and Dosage
| Key to ratings for abilify: 5-Very Satisfied: this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal. 4-Satisfied: this medicine helped. 3-Somewhat Satisfied: this medicine helped somewhat. 2-Not Satisfied: this medicine did not work to my satisfaction. 1-Dissatisfied: I would not recommend taking this medicine. |
| Rating | Reason | Side Effects | Comments | Sex | Age | Time Taken and Dosage | Date Added | |
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| 3 | ADHD | uncontrollable muscle movements, especially when in the car. | My son has been on Abilify (1 mg) for over a year. We started on .5 mg because of his weight. I did not want to medicate my child but I had no choice. He was diagnosed at 2 with ADHD, but I didn't believe the psychologists because it's hard to diagnose something like that at age 2. He is also ODD. Last summer he was almost kicked out of daycare because of impulsivity, aggression, and inablility to sit still. The Abilify worked for him then and continues to work. I would love, however, if he didn't need it but now he's in kindergarten and has to take it to get through the day. I was also able to get him a 504 plan with the school since I got another diagnosis at age 4 which was ADHD. | M | 5 | 1.5 years | 11/2/2009 | 2 | add on for depression | none except rapid and major weight gain | I was very hopeful at first. I felt improvement after the 3rd day when this was added to my Wellbutrin. But in 5 months time, I gained 40 lbs on a petite, 100 lb frame!! I'm really struggling to lose it, and am currently discontinuing because of it. People that I bump into at stores and such ask when I'm due!! Really too bad, I had no other side effects. but now I'm left with this big mess with my weight to clean up. | F | 34 | 5 months | 10/29/2009 | 1 | GAD/Depression | weight gain, extreme fatigue, depression worse | I was taking 2 mg of Abilify last Spring after Paxil didn't seem to be working as much any more. I felt ok then I felt bad again. Dr put me on 5 mg of Abilify. I feel terrible! Extremely tired- so much so that I can barely move. I am going to ween my self off immediately. | F | 47 | 6 months | 10/28/2009 | 3 | Mood stabilizer along with Zoloft | I took 1 mg daily and it helped but caused too many side effects. I'm very med-sensitive. I've stopped Zoloft at this point. | I was on Zoloft and Abilify but stopped both due to weight gain. After a lot of research I'm adding Abilify back at 1 mg every three days. I'm very med-sensitive and tend to respond at lower doses than other people do. Will be back to post how this goes. Something has to help. I'm a wack-job right now. Can't control my thoughts and I dwell on bad stuff too much. Can't get sad events out of my mind etc. I have to give Abilify another chance at a reduced dose. | F | 62 | | 10/27/2009 | 4 | Oneiric states | jittery at low doses, sleepy at high | It has helped me stop feeling like I'm in a dream all the time but my mood is only a little better so far | F | 59 | 3 weeks | 10/25/2009 | 2 | Depression | Insomnia, chest pain, blurry vision | Only on 0.5 mg. for three days. Horrible insomnia no matter what time of day I take med. Makes me drowsy during the day, hard to tell if my mood is improving due to the side effects. | F | 35 | 3 days | 10/24/2009 | 5 | major depressive episode | Energy and hope restored. Insomnia, head ache, speedy, shaky,visual disturbance,constipation. | Hopefully the side effects subside as my body gets used to the med. I'm not willing to stop taking the med as I feel so much better with just 2mg of Abilify as an adjunct to Lexapro. I have hope again. I got my butt out of bed by day 3 (went shopping) then cleaned the house on day 5. What a change from the depths of deep epression to my old self in less than a week...WOW! | F | 46 | 10 days | 10/23/2009 | 3 | bipolar II | agitation, shakiness, acne, loss of libido, weight gain, inability to urinate | This med helped stabilize my mood a bit, but I could not get the full benefit because I could not increase the dose. Every time I would go up on the dose, I would be hit by an avalanche of side-effects. Had to get off eventually. | F | 26 | 5 months | 10/23/2009 | 3 | To help my mood | Strange itching in my nose. I made myself bleed by trying to scratch it but couldn't help myself. It tasted good so I'm okay with it. | I've had depression of one kind or another most of my life. I wanted to feel normal. But, I ran out of samples after a week. It wasn't long enough to find out if it would help. | M | 56 | 7 days | 10/22/2009 | 3 | Mood Disorder | My son is 9 years old. He started in June on a mood stabilizer. Abilify 5 mg, worked on mood, however he has gained 25 pounds. He can not stop eating. He even sneaks food!! I don't know what the doctor is thinking. We are taking him off. | M | 9 | 4 months | 10/19/2009 | 5 | Bipolar Disorder | Very hungry, but able to manage it. Some difficulty sleeping, usually for an hour in the middle of the night. Spending money a little more than usual. Initially had a few days of headaches, not major. | This drug immediately snapped me out of low-grade depression that was steadily worsening. I started taking 2 mg of Abilify each morning and all of my depression symptoms lifted. I only realized how bad my concentration had been because it was so improved on this drug. Like others have said, I lost my hyper-sensitivity to people and situations and replaced that with a high tolerance for life's challenges -- big & small. The side-effects are very minimal at this point, but I'll be paying attention to see if this continues. Lastly, the fact that it works so quickly is a powerful asset if it works for you. | F | 39 | 2 weeks | 10/17/2009 | 1 | depression/schizoaffective | can't stop pacing, feel like someone is inside me trying to get out of my skin, insomniac, no sex drive, having to put car into park at stoplights to keep from ramming into someone in front of me; insane. | i stopped taking this today and hope to G-d it doesn't last long in my bloodstream. | F | 29 | 2 weeks | 10/16/2009 | 2 | possible bipolar | feel like a crack addict, hard to even sit here and type, hitting wrong keys, clenching jaw, restless beyond belief | on 10 mg...gained about 5-7 pounds, doc swears I need it, am bipolar but w out mania, just very low lows.......need to get off this but afraid of geodon...feel like a speed freak. sleep is my only relief............. | F | 38 | 6 weeks | 10/7/2009 | 1 | Mood stabalizer | makes me gain weight, tired, not sure if it is what causes memory loss, fatigue, moodiness, irratability. | F | 35 | 2 years | 10/7/2009 | 5 | Anxiety, depression, mild mania. | Jitters, sleepiness, stomach distress. | This drug is very strong and very good. I am taking 2 mg in conjunction with 7.5 mg of Lexapro. It has reduced my severe PMS and helped me with my previous need to sleep 11 hours a day. Note that I am on one tenth of the recomended starting dosage for someone who is bi-polar; I can only imagine the side effects, however for my purpose it has been a god send. | F | 29 | 1 months | 10/3/2009 | 1 | Bi-polar | pacing, high blood sugar, foamy urine, severe thirst, fatigue, pancreatitis, kidney damage | Please stop taking the Abilify immediately. My husband was prescribed Abilify and it almost killed him. He was hospitalized with severe pancreatitis for 10 days and then on home care hooked up to ivs for another 2 weeks. He is now diabetic and needs to take insulin shots 4 times a day. He is on a very strict low-fat no-sugar diet and may never have even a sip of alcohol ever again. His pancreas is permanently damaged. We are very lucky he is alive. Abilify is evil. Please do not take it. It will kill you. | M | 30 | | 9/30/2009 | 5 | depression, OCD | more alert, motivated, racing thoughts greatly diminished, some nausea, no weight gain! | I was leery about taking this, others make it sound like a nightmare drug. I have no doubt that it affects some people badly, but for me, it made a huge difference. I do wonder if this will wear off after a few months, but so far 5 mg have allowed me to think clearly, get off the couch and accomplish things. No weight gain but dr has me on Metformin to regulate blood sugar and cravings, so that might be the trick there. Important for everyone to monitor their own reactions carefully, or ask family members to help, because every drug works differently for every person. YOU know best what helps YOU. | F | 45 | 2 months | 9/19/2009 | 3 | depression/ bipolar | flattening/apathy, word-finding problems, short-term memory loss, trouble concentrating, not able to articulate thoughts and feelings, muscle weakness. To be fair, it made me manic for the first month I took it, which was wonderful, and I say I'm not depressed now, but is apathy really that different from depression? | When trying to stop taking 5mg, severe akathasia that literally kept me from sleeping at all. I'm tapering, now on 2.5mg, but still fearful that I will have the same symptoms when I discontinue again. Feeling a little trapped. | M | 35 | 7 months | 9/17/2009 | 3 | Childhood Bipolar, ODD | WEIGHT GAIN, MUSCLE PAIN/STIFFNESS | My son has shown improvement in mood, decreased mood swings, more even temperament, however, he constantly complains about pain in his feet and legs. He describes as burning, stinging pain, mostly in his feet. We have observed more nasal stuffiness. He appears short of breath, at times, however, we are linking this to his weight gain (approx 12 lbs) and history of asthma. We are still observing and waiting to gauge any affect in cognitive abilities (school grades). Time will tell if the side effects are actually worth taking the medication. | M | 11 | 3 months | 9/16/2009 | 1 | Bipolar 2-PTSD | Eating abnormal amounts - lethargy - no libido - no personality - sweating | This shit, and yes I say this profanely because that's what it is. It made me more depressed than ever. Yes the headaches and voices went away. But it made me socially anxious , paranoid , ripped me of my self esteem and made me gain weight because all I did and wanted to do was eat. I am an athlete, model, and full time mom. I kissed my life goodbye when taking this shit. Desparate, I stopped taking it. Which made life even more worse. I wanted to kill myself so badly because I wanted the pain to go away. It's all in my head. Mind over matter. I'll be the moodswingin crazy gal I am than risk my life. Also causes muscle weakness. Lucky to be able to carry anything up a damn flight of stairs. All in all, just stay away!!! Spent the whole summer in bed sleeeeping getting fat and suicidal. Whack!!! | F | 25 | 2 months | 9/14/2009 | 1 | GAD/BPII/PTSD/OCD | Severe depression/out of touch | I was on Abilify for three weeks. I started with the 10 mg for two weeks and up to 25 the third week. On the 10 mg I started feeling "funny" and experiencing some side effects. By the third week I was self mutlilating (something I have not done in 15 yrs. I was so depressed I could not function at any level, very irritable and people just were too much to deal with. All I wanted to do was sleep and just disappear. My Therapist said it was like I did a 180 in two weeks and was so concerned she called my Psych. After seeing my Psych, she immediately took me off it and put me on Geodon...not sure if that is a possitive change or not. | F | 37 | 3 weeks | 9/14/2009 | 3 | Bi Polar 2 | Akathesia, insomnia, anxiety, weight gain, head aches | The Akathesia was awful. I would lie in bed thinking I was weak or flu-ish, but once in bed I could not get comfortable. My workouts decreased as I felt weak, dizzy, short of breath, lost balance while stretching. My face would sweat way more than normal. I could tell I was starting to gain weight and would pack on the pounds rapidly if I did not stop taking this. Since exercise is therpeutic for me, the abilify took that away from me. BUT it did help control my mood swings (by making me feel like an emotionless zombie) and the need to act out my irritability. However, inside I felt increasing anxiety and irritability. The side effects just aren't worth it. | F | 30 | 2 months | 9/8/2009 | 3 | Depression/Anxiety | I have gained 20 pounds and am not eating any more than normal. The medicine definitely lifted my depression, but the weight gain now has me looking like a pig. And, it seemed to increase my libido. | Started off with 5 mg; now am down to 2.5... but, because of the weight gain, I am asking to get off of this medication. | F | 40 | 4 months | 9/5/2009 | 1 | anxiety | Akithesia | Do not take this med. I had severe akithesia whereby I had a constant feeling of having to 'move' It was exhausting and I thought it would never leave which made me feel even more panicked. It was the most scared I'd ever felt on a medicine. Before this I truly never paid attention to side effects on labels, now I do. | F | 38 | | 8/29/2009 | 4 | Bi-Polar | Akathisia, increased libido, insomnia | Loved it the first week until the Akathisia kicked in. Then I wanted to jump out the car while it was moving... Halfed my dosage, no help. Halfed the dosage again, no help. Now I am on 1/8 of the