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Abilify (aripiprazole) has been one of the most successful drugs in the pharmacy. At one time, this medication had sales of over $5,000,000,000 annually. That turned it into one of the best selling drugs of all time. (Now Abilify is available in a generic form as aripiprazole, so sales of the brand name have slowed substantially. That’s hardly any wonder. Abilify can cost over $1,000 a month. If the pharmacist gives you Abilify (aripiprazole) as the generic, the monthly bill could be less than $15.
Abilify (Aripiprazole) TV Commercials:
One of the reasons for such popularity might be the amazing direct-to-consumer advertising campaign for Abilify (aripiprazole). Perhaps you have seen the commercials on television.
In one, a cartoon woman complains that although her antidepressant works hard to help with her depression, it just wasn’t up to the task. She still “struggled to get going, even get through the day.” So, the cartoon character is seen confiding to her doctor that she has been “stuck for a long time.”
The cartoon doctor recommends adding a cartoon Abilify (in the form of a big letter A with eyeballs) to the poor inadequate cartoon Rx pill antidepressant. Now the cartoon woman is seen smiling together with a smiling Abilify and a smiling antidepressant pill. They leave the cartoon doctor (who is also smiling) with the hope that the combination would make her feel better soon. Her only regret: “I wish I had talked to my doctor sooner.”
Abilify (Aripiprazole) Complications:
Then, in the classic voice-over, we hear about some of Abilify’s side effects:
“Abilify is not for everyone.
Call your doctor if your depression worsens or if you have unusual changes in behavior or thoughts of suicide…
Elderly dementia patients taking Abilify have an increased risk of death or stroke.
Call your doctor if you have high fever, stiff muscles and confusion to address a possible life threatening condition or if you have uncontrollable muscle movements, as these can become permanent. High blood sugar has been reported with Abilify and medicines like it and in extreme cases can lead to coma or death.
Other risks include increased cholesterol, weight gain, decreases in white blood cells which can be serious, dizziness on standing, seizures, trouble swallowing, and impaired judgment or motor skills.”
The Visual Distraction:
While this long list of scary side effects is being read by the announcer we see our cartoon woman interacting with her smiling cartoon character colleagues at work and then serving lemonade to her smiling cartoon family at a backyard barbecue. It’s hard to worry about life-threatening drug complications when everyone seems to be having such a good time.
Abilify (aripiprazole) was developed as an antipsychotic medication to help people with schizophrenia. For such patients it may be quite appropriate and help them maintain functionality. But it is a powerful medication with many serious side effects.
To better understand how this drug and other “atypical antipsychotics” (Risperdal, Seroquel, Geodon, Zyprexa) affect people we offer some stories from real patients who have posted their comments to this website, without the distraction of smiling cartoon characters.
Judy writes:
“I was on a low dose of Abilify for a year and a half. The drug was discontinued but I still developed tardive dyskinesia of the mouth that has persisted for over a year. It is debilitating.
“My psychiatrist who prescribed it was so surprised that I developed this. He said he never had anyone else with it.
“How can he be so clueless? I can only guess that with time, he will find more people who develop serious side effects as well. The TV ad lists the side effects casually, as if they are minor, or will go away if the drug is stopped. Please warn others!”
People’s Pharmacy Response to Judy :
Tardive dyskinesia (TD) can be incredibly debilitating. It results from drug-induced damage to the brain and can cause uncontrollable muscle movements such as lip smacking, tongue protrusion and grimacing. Some people develop rapid eye blinking or other involuntary movements. Most of the antipsychotic medications can cause this, and we are surprised that your psychiatrist was unaware of this potentially irreversible neurological complication.
Chica shares her experience:
“I was put on a very low dose of Abilify yet had severe weight gain and developed diabetes. I wasn’t on this drug for more than 3 months. I am very disappointed and Abilify didn’t help relieve my depression either.”
Bryan provides this account of TD & akathisia:
“I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was placed on a mood stabilizer and antidepressant. The psychiatrist indicated that Abilify would be helpful to add to my regimen to assist towards reaching the desired therapeutic effect.
“I began to pace and was unable to sit still. I literally walked the halls for three days straight. I was desperate for relief and felt in order to keep myself safe I needed to be hospitalized during that time.
“The symptoms persisted long after the medication was taken away. I also had uncontrollable movements with my tongue and slurred speech. None of these side effects were discussed with me.
“May I strongly encourage that you develop a strong alliance with your psychiatrist. If you feel your doctors are not proactive and forthright about the effects of your meds, find a health professional who is. Your quality of life could be adversely and permanently affected.”
People’s Pharmacy Response to Bryan:
It sounds as if you experienced something called akathisia as well as tardive dyskinesia. Trying to explain akathisia to someone who has not experienced it can be challenging. It is characterized by an inner restlessness that won’t stop. Your description of having to walk the halls continuously just begins to get at this devastating side effect.
Other people report pressure on their knees that forces them to pace nonstop or jiggle their legs for hours or even days. It is incredibly debilitating. As mentioned above, symptoms of tardive dyskinesia (uncontrollable muscle movements) can be permanent.
This from Stan:
“Abilify was a horrific drug for me. Used as an adjunct to my antidepressant regimen at the time, it seemed to ‘dumb me down’ severely, and was detrimental to my memory and cognitive abilities. Didn’t work for me. This may be a less reported side effect.”
Jewel’s experience with Seroquel for insomnia:
“I am a 40 year-old female. After suffering a rare stress-induced heart attack I was given Seroquel. I wasn’t asked of course or told what it was.
“I was very stressed and agree I needed the rest for sure, however I was out of it on this medication. Someone from smoking cessation came to talk to me and I would have thought it was a dream but he left paperwork beside my bed.mail
“I was amazed as I have never had a medicine that just literally paralyzed me physically and mentally. Had they admitted me to a facility and continue on Seroquel until I died I would have opened my mouth and took the pill and did as instructed. My ability to think and/or say no was gone. I am a single mother of 3 and they actually sent me home with a script for this stuff. No way was I going to continue taking it.”
Abilify (Aripiprazole) Side Effects:
- Digestive tract distress, heartburn, nausea, vomiting, constipation, incontinence
- Weight gain, increased appetite
- Headache, dizziness, lightheadedness
- Anxiety, agitation, restlessness, tremor, akathisia: uncontrollable urge to move or pace
- Insomnia, fatigue, sedation
- Dry mouth, excessive salivation, drooling
- Blurred vision
- Arthritis, muscle pain
- Elevated cholesterol
- Fever (a potentially life-threatening symptom requiring immediate medical attention)
- Tardive dyskinesia, uncontrollable muscle movements, lip smacking, grimacing, neck twisting
- Stroke, transient ischemic attack (TIA)
- Low blood pressure, especially when standing, dizziness
- Diabetes, elevated blood sugar
- Seizures
- Irregular heart rhythms, palpitations,
- Pancreatitis, gall bladder problems
- Blood disorders
- Low sodium, high potassium
- Worsening depression, suicidal thoughts
Sudden Discontinuation Syndrome (aka Withdrawal): A Dirty Little Secret!
The track record of psychiatry has been abysmal when it comes to studying sudden withdrawal from commonly prescribed medications. It took years for researchers to discover that when patients suddenly stopped benzodiazepines such as alprazolam (Xanax), diazepam (Valium) or lorazepam (Ativan) they often experienced very unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. Ditto for antidepressants like citalopram (Celexa), duloxetine (Cymbalta), escitalopram (Lexapro), sertraline (Zoloft) and venlafaxine (Effexor).
Symptoms of Abilify (Aripiprazole) Withdrawal:
Stopping atypical antipsychotics suddenly may also lead to withdrawal symptoms, but this phenomenon has not been well studied. Some possible reactions that have been reported include nausea, vomiting, dizziness, anxiety, agitation, confusion, uncontrollable muscular movements and sweating.
Because withdrawal from antipsychotic medications is underappreciated, there are few guidelines given to physicians on how to wean patients off such drugs. The FDA has not been very helpful. No one should ever stop such drugs suddenly, though. Please discuss this potential complication with a health professional before beginning this journey.
Stories from Readers:
Bryan in California was on a roller coaster ride:
“Abilify at first worked great for depression, almost an instant relief for the first month. After the first month, it just destroyed all joy and beauty in life, and in my personality. I’m assuming because it is such a strong drug, it obliterates depression and even my general happiness.
“It killed my joy in life so much that I resorted back to a drug problem that I thought I was done with. It’s also given me a mild to moderate compulsion to gamble, an issue I never had a problem with.
“To top it off, quitting Abilify for good has been an ordeal in itself. The first time I abruptly quit Abilify, I began rapid cycling from high to low moods. That never happened before. The 2nd time I quit by titration. It seemed like there was a reoccurring periodic depression. It would just come and hit me out of nowhere, which is a symptom I never had before taking Abilify.”
People’s Pharmacy Response to Bryan:
Most people doubt that a medication could cause someone to start gambling. Such a “side effect” seems preposterous. But there are accounts in the medical literature of just such an adverse reaction. In the journal Australasian Psychiatry (July 1, 2017) the Australian authors conclude:
“When commencing a patient on aripiprazole the possibility of emergence of problem gambling and other impulse-control deficits should be monitored, even in those with no history of similar behaviours and even on a low dose.”
French clinicians shared a similar case in Encephale (June, 2016):
“Aripiprazole is an antipsychotic associated with reduced side effects compared to other antipsychotics. We report the case of a patient who experienced gambling disorder, hypersexuality and a new sexual orientation under treatment. These side effects are little known. They are usually difficult for patients to mention due to feelings of guilt. The consequences on social life, family and health may be serious. Clinicians and patients should be aware about the possible issue of these behavior disorders with aripiprazole.”
Lori in Washington was zapped:
“I was on Abilify for 6 years when one day I ran out of it. I decided to quit taking it. I didn’t feel any withdrawal symptoms for about a week and then the symptoms came on with a vengeance.
“I developed horrible restless legs, profuse sweating, nausea, stomach pains and a creepy crawling sensation that buzzed through my body like an electric current.
“This went on for months and now it’s been a year since I quit. I still have that creepy crawling sensation that has toned down a bit, but it’s still there. I still have the horrible restless legs and have developed high blood pressure that causes migraine headaches. Cognitively, I have a poor memory, poor judgement, and I can’t socialize and I feel like I’ve had a chemical lobotomy.
“If you are on this medication, DO NOT QUIT COLD TURKEY…It can really mess you up. I am hoping my withdrawal side effects will go away but I realize they might not.”
Share Your Story about Abilify (Aripiprazole):
What has your experience been with medications like aripiprazole (Abilify), risperidone (Risperdal), quetiapine (Seroquel), ziprasidone (Geodon) or olanzepine (Zyprexa)? We recognize that such medications can be very valuable, especially for patients with schizophrenia. No one should ever stop aripiprazole or any other antipsychotic suddenly! Please share your story below so that other people can benefit from your experience.
Claire
Neuroleptics are tedious drugs. I developed postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, as well as orthostatic hypotension-
I do not recommend Abilify.
Also, hair fell out, my anxiety increased, and I developed, otherwise, severe numbness, concerning the emotions.
I became unfortunately compliant, in general stance towards life.
My body has been immobile whilst on the drug, severe sedation, and a worsening condition of depression.
Immediately after consuming the drug, I developed blurred vision, which did not stop throughout the treatment process.
I also had an immediate reaction in terms of severe muscle spasms.
And all senses are dulled to extremity.
I also got jaw complications.
John
I have flirted with Abilify for 5 years or more. Never taking it initially, but then in small amounts when my psychosis worsened (I get “high think” thoughts that are inappropriate to my pattern of thinking: i.e., a couple of words seem to come out of nowhere. They don’t come when I sing a tune/song in my mind, & I remember seeing if I could generate such patterns of thoughts which then become involuntary).
I use Abilify to switch them off, but I also use it to stop having bipolar mania. They are successful for both. The down side is that I walk around stunned like a zombie.
I’ve been on it this time for 6 weeks or so.
Any advise?
Emerson
A psychiatrist that I had just met recommended that I take 5 mg of Abilify before any other testing like weight or height check.
The first day I took this medication was after my first marching band competition of the season where we won grand champions.
I decided not to take it after that day, and I am so glad I didn’t. I took it and everything immediately felt wrong. I don’t remember anything that happened besides staring at a wall for hours and drooling. Also, I woke up the night I had taken it for the first time, shaking and drooling. My muscles were uncontrollably jerking, and my eyes were extremely dilated. I felt psychotic, and i wanted to kill everyone and everything, including myself. I was seeing bugs, and the entire room was getting smaller and shaking. I concluded that I had a panic attack during my sleep.
I wouldn’t communicate to anyone the next morning, and I was quickly taken off the medicine. After that, I haven’t been able to control my urges to go back to the medicine. Even though I had a horrid experience, I always desire to go back to it. It was strangely comforting. I felt delusional and psychotic. I’m on another mood stabilizer/antipsychotic now, and it’s been doing very very well. After quitting abilify, please remove it from your house.
Sue
First day on 1 mg. Yes the recommendation was to start by splitting the 2mg tabs to create 4 days on 1 mg. On 1 mg on day 1 I already feel like a zombie! How is this possible! I will probably extend the 1 mg trial longer than 4 days and then report back to my Psychiatrist. And how are you supposed to titrate off 1 mg? I hope this is not one big mistake. I’m SO alarmed at all the horror stories-especially regarding TD!
Gavin
I am a political prisoner on Abilify since 2001. I’m
always depressed (10mg of Abilify and 150mg Wellbutrin.) I was on 40 mg of Abilify and 40 of Prosac but I went to the hospital 15 times protesting by not taking the meds. Now I have a reduced dose. I’m constantly deeply depressed, much more than ever before I started at age 15 with psychiatric drugs.
I only wanted a normal life and a wife. Now I’m almost completely impotent although I’m in great shape. It’s a concentration camp in pill format – don’t take psychiatric drugs – fight resist, and don’t give up until no one is made to take drugs against their will!
I’m 45, and my life is completely ruined and derailed. I hope only for the future and to warm kids ! If you have any say don’t take psychiatric drugs!
Manny
Ive been off and on this drug for the past 5 years. I’ve tried weaning multiple times but the irritability always got the best of me, and I went back on. Currently I’ve weaned down from 2.5 to 0.5. For the past 2 weeks at 0.5 I’m agitated, but determined to power off this crap. I’ve gained 70lbs taking only 2.5mg and used to be a triathlete. It’s a powerful drug even at low doses. I just pray that this is the time Ill finally make it. For anyone tapering off, go slowly, and regain your life back one day at a time. If I get off it Ill never take it again!
Kelly
Abilify was awful for me. I took it from March 2018 to July 2019. I felt sedated all the time. It made me into a zombie without the ability to remember anything. I still don’t feel like myself in 2020. I should never have been put on this medication.
Cel
It’s weird that this article is SO focused on only the negative side effects. Quite frankly, life was getting unbearable for me due to my anxiety, depression, and PTSD, and this medication, even with the side effects, has beenlife-changing for me.
Although I am a bit foggy sometimes, and I do have restless legs (which is why I’m going to inquire about Rexulti/Brexpiprazole, because it’s been shown to have those side effects less in clinical studies), I have finally been doing the things that I love again. I draw daily, I have a great time talking to my friends, I study daily without too much struggle to get motivated, and I wake up feeling… happy to be alive for once.
Inform people of the side effects, but don’t only show one side of something that could actually help people. Thank you.
Michael
Most detrimental thing I have ever done to myself. I will never again take these types of medications.
Margaret
I take 15mg of aripiprazole twice a day – one in the morning and one at night. I don’t know if it is really caused by this med but I’ve noticed I have a hard time talking to people. My words all get jumbled. I have difficulty socializing with my peers, especially in regards to deep conversations because I have a hard time forming sentences, and my thoughts/ideas are limited.
There was even a time in a class where we had to formulate an opinion based on the topic of the study, and I couldn’t think of anything to say at all so I stood there blankly and told my teacher that I didn’t read the material we were supposed to discuss in class, and she scolded me for not studying. When it comes to reporting, I just read from the slide without adding any other additional extemporaneous material.
There were also times I couldn’t control my eyes from looking up all the time; I had to force myself to sleep just to end the uncontrollable eye movements.
JAS
My 63 year old brother (diagnosed/hospitalized multiple times with paranoid schizophrenia 26 years ago) has been on Zyprexa Zydis for about 15 years; no noticeable side effects other than weight gain, which he was able to gain control over/lose the weight. He was previously on other antipsychotics: Trilafon, Prolixin, Geodon, etc., and all had serious side effects (including Tardive Diskinesia & Akathesia), or were ineffective in reducing positive & negative symptoms. Each time each treating psychiatrist attempted to lower his dose, he seriously decompensated & landed in the psychiatric hospital. Then, a “re-bound” effect would happen: the psychiatrist would need to reinstate the dose before it was reduced only to be ineffective, so the psychiatrist would up the dose even further than the original dosage…. Subsequently, after each attempt to reduce the dosage failed, doctors kept raising the dose until he was “Off Label” & up to a 40mg dose of Zyprexa Zydis. After a 26 year “real case study” of different antipsychotics, I have not seen any serious side effects of Zyprexa in my brother. This doesn’t mean serious side effects cannot still happen. That said, I do not know why his current psychiatrist is trying to reduce his off-label dosage when we have a 26 year proven case study of a stable patient??? Plus, we have solid proof of what happens during dosage reduction over a 15 year period. Plus, there are no current serious side effects after being on Zyprexa Zydis for 15 years straight. In my opinion, dosage reduction is a dangerous & (sometimes) inappropriate “crap shoot” practice that psychiatrists need to re-think so stable patients without side effects can make informed decisions instead of just following “crap shoot protocol.”
Tajie
Flint, Michigan
That’s how I was feeling with missed doses of antivan.
Allison
New Jersey
I have been on abilify for a few months and my doctor psychiatrist weaned me off in a week. The withdrawal symptoms are horrible. I can’t take the increased appetite. That’s why I wanted off the medicine the appetite has not changed I’m starving all the time. Now my stomach is a wreck: nausea vomiting pain bloating–you name it I have it and the insomnia sucks too. I can’t sleep no matter what I do. I wish I was never put on this medicine in the hospital it is beyond difficult to get off of, especially the withdrawal symptoms. uUh I don’t know how long this is going to last. I’m never going back on it again
Bruce
Montreal, Quebec
I hate this drug. As soon as I started taking it (switched from seroquel due to high insulin), I started vomiting. That’s with 5 mg. So my pharmacist cut it in half. Even then, nausea continues with 2.5 mg, and now I’m getting restlessness and insomnia, even if I take it in the morning. I have to stop! I’m terrified of the possbility of permanent movement disorders and akathisia. Help!
Off to my doctor tomorrow. I’m done with atypicals. I take them to augment antidepressants but they are making me more sick than well.
Vanessa
Bowling Green, KY
I started Abilify about four months ago. I took it for about three weeks before I began to feel better, more energy, waking up earlier, and even less pain. The problem I have with the drug is elevated blood pressure and heart rate. Before I took the medication I was taking a blood pressure pill, and my blood pressure was good. I stopped the Abilify when my BP continued to climb and also my heart rate. I saw my doctor a month after I started the drug, and he took me off of it and increased my Welbutrin.
It took a few weeks for my blood pressure and heart rate to begin to fall, but I still have had occasional episodes of my BP being elevated. My doctor put me back on Abilify to see if I could tolerate it because it had helped so much. This is the second day, and my BP has increased already and also my heart rate. I also had a terrible headache, blotchy red patches on my face, a little shortness of breath, anxiety and some palpitations. I was feeling awful, and it scared me. I guess I will discontinue use until I see both of my doctors and find out what direction they feel I should go.
Kate
New York
I was on Abilify for about 6 years from 5mg then up to 10mg by the time I quit. I went from 10mg to 0 in under two weeks, and a month later I am suffering from pretty bad insomnia, crawly skin and restless leg syndrome. Really hoping this goes away eventually.
Anny
Canada
I suffered a severe back injury and resulting depression which resulted in a prescription for 2 mg of abilify in addition to 20 mg celexa. My doctor did not advise me of the potential side effects. The abilify seemed to work but after 5 years I became tired of the chronic constipation and frustrated with the weight gain and feeling of being bloated all the time. My cholesterol had increased over the years as well.
I knew I had to get off it. I tried twice cold turkey but the anxiety was too severe. I knew I had to wean myself off slowly. I received no support from my doc. The drop to 1 mg resulted in no withdrawal side effects.
It was then that I came to realize the other effects abilify had on me. For years on the drug I had no interest in doing anything but shopping on line. I continued to compulsively buy things I did not need and try as I might I could not stop it. At the same time I was hungry all the time….24/7, even if I had just finished a meal and as hard as I tried I could not lose a pound of the 12 I had gained. I had also developed a fear of driving which I attributed to getting older.
After reducing the dose by 1 mg I became interested in things other than shopping, my digestion became regular, my appetite decreased, I lost weight and I was no longer afraid to drive. In other words I got my life back. Had I known everything it was doing to me I would have attempted to get off it years ago.
After 3 months taking 1 mg I cut to .5 mg. No withdrawal symptoms. 7 weeks ago I stopped taking it altogether and unfortunately I am finding myself irritable and generally off. I am suffering night sweats and hot flashes during the day. It is possible that I did not remain on .5 mg long enough and I certainly cannot cut the tiny pill to .25.
My husband is concerned but I am going to stick it out in the hope that I level out. If not I will go back on .5 for an extended period before discontinuing. This drug is poison. If anyone reading this is considering taking it for depression, please try to find another alternative. For people despairing getting off it, you can do it. You have to wean yourself off very, very slowly. And you may have relief from the side effects on the lower dosage, as I did.
Jennifer
My husband had horrible withdrawals from Abilify: RLS, shaky hands, uncontrollable muscle movement, sadness, irrational thinking, delusional, dizzy, extreme fatigue etc. He was on 4 MG and was able to reduce it to 2 MG within a month. But after that his doctor made him do a very, very slow taper. Goes like this: 1st one day a week take 1 MG, 2nd week – 2 days a week spread out take 1 MG, 3rd week- 3 days a week spread out take 1 MG…….continue doing this until you are taking 1 MG a week every day. Then start the entire process all over again with .5 MG. It will take a total of 14 weeks to do this but you will have less withdrawals symptoms. He still had them but they weren’t as debilitating and they didn’t last as long. He gained 30+ lbs while taking Abilify but now he’s lost 10 lbs since getting off entirely. It’s been 7 weeks. Hope this helps.
jed
uk
I have been put on 5mg aripiprazole as an adjunctive to the medication I was well on for over 30 years, to bring down my prolactin. I take it in the morning to stop insomnia which is the advice given. I am well on it so far (5 weeks) but do not know if it has worked yet in reducing the prolactin, which was 2700. If it does reduce the prolactin I am happy to stay on it as long as I can keep taking my old medication, sulpiride.My blood test is next week.
Alysha
California
The first time I took this drug was a few years ago, for Bipolar Depression. It made me exhausted and just wrecked me. So I stopped taking it after only a week.
This time I’ve been on 100mg of sertraline for 2 years, added ability, and it gives me such an energy boost. About an hour after taking abilify I feel like I just drank an energy drink. It does give me shaky hands, but so do energy drinks. But for 2 years before this I’ve felt dead, empty, and the abilify has got me drawing again and enjoying life again. I tried to lower my sertraline. but that just made me go full blown MANIC. Which was a nightmare. So I’m back on 100mg Sertraline and 5mg Abilify. Seems to be a great combo. I wish they’d give me a mood stabilizer.
jennie
va beach
I have been taking Abilify for 2 weeks now, and at first it was a nightmare of suicidal thoughts and crying. As the days progressed my mood changed, and I felt great. I will see my Dr in a week, and he will assess me. My focusing is so much better than on the stelazine that I took for 30 years. I taught school while taking the stelazine, but know I would have been more focused if I had taken the Abilify. Since I have only been on it for two weeks, I do not know the long-term effects of taking this. All I know is that I am currently not depressed and feel focused and wanting to get out and enjoy the world.
Champaigne
charleston
I was on Abilify for 3 months and it gave me really bad akathisia. I got really depressed, and it gave me suicidal thoughts. I never had any thoughts like that before I got on the meds. I couldn’t sleep, had really bad insomnia. It’s been about two months since I got the Abilify injection shot. I’m no longer taking the meds. Since I’ve quit, I feel depressed and have lack of motivation. I also feel as though I want to isolate myself from others. Im not as sociable and positive as I used to be. I’m also having body aches, especially my back. I wasn’t this way before the meds. Now it’s like I don’t want to be around people.
