Abilify for Major Depressive Disorder User Reviews (Page 3)

• AJano
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 1, 2018

"Took Abilify 2mg / day for two weeks, so far so good. Upped the dosage to 5mg / day and things started to go very wrong for me. This medicine started giving me terrible panic attacks (after about a month in), and threw me into the worst mental state I’ve ever been in in my life. I also could not sit still for very long, and was generally tired throughout the day. This medicine may work well for you, but this medicine temporarily ruined my life."

• Rogue
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 12, 2022

"The medicine added to an antidepressant that was “pooping out” was a dream come true! I now wonder how well it may work alone… with no antidepressant drug along with it? So, it was a miracle for me— how it will effect you may be altogether different!"

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• June 18, 2014

"I was put on Ability to help with Major Depression/Clinical depression, and anxiety. The side effects were life changing. Just horrible. I was put on it at 15. I had hallucinations, pass out spells, times of absolute carelessness, and increased suicidal thoughts. I also became very hateful and paranoid. I developed unexplained muscle twitches, so my doctor finally took me off of it. I also had constant migraines and increased irritability I was just a mess on this medication! I still have the muscle twitches, and it's been 5 years since I had Abilify."

• NoAmm...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• August 10, 2016

"I have been taking Abilify for 10 yrs.I started when I was 16 yrsold after mental breakdown &going to be 26 yrsold on Oct. I never went over 15 mg. I'm currently taking 2.5 mg & I find it quite effective. I did gain some weight 15lb at the beginning but your mental health is very important. If you want to keep healthy and not gain weight while taking Abilify just eat healthy and hit the gym. I'm 5'6, have a curvy/slim toned body and I take Abilify and I feel great with my body. I'm 145lbs with muscle weight and I'm quite happy, im planning on some abs, thus Abilify hasn't stopped me. It's all in your head. Honestly this medication works well for me & I don't think its the major reason for weight gain. Always consult with your physiatrist"

• kelly...
• December 10, 2018

"Since starting Abilify (in combo with Lamictal), I find that my depression, both the major and mild symptoms, is gone! On just Lamictal it was mild but still there. Now it's as if it's been wiped out. Hope this lasts, as I haven't been on the drug very long. I also have mood swings and impulsivity issues so I think it helps with that too. Now I'm just waiting for something for my OCD and attention issues."

• kitty
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 27, 2022

"After the loss of my emotional support animal & 5 months of being completely shut off from the world and my husband. My psychiatrist started me on Abilify 5mg at first (already on Paxil, Lamictal, Adderall and clonzapam). The first 2 days were amazing my head was quiet, but the headaches were horrible, along with increased anxiety & nausea that was decreased with constant eating. So I discontinued it. We tried again at 2mg a month later since I started to self harm & was overwhelmed with life altogether without the support of my best friend. 2 mg was great I was even studying for 30 minutes every other day. But I was sooo jumpy. Startled easily and constantly and uncontrollable movements at times. But no headaches, so I was all for it then after 2 weeks BOOM stopped cleaning and stopped walking. Complete apathy, loss of sex drive and dry mouth, dry stools (never a problem I actually love using the restroom minimum 2x a day) went down to 1x forcefully and quickly gained weight. Discontinued back normal"

• Rever...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 11, 2022

"I was born with major depression and suffered abuse, so reactive depression was also an issue. Although I was internally sad all the time, I was very successful in school, ballet, piano, violin, art, singing and had lots of friends. I had learned the poem that begins, Sunday's child is full of grace,"so one day I asked my mother what day I was born, and she scoffed and told me my numeric birthday. I told her," No, the day." A Wednesday! Wednesday's child is full of woe. " At the age of six, I felt doomed. I went through life very successful and sad. In my forties, my doctor prescribed antidepressants which helped, but didn't completely alleviate the depression and sad mood. I saw commercials that touted medicines that added to your antidepressant would help. I went to see my doctor, discussed my situation with him, and he suggested trying 5 mg Abilify. After the third day of adding Abilify to my other medicines,I woke up feeling "normal" and good. I finally have the ability to be happy!"

• Randi...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• August 6, 2022

"Has helped depression greatly. At 5mg dose 1st week only slept 8 hours whole week. Dose went up to 7.5 mg and I started getting 7 hours of sleep a night. I look forward to things now and am not sleeping 16 hours a day from depressed exhaustion. So give it time to level off before giving up due to anxiety or sleeplessness. I am having some anxiety but no panic attacks and experienced some larger chunks of memory loss yesterday so am decreasing my dose after year and half on Abilify. Would not like to have to stop taking it but there are other meds out there. I have been thru a lot though."