pill. Akathisia is gone, but increased libido went away. Still have insomnia taken care of by Ambien. | F | 46 | 1 years | 8/28/2009 | 5 | for incentive, to mk decisions | none except lots of hope, energy, lack of fear,loss of procrastination, able to make decisions, ability to focus just an all around zest for life with unlimited happiness | If your anti depressant or anti anxiety meds work but you still have no energy, ask your Dr to add Abilify. I had never heard of it but now instead of thinking of everything I need and want to do I am optimistic and bubbling with enthusiasm and energy. Now instead of reading all day long I am cleaning and doing hobbies, kyaking, running, dancing and marching with my grandchildren Whats next a sea plane ride and travel. Was just weeks ago I was close to Agoraphobia. If your meds only get you to the bottom of the mountain looking up and wishing you would, try Abilify, you will climb that mountain, maybe even run up it and then dance on the top!!! | F | 62 | 3 weeks | 8/23/2009 | 2 | bi polar 2 | weight gain, sugar cravings, excessive sleepiness, inability to exercise (no stamina, gasping for breath) | It helped with irritability (because nothing seemed to matter) but left me unable to live normally and my friends all asked if something was wrong because I was so quiet and getting more quiet with each passing day. Because the side effects were so crippling, I have stopped taking Abilify and switched to Geodon. | F | 60 | 4 months | 8/18/2009 | 1 | Bipolar I | Akathisia, loss of interest in life, Always sleepy, high anxiety, catatonia | Got really bad Akathisia after only 3 days on 10mg. Was taken during a bad manic/pschotic state so was forced to stay on it. Initially was bumped to 20mg which made me catatonic. Back to 10mg kept hallucinating. Added Cogentin, made Akathisia go away but severe anxiety came in it's palce along with lack of motivation and no interest in anything. Severe confusion followed. This sucked my will to live. The Akathisia was so severe I was suicidal. | M | 32 | 7 months | 8/17/2009 | 3 | depression; withdrawal aid | VERY rapid weight gain (10 lbs in a month!), constipation, swollen legs and feet, back pain | GOOD NEWS: This drug helped me in the horrible phase of discontinuing Cymbalta. I was no longer moody and nasty-tempered. BAD NEWS: the fact that my face is so puffy I now look like a fatter, older version of myself and I now have GOBS of fat in places I never gained weight before (back of arms, waist) proves this stuff is POISON. It may inhibit thyroid function, because I am not eating more than I usually do (in fact my appetite is less than normal--wierd!) yet I am piling on weight. The constipation, nausea and fatigue aren't fun either. And I look like CRAP: bloated, haggard, pale, and unhealthy. Phasing off this med asap! | F | 31 | 2 months | 8/14/2009 | 5 | depression | I have experience swelling of the calves. This may not be related to the Abilify, as I have had a kidney transplant. | My family has a history of serious depression to the point of being institutionalize. For many years now my brother and I have tried one drug after another. Nothing helped us 'open the curtains'. Two mg of Abilify each morning, after just a couple of days, has given us our lives back. This is a miracle drug for both my brother and my self. I must include, we have only been on this medicine for two or three weeks. | M | 60 | 18 days | 8/8/2009 | 5 | wellbutrin | somewhat more tired, some difficulty urinating.. | A Great help.. relieved pain in my shoulders and elbows.. and has rid me of most of my suicidal or weird thoughts and voices. | M | 57 | 25 days | 8/5/2009 | 4 | bi-polar 1 disorder | nausea, vomiting, insomnia | I am 5mg, for just about a week, first 2 days I was very hostile, last 4 days restless with insomnia and cant eat much. However I have energy, I get things done, I am back to being social which I was not for over a year and half. No fears of public and can focus to read, play games etc. My patience level is much better. Just would like to know when the insomnia and nausea will pass. | M | 41 | 1 weeks | 8/5/2009 | 2 | Possbile Bipolar 2 | Extreme sweating, extreme nausea, weird chest movement, insomnia | Been on Celexa for 10 years now, up and down in dose as lifes stresses went up and down... 40mg now for past 2 years. Doctor added abilify for possible Bipolar 2. I took at 7pm and within 2 hours I was sweating profusely and kept doing so for the next 24 hours, then it started to go away. I wasn't hot, I even cranked up the air conditioner, didn't help at all. I soaked my clothes and sheets. This caused some dehydration which didn't help the nausea. That was also extreme. I never actually vomited but still laid on the bathroom floor just in case. The first few bouts of it I could barely move. I was flushed and weak and trembling it was so bad. I also couldn't sleep, which I'd already been fighting insomnia the past few months. But this made it worse as I couldn't sleep more then 10-30 mins at a time. The constant sweating didn't help when trying to sleep. I'm not saying don't take this med. I dealt with bad nausea for weeks when I first started it, and also when I went without for over a week. Just wanted to share what happened to me | F | 32 | 1 days | 8/2/2009 | 5 | major depression/Bipolar | None really..Some initial insomnia but got better with time. Sexual sides are minimal and never a problem | A great medicine.It worked the 1st day I took it (5 mg)..I felt so much better..NOTHING has worked for me except Abilify and Parnate. People love to rant and rave when something is not working for them. Fine. But please don't tell other people to stay away from the drug because it doesn't work for you. If your having a hard time finding something that works, try this med. It works quickly so you'll know if it's for you without having to wait 2-4 weeks. | M | 49 | 60 days | 7/31/2009 | 1 | Bipolar Disorder | Weight Gain | I was taking this medicine for about half a year and was recommended to not go off of it. In this six month period I gained 67 pounds. It also made it very hard to lose the weight afterward. Here I am almost two years later, and I am five pounds away from getting rid of the 67 I initially gained. Although the weight is gone, the stretch marks remain and still will. DO NOT TAKE THIS MEDICINE. | F | 22 | 6 months | 7/27/2009 | 5 | schizo personality disorder | I LOVE ABILIFY!! It is my favorite antipsychotic. Side effects range from mild tiredness and hunger spells to insomnia at bed time. But that helps with Ambien CR