Misc How to Dissolve Abilify?

[ChrisMcD456]

Hello everyone,

It’s been a while since I’ve been on the forum. I know that there are a lot of knowledgeable people here, with backgrounds in chemistry.

I am currently on Abilify 7.5mg daily. I had 2-3 stimulant induced psychotic episodes from 2017-2020 and have been on Abilify ever since 2020 as a preventative measure.

However, Abilify has made me gain about 50 pounds of fat and has made me very lethargic and apathetic. My psychiatrist has suggested tapering 2-3mg every several months until I am off the medication completely.

I was hoping to continue getting prescribed 15x 15mg tablets monthly, and making a propylene glycol solution instead, and tapering about 2% weekly. I assume it would be a smoother withdrawal.

I used to dissolve RC benzos in propylene glycol, and would use a syringe to measure a dose. If I made small batches of solutions (1-3 week supply per batch) I assume that I could reduce my weekly intake by 2% with each consecutive week.

Of course, I would taper 2% of the previous week. Not 2% of the starting dose. This means it would take well over 50 weeks to complete the taper, but it would be an extremely smooth transition.

TLDR: How can I dissolve my Abilify tablets to make a suspension? Would I use ethyl alcohol, propylene glycol, or sterile water? To be clear, I am orally dosing as well.

Thanks!

 

[deficiT]

Just from a quick google search it appears to be insoluble in water. So I'm not sure exactly what to advise, but yeah PG might work. Hopefully someone comes through with a little more knowledge.

My first thought though was, If you dropped your dose 2% every week, you're going to be tapering forever. Probably can drop steadier than that. You're not on a massive dose. I mean don't do it cold turkey but you don't have to do some crazy year long taper or something.

 

[Baphomet64]

I tried finding some sort of research paper that answers the question: What is Aripiprazole soluble in? Can't find anything, other than it's not soluble in water, this may imply it's soluble in a nonpolar solvent, which I'm not too sure Propylene Glycol is non polar, because it absorbs water ughh.. If only the internet could give me a yes or no answer! What I do when I try to get myself off a pill is get a pill cutter, and carefully cut the pill in half and then if needed cut the halves into quarters

 

[Skorpio]

This source below States that abilify in both the anhydrous and monohydrate forms are soluble in water with a pH of less than 4.

I had a long post typed up referencing a different source for an injectable formulation of abilify called abilify maintenawhich is given in depot injections (this is the same molecule as abilify, unlike depot antipsychotics such as Invega, which are chemically modified from their oral forms). It calls for dissolving the abilify in saline solution, and the inactive ingredients were carboxymethyl cellulose sodium (likely to thicken the solution for sustained release), mannitol (likely a buffer or osmotic balancing agent ), sodium phosphate (definately a buffer), and sodium hydroxide (to raise pH).

I do feel a bit perturbed as these sources seem to indicate different conditions of solubility, with the first source calling for an acidic pH and the second source calling for a basic pH. There are many sources that indicate an extreme low solubility at neutral pH, but with these conflicting reports I don't know which way to reccomend.

I will read more and then update if I find anything (I don't want to lose this post by changing tabs).

Edit: Santa Cruz Biotechnology States that abilify is soluble in water (partly), methanol (1 mg/ml), DMSO (90 mg/ml at 25° C), ethanol (2 mg/ml), and acetic acid.

Since you plan on using this solution for a long term taper, I would reccomend using ethanol (such as everclear or vodka), as it will prevent bacterial growth, and the solubility is high enough that you wouldn't be getting drunk or even buzzed off of your daily dose.

Good luck on the taper!

Abilify solubility - accessdata.fda.gov https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/nda/2002/21-436_abilify_biopharmr_p2.pdf

ABILIFY MAINTENA - accessdata.fda.gov https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2016/202971s008lbl.pdf

Santa crux Biotechnology aripiprazole page https://www.scbt.com/p/aripiprazole-129722-12-9

 

[ChrisMcD456]

Guys, I figure my comment may be most relevant for this thread. I hope additional members have some insight that could help me in my situatuon

I don’t have medical insurance at the moment, and have wanted to come off Abilify for awhile anyway. I have worked myself down to about 3.5mg daily, and have a 300mg syringe of Abilify Maintena on hand. It has been altered, I will explain below.

I have hypodermic needles on hand. I added 8-9mL of Bacteriostatic water to the premixed Abilify Maintena. Basically, I injected the standard quantity of liquid from the preloaded syringe into a sterile vial, and topped it off to equate to 10mL.

My question is whether or not this solution is an adequate, evenly dissolved solution at the moment if the only added material is bacteriostatic water (sterile water with 0.9% benzyl alcohol), and also, I am curious if the benzyl alcohol is going to degrade the Abilify over time.

I plan on tapering off Abilify with this vial, over the course of 4-6 months. So I will likely inject every 2 weeks, and slowly reduce the dosage. I am hoping I have enough to complete the taper properly with what I have.

Thanks to anyone who can help provide some scientific insights, it is greatly appreciated.

 

[JB888]

Abilify is a nasty drug homie i mean ig u need it but i took it for months daily with no ill effects then one day i took it like normal and i got this effect called dystonia. Dystonia is extreme muscle spasms and contorting to the point it looks like u ingested strychnine.

 

[ChrisMcD456]

I was in drug induced psychosis as a young adult several times. I was arrested and sent to a halfway house. They pushed the antipsychotics on me and I flushed them, continued abusing stimulants there at 23, working out like crazy and taking dopaminergic health supplements, and went into psychosis again.

At this point I was forcibly injected with abilify. This was early 2020. I was court ordered to stay in this halfway house for 5 years total as a result of the charges I racked up. I was busted with about $250,000 street value of research chemicals, which they couldn’t charge me with, and petty quantity of marijuana which they completely leveraged to its utmost potential, in consideration of the actual drugs I had.

So, I was trapped in my halfway house for 4 years on this medication. I just got out 3 months ago and have a spare preloaded syringe of abilify that I have divided as mentioned in my post.

I used to be on 300mg injection per month. I convinced them to switch me back to pills at 3 years in, and have tapered down to 3mg per day since that point. I have just injected 2.4mg daily equivalent this week, and it will last me until next month when I will inject 2mg per day. Each injection is once monthly.

I am passionate about bodybuilding and biohacking. So naturally I am driven to get off this poison. I needed it to stabilize from drug induced psychosis, but while only using marijuana nowadays, I do not have any psychosis and can blame amphetamines and cocaine for these issues. I do not have schizophrenia on a genetic basis, so I do not feel that I need abilify.

Our country is falsely medicating stimulant addicts. They only need antipsychotics until stability is reclaimed and sobriety is maintained from stimulants. Metabolic disorders, lethargy, and dissociation are common with antipsychotic use. These medications are being misused by doctors.

If you feel that you are dependent on abilify as I have become, taper SLOW. If you go back into psychosis it could be a major metabolic or cognitive backslide for you. It is not worth rushing a taper.

If you have any other questions please let me know. I hope to help. Thank you.