Posted by Alexei on May 6, 2012, at 10:35:05
In reply to phillipa, alexei, posted by Christ_empowered on May 5, 2012, at 14:53:06
Hi Christ .. Thank you for your response... Very helpful.
I'm taking a little klonopin to help with the abilify anxiety. It does seem to help.My depression is unipolar, low energy, lack of motivation, with some OCD and anxiety/insomnia. So your, and my pdoc's advice 4 low dose makes sense. The effexor is not cutting it .. My doc is thinking of trying zoloft + desipramine. This stoned drugged feeling from abilify is not helping.
The interaction with vyvanse is really causing me trouble. That alone may drive me off abilify. 70mg vyvanse feels more like 50mg ... not good. How do you deal with your abilify/adderall interaction? Take more? Do you take any other meds?
May I ask what time of day you take abilify, and if it makes you sleepy? Ive been taking seroquel 100mg to sleep, but I don't really like taking both quel and abilify.
Thanks for your thoughts, and glad you're doing so well!
Alexei
> Alexei--I am sorry you're having problems with Abilify. With the anxiety and restlessness, my first thought would be a benzo for 2 weeks (or so...), kind of like some more thoughtful docs do with antidepressant start up. After two weeks or so, you could discontinue the benzo and see if the Abilify is helpful, or just an expensive waste for you.
>
> Higher doses do tend to be more calming (I guess the tranquilizing aspect overshadows the stimulating part; I dunno...I'm just basing this on experience and what shrinks have told me). However, I have read that sometimes, the lower you can go with Abilify for depression, the better. I read that some docs will give 2ish mgs every 3 days, for instance.
>
> That said, "depression" covers a lot of ground. If you have intense anxiety anyway, agitation, psychotic or near psychotic problems, I'd think a higher dose would be better. If your problem is lack of energy and motivation, lethargy, etc., I'd think you'd want to either low dose it or consider something else, such as an MAOI or stimulating TCA.
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> Abilify DEFINITELY interferes with amphetamines. When I took Abilify (10-15)+ Adderall, my adderall had to be upped to 60. When I dropped the Abilify, I suddenly developed psychosis caused in part (but not completely) by the adderall. If you up the dose, I would assume that you'd get even less mileage out of your amphetamine. On the other hand, the restless feeling may pass.
>
> What symptoms are you targeting with Abilify? I kind of wonder if maybe you'd benefit from a good ole Tofranil (now available in once-nightly PM formula) + amphetamine. That combo served me well, although since I have Bipolar I w/psychotic features, it also made me angry. Rough situation. Since the Tofranil increases amphetamine concentrations in the brain and somehow does other stuff to make it work better (here comes one of my favorite phrases: adds a bit of oomph), you could possibly do that and keep a lowish dose of Abilify to smooth things over. Just a thought based on personal experience--clearly, I'm not your prescriber.
>
> Thanks, everyone!
poster:Alexei
thread:1017154
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120425/msgs/1017263.html