which my doc loves to prescribe like candy to me! Abilify helps tremendously with voices and does not give me the akathisia movement disorder like the "dones" risperidone and ziprasidone antipsychotic do 100% of the time. | This medicine is a mild antipsychotic when it comes to side effects when compared to other antipsychotics. I would recommend ABILIFY (aripiprazole) over the other atypical antipsychotics any day. | M | 29 | 6 years | 7/23/2009 | 1 | Schizophrenia | Couldn't stop moving, couldn't sleep. Paranoid, anxious. | This is hell. | M | 18 | 4 weeks | 7/22/2009 | 1 | major life long depression | I had a STROKE after 9 days on this awful medicine. I've been on wellbutrin for years and started to feel a deeper depression than normal. My psychiatrist put me on Abilify as a boost. Within 3 days I became very confused and very tired. It was the weekend, on Monday I called the doctor. He said it was the side effects and would clear up, that I had only been on it 6 days. On Thursday, I called and told him that I was stopping it. In addition to the confusion, I was having a hard time talking. He said the side effects would probably be gone by my appointment. They got worse! I couldn't remember how to use my utensils, my toothbrush etc. I couldn't spell or write, was mixing up the phone number even if I was looking at it. Monday, he still felt that it was side effects but at my insistence he sent me right to a neurologist, who ran me through a number of tests. He agreed that it was side effects. If I wasn't better in 3 weeks, he'd do a CAT scan. After 1 week insisted on the scan and lo | I was 62 years old and do not have dementia. My doctor did not consider me elderly. At what age does the drug company consider elderly? My doctor said that this shouldn't have happened. I am better but not back to the way I was before Abilify and the stroke. After 13 months I don't feel that I am getting any better and I honestly feel the problems I am still having are permanent. But it could have been worse, I wasn't paralyzed! Even with the computer, this write up has taken me 2 1/2 hours to compose. | F | 63 | 9 days | 7/15/2009 | 2 | Some psychotic disorder | Akathisia. Insomnia. | Tried Abilify for a while and was hoping the initial akathisia and insomnia would go away, but after a month there was no change, so I gave it up. | M | 34 | 1 months | 7/14/2009 | 1 | depression | I had bad nausea and vomiting. Very bad acne. Super drowsy. | It didn't even help with my condition. I have been trying it out for about 4-5 weeks and the side effects are horrible. I was still the same person I was before takin Abilify if not worse. | F | 21 | 5 weeks | 7/10/2009 | 2 | Depression | Nausea, vomiting, anxiety, restlessness | Only took 2.5mg and had horrible first day so I decided not to continue taking it. | F | 33 | 1 days | 7/9/2009 | 1 | Bipolar | Explosive headaches, sexual dysfunction, blurry vision, muscle stiffness, indigestion, nausea, loss of concentration and memory impairment | I am a heart patient and have also experienced sky high BP. I have no idea why this drug would even have been prescribed to me. I agree it is a poison. | M | 51 | 1 months | 7/5/2009 | 4 | Pediatric BP rapid cycling | tired, sleepy, | 9 yr old boy, started on 10 mg then increased to 15 mg. Takes 900mg lithium and 15 mg Abilify. Takes all at night due to sleepiness. Is a bit far away during the day on the 15 mg. Hardly any mania or outbursts. No complaints of inner restlessness. No weight gain. Appetite is normal. | M | 9 | 1 months | 7/3/2009 | 1 | Bipolar | Miserable, horrible drug: extreme fatigue, bloated face, mental sluggishness and confusion. | NO theraputic effects whatsoever for me. Useless. I took it for about 6 months in 2003 and was taken off it by my psych. at my sister's urging. She came to see me at Christmas and was shocked at what she found. I was not even aware of how bad it was until I was taken off it. | F | 41 | 6 months | 7/3/2009 | 1 | BiPolar II | Severe headache, tooth pain, muscle aches, depression, lethargy, trouble sleeping, jaw pain. | Called doctor and she said I had an allergic reaction to Abilify and to discontinue use immediately. If you have any of the symptoms listed above, contact your doctor ASAP. | F | 35 | 1 days | 7/1/2009 | 5 | Schizoaffective Disorder | I initially experienced Akathesia, Nystagmus and sleepiness. Then my dosage was recently upped from 20 mgs to 25 mgs due to break through depression, after that I did feel some nausea. Other than those few side effects I've felt fine on Abilify. I would recommend Abilify to others who are being carefully monitored by their Psychiatrist. I just happen to have an excellent Dr., which does make a difference. | I take Abilify along with Divalproex Sodium ER 1250 mgs for migraines, Clonazepam, Cogentin 1 mg for Akathesia, 2 grs of Armour Thyroid for Hypothyroidism. | F | 47 | 5 years | 6/28/2009 | 1 | deppresion and anxiaty | facial tics, my daughter eyes are moving without control. Her tongue is heavy like if she is drunk, she gained 30 pounds. This medication is a poison I will not give it to my daughter anymore. | F | 16 | 2 years | 6/23/2009 | 3 | anxiety/pmdd/depression | I have tried all the SSRI's and am currently taking Cymbalta 60 mg daily. I was told that abilify helps so many people in my situation but so far the side effects have been miserable. Yes, I am more mellow and not as irritable, but I have a constant headache/eye pain (like a migraine), I cannot sleep and I'm nauseous. I'm reading all these other comments and I'm terrified of gaining weight, so I think I'm going to stop. | F | 39 | 3 days | 6/21/2009 | 1 | misdiagnosed | SEVERE AKETHISIA- I had to walk out of the class room daily and skip class because I COULD NOT SIT STILL TO SAVE MY LIFE i felt like something was inside me trying to come out...my mind could NOT control my body, SEVERE WEIGHT GAIN ..and I used to always be thin) made me OBSESSED with food...I would do anything to get to food and i would eat and eat and eat uncontrolably. Never have I been suicidal, but I wanted to die just to get rid of the akethisia it was LIVING HELL. I have permanent side effects... i'm way slower in the head...memory loss...stuttering... I would lie down and not be able to get out of bed I was SO tired at times. | POISON! google AKETHISIA and read the hell it could bring you and your loved ones. DO NOT TAKE ANTI-PSYCHOTICS ... they WILL make you CRAZY so they can keep giving you more pills when you complain about the side effects they will more than likely tell you it's symptoms of