Posted by banga on April 10, 2005, at 15:33:31
In reply to Any anxiety before/after Abilify? » banga, posted by cache-monkey on April 10, 2005, at 1:27:42
> So... a few questions for you: were anxiety and/or sleep problems a strong symptom of yours without good meds? Did Abilify cause any (extra) difficulties in those areas. Finally, what dosages have you had success with?
>Hi there!
I have intense generalized anxiety. Highly anxious about nothing, or small things such as people being angry with me,or having done something wrong which proves I am a terrible person, or big things, for that matter...I would ruminate constantly, so much so that I would constantly be off in my own world.My most consistent symptom was waking up with the feeling of fear and doom, for no reason, and it was torure getting out of bed. I would have trouble socializing, fearful of who knows what exactly.
Sometimes when combined with depression, I could not get out of bed at all and would try and sleep the day away. Even trying to coax myself to just get up, not deal with anything--just go for a cup of coffee--I could not do it.
I would have trouble falling asleep, however overall I did not have insomnia--once I fell asleep I would sleep till--well, it used to be Id sleep forver. Now I actually willingly get up at 7.
The Abilify calms, though not stops, the rumination and general feelng of anxiousness. I am considering going up on dose, although earlier it would agitate me when I tried taking more. I highly suspect that it also help the depression immensely...
It is a very activating medication, so it is not too difficult for me to imagine that someone with many physical symptoms with anxiety would do as well. My depression is so lethargy-oriented that the Abilify helps me have energy to do things.
I currently take only 2.5 mg--but I am on two ther medications that act to increase blood levels of Abilify--so I could hazard a guess that the actual amount is closer to 5mg or so, maybe even more.
At one point I was not sure whether the Abilify was helping--when I first started it, because I had also started up other medications that lessen anxiety (Luvox). Yet when I stopped the Ablilify, I experienced three days of agonizing, paralyzing anxiety. When I restarted, it abated.
I am currently on the following:
Abilify 2.5mg
Luvox 50mg
desipramine 75mg
Adderall 40mg
Lamictal 200mgI keep getting tempterd to alter things--drop the Lamictal (but then my cousing had a manic episode, then I thought well maybe a mood stablilizer is good), or something else (is the Luvox doing anything?)...but then I think of that overused saying 'if it aint broke dont fix it...' I wish I had a bit clearer mind, I wish my anxiety were even less, but I am more stable than I have been for five years, I should not play around. As I said, I might just try increasing the Abilify, to see if it helps with that remaining anxiety, but that is all I dare to change....
So that is the picture in detail.
Good luck, if any other questions come up please ask.
poster:banga
thread:481906
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050408/msgs/482416.html