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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by abstract on November 28, 2004, at 11:20:59
I have been working with my pdoc and therapist over the last 2 months trying to figure out whats going on in my head. I take Effexor (150/day for 2 yrs), Provigil (200-400/day for about 1 month). I am not diagnosed with bipolar but my moods were rapidly swinging over the last month. I was depressed and had no interest in doing anything (hence the provigil which has helped) and within 10 minutes I could be happy again (not hypomanic however) before another crash 5min to 1 hour away.
About 1 1/2 weeks ago pdoc told me to try abilify 5mg/daily which i did for about 3-4 days until it started causing anxiety (not very bad anxiety but didnt know it would get worse). She told me to stop taking it which I did. The anxiety went away by the next morning. About 3 days after I stopped I HAD THE MOST INCREDIBLE 4 days I have had in a very long time (years). I was not euphoric but very happy and very energized and told my wife that if I could have this every day I would take it and call it done. She was also happy to see me like this as I work from home and she would see PHYSICALLY when my moods would swing. It was crazy.
My body was tingling all over which didnt bother me - I just figured it was the meds settling in. This great mood lasted about 4 days. Now its gone. Im very frustrated and dissapointed because no other medication has done this before (and ive taken many). The only thing that was new to the mix was Abilify but was stopped about 3 days before this happened. I know this because I have been keeping a med journal over the last month to help 'troubleshoot' this problem. I understand Abilify has a half life of app. 75 hours. Could this be what I needed all along but maybe less dosage? Im planning on taking it again today - 5mg but then tomorrow 2.5mg/day and the next day as well to see if I can reproduce the results with less anxiety.
Any ideas would be appreciated.
Ryan
Posted by smokeymadison on November 28, 2004, at 18:00:25
In reply to ANGRY-felt great for 3 days and now gone ABILIFY?, posted by abstract on November 28, 2004, at 11:20:59
my new pdoc said that it takes at least 10 mg of abilify to do much of anything. i find that i need at least 15 mg to notice a difference. abilify can cause agitation/anxiety but it usually diminishes after a couple of weeks. i take the abilify for obsessional thinking but it really doesn't help with my mood swings. i go from depression to mania every 4-5 hours. trileptal has helped me much more than abilify for the mood swings. abilify does help clear my thinking and keeps me from getting very impulsive when high. hope this helps at least a little.
Posted by ghost on November 29, 2004, at 16:58:04
In reply to ANGRY-felt great for 3 days and now gone ABILIFY?, posted by abstract on November 28, 2004, at 11:20:59
i took 7.5 mg abilify daily for awhile and found it helped a great deal. it did cause anxiety and restlessness, and for that i was prescribed 0.5mg xanax as needed. (i probably only took it a few times a week for anxiety.) the doctors i talked to all seemed to feel the anxiety was a normal and expected side effect, but easily treated with anti-anxiety medication.
incidentally, other side effects included incredible sleepiness the first 3 days i took it (or the dosage changed-- i tried other doses), but then insomnia for 2-3 wks (1-2hrs sleep per night). the xanax also helped to sleep, but was additionally prescribed ambien later. it also decreased my appetite a great deal.
i'm now off abilify (for the time being) and on lamictal (150mg/day) which works really well for the rapid mood swings, even better than abilify. (not perfect, but nice.) i've heard abilify works well in conjunction with mood stabilizers, but i haven't had the opportunity to try that to its full effect.
(incidentally, the only reason i went off abilify was because of a lack of insurance and running out of pills. i now have insurance but have the opportunity to take geodon, in the same class, for free, so in the future i might go back on anti-psychotics. we shall see.)
good luck,
ghost
Posted by krem on November 29, 2004, at 20:01:22
In reply to Re: ANGRY-felt great for 3 days and now gone ABILIFY?, posted by ghost on November 29, 2004, at 16:58:04
abstract, this exact same experience happened to me when my doc introduced effexor. So, that's interesting that you are taking effexor already. I don't know what it means, but I thought I'd tell you.
For three days after I started effexor I felt wonderful, calm, emotionally generous, felt like a new person. It wore off by day four. I also became very angry.
At the time that med was being added to prozac and dexedrine.
Posted by gardenergirl on November 29, 2004, at 22:03:09
In reply to Re: ANGRY-felt great for 3 days and now gone ABILIFY?, posted by ghost on November 29, 2004, at 16:58:04
Nice to hear from you. I hope you are enjoying your new job and life up north.
Take care,
gg
Posted by abstract on November 30, 2004, at 11:37:49
In reply to Re: ANGRY-felt great for 3 days and now gone ABILIFY?, posted by krem on November 29, 2004, at 20:01:22
> abstract, this exact same experience happened to me when my doc introduced effexor. So, that's interesting that you are taking effexor already. I don't know what it means, but I thought I'd tell you.
>
> For three days after I started effexor I felt wonderful, calm, emotionally generous, felt like a new person. It wore off by day four. I also became very angry.
>
> At the time that med was being added to prozac and dexedrine.Wow, thats interesting. I talked to my pdoc and told her I wanted to start taking abilify again but at half dose. She is very good with letting me 'experiment' with my ideas as most of you know if you have dealt with this stuff for years, we have a good idea what works and what doesnt. Im on my 3rd day of Abilify at 2.5mg/day and everything else the same. We'll see what happens.
Ryan
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