PatientsLikeMe : Abilify (aripiprazole) Treatment Report

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What is Abilify?

Abilify® is a brand name for the drug aripiprazole, an atypical antipsychotic drug used in the treatment of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Read more...

Reasons taken & Efficacy

Reasons and Efficacy
Reasons taken	# of patients	# of patients evaluated by
Treat my mood condition(s)	156	54
Depression	57	16
Support another treatment	43	10
mania	28	14
Other	20	5
Anxiety	16	4
Bipolar Disorder	14	5
Major Depressive Disorder	9	3
Psychosis	8	1
Problems concentrating	6	2
Bipolar, mixed episodes	5	0
Depression, pain, paresthesia, migraines, buzzing and cold feet	4	1
Fibromyalgia	4	2
General health	3	1
Mood swings	3	0
auditory hallucinations	3	1
Bipolar, rapid cycling	2	2
Depression, lack of concentration, pain	2	2
Paranoia	2	0
schizoaffective disorder	1	0
mixed episodes	1	0
Mood	1	0
Schizophrenia	1	0
Suicidal ideation	1	0
Depression with suicidal thoughts	1	1
Schizotypal disorder	1	1
Treat Parkinson's	1	0
borderline personality disorder	1	0
jumpstart lexapro	1	0
augment Wellbutrin XL	1	0
Muscle Fatigue	1	0
racing thoughts	1	0
disease-related symptoms	1	1
Depression, Voices	1	0
RAGE	1	1
Insomnia	1	0

See all 36 reasons taken ▼

See all 299 patients currently taking Abilify

Mouse over the table for more information

Side Effects

Side effects as an overall problem

Severe	19	18%
Moderate	27	26%
Mild	28	27%
None	30	29%

Most commonly reported side effects

Agitation	25	24%
Insomnia	24	23%
Anxiety	19	18%
Increased appetite	18	17%
Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS)	17	16%
Akathisia - internal restlessness	16	15%
Weight gain	16	15%
Vivid dreams	14	13%
Nightmares	12	12%
Suicidal thoughts	9	9%
Restlessness	2	2%
Fatigue	2	2%
Weight loss	2	2%
Nausea	2	2%
ankle swelling	1	1%
Fever	1	1%
Swelling of Eyelids	1	1%
hyperglycemia	1	1%
Sexual dysfunction	1	1%
I hated this medication, the ads gloss over that this is an anti-psychotic, sheesh. I knew this and was NOT thrilled about it. Dr suggested it. So many medications haven't worked for me.	1	1%
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome	1	1%
Sleep excessive	1	1%
Decreased appetite	1	1%
Tremors	1	1%
Sleepiness	1	1%
helped me sleep but woke up confussed	1	1%
made pain worse	1	1%
Mood swings	1	1%
dry mouth	1	1%
Hiccups (hiccoughs)	1	1%
Esophageal pain/irritation	1	1%
Elevated blood sugar (glucose)	1	1%
muscle rigidity	1	1%
Bruxism/teeth grinding	1	1%
tremor, hand	1	1%
confusion, neck pain, morning stiffness	1	1%
tremor, legs	1	1%
Urinary retention	1	1%
headache	1	1%
parestesiha	1	1%
nausea, vomiting, site irritation	1	1%
tired	1	1%
Hyperlipidemia (high lipids)	1	1%
Increase in widespread pain	1	1%
tardive diskenisia	1	1%
twitching	1	1%

Mild
Moderate
Severe

See all 46 reported side effects ▼

Dosages

Top 10 dosages based on patients currently taking Abilify. See all 19 dosages ►

daily	0.75 mg daily	1 mg daily	2 mg daily	2.5 mg daily	4 mg daily	5 mg daily	6 mg daily	7 mg daily	7.5 mg daily	7.5 mg/mL daily	10 mg daily	15 mg daily	20 mg daily	25 mg daily	30 mg daily	40 mg daily	45 mg daily	60 mg daily
3	1	3	34	7	2	76	1	1	6	1	77	42	18	4	26	3	1	1

Stop Reasons

Why Patients Stopped Taking Abilify (multiple reasons could be selected)
Reason	# Patients	Percentage of patients
Side effects too severe	55	55%
Did not seem to work	30	30%
Doctor's advice	27	27%
Other	12	12%
Expense	10	10%
Personal research	3	3%
Not indicated	1	1%

See all 93 patients who’ve stopped taking Abilify

Duration See details about how long patients take this treatment ▼

Currently Taking Abilify

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
7	14	31	70	30	27

Stopped Taking Abilify

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
32	20	18	11	3	8

Adherence, Burden & Cost See details from patient evaluations ▼

Adherence

Taking treatment as prescribed

Always	85	82%
Usually	15	14%
Sometimes	2	2%
Never	2	2%

Burden

Difficulty being on treatment

Very	15	14%
Somewhat	14	13%
A little	27	26%
Not at all	48	46%

Cost

Paid out of pocket

$200+	7	7%
$100-199	3	3%
$50-99	9	9%
$25-49	12	12%
< $25	39	38%

See more information, including instructions, precautions, side effects, and interactions.

Patient Evaluations

See all 104 patient evaluations

mountabora

Sex: F

Depression: 1

Emotional: 1

Compulsion: 0

Anxiety: 1

Mania: 1

Physical: 0

External Stress: Severe

25 F

Function: High

Distress: Low

See profile
mountabora

2 mg daily

since May 08, 2008
Efficacy None for Treat my mood condition(s)
Side Effects Severe
See full evaluation

Voo

Sex: F

Depression: 0

Emotional: 0

Compulsion: 2

Anxiety: 2

Mania: 2

Physical: 1

External Stress: Moderate

31 F

Function: High

Distress: Low

See profile
Voo

20 mg daily

since Oct 02, 2008
Efficacy Major for Treat my mood condition(s)
Side Effects Moderate
See full evaluation

Meta411

Sex: M

Mental Symptoms: severe

Physical Symptoms: moderate

Advanced Symptoms/Infections/Cancers: none

698

VL 18k

See profile
Meta411

20 mg daily

since Sep 25, 2008
Efficacy Major for Other
Side Effects Mild
Advice/Tips I had a great reduction of both psychotic symptoms and bi-polar manic episodes, but Ryan White stopped covering it because of budget cuts and the expense of ... See full evaluation