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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 10 of 10. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Emme on February 24, 2003, at 22:15:15
Hi Folks,
I'm only taking an eighth of a 15 mg tablet of abilify, believe it or not. Normally I'm cold blooded, but over the last few weeks it's just ridiculous, and seems to coincide with when I went from taking abilify every few days to taking it every day. I can't get warm and it's keeping me from doing things around the house because all I want to do is curl up under a down comforter, even with fleece and a wool sweater. Every now and then I am simultaneously cold and a little sweaty. I do warm up and feel more normal when I hit the gym. But then I have to come home from the gym and it's back to being cold. Has anyone else noticed problems with body temperature regulation on this drug? I remember Celexa made me so cold I couldn't stand it.
Thanks,
Emme
Posted by SLS on February 25, 2003, at 6:14:22
In reply to Anyone feel cold on abilify? , posted by Emme on February 24, 2003, at 22:15:15
> Hi Folks,
>
> I'm only taking an eighth of a 15 mg tablet of abilify, believe it or not. Normally I'm cold blooded, but over the last few weeks it's just ridiculous, and seems to coincide with when I went from taking abilify every few days to taking it every day. I can't get warm and it's keeping me from doing things around the house because all I want to do is curl up under a down comforter, even with fleece and a wool sweater. Every now and then I am simultaneously cold and a little sweaty. I do warm up and feel more normal when I hit the gym. But then I have to come home from the gym and it's back to being cold. Has anyone else noticed problems with body temperature regulation on this drug? I remember Celexa made me so cold I couldn't stand it.
>
> Thanks,
> EmmeHi Emme.
I began my trial of Abilify at 20mg and have had virtually no side-effects. I would suggest taking the plunge and take 15mg today and see what happens. Maybe you can try 7.5mg if your sheepish about the higher dosages. The manufacturer suggests starting at 15mg. The half-life of Abilify is very long. Because of this, it takes quite a while for therapeutic levels in the body to accumulate. In other words, the drug does its own gradual titration.
It makes sense to me that an extremely low dosage would make someone feel cold. It might be acting like a drug called apomorphine (Apomorphine is not an opiate. It is a dopamine drug).
Be well.
- Scott
Posted by Emme on February 25, 2003, at 7:48:15
In reply to Re: Anyone feel cold on abilify? , posted by SLS on February 25, 2003, at 6:14:22
Hi Scott,
Thanks for your input. But I think taking that large a plunge would be a bad idea. We always start me at *much* less than recommended minimum doses. Learned that the hard way. The first few doses of the eighth of a tablet were almost unbearably stimulating. I had to take it every other day at first because it wore me out so much. I seem to be slowly adjusting to it. Now I may try sporadically taking 3.25 mg to see how that goes. I felt sick and foggy most of yesterday after a 3.25 mg dose the night before. But I'll try working up a to see if I get used to it and get more benefit. I'm still getting the occasional mood crash. Like today. Bad. Nasty.
If only I weren't so cold... What is apopmorphine? Is it known to make people feel cold? Is its action similar to abilify?
Thanks,
Emme
> > Hi Folks,
> >
> > I'm only taking an eighth of a 15 mg tablet of abilify, believe it or not. Normally I'm cold blooded, but over the last few weeks it's just ridiculous, and seems to coincide with when I went from taking abilify every few days to taking it every day. I can't get warm and it's keeping me from doing things around the house because all I want to do is curl up under a down comforter, even with fleece and a wool sweater. Every now and then I am simultaneously cold and a little sweaty. I do warm up and feel more normal when I hit the gym. But then I have to come home from the gym and it's back to being cold. Has anyone else noticed problems with body temperature regulation on this drug? I remember Celexa made me so cold I couldn't stand it.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Emme
>
>
>
> Hi Emme.
>
> I began my trial of Abilify at 20mg and have had virtually no side-effects. I would suggest taking the plunge and take 15mg today and see what happens. Maybe you can try 7.5mg if your sheepish about the higher dosages. The manufacturer suggests starting at 15mg. The half-life of Abilify is very long. Because of this, it takes quite a while for therapeutic levels in the body to accumulate. In other words, the drug does its own gradual titration.
>
> It makes sense to me that an extremely low dosage would make someone feel cold. It might be acting like a drug called apomorphine (Apomorphine is not an opiate. It is a dopamine drug).
>
> Be well.
>
>
> - Scott
Posted by SLS on February 25, 2003, at 20:09:54
In reply to Re: Anyone feel cold on abilify? » SLS, posted by Emme on February 25, 2003, at 7:48:15
> Thanks for your input. But I think taking that large a plunge would be a bad idea. We always start me at *much* less than recommended minimum doses. Learned that the hard way. The first few doses of the eighth of a tablet were almost unbearably stimulating. I had to take it every other day at first because it wore me out so much. I seem to be slowly adjusting to it. Now I may try sporadically taking 3.25 mg to see how that goes. I felt sick and foggy most of yesterday after a 3.25 mg dose the night before. But I'll try working up a to see if I get used to it and get more benefit. I'm still getting the occasional mood crash. Like today. Bad. Nasty.
Hi Emme.I had second thoughts about submitting my previous post after I posted it. You know yourself better than anyone. Perhaps the coldness will dissipate. I experience the same thing early on when I take MAOIs, especially when they are combined with tricyclics. Like you, I bury myself beneath a comforter.
Please post of your progress! I will be very, very interested to know if and when your side effects, including the over-stimulation, disappear and at what dosage.
> If only I weren't so cold... What is apopmorphine? Is it known to make people feel cold? Is its action similar to abilify?