Brian C
Florida
I took Geodon before I slept and also ate a peanut butter sandwhich. I woke up and felt very uncomfortable and got out of bed. I was dizzy and felt confused. I had thoughts that I should drink water then I suddenly felt like I wanted to die. This went on for hours. Wanting to die because it was so painful to be on Geodon that I wanted my pain to end. I haver experience with other antipsychotics too.
Debi
Our N.P. added Ability to my husband’s medication in June 2017. Initially it seemed to help and the dosage was increased in August and in January. By the end of the summer, he was having trouble swallowing. We were referred to a neurologist and a GI Dr, who stretched his esophagus. The swallowing got worse. Between August and January, he went from 176 to 128 pounds.
In January he failed a swallow test, shook constantly, and was admitted to the hospital in kidney failure. A PEG tube was placed and he is slowly gaining weight. While looking for dysphagia diets, I came across one for people who had “Ability Side-Effects”.
I showed this to our N.P. and she apologized and took him off Abilify. Neither she, nor our neurologist nor our PCP had any idea that was a side effect. Slowly improving from this and other side effects. Do your own research! Nobody else will.
Shannon
Wisconsin
My doctor put me on abilify injection (400 mg!) for very resistant bipolar disorder. I developed a compulsive shopping problem and had problems paying my bills. I’ve stopped the shopping with sheer willpower. But now I can’t sleep, I pace my apartment continuously, I have paranoia and my social anxiety has made me almost a recluse. I itch all the time, my hair is falling out, I look like a homeless person. I’m afraid of coming off the drug since it’s an injection and no way to taper it off.
Jessica
Warren, PA
My 13 year old and I talked with the psych PA on 5/4/18 about adding Abilify to her program due to OCD. After a series of hoops to jump through her script for Abilify was filled. She started this on 5/11/18.
We started it at night- it helps her sleep great but then then it intensified her once tolerable behaviors: stealing, lying, impulses and disrespect. I talked with her about going off of it but she begs me to let her keep taking it. I’m concerned that in 12 days time she is addicted to it.
Danielle
I was prescribed Celexa, Lexapro,and Abilify when I was about 17 to “control my bipolar disorder and depression”. It worked, according to my parents, who saw me go from mood swings of manic highs to debilitating lows to what they considered normal. For me, I became a zombie. I had no feelings whatsoever. When I decided to just stop taking the pills because I was tired of feeling that way, I started to notice that one or two of my fingers would twitch randomly. I noticed it first when I was browsing online, and my hand clicked my mouse involuntarily while I was scrolling. A week or so later, I felt twitching by my eye, then later in my thigh. I still get random twitches after ten years of not having the medication in my system.
Jack
Toronto
I’m on a cocktail of different meds, abilify being one of them. I’ve been on them for 2 months and the tremors and spasms stated 5-6 weeks ago. I brought it to the attention of my psych doc who just blew me off. Today, the spasms are worse. They happen in my legs, arms and back. My family doc thinks I should come off the abilify. The psych doc wants me to stay on them for another 6 months. I am afraid of withdrawal symptoms and I read somewhere that withdrawing can make things worse.
Alli T.
I have been taking abilify for 6 years. I now have a huge gambling problem, have gained over 50 lbs and have other compulsive behaviors. I never had a gambling problem or weight problem before I started taking this medicine. I’m trying to wean off this medicine but am very scared of the side affects.
Dee
Florida
Stay away from Abilify, bad drug, changed my whole character for the worst. Agoraphobia, fear, panic attacks, wanting to drink, no interest in anything
brian
seattle
these were the exact side effects I had, like it gave me really bad panic attacks and agoraphobia, and worsened my social anxiety.
Matthew
CA
I was on Abilify for about 3 years and I came off of it cold turkey back in 2012 and it cause me to have fits if rage, restless legs, stomach issues and anxiety that was very unpleasant. Now I’m on Risperidone cause on Abilify I gained about 25 pounds and was very unhappy with that and with Risperidone my doctor said that shouldn’t be an issue and it hasn’t been but after reading some things online today I’m genuinely scared about getting off Risperidone.
I’m on 5mg a day and if I miss 3 days I become very irritated and just unpleasant and obsess on the thought of killing myself. I am prescribed this medication for Bipolar 2 went BPD. But what are some alternatives to these drugs because I know I need something to help me manage my life so it’s not completely unmanageable but everything I’ve read today has the heck scared out of me because it sounds like I’m either A) a slave to these drugs for life or B) going to experience a very unpleasant and possibly dangerous road to getting off. So if anyone has any advice or comments I’d greatly appreciate it because I’m so very unsure of my psych medications and what road to take from here.
Jenn
British Columbia
Abilify nearly destroyed my life due to compulsive gambling. It wasn’t until I stopped taking it against my former psychiatrist’s warnings, that I quit gambling. I quit cold turkey and the gambling urge disappeared within ten days to two weeks. During that time, I dealt with serious withdrawals, including restless legs, severe anxiety and electric shockwave feeling going through my body. I also had hot and cold spells, sweating and shaking.
I had been misdiagnosed with a serious mental illness in my early twenties, and none of the doctors would disclose any side effects from any of the medication cocktails they put me on. It now turns out that I have no mental illness at all. Just minor social anxiety which is controlled by a small amount of antidepressants. I am currently seeing a new psychiatrist and he is helping me overcome the distress that this has put me through.
Once I quit the Abilify, I was able to stop gambling on my own. While I was on this drug, I was completely unable to quit.
I nearly lost my home, my husband and everything that is dear to me.
Sony
I have been on abilify for 2 years now. I remember before getting on it being severely depressed, up and down, and suicidal even with already being on prozac for depression and anxiety, klonopin for panic disorder, adderall for adhd, and ambien for trouble sleeping. I also tried buster, which made me like a zombie, so I stopped that medicine within months.
My doctor one day told me that she could see that I have bipolar disorder, since I was describing the suicidal thoughts and the constant crying episodes, sensitivity, and up and down moods so often (considering I had 2 eating disorders) and wanting to hurt myself constantly. On the other hand, my psychologist didn’t necesarily think so. She thought it was just the adhd and defiance symptoms coming out, as well as anger and problems with blaming myself for people who had abused me in life.
Anyway, I agreed to try the abilify. The first year went quite well although there were times that the dose went from 10 mg to even the highest of 30mg a day. I started noticing weight gain-up to 35 lbs, and I was origionally 5’2″ at 95 lbs. I also had very noticeable cheek swelling and a sense of mind fog that didn’t completely go away even as I went down in the dosage once again to 10 mg. I was slowly actually deteriorating.
Things started to get worse but I didn’t even notice, as I was completely numb to my surroundings. I was sleeping most days and naps whenever possible. Yes, even with being on 60mg of adderall-stimulant. My metabolism slowed, and so did body functions such as using the bathroom only once or twice a day and with almost nothing coming out. All I wanted was to be a normal happy person.
Recently my meds got stolen from me at work. I was pissed and scared for what was to come such as withdrawals. But I learned to see this as a blessing in disguise. I did everything I could to get to my doc, sort things out, and get new scripts to start back on my medicines, despite going through the worst few weeks I had ever gone through in my life. I had shakiness, dizziness, headaches, muscle lockups and stiffness, weakness, exhaustion, calling off work, mood swings, crying episodes, hopelessness and just crying helplessly to God to heal me. And He did.
This medicine is so strongly addicting and overall dangerous when prescribed incorrectly which I believe was my case. I thought I was happy, but really was numb, forgetful, ditsy, irresponsible, and unresponsive to stimuli around me while on it. I decided to become a full-out fighter. I was determined to get off this drug with whateved willpower I had left. Finally, within a few weeks my energy levels started rising suddenly. I only had to sleep a few hours a night to be fully rested and ready for the day. My mind fog is lifting; my memory is improving; and I feel like I have waked up for the first time in two years. I feel overjoyed to say the least, I just hope this energy stays.
Now I have a question. Was I technically officially bipolar in the first place? Is abilify supposed to be a lifelong drug? Also please consider carefully all the side effects of a medication before agreeing to take it. That was my mistake, and by the time I did the research the drug had me dependent already and convincing myself that I was getting better.
Please. Be. Careful. I went cold turkey while quitting, which isn’t the smartest choice, but I saw no other option but to just be strong through the unbearable withdrawals. Take other people’s observations into consideration as well when starting meds. I had to trust my family, friends, and coworkers who thought something was very wrong even though I was numb to the fact. I’m seeing clearer than ever that this drug was destroying my life. I’m coping now and fighting to be myself because I believe I’m a fighter.
Everyone, keep up the good encouraging thoughts, and thank you for sharing your experiences, as well.
MATT
NEW ZEALAND
I have forgotten (twice) recently to take my Abilify, before leaving for work. By 8 O’Clock (I start work at 7) I noticed a feeling like being sucked down a drainpipe, sweating, depression and anxiety. All this was totally overwhelming.
Conor
Bangkok
My autistic 7 year old son was prescribed Abilify in January 2018… On March 16, 2018 he was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes despite having no symptoms earlier and no family history of diabetes. Does anyone know what steps we can take to help him???
Jade
United States
I’ve only been taking Abilify for a few days, and I have had severe nausea since the first hour of taking it. I though it’d go away the second day, but am still experiencing it. It’s almost unbearable and very uncomfortable. When I try eating, nothing tastes the same as before, and I just feel like throwing up; all I can eat so far without feeling horrible is certain cereals. Also, I woke up at 3am the other night, which rarely happens to me. I could not fall back asleep. Also have been experiencing a tremor/ shaking in my hands and SLUGGISHNESS!
I feel very uncomfortable taking this drug, my doctor explained it as a very good option and didn’t really explain any risks to me, but I feel as if it’s pretty dangerous. I know everyone’s body reacts differently. But I haven’t been taking it for that long, and I don’t want to wait and see what happens because it seems like a lot of people are having bad reactions and withdrawal seems like a horrible process.
I’m tired of bouncing around everywhere from medication to medication – none of them seem to improve depression/anxiety symptoms when even taken for a month+. I have to keep switching because of the symptoms. The bad seems to overpower the good for most of these medications. Still haven’t found the right one for me, and probably never will :’)
Fred
Vermont
I had been on Cymbalta for depression, then Dr. added 2mg Abilify. Several days later she increased it to 2mg AM and 5mg PM. The next morning after the first 5mg. evening dose, I felt lightheaded and collapsed to the floor. Wife witnessed me going thru involuntary head jerkiness and called for help from local 911. Dr. denied that the increase to 7mg daily triggered it.
She would always attribute anything I report to be triggered by cannabis. The test, of course, is to repeat the dosages and see if I collapse on the floor again? The Dr. declined to encourage that proposal. Since discontinuing the Dr., I switched to applying to the state for a Medical Cannabis Therapeutic Card, and found that cannabis has NOT triggered the same involuntary head jerkiness.
may
South Carolina
I have been on so many pills for mental illness,some work for awhile and then these side -effects come on.the dr give me medicine but i might take it a few times and if i don’t feel good i wean myself off .i take the pill one day and skip the next day.they gave me a 5mg dosage of abilify ,i was sitting down watching tv and all of a sudden i started feeling aroused sexually,another time i was taking a shower and i got seually aroused again,i had to masturbate to releive the feeling.if i was married this would be good but i’m not.they need to market this drug like viagra.if this continue i will ween myself off.
Elizabeth
Georgia
I’ve been on abilify for seven years following a one time psychotic episode brought on by extreme life circumstances. I am now in the process of weaning off because of leg pain (that started on the onset of taking this drug and continues to this day). I was on 10 milligrams for 7 years and have cut it down to 5 milligrams.
It’s been 7 weeks since this downgrade in strength, and I’ve never had such horrific anxiety and mood swings in my life. Went to my doctor today, and she said we are going to taper off slower at a smaller dose. She suggested I stay at 5 milligrams until my brain and nervous system have time to readjust to the new lowered dose. Then we can continue the taper, but by a smaller amount. From 5 milligrams to 4 milligrams for as long as it takes for the withdrawal symptoms to dissapear. Even if this taper takes a year, I suggest going slow. What is the rush when we are talking about a lifetime of being free from this horrible drug?
I would suggest to anyone wanting to come off this drug, work with your doctor or research as much as you can on the internet about coming off it safely and with as few withdrawl symptoms as possible.
Nick
California-Hollywood
Hello to every one,
My name is Nick Junior Pirumov. I am consuming this medicine over 7 years. Last night I saw a spider. Spider was crawling on my stomach while sleeping. This Abilify medicine made me lose my 3 jobs for last 14 years. Few days ago I went to the doctor. Doctor Told me that in two months i can get rid of medicine. I believe that God will cure me of this Abilify.
Once this medicitaion will be out of my system, I will be healthy again, and will realize my goals and dreams and will never ever experience this craziest treatment in the word possibly.
Sincerely,
Nick
Diane
North Carolina
Abilify is a beast. My son was started on it when he was 17. Once you are on these meds the doctors disappear. I couldn’t even find a psychiatrist who would see him. The ones we did see only said he needed to be detoxed but they couldn’t do it; hospitals couldn’t do it. The longer he took it the worse things got. Horrible scary ride.
Herkko
Finland
I’ve been eating meds for like 10 years now after I got fired and went to the doctor to discuss about my social anxiety, anxiety in general and depression. I started Escitalopram.. After a few weeks of horrible side-effects, it settled down and I took it for around 8+ years.
Since I barely had any idea if it was doing anything and my life had kept on getting worse, losing friends, being stuck in this anxiety and depression, I then discussed it with my doctor and moved to Brintellix.
This immediately made me feel nervous and annoyed about the smallest things until the few weeks of settling to it passed.. Then I felt more in touch with my emotions, but big moodswings and more depression.
Eventually I started to feel like I’m going crazy. I doubted everything and just felt like it’s all over.. A lost cause. Obsessively thinking over everything and my mind was just in a total feeling of chaos…
Well, I discuss these to my doctor and she said it sounds bad and diagnoses a new drug: Abilify..
So.. The bad effects of my previous drug are now apparently my symptoms to be treated with an even more powerful medication?
I can barely find good things about Abilify and a ton of side-effects that range from death, permanent lifelong debilitating effects and more restlessness and anxiety than I have ever had… The doctor gave it like a minute of thought too.
Nowhere can I find possible good effects that I could expect.. Just horrible effects that might ruin my brain or life or make me miserable.
I have discussed wanting to stop meds several times. The doctors never agree to it.
So.. Will my life be this until the end? From one med to another? Until I lose it or kill myself? Who am I without medication? How do I feel without a pill? No idea. The doctors are taking guesses with prescriptions and even if I already fetched Abilify from the pharmacy, there’s no way I’m going to take it. The doctors might like gambling with my health but I don’t. I was better before all meds and don’t want to get some nervous tick for the rest of my life or become an expressionless zombie…
I’m starting to think doctors know nothing of mental health and just try different meds blindly to “see if they might help lol”… Mindless…. :/
Val
Georgia
I was on Abilify for 3 weeks and told my doctor I wanted to be taken off. He suggested lowering the dosage. I told him absolutely not and went off of them. This is an awful, awful, dangerous drugs. For the first time in the 20 years I’ve been dealing with depression I was SCARED!, just a horrible drug.
Jack
CAN
What were your experiences coming off it cold turkey?
Tracy
OHIO
One week in,abilify. I am scared to death! Days 4,5,& 6 were intolerable. I could barely walk, as if I had drank 7 beers. Nausea, vomiting, jerky hands. Those have subsided. I go to see my Doc. tomorrow. Positive Thoughts Everyone! :)
Sam L
New York
My sister (26y) is taking Abilify 10mg daily from early Dec 5, 2017 due to an episode of pychosis. It seems she is very drowsy and wants to sleep somewhat after each meal. She feels her eyes are a bit pressed, so her eyes look half open and half closed. She also feels tight in her lower legs and suth her walk is slow and in small steps. Her face shows little expression. I am very converned about her appearance. Is it because of the medicine side effects? We hope she can wean off the medicine in 2 to 3 months. Or will she have her expressionless face, not full open eyes and slow and small step working after medicine is stopped. Could anyone help to tell the possible result?
Kerilyn L
My 51 year old husband and myself had been placed on Abilify. Him on 20mg and myself at 10mg.
I was the first to experience involuntary Tucson in my right middle finger and began to lose my ability to type. I got scared, stopped the Abilify myself and within a month my symptoms we’re gone.
My husband wasn’t so lucky. He had been on Abilify for about 3-4 months (20mg) when he began having involuntary movements in his right hand and arm. He had continued to take the medication for about a year and Thebes symptoms spread to his head (pulls to to the right). He’s now been off of Abilify for 3-4 mos and the issues aren’t going away, they’re getting worse. He’s now been no diagnosed with Cervical Dystonia. A painful condition with no complications urea and no end.
Gary
Ct
All these drugs need a long term plan and all side effects explained fully also the psydoc just are not available enough to help when needed. You need to be monitored almost daily
catherine
MERSEYSIDE
I have been on aripiprazole (abilify ) for many years and this drug actually woke me up .From being practically commatosed I had a new me ,not as good as the old me but better than the drugged up one .I am on 30mg a day but for the past 6 months I have been having increasing paranoia and bad thoughts . It seems that my body is not responding as it did at first .I have uncontrollable hand shakes ,light headiness ,indigestion including pains up both sides of my back and I am type 2 diabetic .If the drug no longer works then was it worth it for the side effects and I am dreading coming off it
Diane
North Carolina
Doctors should have to tell people all of the good, bad, and ugly of these drugs. Abilify withdrawal is horrible and eventually everybody has to go there.
Tanya
Saskatchewan
In 2010 I had a brief psyscotic episode. Quetiapine turned me into a zombie. Olanzapine made be gain 20 pounds in a month. In comparison Abilify was a godsend. Being aware of the side effects, I had a hard time getting my doctor’s support to be weened off of it.
I’ve been off antipsychotics for nearly 5 years. The stress associated with a rushed move to another city caused the return of my warning-sign symptoms. I asked for Abilify at a walk-in clinic in my new city; 10 mg a day made me feel much worse so I took more to feel better. I burned through 30 days worth in 18 days. I saw my family Dr a few days after running out. He advised me to work my way up to 10 mg. I was on 2 mg for 7 days then 5 mg for 7 days. Now my feet & ankles are so swollen I can barely tie my shoes. Have to get off this med tomorrow & am afraid of the others.
Vivian
I’m a fan of good quality vitamins, no sugar and grains, exercise and The Peoples Chemist. Prescriptions are for emergencies not life long term ingestion like food. Peter Breggins video on tube tells it all regarding psychiatrists.
Marie
WA
My granddaughter was put on risperdal from the age of 3 to 13 for severe RAD, PTSD, and bi-polar. She developed type I diabetes at age 12 and was taken off of it when she began to lactate at age 13. Her mother developed diabetes II after being on Geodon for 1 yr. I am wondering if very small doses of natural CBD hemp oil might be better with fewer severe side effects.
Charles
SE
You are at it again!
Why don’t you print a story of someone who was HELPED by taking this drug?
Mark
Florida
I’ve had treatment resistant ultra rapid cycling bipolar for many years.(I’m now 67) Many years ago, my psychiatrist at the time suggested I try Zyprexa. A friend was on it and he doing ‘good'(his mood was stable). I agreed and we started at the lowest dose, which I believe was 2.5 mg. I took it before I went to bed.
I don’t recall how I slept, since I was told that it would help me sleep, but what I did experience upon awakening was intense irritability and anger, both uncharacteristic for me. I went to work but I felt that I could kill someone if they crossed me. It took all my self-control not to let the irritability and anger manifest itself. After about six or seven hours, I felt the feelings began to fade.
When I reported my side effects to my psychiatrist she told me to immediately stop the drug. No kidding. She told me she’d never had a patient report such symptoms. Welcome to the real world, doctor.
Julie
Washington
Abilify was prescribed by my primary care dr. to boost the Welbutrin I was taking for depression when I was going through a particularly stressful time. The first time I took it, I used half the prescribed dose and drove twenty minutes. Within the first hour of taking it I became very nauseous and passed out while visiting my daughter.
Next thing I knew, paramedics were hovered over me and I was taken to an ER. I shudder to think the outcome if I had been driving and if I had taken the full prescribed dose of Abilify. I attempted to report this adverse event on the FDA’s website and discovered that my reaction was not considered a serious one. Is death the only warranted serious adverse event??
Calista
Dorothy NJ
My mentally challenged daughter was on Abilify for a few years for her behaviors & it ended up being a big problem. She was sticking out her tongue, was having tremors & when I would have to be changing her panties I could feel these tremors in her feet & legs & seemed to have ants in her pants.
It was a long time before these symptoms went away & she’s been on other drugs since. It has been a very difficult situation with which to deal because she can’t tell us how she really feels, we can only go on exhibited symptoms & thankfully we’ve had an excellent psychiatrist with whom we’ve been working with in the past 15 years.
Robert
Washington State
Curiously, after literally 43 years! of—off and on of high dosage antipsychotics for paranoid schizophrenia, including a suicide attempt while suffering with severe akathaisia (on Thorazine), a psychiatric ARNP prescribed 5 mg Abilify/day. It not only knocked out my last psychotic break (in 2006), but, for the first time in my experience, didn’t trigger a horrible akathisia. Since then, I have, for the first time in my adult life, lived an extended life of health, freedom and joyful independence. I must add that the (now) Aripiprazole has been augmented by extensive “alternative” modalities such as work with massage practitioners, good nutrition, and my own meditative, constantly attentive self-awareness. The combination of the medication and all these other things is what is working for me.
Ashleigh W.
Oregon
I have been on about 35 different medications for depression in the last 30 with minimal relief. I was labeled “drug resistant”. I had pretty much given up. Then Abilify was added to my Prozac and for the first time, I felt my depression lifting. I started on 2mgs and my dr very slowly moved me up to 10 mgs. Where my depression is concerned, abilify is my miracle drug, I don’t dread life anymore. I can actually get up in the morning and take a shower without crying and wishing I was dead. However, I have also gained about 60-80 lbs and my blood sugar is so high that im now pre diabetic. I don’t want to go off the Abilify because I don’t want to be suicidal again, but I also don’t want to become diabetic and my weight is affecting my quality of life. My dr has put me on yet another med to counteract the side effect of overeating from the abilify to help me lose a little weight. If it doesn’t work, I feel I have no choice but to start tapering down and eventually stop the abilify, which truly saddens and angers me. However, I was fully aware of all the possible side effects before I started taking the Abilify. I was just desperate for some relief.
Donna
Maryland
I’m having a similar experience. Over the past 7 years, I’ve gained 40lbs or so while taking Abilify. It has definitely helped with my anxiety episodes and I fear going off the medication. What med did you DR prescribe to counteract the weight gain? Has it been working? Would love to hear your experience so far….
Mia
Arizona
I tried going from seroquel and lexapro to lexapro and abilify and all I could think of was ways of killing my self I literally would cry and cry and thought thoroughly of ways to end my life it is one of the scariest times of my life
Desi
Your article says to discuss with your doctor before discontinuing one of the above-listed medications. I find that incredibly unhelpful because, at least in my neck of the woods, the MDs are clueless to the effects of withdrawal. I had an ER doc tell me to go ahead and stop taking an antidepressant I was on when my liver acted up. He said I needed to stop, and there was no reason not to. So I took his advice for about two days, then put myself back on a lowered dose and decreased myself from there.
Any time I have spoken to a psychiatrist about getting off of the antidepressant, they don’t think it’s a good idea. When I start having withdrawal, they tell me the depression is returning, and I need to stay on them. (Of course, at $250.00 per 20 minutes every six-months charge, the patient is a regular cash cow for the psychiatrists!)
I got the idea to wean myself off after a trip to Africa where I learned that they only put people on the antidepressants when there has been severe trauma, and it is only long enough to calm things down emotionally for them, while giving them trauma counseling and other tools to be able to get on with life. I believe they are only kept on the antidepressant for around 9 months tops! Here in America, they put you on them, send you out the door, tell you to come back every six months so you can keep getting the addictive substance they put you on, do NOT do any blood testing, and keep you on them for life if possible! This is wrong!
