DXM and Abilify Seizure

gonialmonica

Greenlighter
Joined
Jan 25, 2015
Messages
5
SWIM sent me this and asked me if I could post it on bluelight for him because he doesn't have access to a computer at the moment.

If this is the wrong forum, please move it. I wasn't exactly sure where to put it but I really think this is important for people who are taking abilify (aripiprazole)

"About a week ago me and a friend decided to get some Robitussin because we used to do it all the time back in high school. I was once at the point where I would do at the very least 600 mgs three times a week, but sometimes as much as 900 mgs. It had been a while since I had done it, and we only had the money to buy a bottle of Robitussin and a box of triple c's, so we split both 50/50 so we got 390 mgs each. I've been prescribed abilify as an anti-psychotic and an anti-depressant, and I've been on it since late 2014, taking 5 mgs daily.

For several hours, I really didn't feel all too much, and it was honestly underwhelming. After around 2 hours or so of nothing really happening, I got excessively tired, which I found odd because dxm is known to keep someone awake, but now I know after some googling that abilify and dxm can make you drowsy. Eventually we went over to a friend's house and my friend had to leave, but I was offered a dab of hash oil so I took it. After that, I started to see slight fractals, and visuals that are a tune to when I smoked my first time. Then I started feeling extremely drowsy and couldn't keep my eyes open, and the next thing I know I'm no longer on my stool anymore, but on my friend's kitchen floor. I was too messed up to even realize what had happened, I honestly just thought I got on the floor and took a mini nap because of how tired I was. My friends, to my confusion, seem extremely relieved when I open my eyes and start telling me that I had just had a seizure. Honestly, I didn't believe them, and I told them how I was already really tired beforehand and I must have just fallen asleep. Then they mention how I was twitching, but that's a pretty common thing to happen to me, as I'm already a very twitchy person.

So after a few minutes of them talking to me, I sit back up on my stool and feel completely fine. Then they start telling me some things that surprised me. Apparently, I stiffened up in my stool and held my arms at a weird angle near my shoulders, so my friend quickly gets behind me and lowers me to the floor. When I got on the floor, apparently my eyes rolled behind my head so they were only showing the whites, then I closed my eyes, and then I start convulsing. My friend starts slapping me to wake me up and there's no response. According to all three of them, there was one major seizure, and two minor seizures that happened afterwards. From what I can tell, I was out for 10 to 15 minutes. During this time, I can vaguely remember dreaming, however these dreams were things that had actually happened to me, like hanging out with friends and family, so I think my life was flashing before my eyes.

I looked around on the internet if this had happened to anyone else before, and I didn't find a single post anywhere. I really think its important for people to know about this interaction, and if you're on abilify, avoid dxm like the plague. I've been tense and twitchy since that day, and its been really hard to sleep. I'm hoping that this will show up in searches so that people who do take abilify will see that taking dxm along with it is a very bad idea."

That's all he sent me, but if anyone has any questions or anything, I can text him and give you an answer.
 
Abilify lowers the seizure threshold. Personally, I would recommend that you stop getting high on cough syrup but, if you insist that perhaps you should forgo the Abilify?

I'm not a doctor and this shouldn't be construed or taken as medical advice. <-- there's that.

Chronic use of high-dose disassociative anesthetics (like DXM) causes lesions (injuries = holes) in specific areas of the brain.
 
SWIM says that was kind of his reason to never do it again as it is, he just figured it would be a good thing to let people know that this is a thing. He said he's never had a seizure before that, and there was nothing else that could have possibly caused it at that moment. Not to downplay that though, he and I definitely don't recommend ever doing dxm, or disassociates in general.
 
^(we really discourage the use of swim here on Bluelight.)

I hope that that terrifying experience was a learning experience. Taking mind-altering drugs when you are on a mind altering drug, unless you are a pharmacist and know what you are doing, is just not worth the dangers. I'm glad that you survived and that you did not suffer any permanent damage.<3

You might consider writing this up on Erowid (under DXM) to let others know your experience.
 
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