Anyone had experience with Abilify?

[leila63]

My p doc is talking about putting me on Abilify (instead of the Zyprexa I'm on now I assume. Hope he is not planning on having me on both!!!). I am feeling hopeful because it is said to have a different action than other anti psychotics. I checked to see if it is covered under my Provincial health care plan and I see it just got coverage 01/01/2012. Another toy in the toy box for the p doc? Just wonder what others think. Going to go for it I think so I'll let you know how it goes. Appt. in beginning of May.

[AJ]

I'm on Abilify. I like it because it helps with my depressed mood (it's an antipsychotic with antidepressant properties). It doesn't make me sleepy so I take it in the morning. It also has a calming effect on me.

[A.E.V.]

I'm also on abilify... it seems to be helping with the voices.

[astronaut]

I took abilify for almost two years. I am very sensitive to the side effects of antipsychotics but Abilify was the only one I could
actually take without too many side effects. I had bad headaches and a lot of tiredness to start with. I could never raise the dose
beyond 5mg because the side effects would get too bad. Unlike AJ, I got tired with it so I had to take it at night. After a few months, the side effects subsided and I just kept taking the 5mg before bed every night. I never noticed any benefits from it. It certainly did not help my depression but I have heard that it can help with depression. It is also supposed to be better on the
weight gain front-- it doesn't tend to cause as much weight gain as other anti-psychotics do. I think that the reaction that AJ
describes that she has to the drug fits the description of what my pdoc thought the drug would do for me. Obviously, all drugs work
differently for everyone. It wasn't the drug for me but at least it didn't have unbearable side effects! It definitely wasn't one of the
scarier drugs that I tried.

good luck!
astronaut

[A.E.V.]

the first time I took it I couldn't get passed 5 mg because of side effects either. but this time, I've had no side effects. like AJ, I take it in the morning.

[melissacalhoun]

I tried Abilify last winter. The treatment for me only lasted 3 weeks because it gave me severe right sided temporal headaches, so the Dr at CAMH removed it off my med profile.