So back to my original point: I don’t have a doctor I can trust to help me wean off so I am doing it with God’s help. I have been weaning off of the medication for over a year and a half! I have had to go that slow. But after 2 decades of being on medication, I am expecting brain push back and doing all I can with the help of some friends, to remain stable.
eric
Everybody should watch the video on YouTube. Dr.petted breggin “simple truth” he is the nation’s lead psychyotris and we’ll respected he explains in great detail about the dangers of ssri antidepressants don’t start on them evil meds doctors will hand you a scrip like candy and say oh you got stress and anxiety then the rollercoaster honeymoon faze will go away then Bamm! You are now yourself anymore your a walking corpse zombie,walking dead,whatever you may call it I been threw 8 different antidepressants all pooped out after over several years .don’t even think your going to happy or get euphoria Mandy just for f
Diane
Washington State
Abilify was one of the last antipsychotics I was put on for my bipolar affective disorder paired with triliptal, I went from 184lbs to 220lbs, ended up with diabetes full blown,and sleep apnea so badly I would stop breathing 40 times an hour. After a few years of feeling worse than ever, I was diagnosed with IgA nephropathy, a rare form of kidney disease.
I found out Abilify could have been the cause of not only the weight gain but also the diabetes, high blood pressure and fatty infiltration of the liver without mention of alcohol. I was taken off all meds, and now 4 years later I weigh 135lbs. I am still considered diabetic however my A1c has been normal without meds. My blood pressure is now stress related and my kidney disease prevents me from taking any pain meds or NSAIDS, or anti-inflammatories I live every day at a level 5 pain, being bipolar affective and in constant pain is not how I imagined being 40 years old would be. Thank you for your time. Female and 40.
Mike
La
Having my mind in a constant fog, and answering the question, “Are you ok” is more than adding to a depression I have battled for a while.
I can’t imagine feeling like this forever. I was hospitalized for manic behavior three times. Lithium was administered one of the times after Lamictol didn’t seem to help and then they put me on Abilify shots.
I feel like a prisoner to my own negative thoughts. As beautiful as the world and my network of support is, I only see hopelessness and depression. I have a hard time enjoying art, music, entertainment, and experiencing love.
I can’t see a light at the end of the Abilify tunnel and am wondering if anyone has any ideas as to what to request as a replacement to fight Bipolar 2.
Admittedly I had a psychotic break that lead doctors and family to feel that I was schizophrenic but my therapist knows that wasn’t the accurate diagnosis.
I am not use to feeling both hopeless and helpless, yet here I am. Again/still… lost and depressed with no positivity left in me. My friends and family find it easier to avoid me than try to help me as my personality drags them down.
I read a book called “screw bipolar” and weaning off of these forums was one of the steps but I have no idea where else to turn.
Thanks in advance for any ideas or help. I hope you are all on a healthy path to recovery and find hope, happiness, and health soon.
Good luck
m
Karen
United Kingdom
I was put on abilify in hospital in 2006 for depression. I had been on it 11 years and didn’t realise that my compulsive gambling was a serious side effect of this drug. I discovered this last November and went straight to my doctor and said I want to come off this drug. I came off it slowly for six months months with no withdrawal symptoms.
I’m furious that I was put on this drug in the first place as it was an antipsychotic and the fact that I came off it with no withdrawal symptoms proves that I shouldn’t have been on it in the first place, they said I was schizophrenic and I wasn’t. I then went on the internet and looked and saw an article about the dangers of neuropletics. I was amazed at the neurological diseases you can get from these drugs. When in hospital I complained to the psychiatrist about this awful anxiety I had inside me which I now no to be akathisia.
It was the most horrific feeling I had had in my entire life. I thought I’d died and gone to hell. The psychiatrist said oh yes a few patients get this, I asked him to give me something and he said ask the staff, the staff were horrible I had terrible abuse and they didn’t care that I was pacing the corridors day and night. It was that bad I tried to commit suicide by throwing myself under a car. After this my sister had me transferred to another hospital where they gave me lorazepam but I’m worried that I still have this akathisia because I’m still on the lorazepam 11 years later. THIS DRUG IS VERY DANGEROUS DO NOT TAKE IT .
Patricia
CA
Wow….I was going to my Drs today to start abilify….NOT GOING TO HAPPEN..
Trying to get off Paxil and having such difficulty doing so with all the withdrawal symptoms. Had l known everything I know now about Paxil I would have never started it…
Sue
Edmonton, Canada
Abilify made me start drooling out of the side of my mouth and blocked up my sinuses. I had a persistent post-nasal drip to the point that I constantly felt like I had a huge wad of phlem caught in my throat. The tissue around my eyes was always swollen and I had a regular thick discharge from eyes every morning. Then the stomach troubles started. I was hungry often but no matter what I ate, the pain created in my stomach was fearsome. I started eating antacids even before I ate to try to alleviate the pain but they didn’t have much effect. I became constipated which created more pain. I had no idea these things were caused by the Abilify. I also started having very long and involved dreams but I would wake up in a sweat from them that sometimes required me to change both my night clothes and the bed clothes. I am calling my shrink right away to change my medication as these side-effects are driving me crazy.
eric
texas
Been on several antidepressants, zoloft,Prozac,cymbalta,lexopro,welbutrin, and oh yea paxill,what a great horrific experience I went off cold turkey off paxil after gaining 50 lbs in one year and after 6 yrs of trying several others mentioned above I finally said screw these meds so after starting cold turkey with paxil I had brain zaps nightly completely coming off my bed onto the floor,insomnia,raceing thoughts,extreme mood swings anger,and finally tried killing myself swallowed 30 ambiens,50 hydro 10s because these sympoms were never ending luckly my doberman pincher saw me laying on the floor she senced I was not responding to her and hardly breathing she went into my wires
Shirley
Florida
I felt great, my family and friends told me that I seemed so much better. Unfortunately, I developed compulsive behavior like gambling and shopping with no worries about consequences. I truly could not control. Sad to say because it really helped me to feel so much better, regarding my depression. Nothing has helped me. Latuda and Rexulti made my depression worse. I am not sure what to do next. Any other person like me out there?? I’ve been on every anti depressant out there!! I’ve been struggling for 2 decades. I am very tired and wondering if I just have to go on with this hopeless feeling until I die.
Trish
Massachusetts
I, too, am taking Abilify (1/2 mg. Once a day, as new patient) waking in alarm from very detailed, vivid nightmares. I keep wondering whether reports of nightmares might have been “swept under the rug” of the term “Trouble sleeping”, as used in the manufacturer’s overview of potential side effects, plus the descriptions listed here and at WebMD, etc. My nightmares about strangers in my apartment are vivid, highly detailed, and “authentic-feeling” — more like short-term memory “entries” than dreams recollected.
On one recent night, I dreamt that I’d woken to discover that “the man who should be occupying the bed with me” was gone. My first thought was, “Fred (a recent flame whose illness, sadly, has progressed to preventing “horizontal workouts”) must’ve gone out of town: when did he leave?” My second thought was, “Oh, Fred and I never lived together. I was thinking of Tim,” — the ex-husband living 12 flight hours away, (whom I met briefly (in public and “sans action” last month.) That dream was so compellingly “authentic” that neither the realization of Fred’s or Tim’s prevented my wondering, “Then who is it that lives here with me?”
That, despite my having instantly known that each notion was unfounded, … To call the dynamic an an anomaly hardly suggests its impact. Worse, today I woke believing that a total stranger slept beside me! I “perceived” the male adult’s whole appearance, complete with the “evidence” of his recently having removed proceeded a wig, mustache. Thus I imagined or actually uttered murmurs of a diversionary, “apology”. My reasoning, such as it was, was that if Mr. Creepo was awake, he might nonetheless be in a sleepy enough state that I could puzzle him long enough to flee. … I grabbed my slacks from beside the bed, my purse, and what I thought was a pair of shoes (mismatch).
It never even occurred to me to wonder why my bedroom was “relocated” (so it seemed in my dream) to the far side of my apartment. I dashed into the building’s main hallway, then thought a few moments: “It has to have been another of these nightmares! But it’s so REAL: what if he’s actually in there?” So I woke my poor neighbor a unit over (it was 5:45) and phoned the police. Soon the officers came and looked through my rooms: nobody was there. Even so, the whole stranger-danger “experience” still seemed so real that I was afraid to return; what if he had somehow gotten my key copied, and had only dashed out while I had gone downstairs, because the police couldn’t get in when I buzzed?
I’m a 56-year-old woman in very good health, overall. I take 300 mg./ day of bupropion and 40 mg. for depression, which the Abilify was meant to help offset. I also take modest doses of Metoprolol and Lisinopril for blood pressure, plus the standard OTC dose of omeprazole for GERD. (And a daily hit of senna, Senakot or polyethylene glycol to counter the constipation from amphetamine salts.) After two weeks plus on Abilify, which tapered up from half a tablet a day to one full milligram, I’ve had a brush or two with slurred speech, and have noted losses of stamina and strength.
There have also been sleep interruption (frequent waking, not always as a result of nightmares), oral dryness, sinus congestion, and headaches. I also have seen a marked boost in my appetite, and my metabolism has to have slowed: my weight keeps going up, up, up. Still, nothing has been as disruptive as today’s dream. Abilify, we’re through!
Sam
West Coast
For people already with high addictive personalities, this seems a bit worrisome. There are already lawsuits taking place and even the FDA is commenting on some of the risks associated with it. I am unsure if it’s truly the drugs fault but if it’s “enhancing” this type of behavior I hope it gets worked out because those with schizophrenia do need an easy solution.
Emily K.
There’s a natural supplement created by some of the best doctors called True Hope. It has no side effects since, it’s natural, and it has an 80% success rate with mental illness!!
Mark
True Hope is a vitamin/mineral formulation from Canada. I’ve never tried it but, like you, I’ve read many positive comments. Over the years of trying to manage my bipolar illness and sleep problems, I’ve tried many vitamins, minerals and amino acids.
In my case, I’ve never found anything that consistently worked but I’m definitely not representative of most patients. True Hope might be worth a try. Psychiatrists experiment on us, sometimes with terrible results. Also, look at your diet or get allergy testing.
Additionally, get your thyroid checked; a full panel, not just TSH. Free T3, free T4, TPO, and Thyroglobulin AB (anitbodies). It’s the rare psychiatrist who remembers that they are, first, a medical doctor, and they need to look at the whole person and body.
Richard B
philadelphia Pa
My son Grant has been on abilify for about 5 years now and he goes through ups and downs of depression and agitation, relessness, and for the most part it helps Grant.
He recently had his medicine moved up a dose and he doesn’t go out anymore. I need him to go places like the therapist and a day program. He also shouts for 1 to 2 minutes, scary at times.
Debbie
Australia
I was drugged by someone & was admitted to mental health. All I remember is passing out twice & waking up with professionals all around me. I was misdiagnosed with drug induced psychosis & was put on an involuntary order.
I was forced to take Abilify. It is the devil’s drug!!! There is nothing worse!! For the first time in my life, I started having suicidal thoughts & suffered from severe depression. I was unstable on my feet & my memory started to fade. I was always tired & was sleeping a lot, I was sedated a lot of the time.i didn’t have the energy to exercise.
I was on 10mg, it then got reduced to 5mg. I ended up only taking half then eventually just stopped taking it altogether when I was still on the order which forced me to take them. I was on them for 3 months & it was 3 months of hell. I never suffered from suicidal thoughts or depression before taking Abilify!!! I have been off it for 6 months now & I am still suffering from depression & I’m worried that it will never go away.
That Abilify has altered my mind as I can’t seem to shake this depression off. I was always very happy before taking Abilify now I’m worried it’s damaged me for life :( can anybody shed some light on this? Does it take a while to get out of your system or has it damaged me for life?
Dean
New York
Hi I was put on Abilify in 2007 then stopped taking Abilify in 2010 since then I can’t seem to stop wiggling my toes I know that doesn’t sound like much but wiggling your toes every waking & sleeping second of your life the toes begin to hurt where pain goes up both legs
valentina
Trento
I am worried reading that such drugs are prescribed to children as young as 12. I do hope that children and parents had the opportunity to consider psychotherapy first.
krystal
qld
I’m reading this to get some clues as how to get my daughter off Abilify and Fluvoxamine. I have to admit it seems really daunting but what I do get is that she has to take it really really slowly. I don’t want her to have those symptoms. Any one heard of any vitamin therapy that could help. I heard mega doses of vitamin B3 like 7000 mg can help.
Tina
Canada
My daughter is on the same two drugs. I want to take her off the abilify, as it seems to have more side effects than the other drug. Have you taken her off yet, and are there any side effects?
dominique
Pittsburgh,pa
abilify ruined my life. I am not sure what else to say. The list is too long to type. I personally stopped taking abilify on my own. I couldn’t take it anymore.
I was on it for 4 years. I was getting worse and worse and worse. (AND I was already worse….hence why I was seeing a “medical” professional. Anyway. after 3.5-4 years I had enough. I couldn’t do it anymore. I was literally throwing up every single morning for 2 years. My depression was getting worse.
I would tell my doctors, phycicartist, therapist, and NO ONE listened to me. NO ONE. Not my friends, not my parents, just no one. It was frustrating but I believed in myself. I knew I wasn’t crazy. I knew I would get through this but I am not sure what I did to deserve such a journey, I am not going to play a victim but I am. I am 100% am.
I am now taking the steps of healing by going to a alternative to meds center in Arizona. I am feeling better, it is only my first day here but I can tell by just talking to the people here that I am not alone; this is the most comforting thing after feeling alone for a very very long time (in and out of relationships).
I did manage to graduate school, and hold 3 jobs, but I look at these as distractions from what I was really going through. Thank goodness I enrolled in college when I did because it gave me a goal: to graduate. And after college I worked multiple jobs; all unfulling but some were great experiences. I am still processing everything but all I know is I am happy I am in a place that can finally get me the help I need. I wish everyone the best who is going through something similar. Don’t give up.
Abilify was the most debilitating experiences of my life and I am only 26. I gained a lot of weight on the drug, my face is breaking out but I am starting to come back to myself and see the old me. The old me was suffocated by the oblivion of a false promise which I knew from the start that I did not want any part of. If anything, trust your instincts. Cut people out of your life that do not have your best interests in mind, and most importantly if you have a family thank them every day for not giving up on you. My family was my foundation, our relationships are extremely flawed but I am started to realized the potential of a healthy family relationship for once. xo xo -dom b.
Ellie
Brockville, Ontario, Canada
With all these side effects and my telling my psychiatrist about my face twitching and fatigue, also nausea, she has told me to increase the dosage. I do wonder if psychiatrists learn the dangers of certain medications while attending school for their degree, or perhaps they could just go to the internet to find out the dangers if certain drugs. I note that the face twitching does not ever go away which certainly can ruin one’s self esteem.
Excalibur
Dear Dominique
Thank you so much for sharing this. I just stoped taking Abilify and I’m very hopeful that all that side effects you’ve taked about will be gone soon. I actually already feel a bit better (day one off Abilify) thank you!!!
Cornelis H
Hi Excalibur,
How are tou feeling now that you’re off abilify?
marne
ohio
My fiance”s (of 3 years) mother was put on this horrendous Abilify. She literally went insane, from functioning 65year old to having to be placed in a nursing home because of the damn drugs her idiot psychiatry NP put her on. Abilify led her to deadly akathisia.
She didn’t gain weight on the abilify (even though it irreversibly messes up your metabolism, leading to every calorie of energy consumed or made by your body-being made into fat)–she lost weight and almost killed herself by never-ending pacing, moving, bobbing,…… Then to knock her out at night, they gave her 150mg of trazodone. They kept INCREASING the abilify.
The NP would do telecom visits with his mom (his mom would be in the Nursing home office room, and the Nurse Practitioner would be in the comfort of her own damn kitchen!. The NP insisted! that she did NOT have AKATHISia and it was just anxiety and OCD!! This went on for an entire 6 months…..meanwhile i fought with my fiance telling him it was the MEDS!!! causing all her problems and he needed to get her off!!
His mom was so destroyed at that point that she couldnt really comprehend anything going on around her because all she felt was the hellish akathisia. She literally couldnt ride in a car because she said she needed to jump out of it. This destroyed her husband, he had to be admitted to the hospital multiple times because of the detriment to his own health that this nightmare caused, and it destroyed my fiance and our entire relationship. There is no fix for that.
His mom did resolve enough to go back to living at home once they took my advice that i told them from the beginning and got her to another psychiatrist and to an actual psychiatric facility where they took her off of all the meds except for benzodiazepines and then gently started her on a plain SSRI/NRI It took months though to get her back from hell (meaning, it took months for her to recover enough to function after the abilify and trazodone were finally completely stopped)
Lori
This is lori again ,Charlie my roommate is on risperdone and some long word starting like trifenhexalin and clonzclonazepam and Selena at night this is all to counteract the ability, now the neurologist said he’s illiterate,but I know my roommate and it makes me angry that we should feel less of a person because they can’t fix this.
MIchael
NYS
Was given Abilify to take after being put in a hospital against my will. I was first given the liquid form of Abilify. I have since heard that this treatment was discontinued because it was deemed to dangerous. Nevertheless I started on 10 mg… and then 20 and then 30 after being in the hospital for almost a month. I was non-suicidal and not a danger to anyone. Now almost a year later I have weened myself down to 10 mg and hope to be off this medication soon.
Lori
My roommate was diagnosed no polar in 2010,we have been roommates since 2009,he went to the doctor to have a major surgery and the surgeon wanted a release from family dr and mental health dr, the mental health dr said he needed ability to help him with anxiety over surgery, immediately he said his eyes were burning and.
Itching two weeks after taking ability, the dr said take him to eye Dr and eye Dr said he had chronic dry eye and had surgery to widen tear ducts, the eye Dr said it was drug related and i said the only medicine he’s on is ability and he said thats what he meant, anyways this happened 2 years ago, he was taken off ability but has uncontrolled eye movement and grimacing of mouth.
We are going to a neurologist to cure this or fix it. There is so much emotional pain.
Bryan
California
Abilify at first worked great for depression, almost an instant relief for the first month, but after the first month, it just destroyed all joy and beauty in life, and in my personality. I’m assuming because it is such a strong drug, it obliberates depression and even my general happiness at dosages of 5 – 10 mg. It’s led me to relapse on narcotic drugs twice, at which, one point I had 18 months sober. It kills my joy in life so much that I resorted back to a drug problem that I thought I was done with. It’s also given me a mild to moderate compulsion to gamble, an issue I never had a problem with. To top it off, quitting Abilify for good has been an ordeal in itself. The first time I abruptly quit Abilify 10mg, I began rapid cycling from high to low moods, which I’ve never done before. And then the 2nd time I quit by titration, it seemed like there was a reoccurring periodic depression that would just come and hit me out of nowhere, which is a symptom I never had before taking Abilify.
After reading some of these other posts by commenters, I see that there are much more worse cases than mine, which makes me question whether or not this drug should even be on the market or not. It’s great that it’s curing some people’s depressions, but at the same time, it’s permanently ruining the lives of others.
Mike
I broke a two year streak of drinking sobriety on Abilify…I feel your pain and hope we both find the right relief
Lori
Washington
I was on 2mg abilify for 6 years when one day I ran out of it and decided to quit taking it. I didn’t feel any withdrawl symptoms for about a week and then the symptoms came on with a vengence. I developed horrible restless legs, profuse sweating, nausea, stomach pains and a creepy crawling sensation that buzzed through my body like an electric current.
This went on for months and now its been a year since I quit. I still have that creepy crawling sensation thats toned down a bit, but it’s still there. I still have the horrible restless legs and have developed high blood pressure that causes migraine headaches. Cognitively I have a poor memory, poor judgement, and I can’t socialize and I feel like I’ve had a chemical lobotomy.
I haven’t been to the Dr about it because it’s embarrassing to me that I did such a stupid thing. The positive things are I lost 30 lbs and I have no interest in binge shopping anymore. Anyway if you are on this medication, DO NOT QUIT COLD TURKEY….. It can really mess you up. I am hoping my withdrawl side effects will go away but I realize they might not.
Kim
Canada
My 13 year son is on Zoloft and Abilify, we are in the process of weaning him off of Abilify, he is on 12mg and started at 3mg when he was 10. After reading the side effects I’m really worried. He has ADHD and unspecified depressive disorder, gets very angry and has extremely low self esteem and self worth. His Abilify is being replaced with Biphetin, I hope this will help with the withdrawals.
Melissa
Houston
I had been taking mellaril and risperdone, and a few months later was diagnosed with epilepsy when taken to hospital in ambulance. For 3.5 years I tried every antiseizure med and did eeg studies in and out of hospital and then had ekg while eeg and the combination of meds caused ventricular tachycardia and long qt syndrome. So I wasn’t really having epilepsy. They were essentially aborted heart attacks. With long qts you can only take a few antipsychotics. The one they have me on is ABILIFY.
Omg, I don’t think my husband, psychiatrist and cardiologist seem to get it in their heads. I would rather have a pacemaker/defib combo than take Abilify. I can’t sleep; hair falling out; insomnia; aggressive; agitated; grumpy; depressed yet anxious. I can hardly be around people without feeling like I am jumping out of my skin! It’s ruining all of my relationships. I tried latuda which was supposed to be safe but spent two weeks curled up in a ball suicidal in bed. Couldn’t even get up hardly to go to bathroom and cried constantly. So, my drs put me back on abilify. My tardive dyskinesia is getting so bad that I can’t even wear glasses, and I have bite sores in my mouth because my jaw hurts so much. I’m begging you do not take ability. It will ruin your life.
Damien
Australia
Omg I develoed T.D from just a few weeks of Mellarill and 20 years later its no better. It ruined my life. Made me look like a retard. My neck grimaces so hard that it pulls my head down. My biceps are always in a contracted state. My legs twitch n bounce constantly. The muscles in my face that make you smile are 3/4 paralysed.. I was an aspiring Guitarist n keyboarder but cannot play either as arms twitch too much and i look like a retard.
My doctor didnt warn me about any of this. He just put me on a huge dose of benzos to hide his mistake, which has also ruined my life, and he gets off scott free while i live through hell..
Brenda
United States
I was on abilfy for about a month and a half. I started getting very agitated and I was snapping at my mom. Then I started with severe stomach pain,diarrhea and vomiting. I saw my family dr.twice he told me i had the flu.I had to take myself off it. I would not normally do this but the severe stomach pain,diarrhea and vomiting got worse. I called my psychiatrist. Her nurse called me today and told me to go back on it until I see her again. Which is not until June. No way am I going back on it. I am not going through all that again.
Amber
Texas
My son was prescribed this drug last week and was on it for only 3 days!! He had severe side effects which includes tons of pain in full body (pain medication didn’t even touch the pain). Also muscle spasms, his neck and limbs went limp – almost like he was paralyzed. This is only some of what we are dealing with. Definitely a scary situation for any parent.
Brenda
I took Ability for 5 years after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. From the very beginning I told the Dr I was getting tight muscles and I could not walk because of it. The Dr ignored me and said that was not one of the side effects. After a year or so he came in one day and said it did cause muscle spasms and added benzetropin. Still had same muscle spasms. Then had issues with anxiety, driving at night, fear of getting lost.dr put me on Wellbutrin. Then had memory issues and couldn’t say a complete sentence. After going off Wellbutrin got my memory back. Changed Dr’s and went off abilify. Once abilify was out of my system the muscle spasms went away. Now my muscles feel damaged and very swollen all the time. I was sent to see a cardiologist. Hoping that the abilify has not caused issues I can’t recover from.
Sc
W
Nashville
I am shocked at all these posts about Abilify. For me, it is my miracle drug! I have tried just about every anti-depressant and anti-psychotic available – all of them had horrific side effects. I started taking 30 mg of Abilify and 200 mg of Wellbutrin in 2006, and I am still on them in 2017. My only complaint is that I have nerve damage in my toes and I am pre-diabetes. Yes, I did have a little weight gain, but that is probably because I am getting older. I am thinking about asking my doctor to reduce my dosage on my next visit; hopefully to stop the tingly/numb sensation in my toes and to keep me from developing diabetes. I am a very young-at-heart 51 year old that wants to last another generation or more. I feel badly that so many people have had adverse side-effects from this drug. I cannot relate. I have not been psychotic/bipolar for a long time now. The cost never affected me because I have had state-sponsored insurance that only costs me about $3 a month for both medications. Everyone is different. Just keep trying until you find what works for you. Don’t be afraid to tell your doctor if you are having side effects. Eventually, you will discover a drug that works. I had my first diagnosis in 1996 – 21 years ago now.
Alison
My family friend had bipolar and was prescribed Abilify by a nurse practitioner (who should NOT have prescribed such a heavy side-effective drug without a psychiatrist). After she took the drug, not only did it not help with her bipolar disorder but it CAUSED evident nerve damage.
