Medication for bipolar

[Hannahw4]

Just looking to see if anyone else has been in the same boat with this medication, I've been put on arripiprazole to help with my bipolar and I've been on it 3 weeks now. Straight after the first tablet it knocked me sooo drowsy after just a few hours of taking it (I was told to take it on a morning incase it kept me up all night) but after a few days I started taking it on a night before bed so I could be sleeping while I got the tiredness if that makes sense but I'm finding it hard to wake up on a morning. Iv tried taking it earlier and I'm still so tired no matter what time I take it. Iv got two kids one being only 5 month old so I can't cope with being this tired and having to look after them (I'm getting plenty of sleep and the kids sleep through the night so they're not the problem) I thought this drowsiness would have wore off by now has any one else experienced this with arripiprazole?
Thanks X

[Eska]

Yeah, I had the same effect from it - like you, I was told it usually makes people restless, but I found it knocked me out. It did get better over time as I adjusted to it, although we did also eventually add in fluoxetine to help me feel awake and to counter the depressive episodes I was still getting. It worked for me, although antidepressants + bipolar is not always a good combination because of the risk of manic episodes.

I have found aripiprazole super effective in combating highs, which is why I still take it.

[Arienette]

I found aripiprazole made me restless and antsy and unstable in my feet and irritable. I think generally speaking aripiprazole is one of the lesser sedating meds used for bipolar. Usually after a while your body adjusts and you feel t less.

I’m on quetiapine which used to be very sedating so much in my first week back in it I fell asleep on a bench outside at uni in December - after a while it wears off and you adjust. Stuck with it if you can. These meds take a while to work and often some dosage adjustments or many augmented therapy with another med.

[Hannahw4]

Thanks for replying! I just felt like I should of adjusted to it by now haha. It did make me very restless the first few days on the night time I couldn't keep my legs still but that wore off so I thought the drowsiness would of wore off too. I'll stick at it because it is helping my manic episodes already!

[tiptoes]

It can take quite a while for side effects to improve some times 4-6 weeks sometimes not at all.

Have you spoken to your prescribing doctor for some advice? Pharmacists can also be helpful to talk to in these situations too.

Sorry it's not a medication I've taken myself. Hang in there.