Aripiprazole/Abilify experiences

when.will.it.end · 27-06-2012, 07:03 PM

I'm starting this medication tomorrow. Just looking for personal experiences especially issues with agigtation, sleep and how helpful it is for mood stability (especially mania/hypomania), what's it been like for psychotic symptoms, how long dose it take to work, helpful dosage etc. Any affect on weight or appeptite?

Thanks all x

Ballerina123 · 27-06-2012, 10:44 PM

I had no hypomania/mania on it.
It made me feel the sickest and weakest I have ever been. I would go as far to say it was the worst drug I have ever been on.
Despite feeling sick while on it I was also more hungry when I wasn't sick. It made me binge and purge loads more than usual.
I was not aggitated on it (except for feeling rubbish about the binging and purging) and I had really bad insomnia.

I hate it.
I hope you have a better experience on it xx

HopeRises · 27-06-2012, 10:57 PM

I couldn't stop moving when I was on it (both times) I got a weird twitch in my hand that I couldn't stop and it made me eat loads but, I've heard it has worked for lots of people so try not to be put off and remember everyone reacts differently.

Aubergine · 28-06-2012, 12:00 AM

I was on 15mg. I was really agitated for the first couple of weeks, but that was controlled with copious amounts of lorazepam as I was in hospital at the time.

After the agitation died down, I found it to be a good medication to be on. It killed the delusions and quieted the hallucinations. I didn't gain any weight on it, it didn't make me drowsy and I was stable for a good year+ when I was taking it. Unfortunately it stopped working/I stopped taking it, so got unwell and ended up on olanzapine instead.

Fire Fly · 28-06-2012, 01:22 AM

Unlike most of the other posters, this was the best medication i have ever taken to control my moods (i became allergic to it a year later - which is strange :s).

To begin with i had a very dry mouth and some trouble sleeping but that passed fairly quickly although the dry mouth stayed. My moods were more stable however I still got depressed however not to the same extent. I was also on an antideppressant to prevent this. Also I think i lost weight whilst on it rather than gain weight!

I hope it works for you as well as it did for me or even better :D. Good luck xxx

Steel Maiden · 28-06-2012, 08:32 AM

Aripiprazole is weight neutral in most. It can cause bad nausea and even vomiting, and agitation/insomnia.

I took it for psychosis on top of olanzapine and the hypotensive attacks I got when getting hot/exercising were unacceptable. And it made my thermoregulatory dysfunction worse.

But, I was mentally better on it. When I had to come off it (to go on Amisulpride), I got quite ill. Now that I'm on Amisulpride (and Olanzapine), I am ok.

Cedrus · 28-06-2012, 09:03 AM

I hope the aripiprazole will help you.

When I took it by itself I found that I was waking up every morning feeling pretty sick and many times I ended up vomiting. I take 10mg now alongside clozapine so it's a bit hard to decipher which one is actually doing what, but according to the psych, apparently the aripiprazole will help prevent the weight gain that happens with clozapine...

Horizon · 28-06-2012, 04:56 PM

I took 10mg of it and it made me very restless. I did not notice any weight differences on it. I was on it for mood stabilization, but I do remember one time I took it and had horrible hallucinations.

NoAngel · 28-06-2012, 06:53 PM

i really like it (compared to olanzapine anyway). Its not made me gain any weight and as for being restless, im a bit twitchy normally so not noticed anything unusual. Hope it works out well for you