She had trouble swallowing, breathing, walking, etc. Eventually, she was taken off the drug by a qualified doctor. However the nerve damage was done and she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Plus, an advanced form of Parkinson’s disease.
Sadly, she died very soon after being diagnosed, as it was onset by the Abilify. PLEASE do NOT take this drug if you don’t have to, as there are other, safer options that do not cause your death.
Mary
United States
After taking Abilify for a few years, I got sick and ended up in the hospital was diagnosed with gall stones then when they were operating they found my gall bladder exploded and caused some of my intestines fused to vital organs and spine so they had to remove a great deal of my intestines.
I spent 3 days in a medically induced coma and a total of 40 days recovering and learning to do bascule skills again ten 4 months at home having nurse and therapists coming to my house.
Grace
When I was 13 I was on a low dose of Abilify as a mood stabilizer for my Borderline Personality Disorder (undiagnosed at the time) and when I went to the psych ward they upped the dose. Obviously there was the weight gain but my family is heavyset anyway so this wasn’t their biggest concern.
I eventually got taken off of it all together due to nerve damage. Five years later, I have chronic pain syndrome and blood sugar issues that can be more or less directly traced back to the high dose. Gotta love psych wards, huh?
Geneva B
castle rock, wa
I had only been on Abilify for only a week and had sever issues with my speech and muscles in my face and tounge. I have not taken any for a week and am still having troubles speaking. I am hoping this is not long term.
amber
kent, uk
I was prescribed a low dose of quitiapine (Seroquel) to take alongside sertraline and promethazine for major depressive disorder and personality disorder with psychosis. At first i was really really glad for the rest i think i needed it and my delusions slowly stopped happening.
However just over a year down the line i don’t think I’ve ever felt physically more unhealthy. I’ve gained over a stone in weight I have no motivation to do anything but eat and sleep all day and have constant sugar cravings that sometimes keep me awake!
When i try to be physical not only does it exhaust me mentally but i come off feeling even more worthless for trying. I have periods of insomnia and restlessness that wont go away inbetween periods of dribbling and staring in to space all day with no idea where the hours have gone. Palpitations. A stammer when i speak, paranoia and horrible feeling like electeic shocks that run down my nerves are just some of the delights i have developed. But because my psychotic symptoms went away my partner insists that I keep taking this horrible poison or he won’t be here to watch me go mad because i didn’t take the pill.
I don’t even feel like like my life is worth living any more and I’ve done enough research to understand now that there is no way out of this. Please don’t start this medication if you have any other option
Katie
Ca
My husband was prescribed Abilify as an add on to antidepressants. He took 20 it’s for 2 months in which he lost all desire for tobacco, sleeping eating and sex. He began uncontrollable Pacing and insomnia. He claimed he was going blind and had no memory. He had to take time off work because of this and within 2 weeks of not being able to function and being so restless, he hung himself in his shop and died. This was 2 years ago yesterday. I will never understand how the advertisers were allowed to use a cartoon to get people to take this stuff. We thought it would be harmless.
Skylark
Tx
I am a 51 year old female who was prescribed Abilify as an add-on for major depressive disorder. I took the first pill at 12:10 p.m. today. About 1 1/2 hours later, I was dizzy, weak, nauseated, mildly vomiting, had a sudden urge to defecate, and experienced hyperthermia. Again, this was after taking the first Abilify pill ever. Over 10 hours after taking the pill, I still feel sick, and if I move around too much I get nauseated and need to vomit. I will not take another pill and will let my doctor know on Monday what happened.
Patricia
Boston
My brother has had an ugly regimen of antipsychotic meds over the past 25 years due to a nervous breakdown–a breakdown that was actually unavoidable at the time.
Now he is off most medications with the exception of Ariprazole. He got down from 20 mg to 2mg. But no matter how small the dosage, he absolutely cannot live without it. The withdrawal process caused him permanent tardive dyskenisia. However, the remaining 2mg is so powerful that without it he automatically becomes aggressive, sad, argumentative and inappropriate. A totally different man! What a horrible life sentence for any one.
Cane
Toronto
You said the beginning that you have help for the salivation, but there was nothing in the text
Stacie
NC
My 21yo college-student daughter was put on Abilify, after telling her family doctor that she thought she might be bi-polar. Over 8 months she put on about 60 pounds, developed symptoms of pre-diabetes, and worst of all, began having compulsive sexual liaisons and binge eating. Within 3 weeks of going off of Abilify, I am starting to recognize my daughter again. My biggest complaint? She was not monitored through rechecking her condition: just wrote a Rx and sent her on her way. We are fortunate that she is not yet diabetic, not pregnant, and not carrying an STD. I didn’t know she was on Abilify or that she was being treated for anything other than Zoloft for anxiety. I understand she is an adult and the privacy laws, but as a young adult, the doctor should have monitored her more carefully.
Denise
New York, NY
Not bipolar but suffered continual depression. Zoloft saved my life and I’ve been on it for years. However lately, the effect from Zoloft was not sufficient (on 200mg). Asked my psychiatrist about adding Abilify. I’m on 2.5mg Abilify and have noticed dizziness and increased appetite.
Anyone else have these on Abilify. Anything else that helps without these side effects?
Deana
Wpg, MB
I experience dizziness, light-headedness, constipation, nausea due to extreme sensitivity to light. These are the only symptoms that have stayed with me.
I suffer from schizo-affective disorder and the only reason why I have stayed on this medication is because it has dissolved my hallucinations.
I am taking 400mg needle form every 3 weeks due to the fact that I have tactile hallucinations. I have the occasional hallucination, but overall I am in a much better place.
When I first started taking the shot form, I experienced extreme mania, paranoia, anxiety, and mood swings. I was experiencing psychosis..but I stuck it out and my psychosis has dissipated.
I just try to keep hydrated, and now writing this I think I will talk to my eye doctor.
Debbie
Cincinnati OH
I’m 65 with a life long history of depression & it got worse 4 yrs ago when I took on the care-giving responsibilities of my elderly mother. Doc added Abilify to my Cymbalta 10 months ago & it helped at first BUT I sleep almost around the clock & gained 40 pounds in 10 months & I’m still gaining!! I want to taper off but can’t stand being depressed again!
Naomi Q.
Omaha, NE
My seven year old nephew was on Abilify for a few months, and they finally took him off of it when he started threatening suicide at school, despite continually telling the doctor about his mood changes and his rage issues.
Today he tried to run away from school, and they had to call the cops on him as he threatened to kill everyone there and himself. This isn’t him. Please tell me the mood changes and anger go away eventually.
Debbie
Ohio
I am in the exact situation as you!! Caregiver to my mother for past 4 years; depression “treated” with Cymbalta & 5 mg of Abilify. Gained 25 lbs within the first 2 months on Abilify & developed excessive involuntary mouth & tongue muscle movements! Tapered myself slowly off Abilify but I still sleep all day & have the weird mouth movements!!
p
I haven’t been on Abilify for very long… it was added to my Effexor and Wellbutrin for extra help with my depression and lack of energy. I truly know that I’ve gone from sleeping all day long to waking up early and just being a bit more productive and striving to make things happen… my only question is I started noticing my hands shaking continually and just unsteady when I’m writing… just an overall jittery feeling
Al
California
Hi, I just started Abilify 2mg also added to Effexor and Wellbutrin. Just wondering if you are still on it. If you are, how long has it been?, what side effects are you experiencing? what dosage are you on?
Thank you,
Serena
Kansas City
I’m 16 years old and I recently just got put back on Abilify yesterday. The first time I was on it a couple years ago I had no side effects. This time I can’t sit still and my hands are very shaky. I’m constantly squirming and fidgeting. I could not even paint my nails my hands were shaking so badly. My sister had to do it for me. We have seen this kind of side effect with another medication I used to take so we’ve decided to end this drug completely. I will not be taking anymore because it stresses me out and we know that at least for me the restlessness does not seem to go away even after taking the medication for awhile.
Yaris M
NYC
Hi,
I was taking Abilify for 3 years and started getting these weird side effects;
dizziness, mixed emotions, horrible outbursts, hair loss to the point that I have bald spots now, chest pains and also I will feel my heart beat very fast for no reason while I would be sitting down and it will feel like I was running. I stopped taking it because I have noticed the change in me and a few weeks ago when I was watching the television, and saw a commercial of a warning for abilify users and thought to myself “I knew it “. Now I’m permanently bald and I suffer from eye vision which I never did.
Jane
IL
My teen has been suicidal and unable to function in the world. Couldn’t go anywhere that would normally be fun for a teenager without anxiety which ended up in rage. Zoloft wasn’t helping, and there were attempts and self-harm. Abilify was added two weeks ago, and it’s saving my teen’s life. My teen has been social–going to a birthday party, trick or treating and offering even to rake the yard. Anyone with a depressed child knows how big a step that is. I have noticed an increased appetite and shaky hands sometimes. I’m scared to death of this strong medicine but it’s the first med that actually worked. Tomorrow is a blood test to check sugar levels because of shakiness. I just have to pray my child does not get sicker from the medicine. It’s the first time our family has had hope.
Bm
Abilify is a dirty nasty drug giving you all sort of side effects including restlessness,major anxiety,depression rapid change of mood. This shitty drug costs so much and does shit but makes your symptoms worse.
Laura
Ca
My 13 year old daughter was given Abilify while hospitalized for suicidal ideation. She has had insomnia, restlessness, pacing, muscle spasms, and increased desire for suicide. They discount all of her concerns including claiming that she can’t sleep because the beds are uncomfortable and her eyes are closed when the counselors come in at night… i.e. she’s lying. Today I insisted they take her off, but am worried that she’s going to have complications from stopping abruptly. I really hate pharmaceuticals, but this stuff is a nightmare!
Frances
California
I was on Abilify to add to my anti-depressant. It was increased over two years. This drug almost ruined my life. The OCD behavior included gambling like an insane person as well as drinking until I blacked out. I am 58 years old. Who starts drinking alcoholically and gambles like you a rich when you are not. My psychiatrist never told me this. He just kept increasing it. This drug should be taken off the market. Nearly ruined my life and I considered taking my life.
Kayla
Canada
I was diagnosed with psychosis approximately 7 years ago. When they put me on abilify it helped me immensely! All of my strange thoughts went away etc. However, after about 6 years my medication started to have the opposite effect. I started becoming very angry and irritable about anything and everything. I began to feel very depressed. Granted I had a lot also going on at the same time, however I recently started the medication again, worrying I might be getting sick again and I feel the same as I did last time, right before I decided to stop the medication. uncontrollable bouts of anger that can last days, inability to calm down, hearing voices/ thinking people have said something when they have not (yet I heard them), a weird twisting in my neck and neck muscle stiffness. Tremors. Etc. I’m going to stop this medication.
marilyn e.
United Kingdom
My granddaughter took aripipozole for 12mths. She gained 50lbs. She was dizzy, had headaches, depression, 2 suicide attempts. She has autism. She screams when she’s angry and they want to put her back on aripipozle even though she’s happy, not depressed. I’m saying no.
Stephen
TN
About 4-5 years ago..my nurse practitioner. decides to put me on abilify for schezo aff do…my was that a mistake…one morning during this upstanding…being nice…..My throat closes upon me or rather starts to close…I kept clearing my throat…calmly i sat in my chair chair while this happens…most medical professionals. will tell you to keep calm in a disturbing situation such as this….I calles my doctor and discontinued the regimen…now I see it causes compulsive gambling….whats next??? mind control???? this garbage is some scary trash!!!
Michelle
WA
I recently had abilify prescribed for extreme neasua and chronic migraines. She said it would stop neasuay. Everything I read says causes vomiting. I already have that now. Confussed.
Shari
Hi I’m Shari C. I was on Abilify for a few years, 15mg a day. As soon as I started on the medication, I began bouncing my left leg and my left arm was twitching. I wasn’t told by psychiatrist to watch out for any symptoms. I read the medication side effects section that said nothing about what I was experiencing.
I continued taking it and the twitch in arm went away but the leg bouncing never stopped. I ended up taking myself off it by skipping doses. Take one day but not the other. I was taking it once a week when I stopped. Now, I have uncontrolled muscle movement that is wasting me away to nothing.
Also, I cannot cook or do anything which requires prolonged focus as this just makes the movement worse. I am going to a neurologist to see if something else is causing this. So far all tests are coming back normal.
We will see soon enough if Abilify is the true culprit.
Joan
USA
I tapered off of Abilify about 6 months ago (10mg a day for over 2 years), and during these past 6 months I also started taking Kratom. Note: prior to Abilify I was on Lithium, Depakote, and a lower dose of Abilify. I have felt as though I am still feeling withdrawal symptoms from the Abilify, but since I tapered down to taking almost no Kratom this past week, these symptoms seemed to have worsened. I am having restless leg syndrome and restless genital syndrome, which I never even knew existed but realize now I have felt it happening occasionally in the last 6 months. Is it possible that I have been having Abilify withdrawal symptoms all this time, and am just now noticing them because the Kratom, acting like an opiate, was relieving the withdrawal symptoms? On the other hand I am wondering if it is possible I might be having some withdrawals from the Kratom, although despite the symptoms worsening upon stopping Kratom, they have not been present every day since I stopped the Kratom, which makes me think it is not a Kratom withdrawal issue. I am curious and slightly concerned about the situation, any information would be great.
Brenda
Phoenix
Take iron and magnesium at night before you go to bed to see if that takes care of your jumpy legs. It did mine.
annik
canada
I was given Abilify as an add-on to Prozac for my GAD/depression. I tried 2 mg and it was way too strong for me. I was in a zombie state. I took 0.75 mg for close to 2 years. Gained close to 18 pounds on my 5 feet frame. Although worked well for me, but doctors are clueless when it comes to the side effects. They are sold this “miracle pill” without any real knowledge long term of the medication. I have now been weaning off for a month now. Down to 0.25 mg and I can feel the anxiety creeping back and trouble sleeping. Appetite is down a bit. Was always feeling hungry with Abilify.
Bobbie
Buffalo, NY
HI I’m Bobbie I am 20 years old and I have had schizoaffective disorder since I was 10 years old. If you aren’t familiar with schizoaffective disorder its a form of schizophrenia, but you add the mood of somebody with bipolar disorder.
I have been on Geodon, ABilify, Risperdal and Seroquel. These medications are not to be taken lightly they are extremely serious. When I first saw a commercial with Abilify on it, I couldn’t believe it. Such a strong powerful drug used to treat people like me, people who cannot function without medication, to somebody with general depression caught me completely off guard.
People don’t know what they are getting into with anti-psychotics, I know I didn’t when I first started them at 11. Its extremely strong can be dangerous medication, but for people like me, it saved my life. Thank god for Geodon and Abilify so I can live a normal functional life.
John
Brattleboro, VT
YES the stories are scary /sad/bad/animal-like/human soul-killer drugs. ABILIFY is the 2nd and last, at least, my doctor will ever give me. 4 years off Abilify and still trying to see my normal feelings of friends and family that I used too. My doctor is starting to get sick of me. He seems to cover up my recovery and does not care to know that the problem is still there. People will in time give up on suffering people who are still trying to get somewhat back to being human again and not be some sad, lost ZOMBIE.
John
Georgia
My wife has suffered from bi-polar depression and anxiety disorder for years. She has been on and off a multitude of anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, mood stabilizers and other medications to offset side affects.
We have had doctors tell us it was okay to stop a medication (cold turkey) with devastating results. The last time we did taper the dose, but it was still to quick and she ended up in the hospital for a week. It was a really bad experience. I strongly recommend looking up info on line. and not just the manufactures website.
Look for patient reviews, and read a lot of them. Beware that there will be patients who are obviously not taking as directed, not communicating with their doctors, mixing with alcohol or other drugs etc… you have to find some consistency in patient reviews before trusting them. When a listed side affect is weight gain, you can gain more info such as “a lot of people gained 5 lbs” vs- “some people didn’t gain an ounce, but others gained 50 lbs” It’s a lot better than trusting the manufacturer who wants to sell you their stuff, and a lot more accurate.
Barbara
mental illnesses are chronic…life long..conditions. When Abilify came out, just like Zyprexa, it seemed better than Hadol. But these side effects started showing up as people continued to be prescribed them.Off label prescribing increased the problem. Most people go to a public mental health clinic which may not have the most knowledgable prescribers, who are often visited by pharmacy reps with special treats for the staff and vacation seminars for prescribers.Personally I don’t think anyone should be prescribed an atypical antipsychotic unless they are so psychotic they can’t function
Elizabeth
New York
Around 2006 doctors were giving Xanax prescriptions out like tic tacs. When my husband became addicted I told his doctors (2007) and they told me it was not addictive. He died of prescription drug overdose (predominantly Xanax) in 2008. I wish I could find a class action lawsuit to join.
kelly
Philadelphia pa
I totally agree. I was put on ability and it sucked all life out of me. I am a critical care nurse and realized something was very wrong. I was exhausted , lightheaded and ravenously hungry. this drug made me very angry ! I’m going off now , the side effects are unbearable .
Gemma
Canada
I was on Abilify for maybe a week or so last year. Before taking that drug I would never have thought it possible for a human to live with the abject terror that I developed while on it.
My doctor prescribed it as an adjunct to sertraline, which I’d been taking at 200 mg for years for OCD. At first, Abilify didn’t seem to be doing much of anything. Then, out of nowhere, I suddenly became absolutely petrified. The whole world seemed to change into something much scarier, like everyone had morphed into clowns laughing at me. I had egodystonic OCD thoughts that were far more powerful than anything I’d ever had before (and from someone who developed extremely severe OCD at seven years old, this was quite the feat). The absolute worst scenarios I could ever imagine happening felt almost certain, or like they’d already happened. I don’t want to go into detail, because the very idea is still frightening to contemplate – in comparison with the scenarios that consumed by mind, death seemed like a joke. I was sure that the scenario had already happened and that everyone already knew about it and would descend on me like a mob of angry villagers with pitchforks.
When the symptoms first came on, I managed to go to work for the first day or two, though I was crying on the bus ride and felt like everyone at work had morphed into monsters. I became so scared that I couldn’t do anything for days. I couldn’t read books, no matter how innocuous or cheery, and same with TV or movies, because absolutely everything would remind me of some aspect of the Terror. I had to lie totally still in bed, staring at nothing with bulging eyes, trying to keep myself from going completely insane and needing to be hospitalized. I was shaking, crying, and getting panic attacks where I couldn’t breathe and the room felt like it was closing in on me (I hadn’t had a panic attack for like 15 years before this). I was simultaneously SO BORED and SO SCARED at the same time.
I nearly went to the hospital, but I knew the reaction had to be the result of Abilify, and since I’d gone off it, I hoped it would get better soon on its own. I’d called my doctor’s office, but he was on holiday, and the receptionist called him to let him know about my condition. He called me and I told him how I was thinking I’d have to kill myself because the scenario I was afraid was already happening was worse than death, and I was a horrible person, and no one could take the amount of stress I was going through for long. He prescribed quetiapine (which I normally take at night in a tiny dose for sleep) in much higher strength, which helped the fear by knocking me unconscious, and Xanax – which I stopped taking soon after starting because it didn’t calm me at all, and actually seemed to make me worse for a few hours after I took it.
Maybe five days after stopping Abilify, I was feeling a bit better, but it took two weeks before I stopped behaving like someone who’d been in an Iraqi prison for a decade. I felt completely fragile and vulnerable, like a dog used to unpredictable and vicious beatings. I think it was probably another two months before I really returned to normal and the nightmarish feeling went away, though some of the egodystonic thoughts that had appeared from nowhere and which I’d never had before Abilify seem permanently stuck in my mind, in milder form, even a year later.
Nothing could ever convince me to go near that drug again. It was hands down the worst experience of my life. My doctor said my reaction was very rare and that it was probably one of the strangest paradoxical reactions he’d seen in his career. He said I’d reacted like someone who’d needed to be hospitalized for a severe adverse reaction to amphetamines. The experience has had a big impact on my life, because now I know how bad things can really become, and I don’t like living with that knowledge.
Desiree
California
I just had Abilify added as a secondary to my effexor 8 days ago as of today. Everything seemed to be fine and yesterday on the 7th day I started to develop a severe migraine like headache that wouldn’t go away with any conventional treatment. Also developed extremely stiff muscles in my neck and back. It felt like I was in a car accident as well as a temperature of started off at 99.8 and over a two-hour period went up to 101.9 which was the highest. I had rapid heart rate and very low blood pressure.
I don’t have a very good group of doctors through Kaiser at this moment my insurance is changing on June 1st due to this issue with Kaiser. And I talk to the pharmacist and she said that these could be less common symptoms and that I should talk to my doctor about. We were traveling out of town and with the increased elevation all my symptoms got ten times worse than they were prior.
I’ve been on Abilify for 8 days and decided to stop taking it altogether no tapering no nothing I was scared that I had developed the rare condition giving me severe headache muscle weakness and high fever. I would not recommend Abilify to anyone but also recommend that people do their research and not just trust in the doctors.
My question is though is it safe to stop Abilify after only 8 days question mark given the fact that it is an anti-psychotic I know that this is a little more important to not just go off cold turkey. I was on the lowest dose that I believe 15 milligrams if someone could please help or give any advice on whether or not I will have withdrawal symptoms even though it’s been 8 days would be greatly appreciate it. thank you
SkunkFlower
I was given 20 mg of Abilify in 2013 and continued to take it until around January 2015. I had a form of OCD and Generalized Anxiety Disorder for which it was prescribed. The OCD consisted of clenching muscles. The Abilify helped me to feel better emotionally–more “happy”. However, I experienced increased appetite, a lot of weight gain, and high cholesterol. I also began to clench my neck in order to go to sleep which I had never done before taking Abilify in the 8 years of having OCD. After taking Abilify for 2 years I tried going off it and felt depressed and anxious in February of 2015. So in May I was put on Ripserdal (Risperidone) just to see what it would do. My OCD thoughts worsened and I felt horrible. So I was put back on Abilify. The Abilify helped the anxious depression but it never helped me to stop the muscle clenching OCD. In October 2016 I was put on first Anafranil and then Geodone which were both awful and I began to not be able to get to sleep at night and stay up all night because I didn’t want to clench my neck in order to go to sleep any more. I will say that the Anafranil and Geodond seemed to worsen the OCD whereas Abilify did not. I started back in Abilify in February 2016 and it is now May 2016. I still can’t get to sleep at night unless I clench my neck. I know it sounds weird, but it’s true. I stay up thinking and being revved up and I know it can’t just be me, I know that I am not that much of a worrier, but I think it’s the effect of years of medicine like Abilify. My goal is to go off the Abilify and read the Bible instead! God bless. Remember just because someone prescribes a medicine doesn’t mean you have to take it. Be your own advocate and decide what is best for you with your doctor. If there is something like my problem where I can’t sleep at night, tell your dr and don’t just let them write it off as “it’s you it’s not the medicine”. Bc it is possible it’s the medicine. This is my experience with Abilify for OCD anxiety.
Karyl
Arizona
I was prescribed Abilify as an antidepressant booster by a really bad shrink in Austin, Texas. He had our entire group therapy group on that drug.
When Abilify did not work for me and also caused alarming, rapid weight gain (everybody in group was gaining excess weight), this shrink denied that the drug caused weight gain, and rebuffed my protestations that Abilify was worsening my depression. When I got to the Mayo Clinic, the shrink there said this drug often causes weight gain, and took me off of it immediately.
My mood improved quickly, and the extra weight rapidly disappeared. I went thru hell on Abilify for nothing, and realized that the weight gain side effect of the drug was grossly downplayed on the warning insert, probably because nobody would voluntarily take a drug they knew was likely to cause rapid weight gain.
I was especially alarmed when I saw that children vulnerable to peer taunting were given this drug. I tried to complain to the FDA (for the first time in my 50+ year life), and got the run-around. Abilify advertising is ubiquitous, and it scares me that it actually works to increase sales of a drug that is terrible for a lot of people. What are doctors thinking?
Grace
England
I was placed on Abilify at 5mg but after 3 days, I had an headache so severe I was literally banging my head against the wall. I can cope with having an headache but not when it felt like an axe was being put through my head whilst it was on fire. On top of that, I felt like the walking dead so I soon stopped taking it. At my appointment with my pdoc, I mentioned this to him, but all he told me was it’s a “common” side effect that might go with time. None of the other more serious side effects was even mentioned.
My condition is severe as it is and I’m looking at hospitalisation, but I’m refusing to even consider re-taking Abilify and having read the other comments, it looks like I’ve made a wise choice.
Kate
Abilify was amazing when I first started taking it for BPII, I was able to get out of bed, exercise, write.. When before I was big so by mess.
