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Abilify- Stanford Clinic Patients

jaybee00

Senior Member
Messages
592
Took Arcoxia as needed. You can experiment with dosage...where I lived they had 60, 90 and 120 mg tablets.
 
Messages
236
Location
Medford NJ
I have been sick for 10 years now and been a member of this forum for several.
I see a few arguments constantly resurface and essentially sabotage existing, otherwise useful conversations.
One of them is this:
  • Group A: " cfs is a single, heterogeneous disease with different manifestations in different people. Like cancer for example"
  • Group B: " no! cfs is a multifaceted, multiorgan, multi-group, multi-[insert word]. In fact some go further and say cfs is many diseases etc.
I think both can be true. Again, like cancer, its a single overarching cause but it manifests in different sub-types. BUT in order to understand the disease and come up with a cure we need to study the different aspects of cancer to get at its core cause. CFS may be multifaceted but i think what binds it all together is this PEM which is very unique to our kind of fatigue.

Also as the role of supplements, they are just chemicals the government decided to allow OTC versus prescription medication. There isnt like a real delineation in terms of their pharmaceutical effects. So, sure, someone could get better with supplements. I find COQ10 and selenium, theanine, BCAA and nicotine, all marginally helpful. But they are not a cure in any way. Otherwise we wouldn’t be here. I’d be out running and doing yoga.

But for the first time I feel like something is getting at the core of my cfs: abilify.

I think the most helpful goal of a forum is to share our personal experience with various things we try and somehow have this large collective, crowd sourced clinical trial sort of effect ( instead of getting stuck in semantics).
I totally agree. There is no extensive research so how can there be an answer without scientific proof.
 
Messages
236
Location
Medford NJ
Sorry @hmnr asg I was updating my post with more commentary in middle of your reply my typing is really shitty today. Maybe what I added shows what I mean more clearly. I do hope Abilify can work for people who try it and help people have enough symptom improvement that they can do more self care.
I have been taking ability (2.5mg) it for 4 days. I should wait before I say anything but I was in a crash for a month( this is what prompted me to try it. — now I feel almost normal. Doing chores around the house . I have moderate-me/cfs. I am not sensitive to medication much at all with a few days exceptions. I had read about Whitney and
Had declined with the fall weather.
will update in a week or so.
 

choochoo

Senior Member
Messages
130
I have been taking ability (2.5mg) it for 4 days. I should wait before I say anything but I was in a crash for a month( this is what prompted me to try it. — now I feel almost normal. Doing chores around the house . I have moderate-me/cfs. I am not sensitive to medication much at all with a few days exceptions. I had read about Whitney and
Had declined with the fall weather.
will update in a week or so.

This is fantastic for you and I'm so pleased. I hope you continue to improve.
 

choochoo

Senior Member
Messages
130
Sorry for the stupid question, what about Ativan ? How would you explain it’s temporary benefits when used sparingly ? I have had cfs for 10 years and the only things that have given me benefits has been Ativan ( when used infrequently) and now abilify.

Hi

I was wondering about Ativan. I understand you use it. What are your thoughts regarding this drug?
 

perrier

Senior Member
Messages
1,254
For those folks who feel improvement on Abilify, I have the following questions: has the malaise gone down, or disappeared? has the 'flu feeling' also abated? and what about the 'toxic feeling' often described? or is it that Abilify gives energy and the others symptoms over then less dominant? I would be grateful to know exactly which symptoms this med is touching. Thank you.
 

hmnr asg

Senior Member
Messages
558
For those folks who feel improvement on Abilify, I have the following questions: has the malaise gone down, or disappeared? has the 'flu feeling' also abated? and what about the 'toxic feeling' often described? or is it that Abilify gives energy and the others symptoms over then less dominant? I would be grateful to know exactly which symptoms this med is touching. Thank you.
For me here are the improvements:
1- more energy which means I can do more. This is an objective evaluation since my wife is also amazed by how much more I can get done. I shower more often and help around the house now ( before there was no chance of that)
2- mentally I feel like I have a lot less brain fog. I have started reading now a bit
3- emotionally I feel better , happier in general
4- PEM: I feel like the onset of crashes is delayed and they’re less severe

But I am badly constipated now , have a weird headache in my temple and Pepcid which had been a life saver for me gives me heart palpitations after I take it with abilify. Also I’m worried I’m starting to get a bit too cocky and doing more than I should and I need to slow down.
Of course the benefits far outweighs the negatives ( for me).

Also I take cymbalta along with abilify ( but I had been on that for two years and it didn’t affect my fatigue one way or another ).
 

choochoo

Senior Member
Messages
130
For me here are the improvements:
1- more energy which means I can do more. This is an objective evaluation since my wife is also amazed by how much more I can get done. I shower more often and help around the house now ( before there was no chance of that)
2- mentally I feel like I have a lot less brain fog. I have started reading now a bit
3- emotionally I feel better , happier in general
4- PEM: I feel like the onset of crashes is delayed and they’re less severe

But I am badly constipated now , have a weird headache in my temple and Pepcid which had been a life saver for me gives me heart palpitations after I take it with abilify. Also I’m worried I’m starting to get a bit too cocky and doing more than I should and I need to slow down.
Of course the benefits far outweighs the negatives ( for me).