Apomorphine is a drug that mimicks dopamine. It has been used in the past for Parkinsons in a manner similar to Parlodel, Permax, and Mirapex. It is now being considered for sexual erectile dysfunction and is marketed in countries outside the US. It has been used extensively in neuroscience for animal experiments. One of the effects it is known to produce is hypothermia. Abilify acts like apomorphine in some respects (DA2 autoreceptor agonist).
I wish you well on your trial of Abilify.
- Scott
Posted by Emme on February 26, 2003, at 6:22:15
In reply to Re: Anyone feel cold on abilify?, posted by SLS on February 25, 2003, at 20:09:54
Hi Scott,
> I had second thoughts about submitting my previous post after I posted it. You know yourself better than anyone. Perhaps the coldness will dissipate. I experience the same thing early on when I take MAOIs, especially when they are combined with tricyclics. Like you, I bury myself beneath a comforter.MAOI's too huh? They don't warn us about this body temperature thing and I've been pretty sure I'm not just imagining it. I hope the coldness does wear off. Before July. :)
> Please post of your progress! I will be very, very interested to know if and when your side effects, including the over-stimulation, disappear and at what dosage.Okay. But rest assured I'll end up at the low end of the dosage spectrum if I stay with this drug. You take low doses too, don't you?
> > If only I weren't so cold... What is apopmorphine? Is it known to make people feel cold? Is its action similar to abilify?
>
> Apomorphine is a drug that mimicks dopamine. It has been used in the past for Parkinsons in a manner similar to Parlodel, Permax, and Mirapex. It is now being considered for sexual erectile dysfunction and is marketed in countries outside the US. It has been used extensively in neuroscience for animal experiments. One of the effects it is known to produce is hypothermia. Abilify acts like apomorphine in some respects (DA2 autoreceptor agonist).Ah. Interesting.
> I wish you well on your trial of Abilify.
Thanks.
Emme
Posted by SLS on February 26, 2003, at 15:49:18
In reply to Re: Anyone feel cold on abilify? » SLS, posted by Emme on February 26, 2003, at 6:22:15
Dear Emme,
I might not be as "sensitive" to psychotropic medications as others, but they do affect me. When my doctor told me that he would rather start on the first day at 20mg, he said that we might as well because the side-effects won't be much greater than at low dosages. As I mentioned in another post, 25mg of Seroquel knocked me on my butt with sedation and sleepiness that took several days to wear-off. On a previous trial of Seroquel, I reached 300mg by day 5, and did not suffer as much then. I hope a consensus develops on how best to initiate therapy with Abilify. I guess I should be a bit more conservative in making recommendations, but I would hate to think that people are abandoning Abilify needlessly when they target such low dosages.
I'll think positive if you will...
Take care.
- Scott
Posted by Emme on February 27, 2003, at 7:48:40
In reply to Re: Anyone feel cold on abilify? » Emme, posted by SLS on February 26, 2003, at 15:49:18
Hi Scott,
You may be right that I could do okay at a higher dose, though I think I'll "inch" it rather than jump it. Believe it or not, when I first tried it, I felt an improvement in about 48 hours, even with the 2 mg or so I took. So I figured "Great, I can get away with a flea size dose". But I seem to be backsliding under the pressure of job/future issues. I won't abondon it until I try a higher dose.
I guess another option might be to try to inch up my Lamictal. I hate doing that because I always feel fluish during dosage increases, sometimes get a little rash (medically monitored), and it took my body a while to adjust to 100 mg. But I've been at 100 mg for a while and am tolerating it. So I may be able to try to raise it. It would take about a month to get up to 125 because I have to do it at about 5 mg per week or so. I'm damn tough to medicate. sigh.
Thanks so much for the positive thoughts. I'll see if I can send some back at ya.Emme
> I might not be as "sensitive" to psychotropic medications as others, but they do affect me. When my doctor told me that he would rather start on the first day at 20mg, he said that we might as well because the side-effects won't be much greater than at low dosages. As I mentioned in another post, 25mg of Seroquel knocked me on my butt with sedation and sleepiness that took several days to wear-off. On a previous trial of Seroquel, I reached 300mg by day 5, and did not suffer as much then. I hope a consensus develops on how best to initiate therapy with Abilify. I guess I should be a bit more conservative in making recommendations, but I would hate to think that people are abandoning Abilify needlessly when they target such low dosages.
>
> I'll think positive if you will...
>
> Take care.
>
>
> - Scott
Posted by lynn3 on February 27, 2003, at 10:06:32
In reply to Re: Anyone feel cold on abilify? » SLS, posted by Emme on February 27, 2003, at 7:48:40
no cold symptoms here, take 15mg every a.m.
Posted by Emme on February 27, 2003, at 12:55:02
In reply to Re: Anyone feel cold on abilify?, posted by lynn3 on February 27, 2003, at 10:06:32
> no cold symptoms here, take 15mg every a.m.
Well, I don't actually have symtoms of a cold. I mean I *am* cold. Like I just can't warm up very well.
You're another who takes it in the morning. I'm taking everyone's advice here and will take mine in the morning now instead of the evening. I hope it'll help with the insomnia.
Emme
Posted by lynn3 on February 28, 2003, at 8:43:18
In reply to Re: Anyone feel cold on abilify? » lynn3, posted by Emme on February 27, 2003, at 12:55:02
> > no cold symptoms here, take 15mg every a.m.
>
> Well, I don't actually have symtoms of a cold. I mean I *am* cold. Like I just can't warm up very well.
>
> You're another who takes it in the morning. I'm taking everyone's advice here and will take mine in the morning now instead of the evening. I hope it'll help with the insomnia.
>
> EmmeEmme sorry I meant I don't feel cold...chilled...chilly :^) Have a great day, Thanks for your posts!
This is the end of the thread.
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