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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 12 of 12. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by scribble'ntweak on March 28, 2005, at 11:23:27
I have been taking 10 mg of Abilify for a year and a half now, along with .5 mg klonopin, and 20 mg celexa. All of a sudden I have become very concerned about developing TD, and am on the verge of stopping the abilify. I know the likelyhood of developing TD on the newer APs is less, but does anyone know anything about TD and abilify specificly? Has anyone out there developed TD while on abilify?
Posted by med_empowered on March 28, 2005, at 13:31:11
In reply to Abilify and TD, posted by scribble'ntweak on March 28, 2005, at 11:23:27
Hey! I took abilify for a while (dose range: 10-30mgs, for Bipolar Disorder+Psychotic Depression) and didn't have develop TD, although the high-end dose did make me shake some (treated with propranolol+the dose was lowered). I'm off Abilify and all anti-psychotics now, and I still don't have any problems, although during Abilify withdrawal I started shaking some...it went away after a few weeks. Anyway, its hard to tell you just how risky any antipsychotic, especially the new ones, are in terms of TD development. The 1980 American Psychiatric Association taskforce on TD reported a 3%/year rate for the old ones, with 20% eventually developing it after a period of 5 years. Other researchers say that the APA data was low, and put the old antipsychotic TD rate at around 30-40% for 5 year continuous exposure and as high as 60-70% for lifetime (20-25 year), chronic exposure seen in chronic schizophrenia. As for the new ones...Risperdal seems to be worse than all the other new meds in terms of TD development, but I haven't seen any solid data on that. Cases of TD and neuroleptic malignancy syndrome have been reported for all known neuroleptics. The best estimate I could find for the new antipsychotics puts the rate at anywhere from .5-1%/year...the risk from long-term exposure is going to take a while to gather. My personal advice would be to stop taking ANY anti-psychotic, if possible, and find a less risky form of treatment. If you're using Abilify as a mood-stabilizer, you can probably get comparable results with less risk from "conventional" mood-stabilizers such as Depakote, Lithium, and Tegretol. If you're using Abilify for severe and/or psychotic depression, replacement meds may be hard to find...then again, even psychotic depression has been shown to respond to anti-depressants alone, or ECT w/ anti-depressant(s). Some people take Abilify for anxiety...I personally think this is way too risky, unless there's some major reason you're unable to tolerate benzos, anti-depressants, or other treatment for anxiety (talk-therapy helps alot, too). If you have Schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder, your options are decidedly limited. You do, of course, have the option of going anti-psychotic free; the risk of relapse is high, but some people manage, and there are some mental health professionals engaged in treating chronic psychotic disorders without neuroleptics, or with minimal anti-psychotic use. Basically, I quit Abilify in part b/c of the "zombie" side-effects (not specific to Abilify, at least in my experience; I had bad side-effects from all atypicals I tried) and in part b/c of the long-term risk of developing TD. As I said, data on TD is kind of sketchy, even for the old drugs, and is even more scarce for the "new" drugs, in large part b/c a HUGE part of their success in the marketplace is dependant upon having fewer side-effects than, say, Haldol...shrinks seem reluctant sometimes to admit that these drugs even HAVE risks, since they're so sold on their safety, efficacy, etc. My personal decision was to stop the Abilify and never take any anti-psychotic again, atypical or otherwise, unless very good, very solid research came out that showed that TD would *not* be a problem. Good luck!
Posted by scatterbrained on March 28, 2005, at 14:03:54
In reply to Abilify and TD, posted by scribble'ntweak on March 28, 2005, at 11:23:27
I've never met anybody who has developed TD from abilify or any of the new atypicals, neither has my doctor, and niether has my doctor even heard about somebody developing td from the new atypicals from one of his peers(and he's a professor so he communicates with a lot of doctors). On a statistical level, sure it happens but so do deaths and seizures, etc, and just because it happens doesn't mean it's directly associated with the drug that one is taking at the moment. If the drug is working for you without any side affects, I wouldn't stop it, however if you can't stop excessively worrying about developing td you might want to replace celexa with paxil, that has helped me with excessive worry in the past, more so than the other ssri's. I hope this is helpful.