Also I take cymbalta along with abilify ( but I had been on that for two years and it didn’t affect my fatigue one way or another ).
Fascinating
 

andyguitar

Moderator
Messages
6,595
Location
South east England

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hmnr asg

Senior Member
Messages
558
I expect there are alternatives to Pepcid. Sounds like you had a close shave. For those who use Wiki to check drug side-effects/interactions. Dont bother, some of the info there is wrong.

I’m going to go back to taking omeprazole. Thanks for checking it for me again. I have had a horrendous few nights in terms of chest pain and heart racing and just feeling like dying about an hour after taking Pepcid.
 

ljimbo423

Senior Member
Messages
4,705
Location
United States, New Hampshire
no! SHIT! I literally thought I was going to die last night. My heart felt like it was popping out of my chest.
Thank you for sending me this! you might have saved my life!!
Going to stop taking pepcid!

This quote is from the prescription insert for Abilify-

Aripiprazole had no clinically important interactions with the following drugs:
Famotidine: Coadministration of aripiprazole (given in a single dose of 15 mg)
with a 40-mg single dose of the H2 antagonist famotidine, a potent gastric acid blocker,
decreased the solubility of aripiprazole and, hence, its rate of absorption, reducing by
37% and 21% the Cmax of aripiprazole and dehydro-aripiprazole, respectively, and by
13% and 15%, respectively, the extent of absorption (AUC). No dosage adjustment of
aripiprazole is required when administered concomitantly with famotidine.
Source

However this doesn't mean that you aren't having side effects from this combo. I just thought you might want this info.

I also found a few medical sources that said taking aripiprazole with duloxetine (Cymbalta) may increase the amount of aripiprazole in your body. This can lead to increased side effects.
 
Last edited:
Messages
236
Location
Medford NJ
Hi

I was wondering about Ativan. I understand you use it. What are your thoughts regarding this drug?
I
This is fantastic for you and I'm so pleased. I hope you continue to improve.
Still doing well. I actually think about things like trying to organize my house and doing laundry and I vacuumed today . Weird feel “ normal” . I do go to bed very early still and need breaks but much more clear. I am a “retired” pharmacist and feel like my old sharper self . I actually straightened out an issue with my fathers estate . I called up and solved an issue others couldn’t.
I usually just recuse myself and let others “ think” felt good to be a problem solver again.
 
Messages
236
Location
Medford NJ
For those folks who feel improvement on Abilify, I have the following questions: has the malaise gone down, or disappeared? has the 'flu feeling' also abated? and what about the 'toxic feeling' often described? or is it that Abilify gives energy and the others symptoms over then less dominant? I would be grateful to know exactly which symptoms this med is touching. Thank you.
I had improved somewhat with mold avoidance. “ flu like feeling had abated after a few years. I had slept outdoors in a travel trailer for about 2 years and did neural retraining. This led to less “ mold “ sensitivity and improvements with neural retraining — was able to sleep indoors and not having bad” adrenaline “ rushes. In the last6-7 months just had really bad malaise . Wanted to do things just felt blah but better than the way I used to feel.

I contemplated do I have depression? Omg but I don’t . Very content with my life. Actually saw a therapist who released me.
Since I have been taking the abilify ( I am breaking 10mg into 1/4 —so 2.5mg at bedtime) — ) I am feeling more engaged like I don’t have to think about each step. I was doing wash and dishes at 5 am when I could not sleep then when back to bed and also until 8 am . This is not me. I get more done in two hours then all day.
 
Messages
72
There os no paper. Ron Davis mentioned it in a update during a presentation video. Ativan and Copaxone normalised the blood plasma in the seahorse.

Is there some article or youtube video link you can provide? I tried to do some basic search but I didn't stumble on any
 

Jessie 107

Senior Member
Messages
291
Location
Brighton
I had improved somewhat with mold avoidance. “ flu like feeling had abated after a few years. I had slept outdoors in a travel trailer for about 2 years and did neural retraining. This led to less “ mold “ sensitivity and improvements with neural retraining — was able to sleep indoors and not having bad” adrenaline “ rushes. In the last6-7 months just had really bad malaise . Wanted to do things just felt blah but better than the way I used to feel.

I contemplated do I have depression? Omg but I don’t . Very content with my life. Actually saw a therapist who released me.
Since I have been taking the abilify ( I am breaking 10mg into 1/4 —so 2.5mg at bedtime) — ) I am feeling more engaged like I don’t have to think about each step. I was doing wash and dishes at 5 am when I could not sleep then when back to bed and also until 8 am . This is not me. I get more done in two hours then all day.
Why do you take a Abilify at bedtime if I were to do this I would be awake all night I take it first thing in the morning.