something else and just put you on more medication that will permanently damage your brain and life. I can't believe they give this to people knowing what harm it can do. | F | 19 | 6 weeks | 6/18/2009 | 2 | Major Depression | weight gain, fatigue/tiredness/drowsiness, loss of concentation | I have ADD and even though I am on Adderall the abilify counteracted it and I had a lot of trouble focusing in school. I am tired all the time getting 12 hours of sleep a night and still taking a 3-4 hour nap in the afternoon. It did help with my depression but recently I have been having suicidal thoughts. I also gained 15 pounds in just a few weeks. | F | 20 | 2 months | 6/15/2009 | 4 | Schizophrenia | Problems with my legs. Sometimes they are restless, other times I can't feel them. I go to the gym a lot and have found I cannot perform as well with my legs. There are no problems with my other body parts. Blurry vision Random changes to my tone of voice Feeling sick (this went after a couple of days) | Works well so far. My symptoms are not as bad, I just hope the side effects stop | M | 26 | 2 weeks | 6/8/2009 | 1 | schizoaffective | I gained 55 pounds in the 3 months i was on abilify! i have been thin my whole life now i no longer have a functioning metabolism. and am unable to loose all the weight | F | 26 | 3 months | 6/8/2009 | 2 | Anxiety | Hallucinations, seeing spots (colored), toothaches (the whole right side of my mouth) I know this because when I stopped taking, it was way improved. Headaches, angry outbursts, very very tired 24/7. | Did help the anxiety. However, I couldn't tolerate the side effects I listed. It seemed each day was worse than the day before. | F | 35 | 1 months | 6/7/2009 | 1 | Depression | Insanity. I know that sounds wierd, crazy or whatever, but that is the closest word I know to describe it. For three days I went into a world where I couldn't understand what was going on aroung me. I would start to speak, the words were clear in my head, but gibberish would come out. I was terrified for much of the time, curled in a ball, feeling I was about to die at any second. | This drug is now advertised as an add on supplement to anti-depressants. This is crazy! It's an anti-psychotic! It has a side affect profile that if fully revealed to patients would sent them running for the nearest exit. | M | 28 | 4 days | 6/7/2009 | 1 | wrongly diagnosed | So, I am posting this message mainly to help others with their emotional/psychological struggles. I would like to give people who have been put on anti-psychotics some pointers and guidance that might help. I was on abilify for six years and regret it completely. | Honestly, Abilify works wonders for some people and for many others I can make matters worse. I have a strong desire to help others so they hopefully don't have to go through what I went through to get to a state of well being. Everything is anonymous!! E-mail me if you would like some help with your situation. Especially if you feel like you are just stuck. | M | 23 | 6 years | 6/7/2009 | 5 | bipolar | M | 52 | 4 months | 6/6/2009 | 1 | depression | movement disorders....feeling suicidal and crazy.... | This poison should be illegal...thanks for the brain damage, abilify.....you have blood on your hands, as does the fda... | M | 33 | 1 months | 6/1/2009 | 4 | Bipolar II | Love this medication. I finally feel like me again and can handle things. However, I am EXTREMELY hungry. Does this go away? Also experiencing severe muscle aching. I don't want to go off the Abilify, but can't take the hunger pain. | F | 43 | 4 days | 5/30/2009 | 4 | Major depression w/ psychosis | Something similar to restless leg syndrome, fidgeting | I've now been diagnosed with major depression with psychotic features along with some other things. Abilify was prescribed to me because my initial diagnosis was schizoaffective disorder. The two disorders are somewhat similar. Abilify has more or less completely eliminated my psychotic symptoms and I do well on this medication. I have not experienced any negative side effects in the past 2 years. For the first 6 months I had restless legs and some fidgeting problems where it was hard to sit still. Those symptoms passed and I feel pretty much fine at this point. I also take Effexor XR, Lamictal and Librium. | F | 31 | 2.5 years | 5/29/2009 | 4 | Depression & Paranoia | I've been taking 2 mg Abilify for 2 weeks now, along with my usual 40 mg Prozac and 900 mg Lithium. I feel like I'm on speed or something with abilify! I have no appetite (a good thing-could lose a few lbs), I feel restless, but I feel like I see things differently now. I also have a "full" sensation in my head and a little shakiness. I'm scared, because I keep reading all these bad things about Abilify, but I feel soooo much more alert & interactive now. If only the restlessness would go away, this is a miracle med for me. How long until these side effects taper off? | F | 28 | 14 days | 5/28/2009 | 3 | Bipolar Disorder (rapid cycling) | Weight gain (about 20-30 pounds in a six months...without changing eating habits), extreme tiredness, lethargy, shaking/tremors, increased levels of insulin (blood sugar). | It helped my manic episodes and leveled out my mood. However, I don't feel it was worth the weight gain and increased blood sugar levels, which contributed to reoccurring, prolonged (and quite painful) yeast infections. | F | 20 | 6 months | 5/23/2009 | 1 | bi polar | This was the worst medicine ever. I tried it for 6 weeks, starting at 2mg, and by the end of the time taking 15mg. My body would not stop moving. I couldnt read a book or watch TV. I found myself taking too many sleeping pills (and i never take sleeping pills) to counteract the movement so that i could fall asleep. This medicine should be used as a torture technique!!. The the doctor gave me sleep meds, and blood pressure medication to help with the Abilify side effects.