Kay5: Abilify taper?

[Kay5]

I am currently battling withdrawal symptoms from Abilify...and wondering if I should go back onto it to taper more slowly?

I stopped from 2.5mg in early July and have had nauseua, GI issues, and insomnia since. I had the nauseau and GI issues as side effect on the abilify, but the insomnia just developed a week ago.

I'm just worried that insomnia would cause the psychosis to come back (since I had stress induced psychois for first time which is the reason I was on it to begin with).

Edited July 21 by Emonda
Name to title

[Kay5]

Hello, I'm new here. Nice to meet you guys.
 

My history is as followed in my signature.  I was told by my psych I can just stop abilify 2.5mg so I did in the beginning of July.  I had to take it for two months (first month on 5 mg) due to stress induced auditory hallucination, felt more stable, and psychiatrist said I could get off of them because it was a low dose and I didn't have any info given to me about tapering.  It did give me side effect of nausea and diarrhea and decreased appetite in the morning through the time I was taking it so I was glad to get off of it, but the withdrawal was something I wasn't informed about and I started looking more into it and found this forum.
 

I had withdrawal symptoms of continuation of diarrhea, nausea, lack of appetite, and then later some amount of insomnia (adrenaline rush feeling at night, being jolted awake) and acid reflux burning feeling at night in the past 20 days.

The diarrhea was getting better near day 20 after I stopped, but the insomnia (adrenaline rush feeling at night, being jolted awake) and acid reflux like feeling at night spooked me out and I reinstated at .5mg after reading some things here.

 

I'm new to all of this and am not sure if the reinstatement is a good idea in the state of withdrawal I was at? Day 1 and I feel fine, my nausea and diarrhea actually has been going down through the time of the withdrawal, but not sure if it's going to come back. I slept through the night although I felt mild bit of the jolting feeling a few times before I fell asleep.

 

I don't know. I just want to know if reinstatement seems fine for me? Do I seem like I have any adverse effects? Do I have any risk factors for kindling? I know all the info is on the front page but just needed some reassurance on how to go about this.

 

 

 

 

[Emonda]

Hi @Kay5,

Thanks for your patience. As mentioned offline, the team of volunteers is very small. Most of us have full time jobs / families, so we help out here when we can.

 

On 7/22/2024 at 1:51 AM, Kay5 said:

I was told by my psych I can just stop abilify 2.5mg so I did in the beginning of July.

 

Certainly not the approach taken on this site.

 

On 7/21/2024 at 12:29 AM, Kay5 said:

I stopped from 2.5mg in early July and have had nauseua, GI issues, and insomnia since.

 

Tapering is best done slowly. Why taper by 10% of my dosage? The reductions should get smaller and smaller each month, for example: 10mg, 9mg, 8.1mg, 7.3mg etc. This process involves a degree of trial and error, as there is no way of predicting how an individual will respond. Importantly, if you develop unpleasant side effects from tapering, halt the taper, give yourself time to settle, and once stable, taper more slowly and by smaller amounts moving forward. The experience of others suggests that the lower you go in dose, the slower you need to go with tapering.

 

On 7/22/2024 at 1:51 AM, Kay5 said:

I had withdrawal symptoms of continuation of diarrhea, nausea, lack of appetite, and then later some amount of insomnia (adrenaline rush feeling at night, being jolted awake) and acid reflux burning feeling at night in the past 20 days.

 

Those that taper too quickly or stop CT, often develop very unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. This Daily Checklist of Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms (PDF) is a helpful summary of what many experience.

It'd be a good idea to read up on your medication - I have no personal experience with it:

 

On 7/22/2024 at 1:51 AM, Kay5 said:

I'm new to all of this and am not sure if the reinstatement is a good idea in the state of withdrawal I was at?

I'd have a read of these two links:

About Reinstating and Stabilizing to Reduce Withdrawal Symptoms

Kindling

 

Why not use the search function in the top right to read of others experiences with this medication.

 

Some general info:

We don't suggest many supplements, but two that many of us find helpful are magnesium and omega-3 fish oil. Here are the links for info about those. Add one at a time and start with a low dose to see how it affects you. 

Magnesium

and

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil)

 

Avoid alcohol.

Don't change the manufacturer of your AD if you reinstate.

Once again, welcome to S.A.

Emonda