Abilify is just one of the many different medications I have been on in the last 10 years during my battle with depression. In this post I will share some information about Abilify including what my experience on the drug was like. Abilify is an atypical antipsychotic that affects serotonin and dopamine production in your brain, with the aim of improving and stabilizing your mood, your thoughts and your behaviors.
Clinical studies have shown that it may be useful in the treatment of bipolar depression, major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders. I took it mainly for major depressive disorder with the hope that it would also help my generalized anxiety disorder.
Abilify For Anxiety
Although Abilify is often used like an antidepressant to treat bipolar and major depression, numerous studies have shown that atypical antipsychotics have been effective in the treatment of anxiety. There are still more trials to be done and more evidence to be gathered, but early signs are positive in the use of Abilify for anxiety.
Abilify For Depression
Abilify has been approved as an adjunct treatment for major depressive disorder. This simply means that it is used in a combination with other drugs to treat depression. It is not used just on its own as a depression treatment.
Abilify Half Life
The mean effective half life of Abilify is around 75 hours. This is quite long when compared to other similar medications.
How Long Does Abilify Stay In Your System?
As mentioned above, Abilify has a half life of around 75 hours. That is how long it takes for half of the drug to leave your system after taking your last dose. The drug is eliminated through the liver. Abilify will show up on blood tests for approximately 5 weeks after you stop taking it.
How Long Does Abilify Take To Work?
As with most similar medications, it will take several weeks to feel the full effect. You may begin to see an improvement in your symptoms in as little as 1 – 2 weeks.
Abilify Side Effects
There is no shortage of potential side effects with this type of drug and Abilify is no different. Some of the side effects listed include:
Dizziness
Light headedness
Tiredness
Difficulty sleeping
Nausea
Vomiting
Excessive salivating/drooling (seriously!)
Blurred vision
Weight gain
Headaches
Constipation
When I was on the drug I was unable to avoid some of these side effects. Thankfully, it didn’t turn me into a drooling mess at least. I will share my side effects and experience with the drug later in this post.
Abilify Withdrawal Symptoms
Abilify is not usually any worse than other similar medications when it comes to withdrawal symptoms. Your doctor should be tapering you off the medication slowly to help avoid the effects of withdrawal. Suddenly stopping the medication is more likely to cause withdrawal symptoms, which may include:
Anxiety
Hallucinations
Headaches
Changes in appetite
Confusion
Excessive sweating
Dizziness
Vomiting
Does Abilify Cause Weight Gain?
Unfortunately, Abilify can definitely cause weight gain. It is a well-known side effect of the medication. Abilify impacts your metabolism which can lead to both weight gain and high blood sugar levels.
My Experience With Abilify
It has been so long since I have been on Abilify that I don’t even remember which drug I was taking it in combination with. Either way, I remember the side effects I had, which was tiredness, a persistent low level headache that would not go away for a few weeks, and I also had difficulty sleeping despite the medication making me tired. Luckily for me I was not one of the many people who have reported a gain in weight from using this medication.
Most of my side effects subsided within a month of starting the medication. While I was taking it, I really didn’t notice any great difference to either my mood or my anxiety levels. This won’t be the same for everybody, for some people the medication has a great effect. I just wasn’t one of those people.
I stayed on Abilify for several months and also adjusted the dosage under the advice of my doctor. The change in dose brought about no change in my symptoms of depression and anxiety, but they also did not bring about a change in any of the side effects I had when I first started taking Abilify.
When it was time to come off Abilify, we did it slowly and tapered my dose in a responsible way. Because of this, I was able to avoid any withdrawal effects and coming off Abilify was very easy for me. It won’t be the same for everyone, but this is just my personal experience with the drug.
So overall I really have no Abilify horror stories to share. I had a few side effects when first starting the drug and that is about all. Abilify just did not work for me unfortunately.
Why I No Longer Need Antidepressants
In the 10 years that I have been dealing with depression and anxiety I have been on somewhere in the range of 20 different medications for my condition. I can’t say I have seen any great success. Sometimes there has been a small but temporary improvement to my symptoms from using medication, but in most cases all it gave me were unwanted side effects.
I got sick of relying on medication to fix me. It took me a long time to realize that I needed to do more for myself anyway, and not be reliant on medication. It wasn’t until I realized this that I was able to make changes and finally see an improvement.
During my research of different ways to treat depression without medication, I came across a course called Destroy Depression. Initially I was sceptical of it, but because of the 60 day money back guarantee I decided to buy it and see how I went with it. That is the single best decision I have ever made in over 10 years of fighting depression and anxiety. The course was simply that good!
Basically, it is a 7 step system that will teach you how to make the changes you need to in order to experience a significant reduction of your depression symptoms. The course also teaches you about CBT, which is a proven method for treating both depression and anxiety. It is all laid out in an easy to follow step by step format, so even with my low concentration levels I was able take it all in. I still go back and read the course again every few weeks just so I can keep all of the information fresh in my mind. If you would like to learn more about Destroy Depression, then click on the link below.
Click here to learn more about Destroy Depression
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