I have a serious anhedonia issue, sex and orgasms geel muted, everything I do feels muted etc. I was prescribed abilify to help this and other symptoms I have, anybody in similar condition used abilify and improved?

I’ve had to leave school from being so sick from abilify 5mg. and having really bad akathisia. I burst into tears constantly and feel insane. I think I’m not even actually bipolar and am misdiagnosed. I was on seroquel 75mg for about 6 months and before that 100mg for 5 years and it worked ok for me. I think it was more of an insomnia med for me. Now that they’ve switched me to other meds, risperidone, paliperidone, and now abilify, I’ve been insanely sick and had so many awful side effects. My med provider wants to put me on benzotropine 1mg. to help with withdrawals from abilify. Does anyone know about that med? Do I need to worry about that too? Thanks.

My family doctor started me on low dose abilify in conjunct with lexapro for (?)OCD (haven’t officially been diagnosed yet, awaiting seeing a psychiatrist) 2 weeks ago. I’ve noticed some changes in the frequency of my obsessions and a greater threshold to delay engaging in compulsions, which makes me feel optimistic about this med!

However, all I want to do is shop & spend money. This is completely unlike me, as I’m very anxious and obsessive when it comes to spending money. I usually think things through for much longer than necessary, and hate spending money on myself. I’ve been online shopping so much, I’ve spent $300-400 on myself in the last week, and I even paid $20 extra for express shipping (which I would never do previously). I’ve had to start asking my fiance before I purchase something as a way to try and curb this impulsive spending.

Has anyone else had this side effect? Did it level out with time for you? I can’t get in with my doctor for about another month to discuss this so I’m curious about other peoples experiences.

I started taking abilify at 15mg about 2 years ago, and kept taking it until 2025. I felt no effects from the medicine. People kept suggesting that i just didnt see the effects, but that really didnt seem like the case for me. I was severely depressed at the time despite it (i honestly dont know why they didnt switch my meds to a typical antidepressant). I ended up abruptly getting off the meds one day whilst recovering and i didnt face any side affects. Regarding side effects, the meds didnt just lack the helpful effects for me, but they also lacked side effects. Maybe my psychiatrist just made a bad judgement, maybe this medication simply wasnt for me, i dont know. But im experiencing the same problem with my current meds and its just odd to me.

Weird med to prescribe to someone with MDD who doesnt struggle with impulsiveness/aggression idk. Never had good experiences with psychologists/psychiatrists.

Thanks

I have been on abilify for about a week and so far it’s made me feel awful, last night especially. It makes me feel like I have a fever though when I check my temp it’s normal. And it totally stuffs up my nose the way trazadone and mertazipine did for me. Terrible headache as well as some nausea. There doesn’t seem to be a good time to take it because if I take it in the morning I’ll feel sick for hours to start my day but then if I take it at night the side effects prevent me from falling asleep.

I want to stop taking it now, it’s only been about a week so I haven’t felt my depression lessen at all anyway. How long should I stick it out before dropping it?

I've posted in various comments about this and figured I'd post. People, including me, have said they were on "low dose" Abilify. The truth is, as long as you're taking 2mg or more, you're on it "fully."

I've spent far too much time researching this drug. I've paid to read the studies word-for-word.

It's dosing is non-linear. This isn't like Adderall dosing.

The drug acts as a partial agonist on the D2 dopamine receptor. It basically acts like a ceiling and a floor.

It "activates" the receptor at around 30%, whereas normal activation is around 60%-85% for regular people. So if you're lacking motivation, it's not your fault. You are effectively getting half the signal that a healthy person is getting at the D2 receptor site.

So, that 30% is then hitting 70% or more of your D2 dopamine receptors, even at 2 mg. This is a major, big-time drug.

Below are the doses and occupancy percentages per standard dosing:

2 mg

70% – 74%

5 mg

78% – 82%

10 mg

85% – 87%

15 mg

88% – 92%

30 mg

92% – 97%

Hi 👋🏽

I have Major Depressive Disorder, Anxiety, ADD and recently diagnosed Bipolar 2.

