Posted by SLS on November 23, 2008, at 14:28:10
In reply to Re: Treatement resistant bipolar depression... » SLS, posted by uncouth on November 23, 2008, at 10:37:16
> Scott when did yous ee the A/D effect of abilify kick in.
It took about a week or so. My starting dosage was 20mg. I had a doctor who knew exactly what he was doing. I did not experience any akathisia or other EPS. I dropped the dosage to 10mg for quite awhile. When I discontinued it entirely, I suffered a relapse. However, this gave me the opportunity to titrate again to find the best dosage. I discovered that I was better off at 20mg than at 10mg.
20mg is pretty high for A/D augmentation,
Perhaps, but it might be necessary to go higher for bipolar depression.
> did you feel the a/d effects as low as 2 or 5?
Definitely not. I am sometimes surprised at how low people go with Abilify. I just hope that people are not missing the target by stopping at 5.0mg. Abilify might be one of those drugs where the side effects are worse at lower dosages.
> Any side effects from abilify?
Not really. When I first started it at 20mg, I experienced a mild-moderate sense of restlessness which lasted about a week, but that's about it.
> Has it been stimulating or made you tired?
I found Abilify to help with energy and motivation.
> What about hunger issues and weight gain on 20mg dose?
I couldn't begin to tease out the relative contribution of Abilify to my current elevated body weight. Nortriptyline is the biggest offender for me.
> Thanks, i'm on 5mg, actually thinking of going down to 2.5 becuase i feel a bit less creative on abilify. But i like the drug too.I can't comment on your feeling less creative because of taking Abilify. Because of the way I experience the drug, I am surprised to here this. Just remember, if you were to respond favorably to a high dosage of Abilify, you would almost certainly end up being more creative while in a state of remission than you are now.
It is difficult for me not to generalize my own experiences to the majority of people. Mine is far from being a classic case. I would wish that the majority of people who are currently taking low-dose Abilify would feel much better at higher dosages as I do.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:864627
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20081123/msgs/864879.html