Posted by Elimino Pete on March 4, 2010, at 1:10:48
In reply to Re: Abilify » Justherself54, posted by jedi on March 2, 2010, at 0:54:28
Hello,
I had some communication with you about a year ago regarding our medication history (MAOIs mostly) and comorbidities. I have been off this forum for about a year. I have social phobia, GAD, atypical depression and ADD. My daily medications are currently a bit in flux but are as follows:
Klonapin 1.0 mg
Adderall 30 mg
Inderal 100 mg
Abilify (just dropped from 5 to 2.5 mgContrary to the report in this thread, my pdoc said there is growing evidence that Abilify could benefit my symptom mix without concurrent use of an antidepressant.
My experiences with Abilfy are odd. After about 2 weeks on 2 mg, I thought I'd found a part of the ever elusive answer. I was feeling stable, activated, more focused and less socially anxious. The only notable side effect was some tolerable insomnia and irritability.
Over the next two weeks, all the positive effects diminished. I've since became what somebody here described -- just hanging around in my apartment with no drive or energy to do anything at all. It's still like that. I am on a furlough and sleep many more hours than I am awake. I thought perhaps Abilify had just petered out, so the doc increased the dose to 5 mg. After about another two weeks at the higher dose, the positive effects never returned and the negative ones only increased. A theory I had was Abilify was at least partially blocking the dopamine agonist effect of Adderall. Pdoc didn't elaborate, but may have agreed, as he switched Abilify to bedtime at 1/2 the former dose, furthest away from my Adderall doses. He also increased the Adderall to twice the former dose. It has been about a week since those changes. So far, I'm still the same zombie and I can't believe I'm even able to write this post.
I don't know if what I'm experiencing is related to akathisia, but maybe. Anhedonia seems to describe how I'm feeling, but there may also be an element of inner angst (while I'm sitting around having great difficulty motivating to keep up even with routine household chores).
My instincts tell me not to give up on Abilify just yet. Something tells me it holds promise (after years of trying 'this and that' with less than good results with anything other than Nardil) either with or without an antidepressant. Other than Nardil (assuming it is contraindicated with Abilify?), Wellbutrin worked better and had fewer side effects than the others. It might therefore be the one to throw in the mix. I just don't want to spend too much time in this state of nothingness I'm feeling right now. I want to believe I'm more than that.
Your thoughts, as well as those of others, would be greatly appreciated.
poster:Elimino Pete
thread:938319
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100216/msgs/938508.html