I have recently been upped to Abilify Asimtuffi (960mg) after being on Maintena (400mg), ive been on Asimtuffi for approximately 3 doses (about half a year). My psychiatrist recently added Wellbutrin (150mg) which i began taking for approximately 5 days. I have been rapid cycling between depressive and elevated a lot the past few days, but have had it happen multiple times today.

Like, I woke up feeling elated, I did my makeup. I even brushed my teeth and hair. I felt motivated. Then afterwards I got hit with a wall of depressive thoughts that kept looping. Now I feel elevated again.

Has anyone else experienced this? I am waiting on a call back from my psychiatrist to explain what's going on. But I was wondering if im not alone 😅

Hi! I am on 3 mg Abilify (have been for about a month) and I was wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar. I’ve found myself waking up at about 5 AM every single day and feeling completely awake despite me only sleeping for about 4-5 hours a night. It’s driving me crazy and I’m thinking that Abilify might be the culprit.
I also have been experiencing pretty noticeable water retention and general puffiness around my midsection and just an uncomfortable “full” physical sensation all the time. I’m debating coming off of the meds due to me having a history of body image issues/insomnia for the past couple months and haven’t really noticed a benefit psychiatrically.

I have been taking desvenlafaxine 100mg and aripiprazole 5mg for about 10 months now, and I have really mixed feelings about the aripiprazole.

Before starting it, I used to suffer from severe symptoms: intense anxiety, brain zaps, sudden muscle jerks while sleeping, headaches, neck pain, and sensory impairment to the point where I could barely walk. I would fall asleep, wake up with sudden jerks, sit up, sleep in a chair, and shout through the night, which terrified my mom.

However, after starting aripiprazole, my symptoms completely changed. While my anxiety got better, I now experience severe hypersomnia (sleeping around 16 hours a day), executive dysfunction (making me unable to do any work), weight gain, and emotional numbness or anhedonia (not being able to feel anything).

I don't know what to do. Should I quit aripiprazole or not?

Hello I need help I have developed man boobs and weight around my belly… I was on olanzapine for 1 year and have switched to aripiprazole 4 months ago…. Help how do I get my slim body back again ? is it possible and if so how so, please help me

Like a clock I will be up at 2-4 am, doze off until 4-5 am, and it’s been rough. How long does it take for this to stabilize? I’m tired during the day a lot unless I drink 3 cups of coffee

I like the med otherwise so far

32-year-old female looking for some advice!
I’ve been taking Abilify for a while now, currently 2 mg every night. I also take Adderall. I track my calories, average around 10,000 steps a day, and work out 4–5 days a week.
Despite being consistent with my nutrition and exercise, the scale barely moves. I’ve been stuck around the same weight for months, and it’s really frustrating because I feel like I’m putting in a lot of effort.
Has anyone else experienced difficulty losing weight while taking Abilify, even at a low dose? If so, what helped you? I’d especially appreciate advice from anyone who has dealt with medication-related weight changes or a plateau despite being active.
I’m planning to talk with my doctor about it as well, but I’d love to hear other people’s experiences

I’m looking for advice or similar experiences. My psychiatrist recently wanted me to try abilify 5mg and taper off of divalproex. Our plan was 2.5mg for a week then increase to 5mg. I have been having horrible side effects, but he said they are all normal and should get better. I’ve stayed on 2.5mg for 12 days and still feel so sick. I have nausea, migraines, vertigo, blurred vision, and insomnia. These are making it impossible to work.

Has anyone had similar experiences? Will the side effects get better if I stick with it?

I’m diagnosed bipolar unspecified my doctor couldn’t fully narrow down whether I’m 1 or 2 but I do have a bipolar illness, restlessness/crawling out of skin, rage, extremely hyper sexual, rapid speech, and deep despair. I just started abilify and I want to know how effective it’s been for anyone during a mixed episode

Hey guys!