• Tiff
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 8, 2021

"I have spent the past 2 years in bed feeling so useless and miserable. I had absolutely no interest in anything, I felt like that was just my life, after trying so many SSRIs and anxiety meds. I even self medicated with alcohol and ANYTHING ELSE I could try to just feel any little bit of normalcy. Finally my Dr put me on Abilify 5mg and literally the next day it was like I was a COMPLETELY different person THE PERSON I ONCE WAS. I'm excited about life AND happy about small things. I even went and got a part-time job which was amazing because I haven't worked in 12 years. I recommend this medication for anyone who has been struggling to find themselves. Huge life changer!"

• Abili...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• October 17, 2019

"I had severe PTSD due to childhood abuse and sexual assault, had resulting severe depression/severe anxiety/severe suicidality because of the PTSD. Never been medically psychotic in my life however. Anyways- I went from a 5'4 woman at 100lbs to 170lbs in a year thanks to Abilify. The weight gain was absolutely crushing and completely demoralizing. Ability did very little to improve or stabilize my mood. When I went on it, I was suicidal. When I finally went off of it, I was obese and more suicidal, and to this day deal with disordered eating because of how horrific such rapid weight gain was. One year off of it, I'm back down to 128lbs, but holy moly did Abilify ruin my life for a good period of time. My body is still recovering. As for the PTSD? I had to deal with the root grief about the untold pain I lived through. An intense medication meant for psychotic patients didn't help me mourn in the slightest."

• SuzieQ
• October 7, 2015

"Have taken Lamictal for about 5 years. Needed antidepressant to supplement, and have tried practically every one, new and old. Tried Abilify 2mg (?) at night. No side effects, especially weight gain, at all. After about 3 days, had more energy than I have had in years! Great mood, focus, and actually got things done! But only lasted about 3 weeks. Upped dose to 5mg. Same thing. If only it would last longer than 3 weeks. On the bright side, for 3 weeks at a time, my house was clean, etc! Lol"

• Deb
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 2, 2021

"I started on 5mg Abilify 6 days ago and I can honestly say I'm at least 50% better! I'm also taking Remeron to help with sleep and also may help along with the Abilify! I was so so so depressed!!! Didn't want to see or talk to ANYONE!!!! Yesterday I called my Son and we talked for an hour then after that I texted back and forth with my best friend for a while. I feel the FOG lifting, I'm very happy so far and I'm thinking it will only get better from here!!! Also I love listening to music and before Abilify, I didn't even care to listen to music. Yesterday I was jamming with the volume all the way up and dancing around my apartment singing as loud as I could and dancing!!! I couldn't tell you how long it's been since I've done that. At least a year!!!! 10/10 on the Abilify."

• Kristin
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 13, 2018

"I was prescribed Abilify along with Cymbalta and it was horrible! I felt absolutely dead inside. I would rather be depressed that to feel nothing at all. Even when I'm depressed, I still manage to have a sense of humor, but not with Abilify. I just didn't care about anything."

• mont
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 20, 2019

"Was placed on Abilify this past May due to continued symptoms of depression and anxiety related to body dysmorphia. My dr started on 5 mg Abilify along with Pristiq. Within a week or so I started noticing less preoccupations with my appearance and less depressed. Unfortunately my penis felt rubbery and no libido. No other side effects except maybe some weight gain. Told my dr and he said the more you take Abilify the better you’ll feel and your libido will improve. Continued to feel better but libido never improved. Then I found out I have low testosterone which I believe is from Abilify. I’m 41 years old! Starting researching and found that many anti psych meds affect prolactin which affects testosterone. This med helped but affected my sexual health. Now I’m depressed and anxious again-can’t win!"

• Snowt...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• April 25, 2017

"I'm on 5mg Abilify with a combination of Wellbutrin and lexipro medication therapy. Having no side effects. My sugar levels are within normal range and my BMI is at 23, normal range. I've had nothing but success on this medication. Previously, having to try numerous medications Atypical and second generation antidepressants, the regimen I take now has significantly decreased my symptoms of wanting to harm self and severe depression (isolation, poor self care, etc). This medication is awesome! I would definitely recommend to others."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 8, 2021

"Didn't work and the side effects were awful. I constantly threw up, had fevers, blurred vision, and the worst stomachaches and headaches I've ever had. I'm generally sensitive to drugs, though, so take what I say with a grain of salt."

