Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 840854

Shown: posts 1 to 13 of 13. This is the beginning of the thread.

 

Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval

Posted by Zeba on July 19, 2008, at 18:08:03

Has anyone ever taken Ability for emotional episodes related to therapy and while working on trauma stuff. It tends to spill over outside of therapy, and T thinks a small dose of Abilify, like 5 mg. would help. He said start with 2.5 mg. for a few days first. Well it knocked my socks off, and I could barely function. Perhaps if I took it at bedtime, it would be okay and would be in my system. IDK.

ZEBA

 

Re: Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval » Zeba

Posted by llurpsienoodle on July 19, 2008, at 18:39:59

In reply to Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval, posted by Zeba on July 19, 2008, at 18:08:03

Hey Zeba,
sure- I took 5mg of abilify (always at bedtime) when I was having a lot of PTSD stuff during a rough patch. The patch got REALLY rough, and I increased it to 10mg, feeling calm and secure, but not dead to the world.

Lately I've been able to reduce it to 5mg. My pdoc says that I can discontinue it when I'm ready.

-Ll

 

Re: Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval » llurpsienoodle

Posted by Bob on July 19, 2008, at 19:51:08

In reply to Re: Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval » Zeba, posted by llurpsienoodle on July 19, 2008, at 18:39:59

> Hey Zeba,
> sure- I took 5mg of abilify (always at bedtime) when I was having a lot of PTSD stuff during a rough patch. The patch got REALLY rough, and I increased it to 10mg, feeling calm and secure, but not dead to the world.
>
> Lately I've been able to reduce it to 5mg. My pdoc says that I can discontinue it when I'm ready.
>
> -Ll


I found Abilify to be a very strong med for me. A little too activating eventually.

 

Re: Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval

Posted by Phillipa on July 20, 2008, at 0:12:26

In reply to Re: Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval » llurpsienoodle, posted by Bob on July 19, 2008, at 19:51:08

That's what I heard that it's very activating? Friend of mine is on it in baby dose of 2.5mg. Phillipa

 

Re: Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval » Zeba

Posted by sunnydays on July 20, 2008, at 0:42:24

In reply to Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval, posted by Zeba on July 19, 2008, at 18:08:03

I don't know. My pdoc prescribed me Xanax for the same sort of situation. Have to take it at bedtime but between 0.5-1mg works really well for me. 1 mg makes me sleepy, which is what I need when the insomnia gets bad, but less than that works well for just reducing anxiety. Isn't Abilify an antipsychotic (I really don't remember)? It seems like that would be an odd choice, but there are plenty of off-label uses for meds that are perfectly legit. Talk to your pdoc and work to adjust your meds until they're right. That's why you have a pdoc- to help you manage side effects, as well as find the right med at the right dose.

sunnydays

 

Re: Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval

Posted by Zeba on July 20, 2008, at 17:13:49

In reply to Re: Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval » Zeba, posted by sunnydays on July 20, 2008, at 0:42:24

Thanks for ther responses. I have Valium to take too at bedtime, but I have not taken it at all since I got the prescription filled. Pdoc said he was not worried about me getting addicted as I am not fond of the idea and never took narcotic pain meds for long after surgeries. What I am starting to realize is that a big part of my emotional upheaval is from brain damage as much as from the trauma stuff. I had neuropsych testing done a year post ECT to see what might still be problematic. I think I am some better, but under stress or when I am tired, the memory problems rear their ugly head plus low frustration tolerance, anger, and tears, all related to brain damage. Unfortunately I have snapped at people and have felt like crap afterwards. So to learn that I now have brain damage on top of everything else, well, I am not depressed but I am likely to cry at the drop of pin. I am someone who rarely cried, and so I find this terribly embarrassing. I will talk to him on Tuesday about the med thing. Thanks all.

 

Re: Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval » Zeba

Posted by Bob on July 20, 2008, at 18:10:00

In reply to Re: Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval, posted by Zeba on July 20, 2008, at 17:13:49

> Thanks for ther responses. I have Valium to take too at bedtime, but I have not taken it at all since I got the prescription filled. Pdoc said he was not worried about me getting addicted as I am not fond of the idea and never took narcotic pain meds for long after surgeries. What I am starting to realize is that a big part of my emotional upheaval is from brain damage as much as from the trauma stuff. I had neuropsych testing done a year post ECT to see what might still be problematic. I think I am some better, but under stress or when I am tired, the memory problems rear their ugly head plus low frustration tolerance, anger, and tears, all related to brain damage. Unfortunately I have snapped at people and have felt like crap afterwards. So to learn that I now have brain damage on top of everything else, well, I am not depressed but I am likely to cry at the drop of pin. I am someone who rarely cried, and so I find this terribly embarrassing. I will talk to him on Tuesday about the med thing. Thanks all.

Are you saying that ECT caused you brain damage, or something else?

 

Re: Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval » Bob

Posted by Zeba on July 20, 2008, at 19:44:10

In reply to Re: Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval » Zeba, posted by Bob on July 20, 2008, at 18:10:00

Yes; I have learned that the ECT caused me brain damage that was not there pre-ECT. I had pre-testing and waited for a year at least to do the post testing.

Zeba

 

Re: Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval » Zeba

Posted by Bob on July 20, 2008, at 20:09:21

In reply to Re: Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval » Bob, posted by Zeba on July 20, 2008, at 19:44:10

> Yes; I have learned that the ECT caused me brain damage that was not there pre-ECT. I had pre-testing and waited for a year at least to do the post testing.
>
> Zeba

How exactly did they determine conclusively that you sustained brain damage?

 

Re: Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval » Zeba

Posted by sunnydays on July 20, 2008, at 22:07:38

In reply to Re: Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval, posted by Zeba on July 20, 2008, at 17:13:49

Good luck. I was super worried about getting addicted to the Xanax, and have avoided taking it whenever possible for months now, maybe taking it once or twice a month. My pdoc finally basically ordered me to take it every night for a while and promised me I won't become dependent on it (I guess they're more worried about psychological than physical dependance? not sure how they can promise that). So that's what I'm doing. Good luck talking to your pdoc.

sunnydays

 

Re: Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval » Bob

Posted by Zeba on July 20, 2008, at 23:07:24

In reply to Re: Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval » Zeba, posted by Bob on July 20, 2008, at 20:09:21

I had neuropsychological testing that was done pre ECT and just recently. Even though I was aware of some problems, I guess I hoped it would not show up on the neuropsychological testing, but it did. This is very distressing for me, and perhaps at some point I can talk about it more specifically, but right now I just cry thinking about it. I hope you can understand.

Zeba

 

Re: Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval » Zeba

Posted by Bob on July 21, 2008, at 0:45:43

In reply to Re: Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval » Bob, posted by Zeba on July 20, 2008, at 23:07:24

> I had neuropsychological testing that was done pre ECT and just recently. Even though I was aware of some problems, I guess I hoped it would not show up on the neuropsychological testing, but it did. This is very distressing for me, and perhaps at some point I can talk about it more specifically, but right now I just cry thinking about it. I hope you can understand.
>
> Zeba


I can indeed understand. I too had ECT (21 treatments) and wouldn't be surprised at all to have sustained damage, although I never had any pre-ECT testing, so there would be no way to assess it. I'm very sorry to hear about your experience.


 

Re: Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval » Bob

Posted by Zeba on July 21, 2008, at 19:09:38

In reply to Re: Abilify for trauma induced emotional upheaval » Zeba, posted by Bob on July 21, 2008, at 0:45:43

You could still do testing to determine if you are off from the norm for your age group and in what areas.

Zeba


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