Posted by scribble'ntweak on March 28, 2005, at 14:45:23
In reply to Re: Abilify and TD, posted by scatterbrained on March 28, 2005, at 14:03:54
I am taking Abilify to treat schizophrenia, so my treatment options are limited. I wish there would be something other than an AP that I could use. Treatment with Abilify has been very successful for me. Before treatment I suffered paranoid delusions regarding aliens, and constructed foil window coverings for all of our windows so aliens couldn't beam us out of our house at night while we slept. I also have a 5 year old, who I was too scared to let sleep down the hall in his own room, so he had to sleep with us in our room. Another one of my symptoms was communicating with a spirit named Vitrus. She seemed evil. Since treatment with Abilify I have had remarkably little disturbance, or fear. I guess I partly wonder if my delusions are in remission or have gone away completely, unless paranoia about TD is actually just a symptom. I'm really freaked out about it. Should I try to go off the Abilify and see what happens? My pdoc is sympathetic to my plight, but suggests I stay on the Abilify. He also stresses that the choice is totally up to me. I have no side effects that I can recognize from either the Celexa, Klonopin, or the Abilify. My only problem is fear of developing TD from the Abilify.
-Scribble
Posted by scatterbrained on March 28, 2005, at 15:11:17
In reply to Re: Abilify and TD, posted by scribble'ntweak on March 28, 2005, at 14:45:23
I really doubt you will develop TD from the new atypicals.Again, I've never met anybody who has and neither has my Dr.
Posted by ed_uk on March 28, 2005, at 15:28:20
In reply to Re: Abilify and TD, posted by scribble'ntweak on March 28, 2005, at 14:45:23
Hi Scribble!
It sounds like you're doing really well on the Abilify :-)
What caused you to become concerned about TD all of a sudden?
Regards,
Ed.
Posted by scribble'ntweak on March 28, 2005, at 16:07:29
In reply to Re: Abilify and TD » scribble'ntweak, posted by ed_uk on March 28, 2005, at 15:28:20
Ed-
I guess I've been doing a bit of reading on the subject. Initially I didn't know exactly what TD was, and I just didn't think about it. Also, I think the fact that the Abilify worked so well and I felt so much better I wanted to believe it was all good. I am also wondering if my paranoia about TD is a symptom...
-Scribble
Posted by scatterbrained on March 28, 2005, at 16:22:58
In reply to Re: Abilify and TD, posted by scribble'ntweak on March 28, 2005, at 16:07:29
It's hard to say if your worrying about TD is a symptom of schizophrenia, although somehow I doubt it because most paranoid ideations are fixed not questioned.It's perfectly normal to be worried about aquiring a condition like TD, that in itself is not pathological.The only problem that arises is if you can't stop thinking about TD, then I would say that you could benefit from something to counter act the obsessiveness such as paxil. I suggest you try to stop worrying about it and if you try and you still can't stop worring then I would add something for the obsessiveness.
Posted by ed_uk on March 28, 2005, at 16:23:13
In reply to Re: Abilify and TD, posted by scribble'ntweak on March 28, 2005, at 16:07:29
Hello!
>I am also wondering if my paranoia about TD is a symptom...
Your anxiety about TD is perfectly 'normal' and logical- it is not paranoia. It's not a symptom of schizophrenia. Do you have any other symptoms at the moment that you're worried about?
Have you ever had any extrapyramidal symptoms while you've been taking Abilify? eg. muscle stiffness, slow movements, difficulty initiating movement, tremor, restlessness, muscle contractions that you can't control etc.
Kind regards,
Ed.
Posted by scribble'ntweak on March 28, 2005, at 16:34:15
In reply to Re: Abilify and TD » scribble'ntweak, posted by ed_uk on March 28, 2005, at 16:23:13
Ed & Scatterbrained-
Thank You...you are probably right that my worry regardung TD is not a symptom, but just something natural to worry about.Ed- No, I am not currently having any symptoms of my illness, nor have I experienced any of the side effects you listed.
-Scribble
Posted by Phillipa on March 28, 2005, at 17:19:47
In reply to Re: Abilify and TD, posted by scribble'ntweak on March 28, 2005, at 16:34:15
I'm glad you're doing so well on your current meds. So often people go off their meds and of course their symptoms reoccur and usually another hospitalization. Your thoughts are clear and well thought out. Keep up the good work! Fondly, Phillipa
Posted by ed_uk on March 28, 2005, at 17:20:43
In reply to Re: Abilify and TD, posted by scribble'ntweak on March 28, 2005, at 16:34:15
Hi,
>..........nor have I experienced any of the side effects you listed.
That's good! The presence of extrapyramidal symptoms may be a risk factor for TD, if you don't have any that's a good sign :-)
Ed.
This is the end of the thread.
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