Abilify vs. Lamictal

Hi all,

I haven't been on PC for a while due to busy school schedule. Glad to be back.

Anyway, I have been having an increasingly difficult time with mood swings. My pdoc and therapist have been keeping an eye on my mood for a few years now after someone first brought up the possibility of emerging symptoms of bipolar disorder. I am a senior in high school and my pdoc and I agree that I should get on a stable med regimen before leaving for college. So now is the time to try a med for mood.

I have been on Abilify briefly in the past so that was my first suggestion to my pdoc. I have read that it can be used in conjunction with an antidepressant to manage bipolar symptoms. I am currently on an antidepressant. However my pdoc wants to put me on Lamictal. I did some research on Lamictal and it sounds like it has some scary side effects. My pdoc wasn't clear about why she was against Abilify but it seems to me that she thinks that Abilify isn't used as a long term mood stabilizer. Is that true? I haven't been able to find any research that supports that claim.

I am interested in hearing people's experiences with either medication (Or both if possible). Have you had more success with one or the other? Which one is better suited to treat minor-moderate mood swings? (I don't ever reach mania and I don't crash into suicidal tendencies). Is one safer for long term use?

Thanks!

The effect of these drugs varies from person to person; neither helped me. As for Lamictal side effects, I didn't get the dreaded 'Lamictal rash' and don't remember having any other side effects.

I am currently on Lamictal I have never had the rash the only thing I have had is I get very nauseous when they up the dosage. As for Abilify I took it for 6 months and it barely did anything for me as in mood stabilization, irritability and such.

I take both together and it is a great combo for me

Abilify is an antipsychotic, lamictal is a mood stabilizer (well, anti-seizure drug with mood stabilizing effects). I take lamotrigine (the generic lamictal) for bipolar NOS. It's helped me and it's the only med I take. I didn't experience any side effects at all, and you titrate up slowly so you don't get the Dreaded Rash.

Only warning, it's not a drug you can go on, come off, go back on, etc. It can increase your risk of the Dreaded Rash and personally I had some bad withdrawal symptoms when I (with doctor's agreement) tried to taper off of it. So if you go on it, take it seriously.

I have been on Lamictal for probably seven years now and have had no side effects. I take 400 mg in the morning. I heard some people get drowsy, I don't have that problem. I tried Abilify but had an allergic reaction and my tongue and throat closed up.

I've been on both lamictal and abilify and neither really stabilized my mood. The lamictal didn't have any side effects for me, but the abilify made me gain a ton of weight. I don't know if that's a concern for you or not.

I was on Lamictal and got the dreaded rash. At the hospital they told me it was because of adding another med into the cocktail which probably caused the Lamictal to spike. So it's not just titration you need to worry about. I had been on it for more than a year at that point.

Abilify has been my life saver. At first I was sleepy almost all the time, but anxious at the same time, and luckily both of those wore off. I had to play around with what time I take it at so that it didn't strike me with anxiety at bedtime, but it has absolutely saved my mood. I haven't had a depression since going on it.

Then again, it could be the cocktail and not the individual drug. I'm on Seroquel and Ability together.

I haven't tried Lamictal yet. I just started Abilify at a very low dose and have seen a huge improvement in my mood. I'm currently taking both Abilify and Seroquel. The only issue I had with Abilify was that if I take it at night, I can't sleep, so I take it in the morning. However, the longer I'm on Abilify, the more I feel like I might be headed back in to hypomania. It might be too activating.