Abilify and Celexa

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Hi there anyone taking aripiprazole (Abilify) I have just been prescribed it. Already taking Celexa 40mg. recently saw a new psych who has prescribed Abilify off label. It feels pretty strong. Nausea, drowsy, blurred vision.

Anyway does anyone have experience of this medication? Do these horrid side effects wear off once the drug takes effect. I've tried so many things to try and improve quality of life, I thought ritalin would help but caused agitation, more energy yes but too racy! Maybe I should just take citaopram and quit the hunt for the perfect drug combination. Anti-psychotics are just too strong perhaps. Althugh I am only on 5mg.

I have taken both of those meds. Celexa (and lexapro) for depression and abilify for the cutting I used to do. The celexa and lexapro really didn't help my depression as much as the cymbalta I'm now on. The abilify made me somewhat nervous and edgy (the opposite of what it's supposed to do). You also want to be very careful with abilify and other antipsychotics because long term use can cause tardive dyskenesia, which are tics of the mouth and tongue. You often see people in institutions chewing, sticking out their tongues and moving their jaws. It is so common that some people just assume it's a trait of psychosis when it is really a drug induced disorder. If you are taking abilify and start to get tics, GET OFF OF IT IMMEDIATLY because it can be permanent.

Both my son and I have had the same experience with Lexapro and Celexa that you mention, and are both on Cymbalta now. The Cymbalta really does work better. I have read on some web sites that the class of antidepressants like Lexapro and Celexa really in general do not work well for people on the spectrum.

My best friend is also on the spectrum and takes Cymbalta. It is the only one that has worked for her.

I don't have any experience with Abilify.

My doctor put me on 5mg Abilify for insistent negative thoughts. To begin with it was great - although I did have episodes of very severe anxiety (I was anxious anyway, but it became almost physically painful and I had to take an occasional bromazapam to deal with that). However, after a couple of weeks I did feel a lot more relaxed with regards these thoughts and really alert and social - asking questions in meetings etc.

This didnt last, over the next few months I gradually went back to normal socially and insiduously started to put on weight (even though it isn't supposed to do this) and started losing my natural imagination and willpower - all antipsychotics do this to me. So I took myself off it after about 5 months, but by then the obsessive thoughts had gone and I don't really have them so much anymore so in that sense it did work.

If you are only on 5mg, then you will probably be OK - just make sure that this isn't a long term thing. For me at least, antipsychotics work well in the first couple of months (once the initial side effects are gone), but then I start to lose essential bits of my personality like creativity and the ability to concentrate very tightly Another reason to try and limit the time you are on it is that, now I have stopped taking it and am completely myself again, looking back, the time I spent on it is really fuzzy in my memory - it (and most psychiatric drugs) seems to do something to long term memory and you end up completely forgetting things and not having a good sense of time passing (which I normally have strongly). Abilify is however, the only antipsychotic I have tried that I would ever take again (if necessary).

The initial short term symptoms you are getting will probably pass quickly - I didnt get them, but I was on a different antidepressant from you and had a few months previously been doped quite highly on another (not recommended at all) antipsychotic zyprexa.

Cymbalta...don't start me on Cymbalta. It's probably the second worst drug I've taken (And I've been on seven now, including Nardil), and I've been plagued with one of the most painful side effects imaginable, even after I stopped taking it. Urinary frequency (every 10-15 minutes) is not fun. What's more, the dumb prick who prescribed it hasn't accepted responsibility for fixing it (whatever happened to primum non nocere?). The family physician prescribed a drug to counteract it and my left leg went numb. Cymbalta is f*****g evil, that's all I have to say.

I was on abilify for a little while (I think 10mg), but apparently it didn't work, so I got put on something else. I don't remember many side effects - it didn't even help me sleep - except maybe low blood pressure.

That just goes to show you that not everything is for everybody. It is too bad we all have to experiment a bit before we find something that works for us. For me, cymbalta has been a relief. I haven't had any side effects that I can think of, and it has taken away the aches and pains I used to have.

I gained a ton of weight with celexa. I don't think it was the drug as much as I was not aware that the drug was not the one for me and I was still very depressed. I regret that it took me a couple of years and almost losing my job before I recognized that fact--not to mention that the extra weight makes everything so much harder now.

Hmm, well it's good you're seeing improvement from it. I can sympathize with the weight gain as well, I gained a hundred pounds on Nardil. It took me about eight months to lose it and I still have scars all over my body.

I have tardive dyskinisia (permanent) from lithium and abilify...it is weird. When I drink a little alcohol, I have an almost overwhelming desire to spit, to want to drool, to want to lurch to the left. My speech becomes slurred and I start to act as if I am very tipsy. It's not the alcohol, it's the TD. Naturally, I refrain from drinking now. I do not want to reinforce that weird connection in the brain. Additionally, I had the life-threatening side-effect (I am not making this up) that abilify has called Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS). One evening , I could barely speak, and all my muscles locked up. It lasted 2 hours. It was horrible. Of course, now I cannot take the drug because of it...nor would I want to. This is only my own personal statement: I hate all the drugs and the drug companies. They did me so much harm and no good at all. Enough said.

I use to take that but i stopped because my vision was extremely blurred which made everyday things impossible.

Abilify didn't stop any symptoms it was prescribed for, but neither did the three other drugs they put me on. I'm off drugs, I let myself be me, and I deal with the major depressive symptoms on my own- not an easy task.

Thank you so much for all the feedback.

The side effects have slightly subsided, but the blurred vision and grogginess is an issue, plus a bit of hypoglycemia has crept in! The thing that attracts me to this drug is that it is supposed to regulate dopamine in the braining rather than blocking it like older anti-psychotics. Thus it helps with the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia, of course I've been prescribed this drug off label for AS, the psych was hopeful it may help with motivation and improve logical thinking. I hope so, stimulants improved concentration but made me wired, plus I craved beer!

newest side effect: inner restlessness annoying, cos the drugs doing good stuff too!

Hi, Fresco! I'm also on Abilify and Celexa. I'm on 20mg of Celexa and 20mg of Abilify. Abilify makes me motivated as a side effect and that's part of why I was prescribed it. I don't have any other side effects. I think the generic form of Celexa that I had in Canada worked better than the actual Celexa Celexa that I get here. The generic Celexa made me giddy. This Celexa just prevents me from going down too far.

Thanks Ana for the info. I do feel more motivated but annoyingly agitated too. I hope this side effect wears off, I'm only on day 6 ! No drug is perfect I was just really hopeful Abilify would help cos I've tried so many things!

Getting a slight twitch in right face too. Gosh I'm way too oversensitive!! !