2 weeks in the horrible inner restlessness started and wouldn’t go away no matter how much I did. The big thing was though, I almost killed my whole family by a very stupid choice I made while driving. I would never have done anything like what I did before Abilify. Now I think I have PTSD!
On the upside, I did not have withdrawals when I stopped taking it, and no after effects have been noted.
j. hawkeye
usa
I have been off Abilify for two years and still have uncontrollable mouth movements and panic attacks that I did not have before I took Abilify. I think it has permanently damaged my brain.
kerri
Champaign illinos
I have been on abilify since 2010. It was prescribed to me for a booster for my Effexor EXR which I was taking for anxiety. I was never informed that Abilify was an antipsychotic. I always believed it was just a booster for an antidepressant which I thought was another antidepressant to treat anxiety. Within just a few days of taking the drug I felt better. My anxiety had left me to the point that I had none none meaning I didn’t worry I didn’t worry about anything I just thought wow this medicine really kicks ass it really works. Within three months of taking Abilify I started buying scratch off tickets from the gas stations the impulse to gamble was tenfold. Over the years it just increasingly got worse to the point the thoughts of gambling were consuming my mind I couldn’t think of anything else. My behavior was compulsive, things that I would never do. In the past few years I kept telling my husband there’s something wrong with me I can’t stop. It wasn’t but pure coincidence that my husband was trying to make sense of all this in the change in my behavior over the past several years that he stumbled upon an article on Abilify link to compulsive gambling. I immediately quit taking the drug within four days all of the compulsive behavior was gone. How can something that has lasted nearly 6 years in my mind that I did almost daily meaning gambling, be shut off completely no thoughts of it no urges for it nothing. Since being off the drug I have dealt with some withdrawal symptoms.The restlessness is so bad I find myself pacing up-and-down walking around my husband actually found me standing up asleep last night. I really hope that the subside soon. If I was ever informed of any of these Side effects or the long-term damage that I can do I would have never touch the drug. I feel failed by my doctor by the pharmaceutical companies and the medical professions in general. I do know that the drug may help some and I’m glad for that. But this was a total nightmare for me I have lost six years of my life due to this drug. Please if anybody has any insight or comments or related stories on this please feel free to comment thank you
Patricia
Maryland
I have been on Abilify along with Wellbutrin for depression and anxiety.. I have been on these drugs for about six years.. now I am having problems with tremors . I went to see a neurologist and he said to get off of the Abilify .. there is a condition called Ablilfy tremors and that is what I am going through .I wake up every morning with my mouth and chin area shaking .. like if someone was freezing .. I hate it .. this usually hits me at least two times a day .. not fun .. stay away from this drug I may have these tremors the rest of mylife ..
Iman
United Arab Emirates
Hi Kerri, I too have been on Abilify since 2012, since I was only 19 years old. I feel devastated by the fact that so many years have gone by and so much damage has been done by taking this drug every single day that I don’t even feel like talking about it..
I wish that no one takes the path that I have been on, especially at such a young age and I really recommend all people to stay away from all AntiPsychotics especially Abilify and Respiradol, especially if there are other healthier alternatives like homeopathic medicines.
I also would like to suggest for the people that are currently living with Abilify to have faith that they will get off it one day – I pray that for everyone on Abilify. It takes a lot of strength to have strong faith when on Abilify, but it is important to stay hopeful and do meaningful activities as well like exercising, praying and doing useful activities as well. It is difficult for anyone on medication but I am sure that God has something better in store for you all, or is saving you from something else terrible. God bless.
Kat
NJ
I can wholeheartedly sympathize with all the people who have been “victimized” by the use of these drugs (anti-depressants, anti-anxiety, etc.,), because, I, myself have fallen victim to such medications, yes, I was on Abilify for a stretch as well, and while at first things seemed to be a little better, it didn’t last. My cholesterol became elevated, I gained some weight (20 lbs) gambled at the casinos in Atlantic City quite frequently until I had lost over 500 dollars, but then came to my senses and stopped going altogether.
Unfortunately, I still have this need to purchase items online ( Amazon) as if it’s going to give me a thrill, but it’s not due to Abilify, because I haven’t been on it for years now. However, I have been on Carbamazapine for 12 years as an off label treatment for bi-polar illness, but I just tapered off of that a week back, because I didn’t like the side effects that accompanied that drug, like anger and argumentative behavior towards my family.
I am in a much better place now, I almost feel like my old self. These drugs change people, make no mistake about that. I also suffer from essential tremor ( according to the neurologist I saw quite a few years back for an another problem), which has never gone away, I suspect it never will. We must advocate for ourselves and never “blindly” accept everything practitioners “demand” or prescribe that we do or take, because we are not guinea pigs, we are human beings manipulated by the pharmaceutical industry into believing that a “drug (s)”is the only treatment available. They may work for some people, good for them, but they probably wreak havoc, in one way or another, for the majority. I am into meditation now, like the monks have practiced for centuries, way before there was a such thing as “big pharma”.
Bianca
NSW
I was prescribed Abilify approximately two weeks ago for my depression and anxiety disorder and of all the medications I have tried over the past 24 months, this one has had the worst side effects and continuing effects after being taken off the drug. I have never before felt so fatigued that all I can do is lie down and stare straight ahead, and even THIS feels like a huge effort! Whilst on the medication I experienced unwavering, debilitating fatigue, mouth spasms and difficulties with bright light and looking upwards for any amount of time. Due to such exhaustion and side effects my psychiatrist agreed to take me off Abilify three days ago. For the past three nights I have remained extremely fatigued and exhausted, however become so restless, agitated and achy at night that I have not been able to grasp a wink of sleep at all over the past three nights and often find myself tearing my hair out or pacing restlessly or searching for things without apparent cause or reasonable explanation. My experience with Abilify has been absolute hell, so much so that its residual effects after withdrawing from it have perhaps been even worse than the side effects I had whilst on the drug. And what makes this whole experience even worse is the fact that I was never foretold of these possible side effects, and thus was unsure if these were side effects of the new drug (Abilify) or the side effects of withdrawal from another drug I was on (venlafaxine). I am wondering if my side effects and symptoms would not have been so bad had I not been put on Abilify and taken off venlafaxine (which I had been on for quite some time) both within the same day.
J
Australia
I’m on it now. Finding it devastating. Nobody’s listening to me. It made me schiz worse not better and a whole hoast of physical problems. I do not reccomend it.
Calli
Arizona
Could I still feel the bad effects from taking this drug years later? I am really tired all the time and my limbs feel like they are 1000 pounds! I can’t focus or concentrate on anything. It’s hard to do anything a lot of the time. Except to eat and sleep.
Cat
Los Angeles
Thank you so much for writing about your reaction to Ability. Yesterday I realized I felt like I was walking around with bags of sand on my shoulders. When I lie down on my bed it takes too much energy to rollover yet at the same time I feel too restless to relax. What an awful, awful feeling! Will be calling my doctor to address this issue.
Cherie
Minnesota
Check for Lyme disease
Catherine
London
Our daughter was precribed Abilify in 2014,ans is still on medication 2.5mg.
Some side effects, nothing serious,
No weight gain/but increased appitite,managable but difficult most of the time/
Sleeps well after exercising: eg: swimming,walking,horseriding,
I am of the thinking,a complete excersise programme should coincide with taking any form of psychotic drug ,this is the way forward to recovery.
We are dealing with an active energised ,full of beans person,
Would climb any mountain if there was a bar of chocolate on the summit.
So why get depressed about antidepressants or suppressors.
Elizabeth
USA
I was abruptly discontinued from Abilify (20mg/day) in 2013 and went through four months of unvarnished physical withdrawal hell, exactly like going cold turkey off heroin or cocaine. I had gained over fifty pounds despite hard weight training and cardio. The doctor and nurse actually believed that only walking for half an hour a day would take the weight off.
Please run if anyone tries to prescribe Abilify or any other atypical antipsychotic for you or a loved one.
This drug is
Cassandra
It works great for me. Took my depression away, however the voices still tell me to hurt myself. I tell the voices to shut up. Before abilify, I had very bad depression and attempted a serious suicide attempt (4 weeks in the ICU) plus a month stay in the mental ward. This is all before I started abilify. I had a lot of attempts in my life other meds does not work as well. This is the best med for me. I give it an A+. All meds affect people different ways.
I stayed out of the mental ward for 2 years now!!! The depression got better, but if a major life event happens, who knows if I will keep myself from hurting myself again. Abilify is the best!!!
I love Abilify.
T
New Smyrna
7 year old started on this after having to stop another due to adverse and irreversible side effects. After about 3 weeks agitation continues to increase and he is less happy. He us starving all the time and gained 12 pounds. Wish we could find what works with less side effects
Melissa
Pennsylvania
My son was started on Abilify at the age of 6 this past year. He has gained about 30 pounds since starting, and still is having aggressive tantrums. He was diagnosed with ASD (autism spectrum disorder ), and also takes Tenex 3 times daily. I want to get him off this med, but am terrified. His cholesterol is high, and due to my concern for his weight gain, they recommended him starting metformin which I am not willing to do. I just want my healthy child back!
Aaron
Wisconsin
Took 2.5 mg for a month then went up to 5mg. Decided to cut those in half. After two months, my blood sugar levels jumped drammatically to a prediabetes level. No way that I’ll continue this medication and risk getting full on diabetes.
Lisa
Victoria BC, Canada
I’ve been on Abilify for 5 years only because I can’t get off of it. It’s caused me to go broke and now that I’m on disability it’s taking most my my grocery money to buy it. I hate the stuff but going off makes me feel I’d be better off dead. What can I do, I’ve tried at least a dozen times to wean off of it but my symptoms are 100 x’s worse than what I went on it for.
nagbys
perth australia.
what did it do for your intellectual pursuits? (im pretty sure, from my experience, reduced them to 0) …. :(
kerri
Why did it make you go broke?
Name
USA
Because its $1,000 a bottle/month!
Joe
Get the generic!
Amy
Tennessee
Generic 5mg is $600/mo. I found out after having to have my 17-yr old’s prescription pre-authorized by insurance, even though last month this wasn’t required, & after waiting 2 days & still no pre-authorization coming through, I’m thinking maybe it was making her worse anyway. She is currently on 225mg effexor after her Dr. has tried lexapro, wellbutrin, then effexor, followed by a suicide attempt & hospitalization (where they added the abilify). Over the last 2 weeks or so her mood has not improved & at times is worse. The first day after we ran out of abilify, she seemed off, but today she seems ok. Taking her back to the Dr. this week to discuss.
Mary
Texas
Call the company that makes the namebrand Abilify and ask for help paying for it I did that and even after it went generic I signed a paper at pharmacy requesting brandname only With the special rate that the pharmaceutical company approved I only paid $20 or $30 (I can’t remember) I have different insurance now and pay $10 for the generic
Over the last 3 years I’ve taken abilify several times for only 2 to 3 months each time Then it stops being effective and I taper off Then start back several months later This time I have been on 2 mg for one month and just decreased to every other day It has caused me to gain 40 lbs so I’m hoping this decreased dose will still be helpful but allow me to lose some weight
Jennifer
USA
Abilify has been a miracle drug for my BP 1 disorder. I was on lamictal for a year because Abilify became unaffordable and ended up in the hospital with suicidal ideation. Put back on abilify now in a generic form and back to “normal”. Although it always makes me very tired. It is the only medication/treatment that lifts the dark clouds for me. 15mg dose…. Titrated up from 5 over a few months.
Lori
Texas
My daughter, age 17, was on the 15mg dose for about a year, during which time we tried unsuccessfully to wean her off twice. The drug seemed to curb some of the eating disorder thinking, and at first her depression subsided. But this was all replaced with debilitating anxiety, hyper-sexual behavior, delinquency, involuntary muscle spasms, and inability to focus. She stopped going to school, ran away, was in court twice, was covered in cuts and burns, and ended up back in the hospital (out of control) several times. The withdrawal symptoms are HORRIBLE- and it was never worse than when we tried to wean her off. She suffered paranoia, uncontrollable rage, panic,etc. We finally admitted her for two weeks to a facility to get her off of the drug. I highly suggest this! Honestly, how no one, including her, died during that year was astonishing!
Background: Her issues started presenting at age 12- depression, eating disorders, obsessive tendencies. These were hard to sort out because they coincided with a sudden move across country and puberty. She has had about 7 different diagnosis in total but I believe she suffers from a chemical imbalance- similar to ADHD. She survived one major suicide attempt and has been hospitalized 6 times with suicidal tendencies–each time trying to switch meds.
She is off of it now, and finally the suffering has ended, and she’s doing really well! I know everyone will react to this drug differently but, in our experience, it was the worst one my daughter ever took. DANGEROUS is an understatement.
Cynthia
Texas
Which medication is your daughter taken now if any ??
michelle
Brockport NY
My son was out on it at age 6 and he now at age 10 doesn’t even look like my child anymore with all the weight gain. He has aspergers and was having some wandering and emotional lability at school and summer camp so we kept increasing this right up to 10mg. I accidentally took one of his pills once ( single mom of 5, 3 on autism spectrum and in college for architecture on a busy school morning) and a 2 mg almost knocked me out. When my son’s psych office closed I titrated him down on my own to 2 mg’s and recently have been cutting them in half. He wants to eat all the time, and has rapid eye blinking for days on end at random times. I have had him off this med fully for about a week now and his eyes have very dark circles under them and he is experiencing shooting pain through his head as a withdrawal symptom. ( I think this is what they refer to as “brain zaps”) I will not be putting him back on this no matter how much his teachers may complain. This may help some with no problems but it is not for my child. It breaks my heart to watch him go through this knowing I am the one who ok’d it.
Shelly
Pittsburgh
I have been on Abilify since 2011, with the highest dosage being 5mg. My P-doc reduced it to 2 mg then I decided to get off of it completely. I’m going into my third week and my other two anti-depressants are keeping me stable, but my teeth and gums ache. I have beautiful teeth and don’t have any cavities but my dentist says it’s part of the Abilify withdrawal process. She’s advised that I take low doses of pain reliever to take the edge off, but that only lasts for an hour or so. My food has to be eaten at room temperature as my teeth and gums are extremely sensitive to the point that I want to pull them out for relief, which I dare not do! On top of that, I also have dark circles under my eyes and gained 60 pounds with a pot belly. Hate it! Although Abilify was part of the cocktail of anti-depressants I was taking for my major depression disorder and OCD, I hope to never have to take this drug again?
Sam
USA
This drug was HORRIBLE for me. I took the first tablet in the evening, 10mg. Went to bed. Dozed on and off. Woke up with my legs moving under the sheets as if peddling a bicycle. Next morning, terrible headache. Blurred vision. Severe anxiety. Picture on TV screen appeared 3-dimensional. Looked as though there was a leathery filter over my vision. Could barely think. The next night I could not bring myself to swallow another one of those pills from hell. AWFUL!!!
Angela
California
My son who has taken Abilify for 5 years is currently in the process of getting off this medication. He went from 30mg to 20mg for a month then decreased to 10mg for a month. Has already lost 25lbs and is feeling better, more energy, clear mind. Side effects from withdrawal are dry mouth, trouble sleeping or staying asleep, frequent urination. Soon he will be taking 5mg and hopefully after that be done completely. This is his second attempt to get off this medication. First time he did it too quickly. We are thankful his doctor is supporting his efforts to live a drug free life. These drugs are great for a short term solution but long term they destroy health of body and mind.
Gavin
England
I take 30mg a day have only one side effect at present and that is my blood pressure drops when I stand up making me dizzy and sometimes need to sit back down been on this a year for schizophrenia and bipolar 1 this stuff is a life saver. In the first couple months I did have really bad restlessness and insomnia and an inability to get comfy my legs ached none stop from pacing around but these have gone away.
Marian
NH
Abilify was my life saving “go-to” drug. It worked so well for me when we got the dosage level right. Now this was a bit of a challenge, because one mg too much and I did experience the uncontrollable muscle movements….and they were severe! Still, it did such a good job of eliminating the circular thoughts, the suicidal thoughts, that I was willing to work with it until I hit the right dosage. Then the assistance program through which I was getting the medication was eliminated and I could no longer afford the drug. I was forced to make a change two weeks ago. I am no longer on the abilify and am having some strange reactions. My legs, arms and head feel as though they’ve been loaded with lead. Lifting my limbs is a task. And I am having muscle tremors. Is this part of the withdrawal? I think it must be. I’ve not changed anything else that I’m doing. Please respond if you have any insights on the withdrawal symptoms. I’ve been on Abilify for years……4mg a day. Thanks
Jen
East Coast
After a few months of starting Abilify I started gambling, pathologically so, and I had never in my life had a problem with gambling. I was so ashamed (spent close to 100,000) that I told no one and tried to control it. After 3 years I happened to come across a link to a law firm representing people that took Abilify and suffered from Pathological gambling. I immediately stopped the Abilify and within 2-3 months the urge, need and desire to gamble disappeared.
Thanks Abilify, for killing my soul as well as my marriage.
Jane
USA
I started taking Abilify about 6 years ago as an adjunct to my Prozac for major depression. I’d previously taken Zyprexa, on which I gained a LOT of weight – over 100 pounds. Since I started taking Abilify (and changed to a whole foods, plant based diet) I’ve lost 150 pounds. It has also helped to keep depression at bay. It’s been a wonderful medication for me and I had no negative side effects from it – until I stopped.
Due to insurance issues, I was without the pills for about 3 weeks. The first week was fine. I thought maybe I didn’t need it anymore. Then the withdrawal hit. I had diarrhea the likes of which I never had before. I became teary and sad. I felt so worn out that sitting up was hard. I had a constant background headache. It was awful. I’ve been back on it now for three days. I feel better in mood and energy, but still have the diarrhea. Hoping that goes away soon. I see my nurse practitioner tomorrow to see if there’s anything I can do.
Ann
United States
I was first given Abilify as an add-on for a ‘weird’ depressive state I went through after a death in my family which closely followed and reminded me of my dad’s illness and death. I will say it pulled me out of the worst of it, but after that didn’t do much for regular depressive state. I quit taking it within a few months because I was gaining a pound a week and I’ve never been heavy person. Not only that but it was causing significant breast growth, which I haven’t seen mentioned here but found in literature as another side effect. My doctor seems to think this stuff is the greatest and talked me into taking again, and just two days in I feel like a zombie, and my heart rate is high. I have also just read there are lawsuits starting because it apparently causes compulsive eating and gambling. (Bizarre combo)
Honestly I think I get better mood lift from walking/jogging. Plan to discontinue b/c potential damage bigger than benefits for me.
I would also like to add that anyone with depression should get vitamin D levels checked and thyroid. I had D deficits and autoimmune thyroid damage. After thyroid, the greatest improvement anything ever gave me immediately was vitamin D.
chris
ny
This medication alone gave me akathisia after a day. I was already in the hospital at the time to deal with suicidal thoughts that were too much for me to handle (MDD). I had been taking Wellbutrin for 2 days upon arrival, and I was agitated from it, I guess. They convinced me to try Abilify upon checking in, and they immediately discontinued the Wellbutrin, which was, I think, making me more angry and suicidal.
Well, first I developed akathisia and did not know what it was at the time. The doctors thought that was normal behavior for me because they didn’t take the time to get to know me. Akathisia took my MDD and made it look like no big deal. I really can’t remember much when I was on Abilify. I’m not even sure how long I took it (1-2 weeks?).
During that time I rocked back and forth day and night; couldn’t sit still let alone sleep; paced around in circles; tried to no avail to get even one single thought clear enough in my mind to communicate. I was extremely frustrated and confused. I felt like my body was going to explode, like a ticking bomb was inside me. It was not just that I couldn’t sit still, I have had that before and know what it feels like. This was different and much worse. I was on some sort of mental loop, talking in circles and not making sense. I wrote illegible gibberish about my life in the third person in my journal. I regularly got lost in a hallway the length of a tennis court. My loved ones looked at me with eyes popping out whenever I spoke it seemed.
Within 1-2 weeks of starting the Abilify I also got TD all up the right side of my face along with a mild stutter, and that’s why I insisted on discontinuing it. Luckily, even as confused as I was, I was still too vain to risk a permanent facial twitch.
Once I was off the medicine the akethisia wore off quickly, and the hospital staff seemed surprised/confused/embarrassed to realize that I was no longer unable to manage my behavior now that I was med free. In fact I was calm and relieved to be just depressed again. The TD stopped coming back shortly after my last dose but the stutter has persisted. I wonder if Abilify caused me to have what people consider a nervous breakdown. Does anyone know if that’s what it was?
I still feel worse than I did before the ordeal. and that was 3 years ago. I try not to spend too much time thinking about whether or not my depression would be easier to treat had I never experienced the Abilify ordeal. I think it may have damaged my brain, since I have had trouble remembering most new information and organizing sentences (hence the stutter) ever since that hospital stay. I know it really damaged my trust in psychiatrists, although that’s something that might have happened some other way by now anyway.
I know that if I still trusted doctors, was not afraid to try other meds, and was able to remember the things my therapist said that I’d have a better chance at getting out of this depression. I never knew it could last this long.
J
Sydney
I was forced to take abilify as part of my forced community treatment order. I suffer from paranoia and they are trying to convince me I have schizophrenia. I got side effects like weight gain and it does not take the paranoia away AT ALL. Stay away from this drug nothing good will come from taking it.
Rose
CT
I have been on 5 mg. Abilify for 6 months or so. It has taken much of my anxiety away. I was on Ativan for anxiety and need to take far less of it. However, this medication (Abilify) makes me drool a little, sleep terribly at night, have nightmares, hair loss, and terrible cramps in my ankles and legs. I don’t want to take it anymore, but I am not sure what to do bc the dr, puts you on something that is similar to it. It is also very expensive.
adam
new york
I was on olanzapine for 3 or 4 months with a short break before I started taking a low dose of abilify, which I’ve been on for 3 months. In the time since I started taking the olanzapine I have gained 50 pounds with no changes in diet or exercise. I quit taking abilify about a week ago and started experiencing nausea and vomiting about 3 days in. My doctor was confident I wouldn’t experience withdrawal because my dose was so low but I can’t point to anything else. It doesn’t feel like a stomach flu as most of the time I feel fine.
Leah
Washington State
I am Bipolar Type II, and take 200 mg. Lamotrigine a day. Originally I was also on Zyprexa but absolutely hated the weight gain, so my doctor suggested Abilify. I was on it for exactly one month with restlessness as my only side effect, but I decided I wanted off of it. My doctor directed me to take half a pill (5 mg.) for 3 days, then discontinue the drug altogether. I was fine until four days later, when I became severely nauseated. I felt like I had the flu… except it lasted and lasted. Finally, after reading some posts about the drug and the need to titrate off of it, I started taking 2.5 mg. again, thinking that would make me feel better. Not so. I was severely nauseated for two months, making me lose 20 pounds. Finally, the nausea went away, but I am just so nervous to go to 2 mg., as I am worried that I will feel that same nausea again, and I cannot afford to lose anymore weight, nor do I want to be so unavailable to my teenage daughters and husband. Has anyone else had such an experience? This is an evil, evil drug, and I think it should be banned. I’m just waiting for the class-action lawsuit.
robert
usa
No real major improvement or decline in mood with aripiprazole. Still feel lousy mentally and don’t feel much in the way of doing anything at all. Do not feel the finer points of thought nor emotion and live in a cognitive blank. Total anhedonia when it comes to socializing and communicating with people and have no use for them anymore. I felt this way before aripiprazole but now feel this way plus physical discomfort. Tightness in my chest and back. Feeling a chest fullness. Insomnia day and night.
As a result I lie on my couch all day and do nothing.. Barely even groom and the thought of the things I used to be self motivated to engage in now sicken me. Poor appetite too boot. I guess aripiprazole doesn’t help but I don’t want to stop it for fear of withdrawal effects. Also take lots of venlafaxine and some trazadone.
Lana
SF, CA
I am currently on 150 mg of Effexor, along with multiple other medications to treat a variety of mental disorders. I was prescribed abilify on top of all the medications only A WEEK AGO. I’ve already woken up throwing up, started twitching horribly, and either can’t stop sleeping or stay up for days straight. I know people react differently to medications but if you are placed on more than one medication run away from abilify. My family has a history of diabetes, something disregarded by the medical professionals. My dosage is low, and I take one a day to treat “undiagnosed schizophrenia,” rapid cycle manic bipolar, and depression. I feel worse than before mentally and physically. After one week. There has been no other change to routine to cause this. This medication has not been worth the discomfort it has caused.
