Bipolar Support Group

just started ability. Wanted to make sure it didn't make me sleepy so I've been taking it at night. Seems to be helping a bit. Very low dosage to start - just 2 mg.

One day I accidentally took one in the morning, too. I felt much better. As I understand we're increasing depending on my reaction... Should I call the pdoc this soon or try the a.m. dose again and see how it goes before I do??

H.

I currently take 20 mg and it is working very well in controlling the mania. I was started at 10 and I had terrible dizziness and disorientation, so I was dropped to 5 for a week, which was okay. Then I tried 10 and was okay, but it wasn't enough, so I was upped to 20 and haven't had a manic episode since. I take it at night only because of the sedative affect it has on me. It might just be that 2 mg is not enough for you and the double dose is what you need. Personally, I would try it one more time and see if I felt the same and if so, call my pdoc and tell her about it. In my case, my pdoc is very good about things like that and would call in a new prescription for me.

I take 30 mg and it works well for me. I believe it's a pretty high dose, but it's the only dose that keeps my hypo-mania at bay. I would say take it again and call your psychiatrist about maybe upping it. Tell him exactly what you are feeling or missing on it so they know the symptoms. I wish you luck.

Thank you for your response - I do think I'll try the 2/day at least 1 more time before calling pdoc. She wants to titrate up very slow because of the number of other meds. My lithium numbers are dropping.... I'm not sure what that means. I asked her to increase that but she refused. I'm not sure what she's thinking as far as maximum dose of the abilify - I vaguely remember her mentioning 10 a day....

H.

I only take 10mg. I started at 5 but when I went off birth control I upped it to 10. It isn't a high dose and I do better if I am on a higher dose however I do not have insurance for prescriptions so I get mine from Canada and they only have certain dosages you can get. I just upped my Trileptal since it is cheaper. I call it liquid gold because it works so wellI love it. I haven't had as many stable days with other drugs as this one. good luck!!!

I would definitely call your pdoc and tell them how you been feeling and how you accidentally took an extra pill and how it made you feel so much better. You may be able to up it faster then expected since you are tolerating the medicine okay. I currently take 10mg of Abilify and i have been stable on that dose for years. However, i have been somewhat depressed this week and i think i will need a med adjustment as well. My pdoc will probably take me up to 20mg. Good luck with the Abilify and i hope it works as well for you as it has for me....Let us know how you do with a higher milligram.