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- 99
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Recently, I decided to try a very low dose of Abilify (.5-1mg/day as opposed to "standard" a/d dose of 5mg/day or anti-psychotic dose of 30mg/day) as an augment to the (useless) SSRI I have been on for a number of years trying to get at the fatigue and the depression.
(Not going to wade into the mental health/ME entanglement debate here -- suffice to say I think mind/body/spirit are all connected and that in me at least, there is some connection between the fatigue and the depression, though it remains a bit mysterious).
Overall it has been the first thing other than the Methylation Protocol that I have noticed an immediate effect from (both good and bad) and very similar effects as well -- more energy, more appetite, much easier time getting up in the morning but also a lot of restless agitation, the wired/tired feeling, a general feeling of vibrating internally, burning skin, etc. Certainly the only psych drug that has ever had a dramatic effect on any of my symptoms.
Note: I do not think that a response to psych drugs "proves" anything one way or another - undoubtedly there are nuero/immune issues going on for many people with ME and some psych drugs can effect those id both good and bad ways. (I'm also well aware that the AAPs are playing with fire in a way b/c of their metabolic effects, evidence for possible long term cognitive impairments, tardive dyskenisia, etc - but at this point I am searching for anything that helps, and I am quite comfortable using a very low dose)
In any case, my pdoc rolls here eyes a bit and thinks maybe I am having a bit of a placebo response, but she also trusts me, so is willing to let me experiment. I am interested in exploring how/why Abilify seems to have very similar effects on me as the methylation protocol, and providing a place for anyone else that has tried aripiprazole to talk about effects.
(Not going to wade into the mental health/ME entanglement debate here -- suffice to say I think mind/body/spirit are all connected and that in me at least, there is some connection between the fatigue and the depression, though it remains a bit mysterious).
Overall it has been the first thing other than the Methylation Protocol that I have noticed an immediate effect from (both good and bad) and very similar effects as well -- more energy, more appetite, much easier time getting up in the morning but also a lot of restless agitation, the wired/tired feeling, a general feeling of vibrating internally, burning skin, etc. Certainly the only psych drug that has ever had a dramatic effect on any of my symptoms.
Note: I do not think that a response to psych drugs "proves" anything one way or another - undoubtedly there are nuero/immune issues going on for many people with ME and some psych drugs can effect those id both good and bad ways. (I'm also well aware that the AAPs are playing with fire in a way b/c of their metabolic effects, evidence for possible long term cognitive impairments, tardive dyskenisia, etc - but at this point I am searching for anything that helps, and I am quite comfortable using a very low dose)
In any case, my pdoc rolls here eyes a bit and thinks maybe I am having a bit of a placebo response, but she also trusts me, so is willing to let me experiment. I am interested in exploring how/why Abilify seems to have very similar effects on me as the methylation protocol, and providing a place for anyone else that has tried aripiprazole to talk about effects.