I'm wondering if Abilify helps with confusion or forgetfulness. Sometimes people call it a foggy brain which is how it feels for me. Anyone that's using it can you tell me if it helps with clarity and focus?
Is Abilify known to help with confusion or feeling as though you have a foggy head?
Question posted by Sarasmiles on 12 June 2021
Last updated on 13 June 2021
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Answers
I was on this atypical antipsychotic for quite some time for Bipolar Disorder, taking 15 mgs daily for about 24 months and did not notice any improvement with, as you put it, "foggy brain", on the contrary and in general antipsychotics do not improve confusion/forgetfulness at least in people like myself who suffer from Bipolar Disorder, it may help most likely people who suffer from Schizophrenia, and of course everyone reacts differently to medications.
I am on 2 atypical antipsychotics now, Seroquel (quetiapine) and Zyprexa (olanzapine), I do not suffer from confusion/forgetfulness.
Now I did some research and I came across the following information:
"In summary, the greater dopamine receptor occupancy by aripiprazole was related with better performance in the working-memory task, suggesting that aripiprazole can enhance cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia whose dopaminergic function is defective."
"Clinical studies demonstrate that aripiprazole may be useful in the treatment of bipolar depression, major depressive disorder, treatment-resistant depression and possibly anxiety disorders. Clinical data also suggest that aripiprazole may have a lower adverse effect burden than the other atypical drugs."
Source: National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information
Atypical antipsychotics can enhance cognition after 6 months of treatment. It has been reported that atypical antipsychotic drugs produce improvements in some but not all cognitive domains in patients with schizophrenia.
Source: US Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health
The findings suggested that switching chronic schizophrenic patients to atypical antipsychotics can improve both the immediate memory and the verbal working memory when risperidone is used, while improvement of immediate memory can be expected with olanzapine.
Source: National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information
Related topics
abilify, depression, major depressive disorder, confusion, brain
Further information
- Abilify uses and safety info
- Abilify prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Abilify (detailed)
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