Gwen
West Columbia, SC
I was on abilify for a month and I had already begun to have strong symptoms of feelings of being out of my body, no memory, loss of concentration and I am still experiencing th restlessness after two weeks of cold turkey withdrawal. The withdrawal has been rough, having headaches , muscle pain and arthritis all over my body, and sensitivity to heat and insomnia,. How long does it take to get through the withdrawal period, It seems to be tapering off a little at a time but I am still experiencing some really bad days… I am starting to return to myself but I just want it all over with, being half me just isn’t enough.
Jake
UK
Truth is this drug probably works for some. It is one hell of a side effect giver though. Stopped 2 years ago from a 4 week trial and have spasms and jerks, blurred vision. Be careful with this drug.
morten
europe
If you ever ask yourself is abilify causing me to forget things or make my hear beat faster or make me less manly read this:
I experienced severe brain injury and memory loss
I got something that resembled a heart attack
My testicles became very soft
I am sensitive to all anti psychotics, but if I can get these extreme reactions, so can you, just to a lesser degree.
Julie
My experience with Abilify was that it caused very negative side effects while taking it, strange withdrawal symptoms, and long-lasting damage that far outweighed any benefit.
For example, I gained 70 pounds. I had tardive dyskenisia while taking it that has lessened but still recurs 4 years after stopping. My emotional states were very blunted (They don’t call it the emotional straightjacket for nothing). Friends told me my sense of humor came back after I stopped taking it. Withdrawal symptoms lasted for years. For several months I experienced food allergy type reactions to most things that I ate. In addition, for 2 years after my last dose I had gluten sensitivity along with extreme anxiety and panic attacks that eventually stopped.
Kieran
Toronto
Were you on it long?
Kieran
Toronto
I’ve had a very similar experience and it’s 20 months later for me. Did the panic feelings subside gradually or did they go away suddenly after 2 years? Please let me know.
MB
Calif
Trying to figure out if I should go on Abilify.
SM
I was on Abilify for over 2 years. I have major depression, anxiety, and OCD, yet I was on 20 mg of the drug. That is a terribly high dosage for what I needed to be treated for. I was also on 2 other medications at the time. Also, I was only 14 when I was started on the medicine. I became very suicidal, I started cutting myself, everything in general got worse. This happened right after I started taking it, but they kept me on it for another 2+ years (I gained 50 pounds while on Abilify). I’ve been in and out of hospitals and they have finally taken me off of it. I took another common medicine while on Abilify recently and I had a seizure. I’ve been off of Abilify for about 1 month now and I can tell an incredible difference in myself. Do not take Abilify. The little bit of good you may get of it will not outweigh the bad.
mel
La.
I have been on Zoloft for about 2 years now. I started at 100 now 150 mgs. Things still aren’t right with me. I have the “don’t wants” , the don’t cares, and whatevers” all the time. My Doc put me on Abilify 2mg tabs . I felt the difference, for the better, in a short period of time. Well my 1st script cost me $8.00, with no refills. I didn’t realize that until almost the end of the script. So I went almost a month without. The withdrawal symptom where terrible. I was finally able to see Doc, and she prescribed me some more Abilify. Now the price is ridiculous. Any help ?
Gregory
United States
I have bipolar disorder, țype II. I took lithium for about 9 years. There were several side effect from that medication, the worst one was a permanent tremor that left me disabled from my profession as a dentist. I started taking Abilify 10 years ago after stopping the lithium. I have had little if any side effects and it seems to be working very well. I also take Wellbutrin and Lamictal; together these meds have made my life much more manageable.
Cathy
Iowa
I started taking Abilify last year as a supplement to my anti- depressant and deeply regret it. I have gained 25 pounds even though I exercise almost daily & watch what I eat. I missed some medication because of switching to Medicare, & experienced the worst anxiety of my life. I am going to talk to my doctor about going off gradually. The doctor never told me the side effects. This is a scary drug!
eugen
bucharest
I took abilify for 2 and 1/2 months, and at first I had slept 16 hours a day,next my shrink told me to take sleeping pills like zolpidem or stillnox, one month I slept 6-8 hours a day and everything seems ok. Next month I began to get worse, to sleep I need more and more sleeping pills, and being overactive until I couldn’t bear it, I suffer from paranoia my doc has no guilt.
I switched back to 4mg of risperidone I have trouble with sleep -5 hours a day! I hate to say I drool a lot I feel like a stupid for taking this stuff !
Carmelisa
I took Abilify for about 8 or 9 months, in addition to Paxil and a few other psychotropic meds for mood stabilization as part of my Borderline Personality Disorder. Oddly enough, I didn’t fully understand how negatively it was affecting me from the start. I developed akathisia gradually over a month or so but didn’t recognize the restless feeling inside for what it was, because I didn’t pace, or at least not at first. I got to the point where I experienced the urge to move all the time and sitting reading a book became almost unbearable. Despite the purpose of the med to stabilize my mood, I developed a numb feeling where even crying when I felt sad deep down was quite the task. On the other end of the spectrum, true happiness felt far away as well (although I think personal depressive symptoms contributed a little, too). I definitely noticed the cognitive side effects, but again didn’t trust myself enough to know that a medication could affect me in this way. I thought I suddenly became incompetent in school and memory, or that maybe I had always been this way and never “realized” it. It affected my memory and concentration in a HUGE way, and even though I’ve been off the medication for almost five months, I’m still recovering from this med-induced deficit. Fortunately for me, it was temporary, but please don’t hesitate to approach your psychiatrist if you are experiencing cognitive issues or anything that may not have been explicitly mentioned to you as side effects. Be brave, embrace your right to recovery, and only stay committed to therapy and medications that truly help relieve the symptoms you experience.
Steven
Abilify left me with permanent heart damage and now I’m disabled because of it. Why this poison is legal is beyond me.
kendall
college station
Hi I took Ablify for a short period of time in my teens and I still have muscle spasms. I also sometimes can’t be happy. When I was younger I was angry about all the things I hadn’t been able to talk about and they put me on a mood stabilizer. I feel like I have long term depression because of the Ablify.
Kieran
How long did you take it?
jenn
87533
I’ve been taking a low dose of abilify for a few years now its made me gain a lot of weight an I developed a lot of face movements, not knowing the side effects that happen to be one of them. I thought the cause of the face movements was anxiety and the weight gain I developed was due to depression. After reading the side effects that was not discussed with me by my doctor I will discontinue taking this medicine hope this helped.
Abilify victim
Toronto
ABILIFY causes permanent side effects from short term exposure. I have found many other people who have experienced akathisia, tremors, blurred vision, tinnitus, twitching, jerking, dizziness, confusion and more for years after stopping. I took it for 8 weeks and am left immobilized after 14 months of no exposure. I do not know what the future holds for me with this but I now realize this is not my fault for being more careful. Don’t think this can’t happen to you.
Brian
United States
I was put on aripiprazole as an assistive drug to antidepressants and anticonvulsants to treat my bipolar disorder type 2. Although I don’t recall many side effects of being put on it, it was the withdrawal that got to me. As I am writing this I am up from sleeping with insomnia and periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD) which affects my torso and mainly my arms. I’ve been noticing this awful side effect for about a week now, about two to three weeks after abrupt cessation of Abilify. “Thank you very much” to my clueless psychiatrist who blindly advised me off of it.
To anyone out there who might know of a home remedy or natural treatment for this malady, I would be very grateful to know about it, as I am quite reluctant to go on yet another pharmaceutical that will supposedly “fix” this problem. I need to sleep again.
jacob
Worst month of my life thanks to Abilify. As I am still currently going through side effects coming off of it. I literally almost died last night due to a panic attack I got while driving. The people it does help I am glad though. Unfortunately there are different reactions. For me I haven’t been more scared of anything in my life
Sabrina
united States
Have you tried the natural supplement “melatonin”? I would get it from a healthfood store / natural grocery vs. main stream drug store. You do not need to take it every day – once or twice should assist your own natural balance of Melatonin / serotonin levels in your body (what helps you naturally sleep in the first place. Google it for better facts; I’m no doctor.
Mayra
Phoenix, AZ
I have bipolar disorder, was put on Abilify to keep the mania away, works ok except now I have uncontrolled eye movements, and blurred vision, as well as high red blood cell count.
Carmelisa
While I don’t know the specifics of your symptoms and experience, I still believe that you should not feel afraid to approach your doctor to try a new medicine. You shouldn’t have to live with those side effects! Explore the options with her/him and weigh the pros and cons with adequate information about all possible side effects. This is not necessarily the only med that can help you. The side effects, even if only physical, can interfere with a personal sense of recovery. That is what happened for me during my experience with Abilify before I switched to something different.
Annie
United States
I’m lucky in that Abilify works for me as a sidekick to five other anti-anxiety drugs. It’s excessive, but this cocktail has worked when nothing else has and I’m able to leave the house to do things for the first time in my adult life.
As a former psychiatry, current psychology student, I do worry about TD. I do deeply worry.
People criticize my medication regimen, but they don’t understand what years of constant anxiety feel like. They don’t understand worrying to the point of having a psychotic episode, your hair turning white before you hit thirty, or dreaming every rare night that you can sleep of vivid, very real images of decomposition and putrefaction. It was rough, I obviously couldn’t work, but no amount of exercise, positive thinking, or clean living helped.
For people like me, Abilify is a literal lifesaver. I owe my life to this drug. That’s something I want people to keep in mind when I say that our policy towards advertising and over-prescribing this drug *has to change*. SSRI and SNRI discontinuation is a very serious problem that doctors don’t seem to know or care about. Aside from serious neurological effects, I very seriously worry about people struggling with current or past addiction who may be triggered into using again to escape the nightmare of withdrawals.
To prescribe this medication to a crowd watching the commercials and empathizing with a little cartoon woman who can’t picnic with her family is just criminal, and yes, I do still worry very much about TD.
Steven
Abilify is likely WHAT CAUSED your problems in the first place… It should be banned and anyone who prescribes it should rot in a cell somewhere.
anom
I would like to know more about you experience, it clearly impacted your life in an extremely negative way. I not a psychiatrist but I work closely with them and find when I’m more informed and better able to articulate my concerns on behalf of the people I work with I am more effective in being an advocate for them.
I’m working with someone now and what they have expressed is a sense that their ‘mind is empty” as well as feeling like they are not able to think…. and weight gain and all the negative implications that follow.
anom
Thank you for your insight, I work in mental health and have many concerns about the effects of these powerful drugs on my clients. I appreciate people’s experience in order to inform me in my work, your experience is helpful. Thanks.
Fawzi
Beirut, Lebanon
Hey Annie i’m happy for you that u improved on Abilify, and btw as long as ur happy and satisfied don’t ever care about the amount of drugs ur taking at the same time as long as it’s working for you, i myself been living with ADHD and major chronic depression since childhood and tried dozens of otc’s from Stimulants and Non-Stimulants (neither worked for me btw) , SSRI’s to SNRI’s to Benzos and lot of illegal street drugs and list goes on and on till the present day. to be honest i’ve been trying to quit most of the things i was taking, firstly tramadol (been on heroin in the past) stopped my SSRI months ago, i’ve been only smoking weed or hash or salvia occasionally , still on Xanax and Vallium mostly with my beta blocker Propranolol (Inderal) trying to ease my withdrawal symptoms from opiates and other street drugs (i even drink cough syrup sometimes DXM) life been a big mess for me and everyday is challenging, been unemployed for about 2 years now, i need to move out of my bed but can’t or lack the energy for it (or maybe motivation) anyway since i see ur a psychology student and been through a lot of anxiety and demotivation and being honest about it i felt someone can really understands me. i was about to Start Abilify as i read it can help stabilize my dopamine and serototnine and maybe get me out of my bedroom and start working again but as i stumbled accross this website and read those HORROR stories i’m now afraid of starting it as i’m always dealing with anxiety. to be honest i’m broke and can’t afford to see a doctor, i live in Beirut, Lebanon (mid east) u know how things are crazy around here :) our economy is zero no insurance no social security, so i’m trying to self medicate, with the cheapest drugs, i read about Guanfacine it seems to ease the hyperactivity but don’t help the mental focus , read about Clonidine too but it seems too sedative. what are ur thoughts ? i would greatly appreciate any help.
i’m 36 years old and still feels that i didn’t pass my teen years, can’t handle the big burdens i’m facing nowadays :(
MC
USA
Thank you to everyone for sharing your experiences. The Association for Comprehensive NeuroTherapy (ACN Latitudes) just recently posted a story from a parent whose child was treated with Abilify for Tourette’s Syndrome and he experienced some very debilitating side effects from the drug. His story can be read here: http://latitudes.org/abilify-for-tourette-syndrome-my-sons-tragic-story/
Chris
Sacramento, CA
I have to tell you two things –
1) Side effects – I have that “inner” restlessness, but I had it BEFORE I took Abilify. I was on SSRIs off and on for years. I did have some minor weight gain too, at the time. (I was on it for 3 years then went off, more below).
2) I want to stress that for ME, it worked very well. I was using it 5 years ago, then stopped, and recently returned to it – it just makes me FEEL better.
Note I have a complex job, I’m a musician too, I travel. The “black cloud” went away, for real. Bear in mind I took a VERY low dose, and NOT as a companion to SSRI’s – the side effects from those were much worse for me, in fact I think the restlessness came more from them.
I started this drug at a trial with Stanford for a low dose (2.5 mg, that’s half a standard smallest does 5 mg pill) combined with a small amount of Klonepin (.5 mg) at night. In the past I was diagnosed with “dysthymia” “general Anxiety disorder” “mild depression” and others. It was hypothesized that BiPolar is a very big continuum, and that all these diagnoses are dubious, because the low end of BiPolar could be all the things they told me I had. One thing to note – On my paternal father side, his father and siblings all had some form of depression, we think might have been BiPolar. My grandfather took his own life, too. Back then, there were no drugs to help…
I did gain about 15-20 lbs over a 3 years period. I went off of it for that reason, but also because because a psychiatrist, of all people, told me it was a sedative and would never cure my mind and the only way was to do therapy and be drug free.
Well, so much for that. I have been doing therapy my whole life, learned a lot -but still have the anxiety/worry/depression. (I still had high anxiety some nights, so occasionally took that low dose of the Klonepin on and off).
Obviously people all respond differently, but this really did help me. I am now just starting again and I will really watch it – all these comments are scary, but I know I feel better.
I do worry a bit about the akathisia, because I do get restless sometimes – but the thing is, I always have (maybe from the other drugs??) and also, everyone on my father’s side, and my siblings, are all restless this way and very active, perhaps to compensate for it – (if I do something active it goes away generally so maybe exercise is an antidote?)
Lily
USA
I have been on seroquel for about a year. Taking it before bed 100-200mg. I had weight gain so asked Dr to switch me. I got replaced w Abilify half of 5mg in am. So drowsy dizzy nausea … Initially I was hot to the touch an hour after taking it. Now just trying to stay awake at daytime. Hope will pass after few days but if not I’m going back to seroquel at pm. Abilify is a weird drug. Not to mention I had no fear drinking some wine on seroquel but reading Abilify and some wine sounds worthless! My cocktail is lamactle for mood stabilizer 100mg and klonapin as needed for my panics and anxiety but now w Abilify.. bipolar is so hard to get it right. Very frustrating- thoughts?
laura
vancouver
I have/had PTSD, generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive issues, pretty much my whole life. I was put on seroquel (900 mgs!!), which I didn’t know at the time was such an insanely high dosage. I was on it for about five years. I gained 110 lbs. in about 4 – 5 months. It was beyond horrifying!! That stuff is the freaking devil. After a couple of years of being on it, it also exacerbated the pain in my lower back to the point I couldn’t walk for months. I complained and fought (yes!) fought with my doctor more times than I can count to get off that stuff. I and quit the 900 mgs. cold turkey. Within three days, my back was almost pain-free, I could walk again and lost 10 lbs. in the first week. I had no withdrawal whatsoever!! I didn’t know that people did until I read about it, about 3 months after stopping. (Maybe ignorance IS bliss!). I am having a hell of a time getting rid of the rest of the weight, but I am believing that it is going to all come off, some way or another. My doctor put me on 2 mg. of Abilify two weeks ago and so far, I have already lost 10 lbs. Oh my God!! I was terrified to leave the house because of my embarrassment about my weight. I have been tall and slim my whole life. Just the loss of the recent 10 pounds have made all the difference in my life. I have been out almost every day, bought some plants, having conversations with people, just normal, everyday things that I was incapable of even attempting 2 weeks ago. I am hoping that the weight loss continues and I feel better about myself than I have in over six years! God bless everyone who is trying to find their way through these brutal mental health mazes and issues and I am feeling so fantastic right now, I feel like *I* will be able to, and I hope you all can as well. We deserve to be happy.
Annie
United States
It’s so hard with some drugs, and bipolar is such a difficulty to deal with anyway. Waiting up to a month for that class of medication’s side-effects to wane isn’t uncommon, but sometimes they just don’t go away. In that case, I think you’ll have to decide whether it’s helping or hindering your life and compare your quality of life before to what it is currently. If you aren’t doing well and decide to stop taking it, talk to your doctor about beginning a slow taper (abrupt withdrawals are awful) and then trying something else.
I hope you feel better soon. It’s so frustrating, but someday you’ll find something that works for you and life will open up so beautifully that you’d never believe the pain and aggravation of right now. That day is possible for you, don’t give up! :)
Jennifer
Texas
I agree. It’s difficult to get the right doses of medicines. I had extreme heat and light sensitivity on Abilify. I had to wear sunglasses inside and temporarily lost vision. I’m glad to be able to see again. I was on Respirodol prior to that, with drooling and severe memory loss.
This is my first time on Lithium, plus Lamictal, Cymbalta, and Zyprexa. I am so depressed.
Seroquel made me like a zombie. I did not feel like me; just sedated and not having any quality of life. I’ve also been on Effexor, Trileptal, Wellbutrin, Celexa, Clonzepam, and more. It’s been a rough year.
Leisha
AL
I have had PTSD, Major Depressive Disorder, Insomnia for 8 years now. I was placed on Seroquel for the last three; during the last four months I experienced severe anger and rage episodes that were unprovoked and unreasonable to the situations. Additionally, my diabetes worsened on this medication and I gained over 60+ pounds on Seroquel (200mg)–I called it zombie eating because though I was not hungry, I had a “driven” feeling to eat. Just two weeks ago my Psychiatrist jerked me off Seroquel and added Abilify to my Citalopram + Lamotrigine + Prozasin + Valium. The withdrawals from Seroquel is a nightmare: insomnia, diarrhea, weakness, body aches, head aches to mention a few. The last two days have been better, and the addition of Abilify seems to have given me my mind back and my energy level back. Moreover, I have lost ten pounds in two weeks. The only thing negative I see thus far from Abilify is tremors. Before I take it in the morning, I feel very shaky inside and my hand tremors are like a 90 year old’s tremor; my balance seems to be a little off, kind of clumsy. This is a new med for me and I hope it continues to work because Seroquel, though it stopped nightmares and allowed me to sleep, robbed me of living my life. Everyone is different, what works for one does not work for another and I think we all need to keep that in mind. I am just praying I do not face the nightmare others have faced with Abilify because Seroquel turned out to be a nightmare in it’s own right. Seroquel withdrawal is still causing issues with my quantity and quality of sleep and other things, but I have prepared myself, based on what others have gone through, that this may take quite some time. Good luck to you all!
NorB
United States
I am bipolar and have been successfully treated with Lithium since 1992. Taking low doses of Trazedone and Prozac for sleep and mild depression, respectively. My psych doctor prescribed Abilify, 2.5 mg for 10 days then 5 mg. Even at 2.5 mg, I felt suddently lighter, more relaxed. At 5 mg. I believe I went into a slight hypomania, and was constantly buying things on line. I emptied my checking account during this phase and didn’t realize it, very uncharacteristic of me. I also experienced insomnia, waking up a couple of times a day, early awakening, etc. I went back to 2.5 mg. for 10 days, felt ok, so now back to 5 mg. But, the anti depressant effect does not seem to be working. I am cranky, irritable, none of the positive effect remains. Plus, I have constipation so that I have to take laxative every other day and it still doesn’t help a lot. I’ve blacked out when standing suddenly from the sitting down, and hit my face on the floor. I have notice increased heartburn, intestinal gas and bloating. I have some weight gain. I plan to talk to my doctor about going off of Abilify gradually, as I’m not clear I’m getting any therapeutic effect from it.
robin
I was prescribed abilify back in December and I always feel like my hands twitch. I can’t set still and I feel like I’m not me. I feel more like a numb zombie.
-D
Canada
Abilify saved me. I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder when I was 17. I was such a mess, an angry person, so emotional. I don’t really have side effects, sometimes I play with my tongue too much, or my speech sometimes slurs, but I’m so happy I found abilify. I’ve tried Lithium, Seroquel, Risperdone (Which gave me breast milk BTW! Risperdone is the devil.) But nothing worked right til I found this drug. Thank you to my doctor and Abilify!
Zebra
USA
Current med mix:
Abilif
Geodon
Lamictal
Tegretol
Ambien
Ativan
After five years of taking Abilify for Bipolar I Disorder, my dr is in support of me tapering down. I’ve gone from 30 mgs to 15 mgs. Over a week into the taper now and I’m having withdrawal symptoms: agitated, irritable, restless leg syndrome, confusion, suicidal. It’s not going well. I’m I fighting a losing battle? Am I making this up?
John
NY
If you really want off the meds, I’d suggest consulting a psychiatrist to taper you off the meds (I don’t think they can force you to stay on the meds?), and see a good counselor that matches your religious beliefs.
a.pearson
london
Hi. I have been on abilify for about two months now, I have noticed that my aggression levels seem to have peaked a little bit. I have become snappy and irritable with occasional bouts of what I can only surmise as sudden split second rage attacks. I shout profanity then quickly reflect back wondering how I came to be such a spike, like being woken up by your own snoring.
It’s quite worrying, almost akin to tourettes in the sense that it resembles a tic and seems to be uncontrollable. I worry about myself as you would worry about a dog that has a habit of biting family members, eventually one day its going to bite some victim from the general public and have to be put down. Imagine road rage without the car as a protective shield. Walking through the high street spazzing out at your friends for being too kind. I am an angry person anyway, I’m on a cto and I’m rekt. My banner was once ‘outrage! psychiatry coercion blah human rights weak hypothesis hate’ so I suppose that I could be just that sort of person.
Abilify is said to be more ‘activating’ (bit scifi no?) so perhaps I can call it an expression of self rather than medication. It’s hard to tell where the person starts and the medication ends, expression of self on medication that effects expression= death of self ‘activation’ of medication? Either way I am far more aggressive these days.
Andre
San francisco
After a sudden, scary onset of psychosis in 2009 my partner was prescribed Abilify. The dose started low, and quickly approached the 30 mg high. Since then it’s gone down to as low as 2.5, and back up to 20, which I only learned this morning. Over the years it’s been difficult to stay on top of his meds, and things become obvious when he decides to stop taking them, psychotic episodes increase markedly. I encourage him to get back on, and remind him of the horrible effects of cold turkey quitting.
It never occurred to me that maybe it’s mostly withdrawal causing the extreme psychosis, and not just the diagnosed mental issues rearing their heads. He never had issues before, so it really doesn’t make sense that it isn’t withdrawal. The bouts of psychosis are very scary, and the first thing you want is a cease to them. The quick way is to get the Abilify flowing through your system again. Well, we are exhausted with the quick way. We want to wean, and we want to try on our own, slowly. We have lost years of our lives.
I don’t know that it will work, but we have to try. I understand we will go through a tough time during withdrawal, but if there is a light at the end, then we are ready for the journey. The most difficult challenge I face is keeping his thoughts in the realm of reality, because his reality is just another obstacle we face.
Rebecca
Seroquel saved my life. I have very severe post-partem depression and intense insomnia after my son was born. It was the only medication (after a very long and exhaustive list of failed medications) that gave me relief and it worked from the very first day. The tragedy of most antidepressants is the 3-6 week start up period before seeing benefits but experiencing all the side effects.
Laura
United States
My daughter has been going through this for a year with all anti-psychotic drugs, about 9 of them so far. This last one, abilify, is giving her psychotic symptoms just like the rest.. She never talked about suicide before and now she is. She has a ton of anxiety, delusional thoughts, aggressiveness, no appetite, pacing, etc. She has been on it only for a couple of weeks and I thought this one was actually going to work, but just like all of them, they don’t. She has been in and out of facilities numerous times because of the side effects. It’s a cycle that never gets better, only worse.
