Posted by SLS on January 31, 2014, at 13:39:39
In reply to Re: Switching from Abilify to Latuda » SLS, posted by Bob on January 30, 2014, at 14:37:16
> > So far, so good.
> >
> > I'm 4 days into Latuda without taking any Abilify. I haven't relapsed. I like the way I feel on Latuda. It isn't magic, but it might be better than Abilify. It is early. I'm taking 40 mg/day of Latuda. There are no side effects. I was particularly concerned with cognitive blunting and zombification (not official medical nomenclature).
> >
> > I am trying to be guarded in my optimism. I am failing.
> >
> >
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> It's stunning to hear you've had no discontinuation effects from stopping the Abilify like that! Then again you are not one to have experienced such things, correct?Not really. Although I need and can tolerate high dosages of many drugs, that doesn't seem to indicate that withdrawal effects are significantly reduced whenever I discontinue a medication. The last time I attempted to discontinue Abilify by tapering, I still experienced a wicked withdrawal depressive rebound that lasted for a few days before evening out. This time, I stopped the Abilify abruptly and began taking Latuda at 40 mg/day on the same day. I felt only a slight loss of antidepressant activity on day 3 that lasted for about 6 hours. I could "feel" the Latuda breaking my fall (speculation, I know). It is important to note that the half-life of Abilify is 3 days. So, blood levels of Abilify came down more slowly than what would be seen with most other psychotropic medications.
> For me, micro-adjustments to my aripiprazole dose resulted in bad days and suicidality. My sister stopped Abilify last year and it almost took her life. She's off it now.
In many cases, the depressive/anxiogenic rebound effect from discontinuing a psychotropic is transient, but can be mitigated by performing a gradual taper. Even this doesn't always work to prevent entirely the withdrawal effects. However, it should reduce their in duration and magnitude.
- ScottSome see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.- George Bernard Shaw
poster:SLS
thread:1059698
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20140123/msgs/1060031.html