feel better. The strange thing is that the very med for treating my illness was actually causing serious psych problems!

I wish you luck. There are other meds that may be better for you. If you took other AP's did they not work for you?

I have had these issues tapering on low doses of abilify not as low as you though I only went down to five. I never actually broke anything but I was incredibly angry all the time and very irritated over small things. It takes a while to build up in your system...and a while to leave your system too...like a week...strangely I am perfectly fine on 7.5 mg there is something weird about the low doses though. It's like it works differently.

This annoying feeling happened today, when I went mushroom hunting. I enjoy this, so there was no reason for me to feel like screaming and exploding.

Zyprexa worked fairly well, but it made me very hungry.

I am having trouble determining if this is caused by the medication or my brain. When I had psychosis, I was plagued with the same restless feeling I am struggling with now. I have recovered, but sometimes, I get this awful feeling.

How do you tell the difference between medication and naturally induced agitation?

I did no know Abilify had such a long half-life.

My psychiatrist wants to keep taking 0.5 mg for another week, then increase to 1 mg for another two weeks.

I think it's like 72 hours but it took a week for me to feel the difference. Hope you feel better on 1mg or higher. I could barely stand it...I tried tapering off the med last year...I never had to taper to get on. Maybe a day at five then up to ten. Maybe you could try something else although it is a good drug when you are stable on I it.

It seems like when it works, it really works for people but then some people have the adverse reaction.

I understand how you feel confused. It is hard to know if the drug is causing a problem or if it is the illness....

I would keep a chart on your agitation, even if it's what you shared here so it's documented for your prescriber. Sometimes the prescribers don't really want to believe it's the med and they deem us as being difficult if we say it's the med. Perhaps Sometimes Psychotic is right.....a higher dose might work better.. I don't know. I was on a super low dose.... and the side effects were intolerable for me, even after being on it awhile.

I knew it was the Abilify and not my illness that caused the agitation. Like you I would be doing a soothing healthy thing like you described mushroom gathering..and suddenly I'd be overwhelmed absolutely with a physical need to yell or race around the block or smash stuff. After stopping the Abilify, that feeling of being compelled went away. Of course I have a normal amount of irritability and agitation at times but not what they would say is "inappropriate"

I hope it gets better for you... does your prescriber know what you have experienced since being on it?

I'll document this and the sensations it is causing.

My psychiatrist warned me about the agitation. She also mentioned this side effect should gradually disappear as my body adjusts.

My doctor doesn't know. I am holding off, until it becomes severe. Anyway, I see her in 10 days.

Today, I feel hyper. This is odd. It must be related to the agitation.

can you get out of the house and do some sort of physical activity? that may help a little.

i have to pay attention to my diet and try to eat regularly, healthy meals and i take b complex and fish oil. the b complex is good for nerves.. if i don't take it i really notice a difference. i see you love mushrooms and i know that they are full of good minerals for the nervous system. that's awesome. i love love love love MUSHROOMS!

i hope the icky feelings you are having start to get better. i am glad you are in contact with your prescriber.

PS. if your pdoc doesn't know how you're feeling and you are waiting to see her for ten days that is ok, keep in mind that if it becomes unberable you can call her before then..you shouldn't have to be miserable.

I used to take fish oil. It really helped with my skin and concentration. Now, I cannot take it, because it reacts with one of my medications. I would get vertigo, whenever I took the two together. Spacing them out didn't even help.

Eating well and regularly helps for sure. Medication has made me more susceptible to low blood glucose levels. They actually help me eat more regularly.

that is interesting that the fish oil reacts with one of your meds... bummer. and yeah the blood sugar levels are important. i forgot about that too with the AD's. i guess when sugar levels are low it can cause agitation and crankiness.

I think, I figured it out. Thank you.

It does work differently at different doses. At low doses it is stimulating and at higher doses it switches to sedating. When the switch occurs differs for people from 5-10mg. In my biological psychology module, my lecturer said that it is a partial agonist of the dopamine D2 receptor, but that we don't fully understand how a partial agonist works as an antipsychotic. However my pdoc says that it increases dopamine in certain brain areas and decreases dopamine in other brain areas. Maybe that's dose dependent? IDK though.

Abilify/aripiprazole is well known for causing agitation and akathisia. 0.5mg is also a tiny dose, so increasing it may help, though I imagine a big increase would be needed not just another 0.5mg. For me the agitation/akathisia occurred at 6-8mg. Under 5mg was stimulating, then 10mg was sedating and the agitation etc just stopped like magic within 3 days of taking 10mg.

All the best,

*Willow*

thank you willow

That's interesting...I had a bad reaction with Abilify...and maybe that's why the doc INCREASED my dosage to 10mg when I was having issues. But then that didn't work for me either.

In significantly increased my anxiety and agitation...increased suicidal/self-harm thoughts. I couldn't stay on it. Hope you get it resolved.

I tried switching from Seroquel to Abilify. Holy crap!... All I wanted to do was smash things. I am a pretty easy-going person, and I felt like breaking everything in sight.

Hope you find something that works.

My psychiatrist started me on a low dose, because I am very sensitive to medications.

The medication is definitely stimulating. I noticed in the last 4 days, I have motivation to do things. Usually, I am lazy.

Yeah me too. I started on 1mg abilify/aripiprazole originally and titrated all the way up to 15mg at one point, though it took a long time. This time I went in straight at 10mg to avoid the agitation. The side effects eg postural hypotension are easing off now as this is my 3rd week, and I totally avoided the agitation this time.

That sounds great! I never had that effect, just increased anxiety & insomnia at low doses. Has the agitation eased off now?

*Willow*

My dose goes up on Wednesday. Hopefully, the agitation won't get much worse.

I hope to avoid 10 mg. Somnolence and university don't mix.

Today the agitation seems better. Last night, I was suffering. Somehow, I managed to get through it without yelling or breaking anything. I am trying to endure it, especially since I am starting to notice positive effects. Anyway, it isn't causing suicidal feelings and self-harm urges, like another poster mentioned.

Fingers crossed for you!

Well, I would say that you need to try it and not make assumptions. I'm very med sensitive, but I also get unusual reactions. Like I'm literally the ONLY person not to be sedated on Seroquel/quetiapine. My pdoc, knowing how sensitive I am after working with me for all these years, warned me to take time off Uni before starting it, which I organised and then didn't even get knocked out! Lol I was looking forward to sleeping for a week!

I'm glad you're able to cope with it better, and I'm really glad it isn't causing suicidal urges like I had. All I did was pace up and down my room, avoiding people because I was so irritable, for 2 weeks until it wore off.

All the best and keep us updated

*Willow*

willow---isn't it interesting how we all metabolize and respond to these meds differently?-- Your atypical reaction to the Seroquel for example. I knew someone who was absolutely maxed out on the dosage of Seroquel and yet she was hyper, emaciated and psychotic at times.

I took 1/4 of the 25mg tab of Seroquel and I was knocked out for 2 days!

(Sorry little d for being off topic.)

Yeah Mimi, it makes me feel sorry for pdocs cos they have to work with these uncertainties while pretending to be experts! Lol

*Willow*

Somehow I just had this image of a doctor going around to children playing and picking the ones who were best at make-believe to be the future pdocs.

So far, the agitation has been minimal. Hopefully, it will stay that way. I find keeping well hydrated reduces it, probably because it reduces the concentration of the drug in my body.

The 1 mg dose wakes me up, even if I am tired and ready for bed. It also interferes with sleep. My doctor warned me it would. So now, I am taking it earlier in the day.