(the blood pressure meds were supposed to make me stop moving...) So she had me on three medications! (NOt to mention this medicine is extremely overpriced!) You couldn'tpay me to take this medicine again. I am on Lamictal 25mg (a very low dose) and its a miracle. I bet this medicine will be pulled soon. It was just like a poison! Be very careful trying this medication. | M | 39 | 6 weeks | 5/19/2009 | 2 | depression and ptsd | inner restlessness and desire to drink or eat | i took this for about two monts along with wellbutrin and at first had a hard time staying awake during the day. after that passed i began wanting to drink so badly it was driving me nuts. i began to drink to control the restlessness i felt because i was climbing the walls in my house just trying to get away from myself. i quit taking it a week again and with just the wellbutrin i feel much better. | F | 29 | 7 weeks | 5/18/2009 | 5 | Depression | Feeling a little "speedy" mentally, waking up early (4am), weight gain (about 10-15lbs) in 2mos. Sometimes I feel overtired and not able to sleep enough to catch up. | I was depressed and Cymbalta was not helping---I could not motivate myself to do anything, even just taking a shower was hard. Went back to Effexor XR (150mg) which had helped before with 5mg of Abilify and I could almost immediately feel the difference. Wish I felt a little more energy physically, but I do feel a lot better. | F | 48 | 2 months | 5/16/2009 | 3 | psychosis/spirit possession | weight gain, perhaps constipation, perhaps insomnia | I've been taking Abilify for 3 years and liked it the most of all the anti-psychotics I tried. Resperidol made me gain a lot of weight quickly. And Haldol was abominabal - I ate constanly and got ridid muscles, but that was also from all the anti-psychotics I tried. The key for me was finding the right DOSAGE, which was much lower than my doctor put me on originally. 5mg Abilify was just right, but I've been gaining more and more weight over the years and want to go off it due to this serious problem. It did however, protect me from the spirit invasion or what others call "voices" or "hallucinations". The risk of psychosis is one problem by going off of it, but so is diabetes and obesity, as well as other side effects from staying on it. I have weighed the consequences and made my choice. I will add that I'm perturbed with my doctor for not monitoring my weight while I've been on this drug. I think he doesn't want to see that it causes obesity. | F | 46 | 3 years | 5/13/2009 | 5 | Bipolar Disorder | None that I know of | It has saved my life. | F | 42 | 2 years | 5/12/2009 | 4 | Schizofrenia/Severe Anxiety Mix | Extreme dizziness & Muscle Tremors. | It works well, don't get me wrong. I switched from Invega. I'm on only 10mg and will probably switch to 25mg by next fill up. Totally helps with the anxiety and works well as an antidepressant. I've been able to focus more, but i'm also on Vyvanse for ADHD. I've had no suicidal thoughts what-so-ever. 10mg is a bit low, in my opinion anyway. Also, if you take any anti-psychotics, through my experience, for a month straight, the side effects generally seem to wear a bit off. | M | 15 | 1 weeks | 5/8/2009 | 1 | Depresstion | Facial tics - blinking, tongue thrusts to the point where I had sores in my mouth, muscle stiffness, joint pain. Uncontrollable muscle movements, twitching, jerking. Fatigue. | This medication was the worst thing that I ever took. I had "parkinson syndrome" from it. The facial tics & tongue thrusts lasted over a year. I had to take Vitamin E for the past 18 months to get rid of them. I still have blinking tics. My daughter's doctor wanted her to try it(in small doses) but I refused. This was a horrible experience for me. | F | 44 | 6 months | 5/8/2009 | 4 | bi-polar depression | Week 1: very slight weight gain -- about 2 lbs. that seems to have leveled off; a few days of extreme fatigue. Overall: slightly irritated stomach (I believe this makes me eat more, and is responsible for the weight gain), lighter sleeping, more sleep disturbances. I used to sleep like a log. Now I sleep like a cat. I miss my old sleep. | I was on abilify once before. The doc took me off due to my "speedy" response. But I have ADD, and I really liked the abilify. New doc is a-ok with my response, so long as it works for me. I'm also on Adderall and Welbutrin. Since starting this drug, I actually feel like doing things rather than just thinking about doing them and then thinking that I'll never finish and then getting depressed and hating myself. I'm more social. Self esteem is better too. Disruptive and ruminative thoughts are way down. Overall, I like. | F | 33 | 16 days | 5/7/2009 | 5 | Bipolar 2 | Initially stiffness and emotionless face, subsided within weeks. | This drug is a God-send to my 9 year old without it he would likely be in the hospital. Almost totally normal with it. | M | 15 months | 5/6/2009 | 1 | depression | facial tics where my left side of my face moved with my inability to stop it, my legs felt like they were filled with lead and I didnt want to work out anymore, my feet tingled and my toes hurt this was the creepiest drug I have ever taken | I felt happy but the side effects were so horrible it wasnt worth being happy (and that says a lot) I'm on wellbutrin and pristiq and this medication was a nightmare. My psych really pushed for me to take it and I had to really stand up for myself to say no. Dont let the commercial fool you and keep trying other drugs cuz abilify is poison | F | 2 months | 5/6/2009 | 3 | anxiety, bi polar, chest pain | i can barely do anything...i just want to sleep until it hurts. while sleeping i feel as if i am on a trampoline, i just toss and turn and bounce. today(day 4) i feel jittery. | i was put on abilify because i was having panic attacks and feeling as if i was having heart attacks. tight chest and trouble breathing, er visits. doc thinks its in my mind and that im bipolar. i cant believe that chest pain so severs is mental. i havent had a bad attack yet but i feel as if i will collapse, i hope this tired dead-battery feeling goes away or i cant take it, i have a 2 month old. | M | 36 | 4 days | 5/4/2009 | 4 | Bipolar Disorder | weight gain, inner restlessness. | I've been on lamictal, seroquel, and geodon since I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder two months ago. Each of those medicines gave me horrible side effects. Abilify is the only medicine that has helped. I am calmer, do not have my angry and irritable outbursts. I'm also a self-injurer and haven't done anything since a couple days being on this medicine. The downfall, I've been on this medicine for 2 weeks and I've gained 12lbs. | F | 23 | 2 weeks | 5/3/2009 | 2 | Bipolar 2 | Insomnia, wide awake every hour or two; impulsivity, shopping, eating, speaking; 15lb weight gain in 1 month; became nearly inarticulate, could not convey my thoughts or feelings very well at all; hypomania | I took Ability for a month as an adjunct Zoloft 100mg, which has stopped working. In term of relief from the depression, the Ability worked wonderfully. Because of the side effects, I dropped from my initial dose of 5mg to 2mg, and the depressive symptoms/suicidality returned nearly