Posted by tepiaca on August 18, 2005, at 8:44:10
In reply to Re: Could Abilify work as when being ON and OFF me, posted by med_empowered on August 16, 2005, at 18:25:57
thank you very much for your response Med empowered !
> hey! I imagine going on-and-off abilify could be helpful...zyprexa is being used a good bit "as-needed"
med , do you have any report that doing this could be dangerous ? maybe having more chances to develop EPS ????As for how exactly Abiify works its antagonist/agonist magic...I've read a couple possible explanations, but none of them are considered the "true" reason (like most other psychiatric drugs, the exact mechanisms of abilify remain unknown). One is that Abilify regulates dopamine differently dependning on the *region* of the brain. So, in the frontal lobes it can boost dopamine (potentially alleviating depression and "negative symptoms") and in other parts of the brain it can damped dopamine (presumably leading to a calming action and control of "positive symptoms"). The other I've heard is that because of the serotonin anatagonist/agonist action AND the similar action at dopamine, Abilify is able to maintain a steady rate of serotonin/dopamine...since blocking serotonin can boost dopamine, it can do that as well as then dampening or slightly boosting dopamine, and vice versa.
thank you for that explanation !>Anyway, the levels of dopamine+serotonin antagonsim/agonism seem, from my experience, to be very depenedant upon dosage. At sub-therapeutic (under 10mgs) dosages, Abilify seemed to me to do a good bit of mild serotonin blockage (reduced anxiety, kind of like Buspar,only more effective and faster-acting) and a pleasant amount of dopamine agonism (increased alertness and energy, more happiness overall). At 10mgs, it seemed ideal for more severe disorders (I had a very severe depressive episode ath time);antidepressant action, with more pronounced dopamine action (definite mood-stabilizing qualities, with a little bit of apathy). At 15mgs, Abilify was much more like the other atypicals on the market I've taken; less antidepressant action, more flatness. Above 15mgs, it wasn't a good medication *at all,* though I imagine it would compare well to higher-end doses of Zyprexa or Risperdal. The great EPS profile of Abilify I think will hold true mostly for low-end doses;
>it seems a good option for me, I migth try it in the future.
Med, so which were your worst side effects on Abilify ?
I´ve heard that very often causes Akathisia. did abilify cause this on you?Thank you very much !
poster:tepiaca
thread:542443
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050816/msgs/543393.html