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Mental Health Withdrawals from Abilify?

C

Crissco

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Joined
Apr 2, 2012
Messages
23
I was diagnosed with bipolar about 4 years ago. I was placed on a couple of different medications for a short period of time. Found out Abilify worked the best for me, and was prescribed 2mg each day. I was off once about 2 years ago, had an anger slip up then went back on.

I just recently came off about 3 weeks ago. Everything's been going great, have my energy back, not throwing up everyday from upset stoamch, and my anger is in control since I have learned alot in this 4 year period.

My only issue is I have been having headaches when I wake up and throughout the day. There not to bad just annoying. Keep in mind my sleep schedule is messed up and since i work from home I can work whenever i want, which is usually at night.

I have not had coffee in about 3 weeks also, and same with working out. It all started when I was sick about 4-5 weeks ago, I had a high fever.

Last time I came off the abilify i didnt have the issues at all. Maybe since ive been on for so long my brain is taking time to adjust? Or it could be that i havent had coffee, I know caffeine is known to help with headaches.

Crissco
 
It sounds like it could be a lot of factors. The coffee, the being sick, and stopping the medication too. Also,make sure you get enough sleep.

You mention that you were sick and had a fever, do you mind if I ask what you were sick with? There could be some lingering effects of being sick that are still present.

Have you experienced any other unusual symptoms not related to being sick?
 
ad lib said:
It sounds like it could be a lot of factors. The coffee, the being sick, and stopping the medication too. Also,make sure you get enough sleep.

You mention that you were sick and had a fever, do you mind if I ask what you were sick with? There could be some lingering effects of being sick that are still present.

Have you experienced any other unusual symptoms not related to being sick?
Click to expand...

I never ended up going to the doctor. Just fought it off naturally. Had 102.6 fever, chills, sweats, all the normal stuff, my guess would be the flu.

Not that I know of, feel fine overall besides the headaches.
 
Ahh okay. Glad you're well now. The flu is terrible and that's a really high fever.

Would you consider taking a dose of abilify just as a test to see if it causes the headaches to go away? That may help you rule headaches out cause by withdrawal.
 
Abilify is an antipsychotic and even though your dose is relatively low, you're not supposed to quit those drugs cold turkey.

You need to go to your doctor and get back on your meds or at least let your doc supervise a proper taper.

Why did you quit the Abilify again?
 
If you get off Abilify abruptly, expect quick return of your previous symptoms, often multiplied by x times. Not cool. Tell your doctor you want to taper off and he will help you.
 
Ive been off before and never had this problem so it could be anything. And i didnt quit cold turkey, I did taper my self off over a period of week (Not that long I know)...


Been off for over a month and no symptoms..I fully believe alot of it was stress that caused most things. As of being on the medication I moved to new area, got a new job, improved my self 180 deg. Things are a lot different now then they where when i first got on.

And going back on then off again will not do me any better, it will just disrupt my brain chemicals even more. I need time to have them balance out again naturally.
 
Crissco said:
Ive been off before and never had this problem so it could be anything. And i didnt quit cold turkey, I did taper my self off over a period of week (Not that long I know)...


Been off for over a month and no symptoms..I fully believe alot of it was stress that caused most things. As of being on the medication I moved to new area, got a new job, improved my self 180 deg. Things are a lot different now then they where when i first got on.

And going back on then off again will not do me any better, it will just disrupt my brain chemicals even more. I need time to have them balance out again naturally.
Click to expand...

1. I did some math from your earlier post and if my calculations do not deceive me, you said the first time you quit Abilify you had been on them 2 years and quit for only a brief period. Here it is 2 years later and now you have been on Abilify cumulatively 4 years. Just because you quit for a while 2 years ago does not necessarily mean the clock starts over. The reason you're having withdrawals now is because you've been on the drug 4 years, while last time you had only been on it for 2.

2. When someone has been on a drug 4 years, there is no such thing as a one week "taper." Quit lying to yourself and us and admit that you quit cold turkey.

3. Just because you feel better does not mean your illness was cured or went away. Just because you're symptom free for now does not mean your bipolar is gone. The only reason you have been doing so well is because you have been taking your meds for so long. Once I got myself stabilized, I started working again, moved to a new town and went to grad school, then I graduated and got a real career. Only difference is, I know better than to fuck up and quit my meds just because things are going well :\
 
^ This. Do not quit an antipsychotic on your own, go and talk with your doctor about you wanting to quit it.

It's possible, but only doc will tell you how and why quit it.
 
I learned the hard way not to stop taking anti-psychotics cold turkey. All anti-psychotics can cause withdrawal symptoms ranging from nausea, vomiting and headaches to insomnia, mood swings, depression, mania, psychosis and suicidal idealization among other symptoms. Depending on the anti-psychotic in question of course. I have experienced severe manic episodes with psychotic symptoms upon stopping risperidone. It was like not only all my symptoms returning at once but also returning with some heavy interest. I was only on maybe 2-3mg's of risperidone a day but risperidone is such a strong atypical anti-psychotic and such a strong dopamine and serotonin antagonist that it does not take much.

I have gotten really bad insomnia as well as really bad bipolar depression when i have been stupid enough to stop quetiapine suddenly. For some reason i find seroquel to be better at stopping bipolar depression then mania so that makes sense. I also developed some nausea, hypersalivation and just a general over all queasy feeling when stopping seroquel which is probably due to the fact that quetiapine is a very potent H1 antagonist as well as being a mild anti-cholinergic.

The bottom line is you should not suddenly stop taking ANY psychiatric medications without first talking with your doctor. Not only can you end up with horrible withdrawal symptoms but you can end up relapsing with worse symptoms of your mental illness then you had even before you started taking the meds. So please talk to your doctor about stopping Abilify if you want off it just don't do it by yourself.
 
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