Ana
Arizona
My son has been on abilify 20 mg day for 2 years.he became aggressive and with increase of anxiety trouble sleeping. He is 20 years old and kicks, hits hard Depakote was added and he got worse. I stopped the Depakote considering Dr.s don’t get it. I almost placed him in a home. And now I’m considering on completely no meds. And pray he gets better I have faith in God no more on drugs. I myself have been free from taking meds and I feel better.
Jeannine
NYC
Hi Ana,
I’m in the same position except my son is diagnosed with CP and developmentally delayed. He is 22 years old and yesterday I took him into the emergency room because the last 2 weeks his aggression has been at an all time high. Currently looking for a new Dr. since the psychiatrist he has I just feel is not really doing his job just charging the insurance. At the hospital they wanted him to spend the night but I refused so they basically told me they didn’t know why he was on two psychotic meds. They felt the Abilify was making him agitated and the Depakote was too low of a dosage. So they asked that I wean him off the Abilify and up the Depakote and Seroquel. I too don’t like giving him meds but about 2 years ago we tried weaning him off it and the results were not good. Hoping the solution given to us yesterday will help. Good luck to you and your son.
Lisa
Southern Cal.
Hi Ana, I hope you have been able to get your son off meds. It is very important that the medications be reduced incrementally over time. There are alternatives to these heavy medications that take in the whole person. Do a search for “green mental health” to see what comes up in your area. Good luck.
Holly
I have been taking Abilify for a year and a half as an add-on to Cymbalta. It started working within a week for my depression and I began to feel much better. Since then, I have gained 40 pounds and am tired all day long. I started to taper off the abilify about 6 months ago and have been cutting back slowly ever since. If I go too fast, my body/mind responds. The withdrawal effects aren’t fun, but I really want to be off this drug. Has anyone successfully discontinued all use of Abilify? Do withdrawal effects eventually go away?
Christina
NC
I was on Abilify for a little over two years in combination with 100 Pristiq to treat MDD. Although I believe Abilify worked and allowed me to function with depression, I gained nearly 80 lbs in two years. I have been off Abilify for two and a half weeks and have lost 8lbs. The side effects have been pretty severe. I am exhausted and have terrible headaches. I want to work out but simply walking my dog is a struggle. I am determined to stay off the Abilify and hope the withdrawal symptoms will go away in the next month. I have to take the weight off because it is more depressing than MDD to me. It keeps me from enjoying anything I used to and I have found ppl are dismissive as if I eat all of the time to gain the weight. I just want to find a balance and taking Abilify is not a part of it.
EllenW
I cannot believe that my doctor prescribed Abilify for me and was so completely unaware of the side effects when Abilify is prescribed with an antidepressant. In fact, I think the FDA should be pressured to change the labeling and warnings with this drug.
My (former) doctor prescribed Abilify to me, not because Pristiq wasn’t working, but because Pristiq was slightly fatiguing for me, and I wanted to try some way to lower the dosage. I also take a very low dose of klonopin, and I mostly just got used to the mildly fatiguing effect of klonopin and Pristiq. But several months after I added Abilify, I started to feel exceptionally tired. Again and again I told my doctor that I was tired all the time. This was on 5 mg of Abilify. This medical “professional” told me to be more active and that would solve the problems with fatigue. He failed to mention that in the clinical trials submitted to the FDA in 2009, it was clear that while Abilify alone was not necessarily fatiguing, Abilify in combination with Effexor doubled the fatiguing effects of Effexor(very like Pristiq).
Meanwhile, I gained 20 pounds and I thought I had chronic fatigue syndrome. To be honest, I was extremely worried about my health because I was always tired and foggy. The general practice doctors treated me like an idiot because I had gained weight, and also told me that it was the depression that was making me tired.
I have been managing my depression for 15 years, and have had some very good doctors. But I was astonished at the incompetence of this psychiatrist, and by the prejudice shown by some people in the medical profession to anyone who is overweight, regardless of their medical history or behavior. I actually dropped the Abilify because I knew I needed to lose weight if I was going to get anybody “professional” to take me seriously. Only after I dropped the Abilify, did I also finally track down the original clinical trial submissions for Abilify as an add-on to anti-depressants. In the adverse events reports for the NDA submission, it is quite clear that Abilify and Effexor together are very different than just Abilify alone.
After stopping Abilify I lost 15 pounds in 3 months without any change in diet or activity and have much more energy. I didn’t have too much trouble tapering off, but I did increase the Pristiq for a while, and also took a slightly higher dose of klonopin for a few weeks. For about two weeks, I was more depressed, but then swung back to my usual level. I think I would have gone through anything to get off Abilify.
Abilify is a very powerful drug, and I think it can be very helpful for many people who have not responded to other treatments. I do believe that it has helped some people with very severe depression who have not responded to other treatments. But I really, really would have like to have had much more information about its sedative effects before I started taking it. The packaging with Abilify does not mention fatigue as a common side effect, and I think it should.
Minette
WA
I was on 30 mgs of Abilify for years, always in combination with one anti-depressant or another. The last combo was Pristique and Abilify–gained 40 pounds in 3 months. I had never been that heavy in my life and was concerned, but when I questioned my psychiatrist, she seemed to shrug it off and said that weight-gain was not a normal side effect for either med. I have now been off all psychiatric medications for 2 1/2 years, have been better able to control my weight, and feel I have more brain function and energy to begin rebuilding my life. I still struggle with depression and anxiety, but the medications I was on did not seem to change anything for the better, and I have not yet been given a straight answer on how some of them actually work in the brain. All I know is that when I was on psych meds, especially Abilify, I did not have the capacity to read or comprehend the side effects list. Now I do.
Laura
Oregon
I have lost weight on Abilify. I was on Seroquel and gained 60 lbs in 8 months!! Dr. put me on Abilify and I have lost 20 lbs in 3 mos. without really trying. my apetite is down. no other side effects.
Mary
California
I am in the process of withdrawing my son off of 2mgs of Abilify. He was put on it after a Zoloft induced manic psychosis (5 weeks after starting 50mgs of Zoloft for teenage depression and anxiety). He has tried to go off Abilify twice before cold turkey. His doctor said that the 2mg dose was so low that he could just stop it – not even remotely the case – within a few days or a couple of weeks he was hyper and sorting of “bouncing” around with agitation. His sleep got disrupted and he had morning hallucinations. The 2mg balances him back out – no major side effects. But he does not and should not be on it for a medication induced reaction (Zoloft). I finally figured out (thanks to just taking the time and then reading Dr. Breggin’s books) that he was experiencing drug withdraw symptoms and needed to come off the medication really slowly. I have found not Doctors to support this need – so am cutting the 2mg pills in 1/8 slices and then then titering off slow (2 weeks, if stable then decrease 1/8 more). I think that it is unethical and immoral for doctors to prescribe these drugs for children and teens. Instead, take the time to make changes, change school, stop pressuring academically, relax, play and have fun. If your child is on these medications – slowly tapering them off and hope that you can find a supportive doctor and therapist to help with this process. Otherwise – parent and be patient.
Gail
Atlanta
I have been on Abilify for six months with the side effect of tremors in my left leg. Similar to those of a nervous person. I am trying to get off this medicine. I hope to be rid of this soon. To many health issues to add – don’t need another. Was not warned about this beforehand. I would not recommend this for anyone! I want to look normal again.
Alex
New Hampshire
Hi guys. I just have two questions, and maybe someone can answer them:
I’ve been on the drug Abilify for six years, and I feel like it may have been wrongly prescribed–I am not schizophrenic, and what looked like Bipolar Disorder to the people prescribing it may very well have been me “acting out” as a teenager. I have been on several med cocktails since the age of thirteen, and I recently decided to stop taking this drug, the last in a long line of tapers.
I spent three months tapering down and am finally off it. I have my family’s support, and I feel confident, intelligent, independent, attractive, just like my old kid self again, but with adult perspective. It’s great.
There is one HUGE problem. During the taper, I experienced no withdrawal, but now that I’m done with it, the muscle spasms are setting in, but only when my body is at rest and I am trying to go to sleep. Is there some chemical a body at rest might release that reactivates restless limbs? How long can I expect this to go on?
Minette
Washington
Hi Alex, I feel I was mis-diagnosed and prescribed psych meds at a young age for all the wrong reasons too. My late teens and my 20s were spent in and out of hospitals, trying to find the “right combination,” and 30 mgs of Abilify was part of my regimen for years. Now that I have been off all psych meds for a couple of years, I am slowly feeling my intelligence and energy return, but I have found some of the abnormal movements, twitches, and nerve pain have lingered. The side effects do seem to have waned, and I have found exercise, even walking, to be very helpful. I still battle quite a bit though, and my husband, who had the same experience, also still has restless legs and parkinsonian-like twitches, and he has been off all psych meds now for over 4 years. Hang in there! I had to avoid a lot of salt for a while, and I’ve also found the lingering side effects get worse under stress. I don’t know if it helps to know you are not alone in this, but I do know it was good for me to see your post, and know that someone else is on this journey too! Thanks for posting!
Carrie
Missouri
I have been on Pristiq for one year. Started having bad thoughts about work and life. Didn’t care about about much. Doctor then added Abilify. I’ve been on it for 3 days. Cons: feel sedated. Pros: feel good, increased confidence at work, my brain no longer races at 100mph. I can focus. No urge to stress eat or take my daily energy drink.
So, I’m happy with the addition of Abilify. We’ll see how I feel in a couple weeks. Thanks!
JoeN
Ny
I was prescribed 2.5mgs per day of abilify 3 months ago. Along with 300 mg zoloft I’ve been on for more than 8 yrs. my first month on abilify I noticed a gain in weight and lack of desire to go to the gym. I then suffered my first seizure ever due to extremely low blood sugar/hypoglycemia.
3rd month on abilify had another seizure due to low blood sugar and have decided to get off of this devil of a drug!! I told my doctor I want off and he has said being on such a low dose (2.5mg) I can just stop taking it…skeptical but it has been 2 days now and I have the “spins” I have a slight pounding headache and pretty much that’s all
mary
United States
Hi Everyone,
I have been on every medication. You name it, I’ve been on it.
Remeron 90 mg a day, Wellbutrin 150mg, 300a day, and generic Deplin 15mg 1-1/2 a day. I have been taking Meds for at least 46 years for whatever Depression(?) This may go back in my childhood.
I had a hard time in all my schooling. My doctor is finally trying Abilify 2mg which I have been on for 2 weeks, and it seems to be working. But I have noticed that I’m having trouble saying what I am thinking. These are meds that I am now on. Will be talking to my doctor about taking 2mg every other day to see if speech improves. I’m looking for any input.
Thanks Much,
Mary
Minette
Washington
I was on 30 mgs of Abilify for 6 yrs, the highest recommended dose. This was the longest period of time I have taken any medication… Over the course of a decade, I had been prescribed combinations of every other antidepressant, anti-anxiety, and anti-psychotic made before 2012, and would generally only be on them for 3 months at a time, before “plateauing” (achieving the highest recommended dose without desired results).
I have PTSD issues, anxiety, and treatment-resistant depression. I am intelligent (4.0 GPA in college) and had always been a bookworm, but over the course of my psychiatric treatment, I found my capacity to read, learn, and form intelligent thoughts completely disappear. I wasn’t actively suicidal, but Abilify caused me to sleep 14 to 18 hours a day, and I became so function-less that I was recommended for a disability program. After seeing my husband deal with much the same and have success getting off all medications, I decided to change my life. It has not been an easy journey, mainly because I had been in a haze for so long, I never learned how to deal with my feelings. I am proud to say I have now been off all psychiatric medications for 2 1/2 years and am slowly rebuilding my intellectual abilities, creativity, and life. I battle long-term neurological damage, mainly peripheral neuropathy, which I believe was caused by the medications. I also hallucinate under stressful situations. I still struggle with depression, anxiety, and now anger, but I find other ways of dealing with it, because to me, long-term side effects of psychiatric medications are not worth getting through feelings that only last for a night.
Cori
30040
I dwindling down on my abilify. My doctor said I could just stop since I was only on 2.5 mg, but I feel it’s safer to start taking 2.5 mg every other day then 1.25 mg every other day and so on. I have two little kids and cannot be disturbed with side effects. The reason I am getting off of it is due to severe weight gain. I went from a 0 to a 6 in ten months even though I was watching what I was eating and running 6 to 9 miles daily. The weight gain made me very depressed. Although I thought it helped somewhat with anxiety I don’t want to take something that causes uncontrollable weight gain and makes me feel bad about myself.
Kieran A.
T.O.
I began Abilify in January and stopped just 3 months later. As the dose was raised slowly I began having feelings of extreme terror, anxiety, restlessness, feeling stoned and muscle spasms. Now 6 months later, the excruciating sensation (called akathisia) is subsiding. Be careful with this medication because living through 6+ months of akathisia was the most supreme suffering I will ever endure.
Lindsey
Texas
I was put on Abilify when I was 22. I was very excited about it because my doctor told me really great things about it. She never warned me of the side effects, probably because she was afraid I would refuse to take it. But it would have been nice for her to at least tell me that those were the possible side effects and that not everyone gets them. About 1 hour after taking it I couldn’t stop moving. I felt like I just needed to jump out of my body it was so terrible. I also felt very agitated, anxious, and like I had bugs crawling all over my bones underneath my skin so I couldn’t get them out! Of course, all medications are going to have bad side effects and they will effect some, but not others.
Just make sure you go to your pharmacist if you are not sure if the doctor is being up front with you. It’s much better to know what is happening to you when it happens rather than not know what the heck is going on with you. The warnings and side effects are also on the typed paper they give you that goes inside the bag. Always read that.
Samantha
St. Louis
I went off of Abilify a month ago and am still having confusion, anxiety and depression. I feel like going back on it. I feel so bad right now, but I’m trying to tough through it.
cellopete
Socal
Hi Samantha, my 16 year old daughter was on Abilify 5mg for 6 months, she gained 40 lbs. the first 2 months. About 3 weeks ago she took herself off it cold turkey. So far, not good, as she is totally falling behind in school, she’s very smart, but she just can’t seem to get any homework done, she once had aspirations of going to a major university and studying Archeology, now that seems like a bad joke. It says on your post that you went off in September. How are you feeling now?
I hope you’re getting better!
Julie M.
Erie colorado
I was taking Abilify for one year, and stopped taking it cold turkey in October 2013. My first day on it, I couldn’t remember the name of the street I lived on, when asked. I was only on 15 milligrams! I have Bipolar 1, mixed, severe. My mood swings stopped, which my family was happy about because I used to get mad and yell a lot. But my friends would tell me I wasn’t myself and ask me if I was okay or tired all the time.
It was obvious that I was a walking zombie with no emotion ever. I put on 40 lbs in about 5 months of being on it and wasn’t even told that I could get so fat and not be able to work out. I was do tired that all I could do was walk. I would sleep for an hour or two every morning. I’m someone who has alway prided myself on my looks and being very physically fit.
Being on Abilify ruined my life for the last year! I’m trying to get the weight off! I seem to be in remission now and am not on any drugs. My main reason for quitting the drug and never wanting to take another, is that my mom is on the final stages of kidney failure from being on a cocktail of drugs. Her transplant team just told her that she has the same kidney damage that they see in folks who have been on lithium for 35 years! Apparently that’s better than committing suicide, as one out of every two bipolar people actually do kill themselves. Now I’m donating my kidney to save her if I’m a match.
max
Celexa works for my anxiety and depression.
shana
North Carolina
I have been on abilify since the FDA approved the medication for schizophrenia. I have schizoaffective disorder which is schizophrenia with bipolar disorder and it was the only drug that really helped.
However now I have uncontrolled muscle movements when I told my psychiatric doctor he said it couldn’t be my meds. So I went to my regular family doctor and she said it had to be my psych meds.
So I did some research and I found out that abilify can cause tremors.
So I told my psychiatric doctor and he finally lowered my dose and it has gotten a little better. I have headaches now though I’m surprised that my doctor did know that my abilify could have all these side effects. Then again the first psychiatrist didn’t tell me either.
Now I just need to know if abilify can cause speech problems? I’m having a hard time trying to say what I mean and reading outloud as well. Any help is welcomed.
Lindsey
Oh my gosh. Your psychiatrist should have already known that or at least looked that up for you to see if that was a side effect of Abilify. I’m glad you got things straightened out.
Jool
I am currently trying to wean myself off of Abilify. I have been biting my tongue and grinding my teeth to the point that my tongue is raw and my jaw is sore. I’ve also been very shaky. I talked to my psych about the symptoms, she said it was probably the Abilify. She prescribed Lexapro and told me to stop the Abilify.
I tried cutting back on Abilify about 4 months ago. I only take a minute dose, 2.5. So, my psych said it would be easy to quit. Uh, NO. I had the worst anxiety of my life. I was scared to leave my house. Anything would set me off, it was like living in a nightmare.
I went back on the Abilify, and all of the anxiety stopped. I was feeling so much better. Still chewing my tongue and grinding my teeth constantly, but I felt like “myself” again. That’s when my psych said that I needed to get off the Abilify and added the Lexapro. It’s been about 10 days without Abilify, (I slowly stopped, as well as slowly added the Lexapro) and the anxiety is creeping back in. I don’t know if I can do it, live with the anxiety.
I’m having surgery on the 18th of September, for a tumor on my spine. I’m nervous and anxious about the surgery, and I’m thinking I’ll stay on the Abilify until after the surgery. I don’t think I can stand the extra burden!
Any advice out there? How long do you think the anxiety will last? Should I just do it? Oh my I don’t know what to do, but I know I wish I’d never been prescribed Abilify in the first place.
Tom
The Netherlands
I have been on Abilify and similar medication for 3 years and 7 months. After tapering down for 1 year and a half I quit the lowest 2.5 mg dose on November 4, 2013. My psychiatrist also told me that this time the dose was so low so I didn’t need to worry about any side effects. Then the anxiety and hyper-nervousness started. I felt like I had to do some major presentation for thousands of people all day long. This lasted until the end of January. After that all side effects were gone. And I felt like I was born again.
When I read about Abilify I mostly read about physical side effects and as other people have stated they are indeed horrible like; uncontrolled movements, walking out of balance, tickling of my nipples all day long, restlessness, severe fatigue beyond compare, etc. But for me, the worst side effects were the mental side effects; very severe depressions, inner restlessness, nightmares, and all kinds of emotions that hardly can be described, like not being able to have real contact with others, like living in a fish bowl, loneliness, being unable to be alone, and a continuing urge for salvation that off course would never arrive being on this nasty drug. I have suffered a severe episode of psychosis and if this will ever happen again I’d rather sit through it than ever take Abilify or Invega or Risperdal again.
SP
I have stopped taking Abilify cold turkey for 2 weeks now after 10 months due to gaining 50 pounds. It was a great combo with my Celexa, however, I just could not bear the depression of my weight gain on top of my depression. The dizziness, the mood swings & the headaches are a bit much right now, but the psychological damage that this weight gain has caused is more depressing than I’ve ever felt.
To go from a size 8 to a size 16 in less than a year is sickening. Especially when I was used to living my life as a size 3. I’m embarrassed to go outdoors and nobody understands how I feel looking this way. The cravings & the appetite I have now are simply ridiculous. I have no energy or “umph” to work out either. I am done with this drug. Find something else people. There has to be better than looking & feeling like a cow.
GRR!
USA
SP – I’m so sorry to hear about your experience with Abilify. Within 1 year of taking this drug I gained 90 lbs. I went from weighing a steady 125 to a quick 212, for a young woman… I’d rather have been hit by a car! I stopped 3 months ago… my weight has not budged. I’m currently being screened for diabetes, I was so healthy and athletic before this! How is your recovery? Is there hope?
JeffG
I have been prescribed Abilify for about 4 years. I am pretty sure I will have to stay on it for the rest of my life now. I have MDD and it’s the only drug that makes me feel normal. I have gone through several SSRI’s and other antidepressants and none of them work as well as Abilify. The problem I have with Abilify is the withdrawal symptoms after 2 weeks or longer. My depression gets worse than it was prior to starting the Abilify. I have severe agitation and other mood related issues. There is also several unpleasant side effects. That’s why I cease usage sometimes. Other than that, it’s a good medication. I would highly recommend taking it as a last resort after all others have failed.
dls
Abilify is not a great drug to start TAKING if you plan to stop at anytime. I have developed uncontrollable movements as I’m jerking motions and repeatedly have irregular heartbeat and cold heart at times. It feels like air is being pushed out of my brain or I’m suffocating at times. I didn’t know of the side effects and seriousness of them until it was too late… not a great antipsychotic. My mind seems worse off and my body even worse.
mh
I have been taking Abilify as an adjunct to Pamelor for over 2 years. I am currently trying to taper off of my 2 mg dose of Abilify (by 1/2 mg or less at a time) and it is awful. I cry a lot for no reason, have mood swings, am depressed, irritable, panicky and sweat a lot and often. Hope this doesn’t last too long.
Mersi
I have been on Abilify for over six years now. I don’t have any bad side effects and feel quite normal. I am afraid to wean off of them, because well, if it ain’t broke…etc. The problem I have is with the cost. I have free insurance through my employer but, have to pay for another insurance company because it is the only one that will cover Abilify. I know it is supposed to go generic in April of 2015 but, that seems like forever. I pay 600 a month for my insurance so that I don’t have to pay 900+ for the abilify. I wish I could go off of them, it would be such an expense saver. I am also on the max dose of wellbutrin and Prozac in conjunction with abilify.
Would love to hear how anyone has weaned off these drugs. My fear is the paranoid delusions will return. I had major depression, as well. I don’t really have a good diagnosis… they say maybe schkitzo affective disorder. Right now, I am fine… normal…. and have been for a number of years. Would love to stop taking these pills.
Meier
My son is 13 and has ADHD he didn’t take his meds for two days and was a little difficult to control. He spent time with friends and the mother of his friend discussed how she had run away, that he shouldn’t be on meds etc that when he returned home that night he was under the impression that we wanted to kill him with the meds (thanks to the idiot parent) he tried to run away and go back to their house after he and I had an argument that I had him admitted to be evaluated, I did know that his meds needed a change and figured let them handle it, he was transferred to a psychiatric clinic and was released after 2 days with the same med and a script to continue what he was on but to follow up with a psychologist whom they referred and made the appointment. I took him to see her 2 days ago and after spending about 40 minutes talking to him and I she decided that he would be better off weaning off the amphetamine and put on abilify as adderal is addictive??? He is not depressed (however could use a boost in his self esteem as being ADHD he has had a few social issues but you feel can achieve that by talking to someone) he has no psychotic behavior at all, gets a little agitated when the adderal is wearing off but is not bipolar, do you see any reason to do this, by the looks of things abilify is as addictive and when using adderal for ADHD does not have the same addictive effect, can someone make heads or tails out if this please? I can’t see what good this is going to do for my son.
Ellie
Please take your son to at least one more doctor to get an evaluation. Abilify is an antipsychotic med and from your description it seems that your son doesn’t need that form of treatment.
AC
I have been on effexor for many years for depression and anxiety. It has worked beautifully. However, having a great deal of stress in my home life, my depression began to return and worsened. I was put on abilify along with the other med. within a few weeks I began to bite my tongue… constantly. It was very painful and at times I could not even eat. I told my dr. about this and that I felt as if my tongue had swollen… I could think of no explanation unless it had to do with the new med, abilify. She took me off, immediately.
Fortunately, I seemed to not have side effects from stopping so abruptly. that was a year or more ago and I still have periods when I start biting my tongue. it lasts about a week. my entire mouth becomes very sore.
I have not read of anything like this being a side effect of abilify. I wonder if anyone can relate to this experience. I’m afraid this may be a permanent side effect. Perhaps the pharmacy can answer this. thanks so much.
abcdefg
If weight gain had been my son’s only side effect I might have kept him on the drug. Sorry. The short answer to your question is ‘no’. The rest of my answer is off the topic of side effects of drugs – and was fairly long.
si
Several years ago I was being treated for mild depression with Zoloft. On a visit to my family practice Dr., I mentioned seeing a commercial for Ability and asked what he thought. He proceeded to his med closet, handed me a bag of Abilify samples with no information other than the dosage. Within a week I began having anxiety and panic attacks. I returned to see him and he said I was having side effects to one of those drugs and had me discontinue both (even though I had been on the Zoloft with no problems). He then prescribed Buspirion. That was the beginning of the worst time in my life. I felt like my body was in constant motion, not sleeping, not eating. I called the Dr.- he only increased the Buspirion which increased my symptoms. I knew if something didn’t change I would kill myself to get out of this misery. Fortunately for me I have a very supportive husband. He took me to the ER, stayed home with me and together against the physicians recommendations I stopped the Buspirion and restarted the Zoloft. Within a few days I was on my way back. I very strongly advise anyone with mental problems see a specialist and research the disease and medications. Don’t take for granted the Dr. knows everything about your situation. Let them know all the medications (vitamins & supplements) you are taking. And reach out for help whenever you feel you need it. I often wonder if some of the incidents (school shootings, etc) might be avoided if mental problems are correctly diagnosed and treated. Parents and school personnel should be more attentive to behavioral change in children and adults. We need to be KIND to one another.
abcdefg
Hi Bel,
Good Luck weaning off Abilify. I never put my son on it. But weaning off risperidone was hellish – though I have been told that the transition on to abilify can be smoother than with other drugs, so I hope your transition off of it will be calm and uneventful as well.