immediately. After bumping back up to 4-4.5mg, the side effects returned. This med may be tolerable for others but the side effects were intolerable for me. | F | 36 | 1 months | 5/2/2009 | 5 | Bi Polar Disorder, Psychosis | Weight Gain (15 lbs in 6 months) | My daughter is doing EXTREMELY well on Abilify. Her rapid cycling is nearly zero. Her psychosis is also tremendously better. The change is almost as if she is a different kid. She went from extreme mania episodes that cycled at times within minutes. To near stable in her moods in just days after beginning this medication. Her doctor wants to change her to Geodon due to the weight gain. Weight was never an issue for her until she started taking Abilify. But I think with the improvement in her mental stability a little weight gain is not that significant. I love this medication. She was on 5mg per day up to 7.5 per day after 2 months. It's effectiveness wore off at about 2 months in. No problems since upped to 7.5mg a day. She has no trouble sleeping. I didnt realize how her mania was affecting her sleep until starting this medicine and she is actually tired when it's time for bed. No complaints from me. | F | 7 | 6 months | 4/26/2009 | 2 | Bipolar | Severe akathesia! The restlessness drove me up a wall. I also experienced word loss, short-term memory loss, stiff muscles and joints, tremors in my left hand (I'm left-handed), raised body temperature, weight gain (15 pounds in 4 months), no sex drive, increased breast size with milk coming out of them, fatigue during the day and sleeplessness at night. I took Abilify before I want to bed. I have tried almost every dose: 30mg, 20mg, 10mg, 5mg and 2mg. At 5mg and above I experienced euphoria that made me feel like I could probably jump off of a building for fun and be o.k. At doses below 5mg I still experienced all of the side effects (except for the euphoria)and became extremely irritable and hostile, but otherwise I had no emotions. | To be fair, my paranoia went away. This was the only medication I was taking. | F | 45 | 4 years | 4/23/2009 | 2 | Bipolar Disorder | Brain fog, Stiff muscles, inability to ever sit still or relax, | Abilify caused me to not be able to relax my muscles and I was always uncomfortable. I had a hard time sleeping at night. Wasn't what I expected. I had to go off of it becuase my grades in school started to drop. | F | 23 | 2 weeks | 4/17/2009 | 5 | Mixed bipolar | I have been on Abilify for 2 years with no side effects. It has stabalized my mood along with Tegretal and Pristiq. While my antidepressant often stops working or has to be adjusted in the dose, the Abilify 10 mg has worked for me. I take all my meds at bedtime and sleep well, have no appetite increase or weight gain(terrible wt. gain on Depakote that I have since lost), no nausea, dizziness, or vivid dreams. For me it's a life saver and I'm able to continue to work at a high functioning capacity. | F | 60 | 2 years | 4/16/2009 | 4 | Suicidal thoughts | My mouth is dry and i've noticed i'm not hungry but my muscles ached terribly for the first two weeks. | I'm glad I didn't listen to the scary potential side effects. On abilify I feel even but I still feel emotions only I dont think about how much I hate myself anymore. I'm surprised at how this has worked so far. | F | 35 | 2 months | 4/16/2009 | 3 | depression, over fatigue & stress | at first my husband take zyprexa but his doctor changed it to abilify due to gaining his weight. after a week i notice that my husband became restless and move or walk like a robot, though he can sleep he always tell me that he tired very easy as well his muscles. his craving more than before so his cholesterol became higher. so i decided to stop taking abilify and i noticed that my husband movement became normal. | M | 33 | 13 days | 4/16/2009 | 3 | aggression & phycotic eppisodes | Tiredness, sleeplessness, extreme fluid retention. pain in the left side of neck | My son has DownSyndrome and a level of Autism, he has also been diagonised as having Psyschotic eppisodes, He gets very aggressive He has been on Risperdal(disasterous). Zyprexa(worked on the outbursts, but huge weight gain,and the threat of him developing Diabetes) He's been on Abilify now fo thirteen days but I'm getting very concerned about side effects, So I'm now considering stopping the drug, It has helped keep him calm, but at what risk to his health,We are running out of options for him | M | 18 | 13 days | 4/15/2009 | 3 | bi polar /anxiety | jittery restlesness cant sleep | i am also taking lamectal and added abilify to help with continued depression the depression has subsided but the jitteryness and lack of sleep are annoying and i am not sure i can deal with it makes working hard when i keep feeling these "twitches" inside my body am going to speak to my DR about changing to another med i am not impressed with abilify | F | 29 | 7 days | 4/14/2009 | 3 | Depression/bi polar/anxeity | Restless yet tired all day cant relax have to keep moving but so exhausted,panic/anxiety attacks,blurred vision,night binging,constantly hungry,strange dreams,some what hallucinating like twisting an spinning, ONLY ON 5MG been on it for about 2 weeks now... | F | 22 | 15 days | 4/13/2009 | 3 | Bipolar ##, PMDD | rash on my face, feet and toes swelled, headaches, bruises, my whole body was sensitve to touch and ached all over | started at 5 mg and went to 15mg. Helped with my moods | F | 12 | 30 days | 4/12/2009 | 5 | mind racing, bi polar | none | completely made me a different person, I felt normal after 20 years of struggling with depression and paranoia. I also use this with celexa which works for me too | M | 37 | 1 months | 4/7/2009 | 3 | Resistant Depression/Anxiety | 15 lbs weight gain. Restlessness. Chronic insomnia. Night binging (and subsequent purging to curb weight gain). | Ironically, this drug (5 mg to 2 mg with 150 mg of Wellbutrin XR and 20 mg of Adderral XR) helped my self-confidence in social situations by minimizing my anxiety and shutting off my self-critic -- despite shattering my self-image (as a result of relentless weight gain). At my best, I didn't care. I shopped nonstop -- because I was constantly gaining weight (in reality) and my clothes no longer fit me. In my case, my doctor did not listen to my threshold for weight gain. In two years, I gained 20 lbs with various antidepressants. Desperate to gain some resemblance of myself back, I began purging. In the eight months that I have been (on/off) the Abilify, I have vacillated from hypomanic (on) to hopelessly depressed (off). In fact, the