Has anyone heard of or experienced abilify causing depression? I stopped taking it on accident for a few days and i feel a ton better when i'm not taking it. Otherwise i'm severly depressed. i was like this on zoloft when i tried that too...do they work in a similar way?

Hello mshake,

Welcome to the board.

Abilify is one of the newest drugs in the catagory of atypical antipsychotics. In the prescribing information, depression is mentioned as a side effect. I would call your pdoc and talk to him/her about this. There are many other meds out there that you could be taking instead.

:wave: Tsohl

Hi, i myself am not bp, i have a newly diagnosed sis that is and she is taking abilify and prozac. they are not working!!!!! she was previously on lexapro and began to act odd (strange body movements, jerking, slurred speech, etc) and i notice those behaviors returning. she is going through a divorce, has a 5yr old, has a rape trial (she was raped) coming in july and i wish i could help her. i saw the words abilify and depressed, and there was a spark. she is only on 5mg of abilify and i believe she is stopping the prozac this week, how do we get her through this? i am lost. we are both medical professionals and she has gotten suspended from work for her odd behaviors, since i see them returning, i am worried. last friday she cried all day and night. she's been medicated since march. we don't have a lot of mental health prof in our city (manitowoc,wi), her budget is limited due to divorce. although she spent $6000 in 18 days with nothing to show. can you give me some advice about your experiences?

I started showing symptoms early in high school but didn't get help until the end of my high school career. i started on anti depressants and they just made me anxious and manic, i was having panic attacks left and right. since then it's been trial and error we thought we had found a med that worked and i was on it for a couple years but it made me sleep too long so i tried abilify more recently. i think it's the cause of my anxiety too. it's funny how different each person reacts to medications. funny thing is my doctor upped my dose because i was depressed thinking it would help me.


sorry to hear about your sister it's tough to go through and medication changes can be rough on a person. but once you find that right med it's worth it. hang in there and keep encouraging her. i'll be praying for you both.

Hi,

I live in the Milwaukee area. Is your sister being treated by a psychiatrist? Please tell us a bit more.

:wave: Tsohl

she saw a psychiatrist for 5yrs (they diagnosed depression) and her behaviors became odd, they made her leave work (at a hosp), and couldn't come back until med cleared. she goes for days with no sleep, she talks a mile a minute, half of the time i can't understand her. she was drug tested, which was negative. She is now seeing a new psychiatrist (since march) who diagnosed the bipolar. she is only 27 yrs old, we have a family hx of alcoholism, depression, suicide, bp. I just don't know how much longer she can go on like this. she says she is not suicidal, but....she tries to hide a lot from me, she doesn't want to disappoint anyone:( they think the trauma of rape brought this out more, husband left because he couldn't handle the rape. her movements remind me of a heroin addict. it's scary. she doesn't even know she acts like this. we were at the doc a while ago today and he upped her abilify to 15mg. i just don't know how to help her....my heart breaks for her.

Your sister is under a great deal of stress which in and of itself can bring on an episode of depression or, more likely, mania/hypomania. The reckless spending is another symptom of manic behavior.

Bipolar disorder is often first diagnosed when a well-meaning family doctor prescribes antidepressants to a patient who says s/he's depressed. In a bipolar individual who is not stabillized, taking antidepressant medication can bring on an episode of mania. This is often the first clue that someone is actually bipolar.

Since your sister is newly diagnosed I would encourage you both to learn as much as you can about bipolar disorder, about various treatments and especially, about the medications. This way she can learn to manage her situation rather than letting the BP control her, and she can be a partner with her pdoc rather than simply following orders.

I suggest you look on line for NAMI. It is a national organization (founded in Madison many years ago to advocate for the mentally ill) that has state and local chapters. They offer educational programs, support groups and is a wonderful source for referrals and information in general. The local representative for your area is Irma Gosselin at 682-3261. I would encourage you to give her a call to see what services might be available for your sister.

Hi,

I wrote my last post before I read yours. I can tell you are very concerned about your sister. I would definitely get in contact with the lady from NAMI and I would inquire about the hospital's right to take away her job if she is suffering from a mental illness. From what you describe her symptoms certainly sound like she is manic. And given the family history I am surprised the pdoc didn't pick up on the BP sooner.

Did the scary movements start after she began taking abilify? There is a name for this side effect from the med and it can be brought on by meds other than abilify. It was more common in the older drugs, but sometimes people still react to the new drugs in this way. My son was not abe to take abilify for this reason.

You are wonderful to be trying to help your sister, and you are right to be very concerned about her. The rape probably brought out the bipolarity in your sister. There are meds to help her and she will probably also want therapy for awhile to learn to deal with all these changes. There must be community services that are available to her in the Manitowoc area if she can't afford to see a psychiatrist. Does the hospital have some kind of support services for employees? Again, hopefully the NAMI rep. can help out with suggestions.

Geez, you sure have a lot of knowledge in this field. are you a med professional? The scary movements started with Lexapro. she was on a dose of 60mg which is high. they called the "actions" serotonin syndrome. I took her to three different doctors, we got the bp dx and they took her off lexapro, started abilify and put her on lamictal which made her hallucinate and she was actually painting her dining room in her sleep. who knows what else she did. then they stopped the lamictal and put her on prozac combined with the abilify. she did well for about three weeks and it went down hill from there. i know she is stressed, trial is july 11-12, she was raped by her best friends husband. i just think there has got to be more help out there for her and i won;t rest until she gets it. this is horrible disorder, i do not wish this on my worst enemy. i will be checking into nami, thank you for the info. it sure is nice to see people who care in the world. we are total strangers but it was nice venting to you.......

Mshake,

sorry i took over your post?!

Why don't you start your own thread? That way you will get comments from more people than me and Mshake will get hers back. :eek:

I have no medical background, but as I told you earlier, in order to advocate for your sister, it is important to learn as much as you can about her disorder. I was thrust into this world when my son was diagnosed his junior year of college. It came as a complete surprise as we have no history of mental illness in our families, no substance abuse, etc. But I have spent lots of time reading and learning. Oddly enough, I don't use any of the information to help our son, as he is way ahead of me in terms of knowledge about his condition. The pharmacist sometimes asks him questions about the psycotropic medications!

Also, I have learned so much on this board. I learn something new almost every time I come here. Take a moment to think up a title for your thread and then post. You may get a variety of opinions...you never know!

You will need to watch carefully over your sister as the trial approaches. This will be incredibly stressful for her and it would be so helpful if she had meds in place prior to this. Please call NAMI and see if they can refer you to someone who specializes in mood disorders. Do you think her husband is gone for good, or is there a possibility for a reconciliation when the trial is behind them? What a horrible thing to have to face a man she knew -- I think it might be easier to be raped by a stranger.

all for now--
Tsohl