Posted by croy on March 5, 2007, at 9:02:24
In reply to Abilify is like Grass, posted by TheMeanReds on March 4, 2007, at 11:35:34
TheMeanReds,
It's wonderful that Abilify is helping you so much!
If I can share my experiene: Abilify makes me calm and confident but also makes me gain a LOT of weight very fast. within three days I cannot fit into my clothes. every day I look in the mirror and I'm heavier. It doesn't seem to matter how much self-control I excercise! I weigh more than I ever have and now need to lose more than fifty pounds. :)
I'm on 5mg. When I started at 2.5 it didn't have any effect on weight and did do a little for mood. But with the weight issue I quit taking it in defiance of my doctor. I would rather be dead than an obese woman in this society.
You're on a lower dose, of course. My story is just a cautionary tale that might encourage you to avoid higher doses if you possibly can. A very close relative of mine is the editorial director of the American Journal of Psychiatry (the flagship journal of psychiatry) and tells me that ALL the atypicals cause metabolic syndrome and enormous weight gain.
I know this is a downer! BUT, we're all different; I've known people with naturally fast metabolisms not gain any weight even on famously weight-gain causing drugs like Depakote, Lithium, even Risperdal. Unfortunately, I've also seen a person triple her weight over the years(and it continues to rise) on a not-that-high dose of Risperdal. She's five feet two and three hundred and fifty pounds.
Again, just a cautionary tale. I'm really hoping that you can keep feeling this good with no ill effects. Best of luck!
poster:croy
thread:738190
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070302/msgs/738453.html