Posted by Christ_empowered on October 31, 2011, at 1:42:57
In reply to Re: No more Abilify: progress notes, posted by Phillipa on October 30, 2011, at 19:56:11
I'm doing well. I took 15mgs Abilify today because I'd gotten "stuck in my head"--kind of agitated and unable to focus, but not really anxious. I think this as-needed approach might be the way to go.
Sleep is fine, mood is good (I'm in a much better mood now that I've stopped taking the Abilify everyday), and I'm able to deal with the world. I do, however, have a cold/flu thing going on, which kinda sucks, and is probably one reason I needed the Abilify today (I've been sleeping at odd hours because of the fever and lethargy from my cold/flu).
I'd love to negotiate a much lower daily dose of Abilify with my doctor (I could do it anyway, but it'd be nice to have a doc on board), but I don't think that's possible. Doctors look at my records and see somebody who *needs* to be tranquilized. My shrink even mentioned clozapine the last time I saw her, so I don't think she'd be cool with me micro-dosing the Abilify just yet (or ever). For some reason, shrinks seem to love ramping up antipsychotic doses when they perceive me as mania-prone, and then I've had one doc who saw me as severely depressed (and personality-disordered); he chose to lower my mood stabilizer and give me high dose Cymbalta. Psychiatry, obviously, isn't the most scientific field ever. The sad thing is that if I just went along with what my shrinks said (and I'd have to pick one to listen to), I'd probably either be psychotic and emotionally flat (antidepressants) or suffering from the "tranquilizer psychosis" (apathy, dullness, poor concentration, etc).
poster:Christ_empowered
thread:1000827
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20111027/msgs/1001269.html