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Bipolar ForumsGeneral & Supportabilify weaning and anxiety
05/07/2011 06:09 PM
luvmy3boys
luvmy3boys  
Posts: 240
Member

anyone experience anxiety coming off of Abilify? Within a week of tapering I am having anxiety and although I know what's causing it I can't seem to control. Just wondering if this is a withdrawal symptom or not.
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05/08/2011 09:03 AM  Top
TexasYankee
TexasYankee  
Posts: 4286
VIP Member
I'm an Advocate

I take Abilify and haven't had any withdrawal symptoms. I have noticed that my anxiety has been increasing though since I have tapered down too. I have also noticed that my aggression increases when I don't take it either. I have considered stop taking it all because of the weight gain. I haven't decided yet.

Do you have benzos to help with your anxiety? I don't because my pdoc won't prescribe them anymore. I have seen Klonopin works best for me with the anxiety. Valium helps me with aggression. I can't take Xanax and have never tried Ativan.

Good luck through this. If it gets too bad, make sure you call your pdoc. Don't suffer it too long or it may cause a setback.

Blessings, strength and courage to all.
Angela


~"Faith makes things possible.....not easy!"

~ "How does one become a butterfly?" she asked pensively. " You have to want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar."- Trina Paulus, Hope for the Flowers

~Have faith. Without faith there is no hope. Without hope there is nothing.

Although I may be knowledgeable, I am not a doctor, therapist or any other professional in this area. My experiences and opinion are just that. Hopefully others can relate though. :)

05/08/2011 09:28 AM  Top
sarahtroy
sarahtroy  
Posts: 12564
Group Leader
I'm an Advocate

Hi luvmy3boys, I currently take Abilify, but was tapered off of it once. My doctor told me the tapering had been so slow that I should not have had any withdrawal symptoms. I interpreted the anxiety and other symptoms that I experienced off the Abilify as simply the way I was functioning off the Abilify. (I stayed off the Abilify several months; if the anxiety, etc, were Abilify-related, it would have gone away.) Hope this helps to answer your question.
Bipolar II, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Attacks, Agoraphobia & PTSD; Alcoholic in recovery since 3/21/07.

Aplenzin 522mg; Pristiq 200mg; Lamictal 400mg; Geodon 160mg; Ativan 1mg TID; Deplin 15mg; Xanax PRN; Metoprol 100mg.

• "Don't give up 5 minutes before the miracle happens."
• "My little dog - a heartbeat at my feet." ~Edith Wharton
• "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." ~Ian MacLaren (Usually mis-attributed to Plato)
• "And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." ~Anais Nin

My support and advice is not a replacement for medical diagnosis, treatment, or professional medical advice.

Previous discussions I participated in:
happy mothers day
Time to move on...
Go back on meds?

05/08/2011 09:31 AM  Top
luvmy3boys
luvmy3boys  
Posts: 240
Member

Thanks for responding. My tdoc will not give me any xanax right now, but if the anxiety continues I am going to see her on thursday and will tell her it's either xanax or alcohol! I need something to get through this right now. I am hoping the anxiety will subside.

05/12/2011 03:20 PM  Top
luvmy3boys
luvmy3boys  
Posts: 240
Member

sarah, I was wondering this too. If the anxiety was related to abilify or if this is just how I am without it. I never had anxiety that severe before except for one time in my life, so it seemed kinda hard to believe I would experience it that much. It scared me enough that I got right back on it. Not sure what I'm going to do now.

05/12/2011 04:17 PM  Top
Enigma1969
Enigma1969  
Posts: 2444
VIP Member
I'm an Advocate

I didn't take it for a few days and I went about crazy.
Sincerely,
Chris, 43

BMD with psychotic features, OCD & GAD

Clozapine - 400mg (BID)
Lithium - 300mg (BID)
Lamictal - 400mg (BID)
Neurontin - 1200mg (TID)
Klonopin - 0.5mg (BID)
Abilify - 10mg (Once Daily)
Buspar - 45mg (TID)
Vistaril - 25mg (Bedtime)(PRN)
Restoril - 30mg (Bedtime) (PRN)

"I see myself as an intelligent, sensitive human, with the soul of a clown which forces me to blow it at the most important moments."

Jim Morrison

I am not a doctor or licensed therapist, nor do I resemble one.

05/12/2011 05:01 PM  Top
ZadieBlue
ZadieBlue  
Posts: 3814
VIP Member

I know this is an extreme example, but a pdoc I barely knew took me off Abilify and within 48 hours I was suicidal and hospitalized. Over the following 2 weeks I remember very little. I was later told that I'd been so depressed and inattentive I hadn't had the ability to form memories. It was really really scary because I only learned of the amnesia weeks later. Scary.

Zadie

"I'm going to quit -- dried turkey." - Anonymous

"I forgot my mantra." - Annie Hall

"Knocked me on the head and sent me spinning
It was a blast I can't remember the last time
Stand between two poles and hold your arms up
I'll kick me over your head and stock down . . . " - Throwing Muses

Female, age 37

Bipolar I (mild)
• Episodes / cycling happen most often during Spring and Fall allergy season; some dissociation possible during episodes.
• GAD dx 12/11, PTSD traits, ED (in recovery)
• Boarding school survivor :)

PSYCH:
Adderall 15 mg x 2 • Prozac 40 mg • Ativan 1.5 mg • Geodon 120 mg • Starting Lithium again
(Levothyroxine 50 mcg • Atenolol 12.5 mg x 2 • Clonidine 0.1 mg x 3).

ALLERGY / ASTHMA -- (Winter / Spring cocktail): Levocetirizine • Alvesco HFA 160 mcg • Ketotifen Fumarate PRN • Flovent • ProAir PRN

Mercy Buckets to everyone!!!

05/12/2011 05:29 PM  Top
luvmy3boys
luvmy3boys  
Posts: 240
Member

Thanks for you posts, I guess everyone reacts so differently to meds! Zadie, that's downright scary. Never thought Abilify withdrawal could be that extreme. For me it was a headache for a couple days and crazy anxiety.
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