[Leilee]

Help! Currenly having serious auiditory hallucinations and taking 15mg Abilify. Stopped working. Whenever I've gone up- I've suffered extreme insomnia so I need a new med. Anyone out there got any advice?

[Outtolunch]

I also Have auditory hallucinations.I am not schizoeffective, but rather bipolar with psychotic features which is very similar. I just started 10 mg of abilify and I cant sleep either. Ive only been on it for 5 days now and my dr said he may reduce the level and to go off of it for a few days (3). The hallucinations are coming back but not as strong. I hear geodon is good for this sorta thing but I want to give the Abilify a shot first. I think reducing the level may make sleeping easier, which I believe in turn will dismantle the voices. Whenever I dont sleep, that's when they come.If this doesnt work then Geodon is next on my list. Good luck.

Out to lunch

[abilifyguy]

Hi Leilee and outtolunch,

I think abilify is great. I have depression with psychotic features, and I take 30, yes 30mg. When I reached this dose I couldn't sleep either, but the positive effects made me want to stay on it. My pdoc prescribed 100mg trazodone that I take at bedtime for sleep. This combination is working great for me. The trazodone doesn't knock me out, but it makes me able to sleep. Some people say it makes them sleepy during the day. With the abilify, I don't have any problems like that. I hope this helps.

[abilifyguy]

I forgot to mention: I only took the trazodone for 2 months before I found that I can sleep without it. Now I keep some on hand in case I should need it. Apparently the insomnia side effect of the abilify is temporary, at least for me.

[Leilee]

Thank you for the respose.

[JonB]

I had good luck with Geodon and it didn't give me insomnia - even helped with sleep. I haven't taken it on regular basis for a few years, but I still take it from time to time if the auditory stuff pops up. I even found it helpful just to take one or two nights until the problem went away. For me, it works within a few of hours or taking it. Now I only take it when I need it - maybe 2 or 3 times a year - and I never need it for longer than a week.

For long term, Risperdal worked pretty well for me, but caused some weight gain. I took that every day for about 18 months and it kept the hallucinations away the whole time. It also improved my mood and kept my bipolar mania under control. Good luck.