• tyhmy...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 26, 2021

"Abilify was prescribed to me to combat psychotic depression and associated anxiety. However, it caused increasing akathisia (restlessness), seriously blurred vision, insomnia and 'brain zaps.' I'd wake up every hour through the night and finally start moving about at 4am. I couldn't see anything and had to move all the time - if not voluntarily, I'd shake so badly that I had to be prescribed another medication... meant for Parkinson's! Couldn't eat or use my phone at all and I was in excruciating pain. After "tolerating" said symptoms for a week, I had a relapse. So no, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone based on my experience. It could be the one for you though. Be very careful especially if you're in a vulnerable state."

• ano
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 12, 2020

"This medication made my heart race so bad that I ended up in urgent care with an EKG because of said racing heart. I was on the lowest dose, too. Once I was told to stop taking it, my heart beat was back to normal but the muscle spasms everywhere were just as annoying and unwanted."

• Halfb...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 12, 2019

"Well I started this medication 2 weeks ago and I’m pretty sure I had a 10 day mental breakdown from it. Really dark thoughts, extreme depression, delusion thinking, I thought I was losing my mind to be honest. Finally stopped it and am feeling 100% better."

• Maddie
• October 3, 2015

"So this was honestly the best medicine I ever went on for my depression, BUT it made me gain 60lbs in a matter of 2 or 3 months. And I have always been small my entire life. Didn't change any habits either when I was on this. I've been off this medication for about a year now and haven't lost a pound of the weight I gained because of it, despite working extremely hard. It really sucks because this medicine made me feel great, until I became really overweight. Now I'm too self conscious and depressed about myself that I don't even go in public unless I absolutely have to."

• jjbrown
• June 21, 2021

"I have been taking Paxil for about 4 years and it just seemed to stop working. I found myself doing destructive behaviors ie. watching porn and masturbating just to feel better. After taking Abilify for the first time, I started losing interest and can’t even do that stuff anymore. That means more time to focus on something positive. I’m definitely a fan."

• Skinn...
• June 5, 2015

"My experience with Abilify was destructive. I am 25 now, and have had MDD since age 10. 4 Years ago I took Abilify for about 3-4months. During that time I experienced paranoia, delusions, worsened depression, and extreme weight gain. I'd never had paranoia or delusions before and it brought my normal baseline from a 5/10 to a 1/10. That still hasn't changed. I also experienced an extreme compulsive desire to eat (did not go away after I stopped the med) as well as total thyroid shutdown (atrophy) as can be affirmed by my endocrinologist. In about 4 months I gained 80 lbs (more than 60% of my original body weight). I will be on multiple medications the rest of my life to treat damage from Abilify."

• beach...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• April 30, 2014

"I take this for depression. It keeps me from having major depression but I have had weight gain, increased acid reflux, and changes in my menstrual cycle. Unfortunately, the weight gain is the deal breaker. I am looking for something that doesn't have that side effect. Otherwise, Abilify would be a 9. The same is with Zoloft. It cures depression but the weight gain is even more rapid. Am looking for something that can do both-stop the depression and prevent the weight gain."

• Nancy...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• October 18, 2015

"I am on 5mg of Abilify and 100mg of Pristiq. I have been on this combination for about a year. As a result, I've been the happiest I have been in many years of struggling with severe depression. HOWEVER, I'm torn. I recently recovered from a very severe eating disorder after 30 years! My weight in a lifetime has been as low as 70lbs and as high as 120lbs. I am 5' 3". NOW after a year of recovery from the eating disorder AND taking the Abilify and Pristiq, I have gained over 50lbs!!!! As you can imagine, I am totally freaked out. I suffer from arthritis and it is very difficult to exercise, although I try. At any rate, I don't know what to do. I feel great, but the weight gain is overwhelming and I'm still gaining! HELP!!!"

• Green...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• July 12, 2015

"I first tried this drug about five years ago and have been on it consistently for two to three years. The good: this drug really changed my life. I'd tried a laundry list of antidepressants and they were mostly like popping sugar pills--they didn't do much at all. My psychiatrist suggested adding Abilify and it did something that no drug had ever done for me: it stabilized my mood (which was all over the map) . It allowed me to be happy and productive for the first time ever in my adult life. The bad: I have consistently gained weight every year I've been on the drug, with no sign of a plateau. I'm experimentally discontinuing it to see if I can lose the weight (which is, counter-productively, making me depressed again)."