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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
[email protected]Shown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by sedona on October 19, 2004, at 14:44:07
Hi- I am currently taking 60 mg of Cymbalta, 30 mg Adderall XR, Klonopin 1 mg a day, but I can't seem to get out of my depression. I have tried a lot of other drugs also. Most recently I tried Seroquel with no success and Zyprexa which was great but I gained a lot of weight very quickly. I was wondering if anyone has had success adding Abilify to their antidepressants. I have not been diagnosed as bipolar-I am however very moody and usually very depressed.
Thanks
Posted by utopizen on October 19, 2004, at 21:08:37
In reply to Abilify question, posted by sedona on October 19, 2004, at 14:44:07
> Hi- I am currently taking 60 mg of Cymbalta, 30 mg Adderall XR, Klonopin 1 mg a day, but I can't seem to get out of my depression. I have tried a lot of other drugs also. Most recently I tried Seroquel with no success and Zyprexa which was great but I gained a lot of weight very quickly. I was wondering if anyone has had success adding Abilify to their antidepressants. I have not been diagnosed as bipolar-I am however very moody and usually very depressed.
> ThanksI'm not a doc, but my pdoc referred to Abilify as a "low-side effect drug" to my folks (to let them get a grip on what it was). I was taking it for a few months at 30mg, along with Zoloft and later Lexapro. Saw no change, so dropped the Abilify and kept the Lexapro, along with my Adderall and recently went back on Klonopin 1mg 3x/day.
My pdoc said we were trying the Abilify first for my depression+social anxiety because it has the fewest side effects, but said Risperdal is more potent and likely to work. He couldn't justify keeping me on the Abilify when it didn't help my depression (I think it marginally helped my anxiety).
The Klonopin's helping me with my social anxiety, Adderall with my ADD/motivation, and Lexapro I guess is keeping me out of the black hole I felt I was in just weeks ago. But we'll see.
My advice is to explore Risperdal or other APs further and work with the doses for several weeks. Abilify, IMHO, won't do much for someone who's not responding to the other atypicals, but maybe someone on this post disagrees? It simply isn't that potent.
It's important to use both an AD+AP in combo if you're treatment-resistant. Lithium has good results in treatment-resistant, Cymbalta looks like it's promising from posts here, and there's lot of other options-- Lamictal instead of Lithium, trying higher doses of your current AD or a high dose of an AD you haven't tried yet along with some AP like Risperdal... pretty basic. There's always ECT or group therapy in inpatient or outpatient settings, as well as good ol' CBT.
Posted by anxiety_free on October 23, 2004, at 5:12:52
In reply to Abilify question, posted by sedona on October 19, 2004, at 14:44:07
I've been in similar situations. Zyprexa made me anxious and pudgey, seroquel made me too sedated and then....there was abilify. Started at 10, went to 30. Boosted my klonopin and luvox; its generally not sedating so it didn't mess with my sedatives either. I'd definitely consider it...its weight-neutral (supposedly) and there's lots of good buzz. Good luck!
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