hi. I'm not trying to shame you or anything. I also take abilify, and...
-shrug- I apparently fall into the "please take a (major) tranquilizer" diagnostic category. Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective, Bipolar I plus extra, recurrent psychotic depression...doesn't really matter, when it comes to the pill treatment. some sort of neuroleptic/antipsychotic will probably be in the mix. ugh. :-(
Abilify -had- a reputation, way back when, for being the cleanest (metabolic) atypical out there. That was after it was first, first introduced and no one knew what to expect...at the point, it was regarded as a less sedating tranquilizer that seemed to not cause weight gain as much as, say, zyprexa or risperdal. and now...
surprise! it seems "the professionals" are about back to where things started (less problematic than most atypicals, probably somewhat more problematic than most conventional drugs..the other adverse effects, etc. point to somewhat improved tolerability, overall, than most available options...). personally?
getting my abilify dosage lowered (no easy feat...community health clinic...they put everybody on tranquilizers, for any and every indication -ever- , and the instant there's been mania, psychotic depression, etc...its all about that high dose chemical cosh, lol...) has improved my weight, and I think it had/has more to do with having a better sense of "why yes, I am -truly hungry- ... time to eat..." as well as a better sense of "I've eaten too much/I'm truly full/too much fat or sugar, etc...," and so...
rambling. For whatever reason(s), I'm especially prone to the neurological adverse effects of major tranquilizers. abilify has been much, much better in that regard...especially coupled with the DIY Orthomolecular/vitamin cocktail (honestly, it seems that the vitamins and antioxidants probably help anxiety and help me get more mileage out of meds...the big, big, big thing seems to be 0 tremor, 0 stiffness, 0 mega-intense drug induced depression or dysphoria, all that junk...), so...
-shrug- I asked my previous prescriber (clinic...underpaid, they come and go...) about loxapine. its an older one that I think qualifies as medium potency (not high potency like Prolixin or Haldol, not low potency like Thorazine or Seroquel, among the newer ones) and is now being used in inhalable form to treat agitation instead of injections. and so...
ha! pharmacy doesn't even stock it. probably a good thing. turns out, the dosage guidelines are from way back, and brain imaging scans show a need for -lower doses- to get a mix of results and tolerability. and, again: context. clinics...go for high doses, they seem to be really gung ho about those monthly injections (I've politely declined, thank goodness I am in the position to do so...), and they also seem to be big, big, big on sedating mood stabilizers (somehow, I'm only on a moderate dose of lamictal -- not sedating, no required labs, weight neutral...) and...on the especially dangerous end...
it seems they tend to use 2 antipsychotics, together, at the same time, on a fairly regular basis (large studies say...avoid, when at all possible...adverse effects go up, mortality rates go up, costs go up, and benefits do not increase...), and there's also this ridiculous tendency to load up on sedating things (sedating tranquilizer+sedating mood drug + sedating antidepressant...common...is it because so many at the clinic are poor?), which...again: large scale data seems to indicate is often dangerous and not a good practice, especially with so many people loaded up on this mind numbing mixes...
sorry. -rambling- point is, I'm in a somewhat similar position. not dealing with metabolic disorders, but I kind of think a lot of that is just because of the DIY vitamin cocktail (not a "cure" or anything, but...mega-doses of b vitamins, c, e, etc. seem to have a protective effect, both in humans and in animal studies...). I could see about a switch to an older, but not crazy toxic, tranquilizer,, but...
ugh. especially in the context of the clinic at which I get treatment...not looking to mix it up and end up on a more toxic treatment. blah. :-(
ok. not trying to hijack your thread or anything, just...yeah. yeah.
oh, btw -- sometimes, wellbutrin is used for a mix of elevating mood a bit and helping concentration. the adverse effects are not to be taken lightly (rarely...seizures!), but I dropped some weight while I was on it (more for depression that involved inability to concentrate...also because I don't do well with ssri, ssnri drugs, and the tca drugs are too harsh for me to tolerate, long term). in big studies, longer term use was associated with a modest overall weight reduction. the seizure risk is real, more of an issue at high doses...I think its not associated with the same sort of liver issues as some other options for add/adhd, but I could be mistaken.
2 Dr says to try to eat a diet made up of veggies, meat, and cheese. For some reason this one suggestion is more helpful than any other thing I've done or tried to do to treat this stupid disease. Like.... ok.
doesn’t reheat well but it’s just me here.