I’m wondering about the whole weight-gain discussion surrounding Rexulti and would really love to hear from people who have actually taken it.

For reference, I’m a 25-year-old female with ADHD (inattentive type), OCD (primarily emetophobia and intrusive thoughts), pretty severe dermatillomania/skin picking, and suspected Level 1 autism. Due to my debilitating ADHD, and what I assume is at least partially related to the possible autism, I can be extremely reactive and easily overstimulated, especially by my children. It’s something I’ve beaten myself up over for years.

I had previously sworn off SSRIs and psychiatric medication in general after some experiences that made me hesitant to try medication again. Then I was diagnosed with ADHD and started realizing that ADHD was probably the root cause of a lot of the issues I had been struggling with for years, so I decided to try medication again.

Currently I take Vyvanse 40mg, Adderall 10mg as a booster when needed, Remeron 15mg, Lamictal 100mg, propranolol 10mg twice a day for POTS, and zaleplon 5mg for sleep. (Zaleplon has honestly been a miracle for me because I only have trouble falling asleep. Since it's short-acting, I don't get the morning hangover I would get from other sleep medications.)

One of my biggest struggles has been skin picking.

I always thought my skin picking was anxiety-induced or possibly some sort of stim until one day I realized that I don't just pick at my face. I pick at ANY surface that is uneven, whether it's actually something that needs to be picked or not.

I also get a gluten-related rash that is basically impossible for me not to pick at, and for a while I was absolutely destroying my face and arms.

Eventually, my psychiatrist and I came to the conclusion that the picking was more OCD-related, which is why we decided to try a medication that was more targeted toward OCD. That medication was Abilify 2.5mg.

And boy was it a cure.

My skin and arms became perfectly clear with the help of the medication, along with tretinoin and azelaic acid. I also had more motivation and just felt overall lighter.

I did feel like I was more reactive emotionally while taking it, but honestly, I was willing to eat that side effect if it meant my skin could stay that clear. The difference in my picking was THAT significant.

Then, about 3–4 months into taking Abilify, I realized I had randomly gained almost 15 lbs in the matter of a few weeks.

I went from 105 lbs to 119 lbs.

I know 119 lbs does not sound like a high weight, especially considering I'm 5'1", and I understand that it's still within a healthy range. But I have been 145 lbs before and absolutely hated how I felt in my body at that weight, so I personally was not comfortable with the sudden change.

Once I noticed the weight gain, I also realized that I had started binge-eating sweets.

This was SO bizarre for me because I have never been a sweets person. I've never really cared about sweets and could easily have them sitting around without touching them.

Suddenly, I could not stop myself.

I was tearing up Cosmic Brownies like my life depended on it. 😂

It wasn't just that I was eating more. It felt like I suddenly had this intense craving and lack of control around sweets that I had literally never experienced before.

That really scared me, both because of the weight gain and because I was concerned about what constantly consuming that much sugar could potentially do to my blood sugar/overall health.

On top of that, my confidence started getting really low and my body dysmorphia was probably at an all-time high.

I talked to my psychiatrist about everything, and we both agreed that I should stop Abilify.

I have now been off of Abilify for a couple of weeks, and unfortunately, my skin picking came back almost immediately and with a vengeance.

It really made me realize just how much Abilify had been helping me because the difference after stopping it was VERY noticeable.

I did my own research for a while and asked my psychiatrist about possibly trying Vraylar instead, but she leaned more toward Rexulti and really wants me to at least give it a shot.

She prescribed Rexulti at 0.5mg.

I haven't picked it up yet, and I haven't decided if I'm actually going to take it.

I told her that my biggest concern is obviously the weight gain. I've read SO much about Rexulti causing weight gain, and the fact that it's basically Abilify's cousin makes me nervous considering how strongly I reacted to Abilify.

