Would like to hear about people's experiences with Abilify

Considering taking it, I think I tend to be kind of sedated on my
current meds and have a lot of motivation problems.

What is the exact way it is supposed to work? Is it supposed to be a
little more sophisticated in the way, or how much, dopamine it blocks?
That is what I think I have heard.

Crazymeds said it also works on serotonin and histamine receptors but
it didn't say how... as in causing an increase or decrease in their
function. Anyone know?

Alison

"Gelly" <Gelly.D@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:07a32f20-06a5-40e2-94ef-19273c8982a3@25g2000hsx.googlegroups.com...
> Considering taking it, I think I tend to be kind of sedated on my
> current meds and have a lot of motivation problems.
>
> What is the exact way it is supposed to work? Is it supposed to be a
> little more sophisticated in the way, or how much, dopamine it blocks?
> That is what I think I have heard.
>
> Crazymeds said it also works on serotonin and histamine receptors but
> it didn't say how... as in causing an increase or decrease in their
> function. Anyone know?
>
> Alison

I got my laundry done, but it caused akathesia. I've had other meds cause
hunger, zombification, depression, heat intolerance, long sleep,
constipation, impotence, throat dryness, dizziness, and/or abnormal blood
tests. To me akathesia is worse. Nasty nasty nasty effect. -and it tended
to linger for weeks after stopping the abilify...

Other folks on here like abilify. Everyone is different.

At first, at 5mg per day, I thought it was looking good. We raised the
dosage to 10mg per day and then the akathesia hit hard.

Gelly,

I have been on risperdal, navane, zyprexa, haldol, and abilify and abilify
is the best of the bunch for me, hands down.
Abilify is sort of enervating, so if you sleep alot or have trouble with
motivation, it is a good choice for a sz medication. The down size, as QN
wrote about, is that is can cause akethesia (sp?) which in me is a feeling
of inner restlessness and a physical desire to pace. This is not a
significantly debilitating side effect for me, and it sure beats being a
zombie and sleeping 14 hours a day like I did while I was on zyprexa. I
have gained no weight in the two years I have been on abilify. (I gained
roughly 65lbs on zyprexa and 25lbs on risperdal in the same length of
time). My understanding from my old pdoc is that abilify is a partial
dopamine antagonist, meaning it binds very strongly to dopamine receptors,
more so than the other atypicals, but partially lets in some of the
dopamine. Abilify, 15mg in the morning, has been a very good med for me.
(One caveat is that it does seem to affect adversely my body's cooling
system, so I have to watch my activity level in the heat of the day).

jerasmus


"Gelly" <Gelly.D@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:07a32f20-06a5-40e2-94ef-19273c8982a3@25g2000hsx.googlegroups.com...
> Considering taking it, I think I tend to be kind of sedated on my
> current meds and have a lot of motivation problems.
>
> What is the exact way it is supposed to work? Is it supposed to be a
> little more sophisticated in the way, or how much, dopamine it blocks?
> That is what I think I have heard.
>
> Crazymeds said it also works on serotonin and histamine receptors but
> it didn't say how... as in causing an increase or decrease in their
> function. Anyone know?
>
> Alison

Everyone has different experiences on it. You should decide if you're
willing to take the nestea plunge. If you're doing well weight wise
now, I'm not sure what your fixing.

On 27 mei, 23:10, Gelly <Gell...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Considering taking it, I think I tend to be kind of sedated on my
> current meds and have a lot of motivation problems.
>
> What is the exact way it is supposed to work? Is it supposed to be a
> little more sophisticated in the way, or how much, dopamine it blocks?
> That is what I think I have heard.
>
> Crazymeds said it also works on serotonin and histamine receptors but
> it didn't say how... as in causing an increase or decrease in their
> function. Anyone know?
>
> Alison

I only slept 4 hours a day on abilify, nasty side affect of it,
expecially if you slept 4 hours a night for about a week, then
you feel horrible, had to stop it after two weeks.

Some say about 75% of people taking it have good experiences
with it and the other 25% need another med.

Berty

"Gelly" <Gelly.D@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:07a32f20-06a5-40e2-94ef-19273c8982a3@25g2000hsx.googlegroups.com...
> Considering taking it, I think I tend to be kind of sedated on my
> current meds and have a lot of motivation problems.
>
> What is the exact way it is supposed to work? Is it supposed to be a
> little more sophisticated in the way, or how much, dopamine it blocks?
> That is what I think I have heard.
>
> Crazymeds said it also works on serotonin and histamine receptors but
> it didn't say how... as in causing an increase or decrease in their
> function. Anyone know?
>
> Alison

Almost all of the atypical antipsychotics, including Abilify, block
(blockade) serotonin and dopamine receptors. Dopamine receptor blockade
reduces the effect of dopamine, a process that suppresses psychotic
symptoms, and causes numerous undesirable side effects. Serotonin receptor
blockade reduces the effect of serotonin, which, among things, results in an
increase in dopamine concentration. The two effects compete, and depending
on the part of the brain, one wins out over the other. On average, the
dopamine blockade wins in suppressing psychotic symptoms, and the serotonin
blockade increases dopamine concentration enough to win in other parts of
the brain, reducing the undesirable side effects.

(That's a quick version. For a longer version, you can visit my Web site,
and read more details.)

Histamine receptor blockade means that Abilify functions as an
antihistamine. So it might reduce allergy symptoms and cause sleepiness.

All of these statements are approximations that are true on average.
Individual people experience a wide range of effects, and the only way to
find out what the medication does for you is to try it.

--
Nom dePlume, Ph.D.
Why, yes, in fact, I am a rocket scientist.

Find my book, Medicines for Mental health, and free drug information, at
www.MentalMeds.org

=====

Medications are stimulus to move things.

Patrick Ashley Meuser"-Bianca"
Cybeneticist
http://www.usag-ac.info
"Gelly" <Gelly.D@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:07a32f20-06a5-40e2-94ef-19273c8982a3@25g2000hsx.googlegroups.com...
> Considering taking it, I think I tend to be kind of sedated on my
> current meds and have a lot of motivation problems.
>
> What is the exact way it is supposed to work? Is it supposed to be a
> little more sophisticated in the way, or how much, dopamine it blocks?
> That is what I think I have heard.
>
> Crazymeds said it also works on serotonin and histamine receptors but
> it didn't say how... as in causing an increase or decrease in their
> function. Anyone know?
>
> Alison