Posted by med_empowered on August 30, 2005, at 9:15:57
In reply to To Fred Potter, posted by denise1966 on August 30, 2005, at 8:01:41
hi! Abilify works differently than other antipsychotics...usually, antipsychotics, both the old ones and the new ones, block up the Dopamine receptors, specifically the D2 receptors, in the brain..this is antagonism. Old ones work primarily or entirely on D2 receptors and block it *strongly*; this is why they are associated with movement disorders and that kind of thing. New ones usually block D2, but less strongly than the old ones; they also block off some serotonin receptors, and may have other effects...Geodon, for instance, blocks the reuptake of some neurotransmitters, so its kind of a combo antidepressant and antipsychotic in one. Abilify works on serotonin and dopamine receptors, but it both blocks them (antagonism) and *boosts* them (agonism). So, instead of just blocking serotonin (which in turn boosts dopamine) or blocking dopamine (which helps with psychosis, but can also cause apathy, cognitive impairment, and movement disorders), Abilify is able to both block and (mildly) stimulate the serotonin and dopamine levels in your brain, so the overall effect is more of a "balancing" than a full scale antipsychotic dopamine blockade. That said, abilify is still an antipsychotic, it can still cause EPS and apathy and the dreaded neuroleptic malignancy syndrome (a potentially fatal consequence of dopamine blockade). The difference is that the EPS rates are smaller with Abilify than with the other antipsychotics, it tends to be less sedating (sometimes activating), it has fewer ill effects on cognitive processes (some users say they feel no ill effects at all), and its more or less weight-neutral, so it won't make you gain (or lose) any significant amount of weight. When I said "metabolic weirdness," I meant that Zyprexa and most of the other atypicals have a tendency to make the body go a little nuts. All of the atypicals, except *maybe* abilify, can cause diabetes type II and "insulin resistance"; all of them, except for abilify and geodon, can cause an unhealthy increase in body weight. Zyprexa seems to be a big offender both in the weight gain and in the diabetes categories. Abilify is definitely kinder to your waist line, and is most likely much less likely to cause problems with blood sugar levels.
poster:med_empowered
thread:548116
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050827/msgs/548656.html