spiraling phase upon quitting the drug (without compliance) has translated to increased anxiety (and dependence on Xanax) and debilitating depression. I do not recommend this drug to young women whose self-image is inextricably related to their appearance in anyway. | F | 33 | 8 months | 4/1/2009 | 3 | Depression | Speedy manic feeling, shakiness, feeling like I couldn't sit still, a little nausea in the beginning, craving for sweets at night, WEIGHT GAIN. | I was already taking Prozac for depression but still having depression symptoms, so the Dr. prescribed Abilify to supplement the Prozac. In the beginning, this medicine really helped to pull me out of the funk that I was in. I felt energized, productive, and like my overall attitude was very much improved. After a couple or 3 weeks, however, I noticed that I was gaining weight at an alarming rate. In the 2 months that I took this drug, (at a low dose of 1mg/day) I gained over 15 lbs! I also felt strangely like shopping and spending money all of the time, almost like I was having a manic episode. All in all, I felt much less depressed, but stopped taking for fear of becoming REALLY overweight. Note: after I stopped this drug, I felt more depressed than ever and almost suicidal. If you stop, you should probably taper off gradually! | F | 45 | 2 months | 3/29/2009 | 5 | pediatric anxiety/possible bipolar | nausea & headache for the first few days. Also, tired during the day for 1st week. otherwise, none. | This medication has worked wonderfully for my daughter. She has been on it 3 weeks and for the first time in her life I heard she had a "wonderful" week at school. The side effects are most definately tolerable and my daughter says this medication changed her life. Parents-don't be afraid to try it. I know everything on this site sounds bad, but it has been a Godsend to my family. | F | 8 | 3 weeks | 3/20/2009 | 3 | Post Tramatic Syndrome & OCD | I wake up several times in the night and am not able to go back to sleep usually for an hour or so. I have never had this problem in the past. I have also been very restless and am not able to stay focused on one task for two long. I have to be doing something that is keeping me very busy. I have also noticed increased anxiety with this medication. | M | 36 | 1 months | 3/15/2009 | 2 | adjunct to depression therapy | I am incredibly sleepy. I can not function in this state. | F | 23 | 2 days | 3/12/2009 | 4 | psychotic episode | filling a little dizzy the first day | after 2 years from my first episode I had to change from solian to abilify due to sides effects(waight gain ).So far it helps me | F | 40 | 6 days | 3/5/2009 | 5 | manic/psychotic episode | restlessness at first, waking up several times in night | Switched to it from risperidone, 4 months after a manic/psychotic episode. I was depressed on the risperidone but depression lifted on aripiprazole (an antidepressant was also added). Didn't have the demotivation and lethargy I experienced on risperidone. | M | 24 | 9 months | 2/24/2009 | 3 | autism bipolar | painful erection of penis | My 6 year old son never had a problem with erections until taking Abilify. Then it happened all the time and was very painful. The doctors would not believe me that this was happening - even though it is rare side effect. His behaviour settled down on the abilify; but we have not seen an increase in bad behaviour since taking him off the med. | M | 6 | 3 months | 2/21/2009 | 1 | Bi-Polar | Could not sit still. Felt confused. When I say I couldn't sit still I mean it. This drug had me jittery, and it was the worst feeling I have ever had in my life. Sit down to watch TV, standing up thirty seconds later. To come off the drug was worse then the side effects of the drug while taking it. | Be very careful of this drug, it is very powerful, and it takes a good month to get it out of your system. | M | 38 | 4 months | 2/21/2009 | 1 | Depression | I went from being moderately depressed, to feeling suicidal within 2 weeks. Acute anxiety and paranoia followed. | This is a very dangerous drug. | F | 41 | 16 days | 2/20/2009 | 4 | Depression | Insomnia | I started taking this b/c my regular depression just wasn't doing the job. Now I take 2mg of abilify and 150mg of Effexor XR and I haven't felt this good in months. Absolutely no side effects from the abilify except difficulty staying asleep during the night. That's why I gave it a 4. It did exactly what it was supposed to do! Thank goodness!!!! | F | 31 | 20 days | 2/13/2009 | 4 | Bipolar and Schizophrenia | None that I can directly attribute to Abilify | I have been taking Abilify for over 2 years now. As a result, I can no longer remember what it felt like to not be on it or what it actually does for me when I take it. It is just another drug that I pop twice a day. 15mg twice a day for a total of 30mg. I do know that my hallucinations are very minimal from what they used to be. But I still hear voices and see things on occasion that are very disturbing. | M | 36 | 2 years | 2/5/2009 | 1 | depression | weight gain | I gained 35lbs in 6 months... it helped with my mood swings but when my psych told me it was why I was gaining weight, I went off it.... i hate it =( Now I'm left almost 40lbs overweight | F | 22 | 6 months | 2/5/2009 | 3 | depression | weight gain = 60 lbs in 1 yr, craving sweets, developed pre-diabetic condition, BANKRUPTED ME AS EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE | I've suffered with intractable depression for decades and have been on just about every medication ever made. After years of working with an extremely competent, caring psychiatrist, he placed me on a 2 drug combination of 60mg/daily of Cymbalta and 15 mg/every other day of Abilify and, for the first time in a very long time, I do not experience the terrible lows which with I previously struggled. Now, if I could just lose the weight I gained.....I'd feel much, much better. Please do not construe this medication combination as a CURE. I AM better; BUT, I still struggle with depression...just not as often. | F | 50 | 4 years | 2/3/2009 | 5 | Depression | No perceptable side effects. This medicine stabelized me and provided some lift. I am taking it along with anafrinil and cymbalta. | M | 46 | 2 weeks | 2/1/2009 |
| Key to
ratings: 5-Very Satisfied: this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal. 4-Satisfied: this medicine helped. 3-Somewhat Satisfied: this medicine helped somewhat. 2-Not Satisfied: this medicine did not work to my satisfaction. 1-Dissatisfied: I would not recommend taking this medicine. |