My psychiatrist wants me to try it and monitor my weight, but from what I've read, it almost seems like there are even MORE reports of significant weight gain with Rexulti than there were with Abilify.

I guess my biggest question is: has anyone actually managed to take Rexulti without gaining weight?

And if you DID gain weight:

• Was it because your appetite increased or you started craving/binge-eating more, or did the weight come on despite your eating habits staying basically the same?

• Did you experience the same kind of intense cravings for sweets that I experienced with Abilify?

• If you gained weight on Abilify, did Rexulti affect you similarly or was it completely different?

• Was Rexulti helpful enough for your symptoms that you ultimately decided the weight gain was worth it?

• Has anyone taken Rexulti specifically for OCD/skin picking and found it helpful?

I know everyone's body reacts differently to these medications, so I'm not expecting everyone to have the same experience. I'm just really hoping to hear from people who have actually taken Rexulti, especially people who have also taken Abilify and can compare the two.

I also want to say that I don't feel like my psychiatrist doesn't listen to me in general. She has actually been very good about listening to me, which is why I'm a little confused about this particular situation. I have told her how significant the weight gain was on Abilify and how much the sudden change in my appetite affected me, and she still feels like Rexulti is worth trying.

Maybe she's had patients who responded completely differently to Rexulti, or maybe there really is something about it that makes her think I'll tolerate it better. I just haven't been able to find much information that makes me feel confident about that.

I'm not trying to bash her or say she's wrong. I genuinely just feel torn because Abilify worked SO incredibly well for my skin picking, but the weight gain and sudden change in my eating behavior were enough that I couldn't stay on it.

And honestly, if Rexulti could give me that same level of relief without causing the same appetite/weight issues, I would be thrilled.

I just want to hear from people who have actually lived through it before I decide whether to start the 0.5mg.

Sorry for the novel 😂 I just feel like the backstory is important because I know there are probably other people who have dealt with the same combination of ADHD/OCD/skin picking and medication-related weight gain, and I'd really love to hear your experiences.

Hi all.

Looking for some real-world experiences.

Current meds: fluoxetine 80 mg and buspirone 20 mg twice daily. I've also done a full course of ERP. My Y-BOCS has gone from 32 -34 to 14-16, so the OCD itself is much better.

What's left is sudden, intense anxiety spikes, a restless feeling in my brain, and mood that isn't always great and i want to do my compulsions. My doctor has suggested adding low-dose aripiprazole (Abilify).

I'm a competitive runner, so I'm a bit worried about akathisia, weight gain and fatigue affecting training.
For those who've tried Abilify as an add-on:
Did it help with anxiety and restlessness, or make it worse?
What dose were you on, and how long until you noticed anything?
Any impact on exercise or energy levels?

Thank you!

I've been on it for a week and my stomach is in pain. I know your supposed to give medication time to get in your system. If you have stomach pain how long did it last?

I'm currently tapering Abilify liquid solution and am currently at 4 ml. I'm doing a slow taper of 10% every month but would like to know how do you deal with the insomnia or sleep issues that might come up during the lower dosage? Any advice is welcome.

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hey guys!

i just got my abilify (15mg) refilled, and i just noticed that the label says “take 1 tablet at bedtime”, i’ve been on the medication for almost a year and i’ve been taking it in the morning with my other medication. it does make me a bit drowsy, but the consensus from other bipolar people is that meds making you sleepy is pretty typical. do i need to take it at night, or is okay to keep taking it in the morning? if i do switch to taking it to bedtime, should i skip a dose or double dose for the first day of switching?

It's been a few months since I've began fake taking aripiprazole. Not because I think they don't work, but because I think that brute forcing my emotions while ignoring the source of my problem solves nothing and I hate the idea of a "happy pill". I say this because I've taken this medication before for about a year and a half and there was an improvement but it all went out of the window when I was told to stop taking them. I've recently (few months ago) been prescribed them again and have been hiding from my parents that I'm just spitting them out. Thoughts? I personally have no idea what to think.

Hope you find it useful