My son is not on any med that is supposed to be targeting his aggression right now. Although we are using a medication that helps with ‘set shifting’ behavior. It does help with some of the frustration of not always being able to get what he wants which is what almost always seems to underlie his aggressive outbursts – though he still has them. Aside from that I just try to anticipate what his needs are (he has fairly severe language delays and can’t always communicate his wants).
In terms of non-medical treatments, I have written a social story for him about ‘getting what I want’ – in addition to encouraging him to use his words the social story points out that if he hits when he doesn’t get his way he will for darn sure not get whatever it was he wanted, but that if he stays calm and uses good behavior he might get whatever it was later or another day. I’ve heard that some parents have success using rewards for good behavior, but for some reason with my son this just seems to draw his attention to the bad behavior and it increases – rather than increasing the good.
I wish there was a surefire program I could suggest, but I don’t know of any. If your child is more verbal than mine you might also consider whether counseling would be helpful (depending also on the reasons behind his aggression).
One, I think final note, although my son used risp for aggression, it also controls other types of impulsive behavior (and I think abilify may do the same). So, you may see new or increasing impulsive behaviors as you wean off.
Best wishes.
oops, P.S. Rarely, I consult sites like mdjunction.com (maybe it’s .org (?)) or dailystrength.org regarding ASD issues. I’m not sure if either have any current info on either aggression or medication withdrawal, but they could. I hope you find what you need.
Bel
Have you found any treatments to help with your sons aggression?
We will be weaning our very aggressive ASD son off if abilify soon because of severe weight gain.
abcdefg
I am so sorry for your loss. I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose a child.
Although I don’t expect my explanation to help with your feelings, I would like to offer some information in response to a question you asked… about why a doctor would have abruptly stopped seroquel… One of my son’s doctors once explained to me that it is o.k. to suddenly stop a drug (even when the instructions say not to) if you are replacing it with one in the same ‘class’. She was a psychiatrist, and she was speaking specifically about anti-psychotics (I think we were replacing risperidone with seroquel or vice versa). About abilify…. I’m not sure if this is in writing anywhere, but I seem to remember being told at one point that Abilify acts as both an antidepressant and an antipsychotic (seroquel is one too). So, maybe that’s why a dr would have stopped seroquel suddenly, if they were starting something else that they expected to work on the same types of symptoms.
Jerilyn
My 36 year old daughter told her doctor she was depressed so he prescribed Seroquel. She began hallucinating and after a month she became paranoid and thought demons were attacking her. She never had hallucinations in her life before taking this medication.
Her friends took her to the doctor and he took her off of the Seroquel and prescribed Abilify. Five days later she was dead from suicide. I live in another state and did not know she was on this medication or I would have stopped her from taking it.
I would like to know why a GP Physician without psychiatric knowledge would prescribe an antipsychotic to a young woman with depression who had never been on any psychiatric drugs. I would also like to know why this same doctor abruptly stopped the Seroquel when it was contraindicated and could cause suicidal ideation, rather than titrate her off the drug as indicated in the instructions. What happened to “physician do no harm”.
It is a sad time in this country when the pharmaceutical companies can advertise antipsychotic drugs on TV for depression and doctors will prescribe it so much that it was the “top drug sold in 2013”.
Why do we tolerate this!
Andrea
Please STOP and research first!!! ALL these so-called “medications” are nothing but BAD NEWS!!! Extremely DANGEROUS and even DEADLY to both the mind and body!!! Please read these books if you are suffering from mental illness of any kind BEFORE “medicating” yourself or allowing your child to be DRUGGED for any reason! I have been diagnosed bipolar and schitzophrenic and am now going to wean off abilify and depakote after reading these informative books written by REAL DOCTORS that still believe that listening, talking, loving and compassionate support are the best medicines –
Toxic Psychiatry by Peter Breggin
Your Drug May Be Your Problem by Peter Breggin & David Cohen
Medication Madness by Peter Breggin
Reclaiming Our Children by Peter Breggin
Broken Brains or Wounded Hearts by Ty Colbert
Michelle
I was diagnosed with postpartum psychosis 3 months after the birth of my second baby. I was put on Serequel, Lithium, and Effexor. I gained so much weight-about 50 lbs. and was a walking zombie. I almost had my children taken away from me.
Now my baby is 2 1/2 yrs old and I’m still on meds-Olanzapine and Abilify as well as Trazadone for sleep. The psychiatrist is trying to reduce my meds at each visit but symptoms come back and he has to up the dose again. I’m currently on 15mg olanzapine and 20mg Abilify. I’m wondering if I’ll ever be able to be off medication. Last visit he said I may have to stay on them for life. This is very discouraging. Any help would be appreciated.
Angela C.
Fifteen years ago I was prescribed Abilify for Tourettes to control the tics. It worked pretty good for years and then in the last year, I developed Tartive Dyskenesia, Cervical dystonia, hypoglycemia, and mini-strokes. It keeps getting worse. When I started taking it, there were no warnings yet.
Bridget
I have deppression and when I suffer from it I take a prozac type 20 mg on top of Abifily. In the UK I think it is more given to, when one has psychological symptoms. When you hallucinate and not when you are simply just depressive. Where both medications together work very well and for very strong depression and I took this for 1 to 3 days and then it was gone. I think it is a waste of money to give Abifily out for simple depression.
What annoyed me is that you are told that you take these medications for life and anti depressants for a very long time. Both together for a long time make me too weak, I can’t go to work then.
I am off Abifily as my hallucinations are down to 90%, is true.
I found it a bit strange to go to the pharmacist for life every month I rather searched for another healing method and that was catholic religion.
Abifily cost £100; too much for simple depression.
liz
I was prescribed Abilify and Paxil for depression in my freshman year of college. I was on my way to class and both my legs became frozen, I literally could not walk normally and started walking as if both my legs were crippled. It was a terrifying experience and my judgement also was significantly impaired. I have lived with severe depression my whole adult life and do not take any medications, I prefer to muddle through it. Horrific Experience.
abcdefg
My child was on risperidone, I believe at 2 mg / day, for aggression and agitation associated with ASD. We tapered off, due to movement side effects, over a period of 3 weeks (reducing .5 mg / week).
It was 3 weeks of pure hell – worse mood swings and aggression. If I had to do it again I’d try to reduce the dose even more gradually than that. He has been off it for at least a year now and I am just stopping the anti-side effect meds to see if they’re totally gone. One of his providers recently suggested trying Abilify, and I am very hesitant.
TH
I was put on Abilify 2 years ago for off-label treatment of trichotillomania: compulsive hair-pulling. I did not have anxiety or depression or any mental conditions prior to this.
The Abilify itself worked great; I thought it was a miracle pill. It improved my mood which had already been great, and reduced my chronic hair-pulling significantly. When I started gaining weight, I considered stopping until I could get a better job to afford a gym membership and the pill itself–it was kind of pricy even with insurance. So I just stopped. My doctor knew this, and did not warn me to titrate; she didn’t tell me anything about the drug, its effects, its withdrawal dangers, nothing. And I was so desperate to stop pulling, I didn’t do any research. I wanted to believe only good things about this pill.
By that point I was on 10-15 mg a day. About a week after stopping, I experienced the worst 5 days of my life: constant adrenaline, physical but not mental anxiety, a racing and pounding heart all day, constant urges to weep and vomit out of nowhere, no appetite, depression and a feeling of “what’s the point of life,” and shakiness. I took 5 mg of Abilify hoping to stop this on Day 3, but it did nothing except cause depersonalization–I felt like I was living in a dream, going through the motions, and nothing, not even myself, was real.
This ended on Day 5 just as suddenly as it began. I was in college at the time, about to graduate, and my doctor attributed it to stress. Never mind the fact I was happy to leave school, and was coping with my normal “what am I going to do after I graduate” stress just fine before that.
Fast-forward two years later and these episodes are still going on. 3-10 days, on average (sometimes 1, sometimes as high as 3 weeks) of all the symptoms I’ve described above, except depersonalization, plus headaches, a “burning” feeling in my brain, like an internal fever; dark urine that I now worry may be rhapdomyolysis (a documented symptom, one of many, of discontinuing Abilify); morning insomnia, bruxism (night-time teeth grinding), and an INCREASE in my hair-pulling, as well as the development of dermatillomania, compulsive skin picking, on my scalp.
Between these episodes, I have 2-3 weeks on average of complete normalcy. Not mania–but just happiness with normal sadness and stress triggered by normal things. I’m myself again. Then, out of nowhere, one morning I wake up in another episode and have to suffer until it’s gone.
Finding a doctor to take me seriously has been hard–they all think it’s generalized anxiety disorder, but agree flippantly that Abilify could have done this. I’m terrified I will be this way the rest of my life. Had I known at ALL what Abilify could do, or that it wasn’t in fact a miracle drug–that it started to treat schizophrenia–I would have gladly lived with my hair-pulling as it was for the rest of my life.
The damage Abilify has done to my body and brain is not worth anything it did while I was on it. To anyone considering this for their trich, or anything but serious psych disorders (and even then perhaps), RESEARCH EVERYTHING. To me, this was NOT worth it. As unhappy as pulling my hair made me, it was nothing close to this misery I’m in now.
GH
nj
Hello TH, I have experienced exactly the same thing you did. I was diagnosed with OCD when I was 16 and had behavioral therapy to treat it, I am a handwasher and checker and pulled my hair but never took medications for them. I went to the psychiatrist for trichotillomania and I was prescribed abilify 15mg with lexapro 20mg last October 2013 and my hair pulling stopped but when I went off of both medications in May 2014, all hell broke loose and had the worst time in my life, I had anxiety attacks and was extremely depressed to a point I wanted to die and my OCD symptoms were worse than before I started medications, I was washing my hands for hours and checking out of control. I am currently only on 40mg lexapro for my OCD symptoms, my anxiety attacks stopped after four weeks but my handwashing and checking are still the same, the only thing that didn’t come back is my trichotillomania. Believe me I was way better before I started these medications, I managed my hand washing over the years and my checking wasn’t that bad and I was never depressed or ever had anxiety attacks, I only wanted my hair pulling to stop because I was afraid I was going to become bold. I regret having taking these medications I guess the cure was worse than the disease.
Mariellen G.
I was first diagnosed 36 years ago; my problem was hearing voices. I was heavily over-drugged by my bad first doctor (a decade of traumatized women later, the other doctors ran him out of town). My second doctor tried a number of drugs, but finally reverted to Stelazine, one of the drugs I was on when I came to him. My third doc recommended risperidone, which I have taken since 1997. Risperidone is effective for me, and much less stupefying than Stelazine. Docs seem to come and go, but the three since then have all kept me on risperidone.
Until the last few years, I was refused counseling and told to just take my pills. I wasn’t getting better, however. In 1984, shortly after I started with my second doctor, I learned about a self-help group for mentally ill people called GROW, which I found very helpful for more than six years.
Starting about 1985, I began trying various strategies that my husband calls mind-management. Here’s an early one: Rather than constantly trying to silence/ignore the voices, every day or two I would sit down and convene a conference with them, to find out what I was thinking and feeling. Both my doc and my husband were horrified with this tactic, but I got lots better. I continued to experiment on myself and found what worked for me. I got even better.
In 2008, I told my then-doctor I wanted to try reducing the risperidone. With mind-management, I had had more than a year of success at preventing voices altogether. I described my proposed protocol to the doctor, and he made some dosage recommendations. I was much more cautious than he was; I took five years of careful, patient self-monitoring to reach zero. I had no difficulty with voices during those five years. The mind management skills were working fine. They continued to work fine at zero.
Then symptoms appeared that I had never experienced before in such magnitude: mood swings, and problems with what I call sensory overload. I toughed it out, but the mood swings became worse. Since this was outside my previous experience, mind management couldn’t take over fast enough. After four and a half months at zero, I went back on risperidone, choosing the dosage which had been successful a year before reaching zero (1/8th of the original dose). I remain at that level, and I’m quite stable now. But it took six months for me to trust that I was okay.
For me, risperidone has been of great service. I do have side effects, such as some involuntary muscle movements. I also have gained some 50 additional pounds (beyond the 40 pounds on earlier medications). I experience “bruising,” which the doc acknowledges sometimes means hemorrhagic stroking. But with all my previous drug history, it is hard to know where to assign these effects. My current dose is so low it is at the margin of what one doc called the therapeutic threshold. Sometime in the future I may take another try at reaching zero. In the meantime, although effects of taking drugs for so long are still with me, I am grateful for the control risperidone provides. It lets me lead a fairly normal and satisfying life.
Susan P.
My oncologist prescribed Effexor for the severe hot flashes caused by cancer treatment. It was very effective for that, but it caused total sexual dysfunction. Because of that I decided to stop taking it. I knew to taper off the drug slowly, but even so, I wound up nearly psychotic and suicidal. I am mortified when I think back on what I put my husband and family through because of that drug. I have never found such a simple solution for the original problem, but Effexor was definitely not worth the risks. These anti-depressants are potentially very, very dangerous. It sounds like the anti-psychotics are even worse.
C.S.
I am a licensed clinical social worker in private practice with over 25 years in mental health. In the last few years I have encountered clients who were prescribed Abilify and Seroquel for depression by their primary care practitioners (not psychiatrists). In my opinion, each time it has not been an effective medication. I have worked in medical settings and witnessed company pharmaceutical representatives market these drugs (among others) as “experts” to the doctors. It is a business and it is marketing to encourage doctors with tactics that increase pharmaceutical company profits. Even in private practice, there are times I can make a good guess which reps have been through the area. Thank you for this article and your frankness.
Marie
If you want to learn more about psychiatric drugs, side effects and withdrawal I would like to recommend Peter R. Breggin’s latest book – Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal (2013). He has written a number of books – google his name or visit – peterbreggin.org.
I also like Robert Whitaker´s books:
The anatomy of an epidemic
Mad in America (I think there`s a site with the same name)
There are several videos, but the only one I can think of rigth now is – “Who Cares in Sweden”. Google “Who Cares in Sweden” or visit artimus.se.
You will find the video under “produktioner”. it’s divided in 3 parts and I think it`s good to see them little by little (total of 3 hours).
I would also like to recommend davidhealy.org.
I started to learn things about psychotropic drugs when my father was drugged at a nursing home ten years ago. Some years later, a friend of mine was given Risperdal for sleeping problems, but by then I knew it had to stop. I couldn’t have “fought that battle” if it weren’t for the Internet, the information, patient stories and the books that I found there.
Last, but not least, remember psychiatric problems can also be due to disease (non psychiatric) and side effects.
D.
I was prescribed Zoloft (sertraline) in 1997 for OCD and moderate depression. As the years went by, I gained weight and started falling more often; maybe once or twice a month. Eventually I broke my leg near my ankle while walking across a lawn! After a while, I also realized how passive I had become and it started to really bother me.
With my doctor’s blessing I tapered off the Zoloft. It took about nine months, but I think the gradual method is the best. I became aware of my “angry” self and started getting help to deal with my emotions. I have also lost about 65 pounds as a good side effect of this decision.
LK
I have flipped between Risperdal and Seroquel. The Seroquel especially has been a Godsend to me except for the continuing tremors. Seroquel keeps me calm and slows my BP mind down so I can think. Unfortunately, I also take Depakote- which I hate-I’m surprised I don’t have Diabetes from this drug that has made me gain 60lbs in the first year.
My doc refuses to let me off of it. My current cocktail is Seroquel generic, Seroquel XR, Depakote brandname (the generic tore up my stomach like sandpaper) and Lithium. The Seroquel XR exacerbates the diarrhea the other drugs gave me so during certain times of the month I cannot leave the house. I hate all these drugs with a passion and I am sure they have taken 20 years off my life.
People with High end Mental diseases need mechanical solutions to our illnesses, such as surgery not moneymakers, like “medicine”. We are hated and shunned in society and no one wants to stand up for people like us. The general public thinks “Oh take a drug and you’ll be fine” but in actuality we acclimate to all drugs eventually- some quickly, some not. This means a whole new battery of drugs must be tested and changed throughout our lives.
This is assuming you can get the Chronically Mentally Ill, Homeless people, those in Prison and those who fall through without any care (Jared Loghner). I am also convinced that these drugs at the very least should be tested for women as we acclimated to medicine differently. BTW I tried Geodon and Zyprexa. They gave me hallucinations. Yuck! Scary!
Caroline R
Thank you for asking me to relate some of my experience with antipsychotics. I was first under psychiatric treatment when 17 years old and put on very large doses of Thorazine. (1 gm. I believe) I was diagnosed as having an acute psychotic episode and many months later with bipolar affective disorder (type 1). I experienced severe akathisia and could not sit down and paced most of the day in the psychiatric hospital even with Cogentin prescribed.
I have been tried on most of the antipsychotics except the newer ones because Zyprexa does work well for me. In many ways, I owe having a life outside of a psychiatric hospital due to that medication and some very good psychiatrists. So, I am not anti-medication because I know how awful psychosis is. It is like living a waking nightmare. That being said, the side-effects can be horrendous. Akathisia, when deliberately induced in political prisoners, is considered actual torture. It feels like you want to jump out of your skin constantly and drives me to want to pace constantly.
I have gone for three days straight pacing in my apartment without sleep, with my feet swollen to the extreme, while taking the maximum amount of the antipsychotic prescribed–but it still was not enough. I did get prescribed more antipsychotic and finally the manic episode subsided, but I lost my psychiatrist in the process because I was so demanding. He was the man who taught me how to regulate my medication under his direction and medicate for manias and hypo-manias. I will be forever grateful to him because I can and do know when I start an episode and have to take antipsychotics (and also to the psychoanalyst who taught me to know my warning signals many years ago, the late,great Dr. Roy Alan Ginsburg of Stanford Univ.) My current psychiatrist has truly gone the extra mile with me in helping me manage my illness. He put me on Zyprexa and it is the best antipsychotic I have taken.
I still do have psychosis when in manias but they are lessened significantly and eventually subside. When I was hospitalized before, my doctor, who taught nursing students about psych meds, used to have them talk to me about my experiences with medications. I was in manic psychoses, but I could and did teach them and they always thanked me, so I feel grateful to be able to write something here. I now am on a regime where my dose of Zyprexa is from 0-40 mg. Since you are pharmacists, you know what a span that is and it is indicative of the severity of my affliction. I adhere to a macrobiotic plan of eating and it has greatly helped to balance my mood disorder, but I still must be vigilant for manias and I *must* medicate accordingly when they occur.
My number one warning signal is my sleep. I live alone and although I graduated college, I have been considered disabled because at the drop of the hat, I can go into a mania in which I do not function and believe things that are unreal. Although I have no history of violence, I become fearful of most anyone and just retreat into the living nightmare world of the disease.
I cannot take antidepressants because they all make me go manic and have had to find ways to cope with severe depression. I have been helped by macrobiotics, working with horses, therapy and most especially my faith, The Summit Lighthouse. The rosary has helped me endure this affliction and I would suggest that there is no medication that can ever be developed that will help more. Still, I was encouraged by Elizabeth Clare Prophet, co-founder of my church, to stay under the care of a psychiatrist and take my medication as directed. This was invaluable advice for me because I as I told my previous psychiatrist once, “if I was not able to regulate my medication under your direction, I would have to be permanently hospitalized in a state hospital.” He said, “that is right.”
So, there you go–this is a long piece, but I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to work with your doctor if you have as a severe psychiatric condition as I have. That is what my spiritual teacher taught me and I would like to pass it on–and also how much macrobiotics can help. I attended a week-long program at the Kushi Institute in 2003 and it was a life-changing experience, I was on daily Zyprexa at that point and gradually am not on any except for during manic episodes. At Kushi, they, too, emphasized working with my doctor, I’d like to add. I used to be 240 pounds and now am 145 and have a 100/70 blood pressure and 122 total cholesterol and am 54 years old, so those numbers would mean something to you as well. I am exceedingly grateful to be able to bear witness to my journey here. Thank you so much!
AH
My 77 year old husband was on Abilify, among other medications, for perhaps 2 years, to help him with treatment resistant severe depression… he developed Parkinsonian side effects (mincing foot steps, tiny handwriting, extremely slow movements, stooped posture). All of these symptoms had alternative explanations, given his recent medical history, so we did not associate these symptoms with the medication.
A relative who is a psychiatrist observed him and let us know these symptoms might be related to the Abilfiy. After consultation with the treating psychiatrist he was taken off the medication, and all of these symptoms have resolved! However, his depression worsened markedly and he developed the tardive dyskenesia (involuntary open mouthed tooth clenching).
I am happy to report that 6 months later the TDK is gone most of the time, and with a new antidepressant he is better than ever. I do think the doctor took him off the Abilify too quickly (about a 10 day taper)–perhaps he would not have had the depression relapse and TDK with a slower withdrawal.
Mary Lee R.
My son, who suffered schizophrenia for over 20 years, participated in an early trial of aripiprozole in Terrell state hospital in Texas. He reported homicidal thoughts & no lessening of symptoms. He killed a dog and then himself. I couldn’t believe it when I saw this drug being pushed onto patients through TV commercials years later.
I have never seen homicidal thoughts listed as a contraindications for this drug–it makes tardive dyskinesia, which is listed, look very insignificant.
I wonder how many other horrible consequences of taking this drug have not been reported as it went through the “approval” process? I would really like to hear of other failures to inform patients & their families (maybe even on TV advertising) about the most horrible consequences that are possible.
My son was participating in an official pre-approval study conducted by a state mental hospital which was designed to discover problems with the drug, & his significant problem was duly reported. Mental illnesses, including depression, deserve true respect for the patient, & unsafe drugs have for years been commonly prescribed. Maybe money spent on advertising could be used to discover better more humane alternatives than the present methods.
The pharmaceuticals are often stupefying & merely the least debilitating of the choices physicians have to chose from. Perhaps the research process should be completely separate from the pharmaceutical industry so there would not be such an imperative to push a drug through to the commercial, including the television, market presumably due to the cost of research & then initiating unfathomably expensive marketing schemes. (This is pretty delusional to even wish for.)
Non-drug treatments might be considered worthy of researchers attention if they didn’t have to worry about the overwhelming presence of pharmaceutical companies in obtaining funding for treatment ideas that wouldn’t be lucrative for the companies. A bit long, but I’m glad to have an opportunity to speak. MLR
BD
As a school psychologist I have seen this drug and the list of others used with very young children. Often the children who were already aggressive and difficult to manage became worse or suffered many of the side effects that were noted. I am wondering what readers experience has been with young people on these medications.
DM
my friend was on Prozac without much relief, the doctor added Abilify and his face froze up, his tongue acted swollen, it was hard to speak, he was disoriented, I insisted he was over-medicated, the doctor insisted he was extremely depressed, I got on the internet and asked friends, one mentioned the tardive dyskinesia and sure enough, with the “name” of what I knew was going on, I was able to speak to his doctors on his behalf and they removed the Abilify, then they cut the Prozac in half, and he began to get better slowly, I was so afraid when I read on line that the face issues could be permanent, thank God it was not, can’t believe they hand this stuff out like candy and then want to argue with the effects… so until I could “prove” he was over-medicated by knowing the “name” of what was happening TD, they might have tried another drug on top of that!
Rachel
My grandmother had been under a lot of anxiety and stress, and had not been sleeping well for a while. She became highly agitated and confused, speaking gibberish. The ER doctors put her on Haldol, which caused tremors in her head and hands after a month or so. The next year, she had another similar episode and the ER doctors put her on Seroquel. She developed head nodding, and a strange tongue and lower lip protrusion movement. She has just had another episode recently, and her doctor gave her Risperdal. I am very concerned about these drugs even though she has a low dosage. They do help her sleep and keep her calm, but the side effects are scary and can be permanent. They should be weaned off very slowly as soon as they are no longer needed.