![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by MoparFan91 on August 11, 2005, at 19:12:33
I was in a bind with bad depression for a couple weeks or so. When things got real rough, I took 1/2 of a 5mg tablet of Abilify that I had leftover from previous trial. It got me out of the depression over night, and I managed to go back to work later that the morning. My doctor now officially has me on it at 2.5mg/day, and it seems to be clearing my mind somewhat, giving me some motivation, and helping a bit with depression.
On my previous trial of Abilify, I took 10mg a day. But. that was too much, and I had a bit of akathisia, insomnia, brain dead, overheating, and some other side effects. With 2.5mg, I don't seem to have those as far as I can tell?
Anyone have experience with taking only 2.5mg of Abilify a day?
I've noticed that many have problems with it, but they are on much higher doses like 10-20mg/day. I wonder if lower doses would work better in those cases.
Another question: I read that some atypical neuroleptics at very low doses preferentially antagonize presynaptic dopamine receptors. This indirectly increases dopamine release. Does Abilify at low doses do this as well?
Abilify also has a dopamine partial agonist built in too when dopamine levels get too low (hence DSS, or dopamine system stabilizer). Additionally it agonizes the 5-ht1a receptor. Does that mean it a serotonin agonist as well? If so, is that part of it's antidepressant effect?
and what mechanism of Abilify made it helped my depression so quick?
Posted by ed_uk on August 12, 2005, at 1:37:23
In reply to Abilify at 2.5mg, posted by MoparFan91 on August 11, 2005, at 19:12:33
Hi!
Banga takes a low dose of Abilify. Search for her posts.
~Ed
Posted by med_empowered on August 12, 2005, at 11:22:38
In reply to Abilify at 2.5mg, posted by MoparFan91 on August 11, 2005, at 19:12:33
Hey! Low-dose abilify helped me with depression, too. Unfortunately, my doc at the time kept upping the dosage so...after a while, I just got the ugly side effects. *Sigh*. No one really knows why the atypicals can help some people with depression, and the question of why low-doses seem to work better than higher ones is also unanswered. My wild guess would be that very low-dose Abilify "perfects" the D2 system and some serotonin systems by mild blockage, and mild agonism...at such low doses, the degree of its action is relatively minor, so its probably more of a "nuance" change than, say, the full-fledged D2 blockade used for psychosis. It helps anxiety at low doses, and that can certainly help with depression...the mild activation can also bump up the mood a bit. But...who knows. Are you taking it with an antidepressant?
Posted by zero on August 12, 2005, at 13:45:07
In reply to Abilify at 2.5mg, posted by MoparFan91 on August 11, 2005, at 19:12:33
I tried Abilify at 2.5mgs. and it had the same kind of good effect for me. Gentle (not inducing hypomania) antidepressant plus helped with anxiety.
Unfortunately, it lost this effect after about 2 months, and then I just felt "brain-dead" (as I feel with most other antipsychotic drugs).
I've heard good things about low-dose Abilify from several others in my support group. Hope it keeps working for you!
Regards,
z.
Posted by MoparFan91 on August 12, 2005, at 16:38:40
In reply to Re: Abilify at 2.5mg, posted by med_empowered on August 12, 2005, at 11:22:38
> Hey! Low-dose abilify helped me with depression, too. Unfortunately, my doc at the time kept upping the dosage so...after a while, I just got the ugly side effects. *Sigh*. No one really knows why the atypicals can help some people with depression, and the question of why low-doses seem to work better than higher ones is also unanswered. My wild guess would be that very low-dose Abilify "perfects" the D2 system and some serotonin systems by mild blockage, and mild agonism...at such low doses, the degree of its action is relatively minor, so its probably more of a "nuance" change than, say, the full-fledged D2 blockade used for psychosis. It helps anxiety at low doses, and that can certainly help with depression...the mild activation can also bump up the mood a bit. But...who knows. Are you taking it with an antidepressant?
>
Yes. I'm taking it with 100mg of Luvox (ssri) at night. I'm also on 300mg of Lamictal as well.
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.