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ZombieMode

Question about Anti-psychotics (Abilify)

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Hey all,

I was diagnosed with schizophrenia in April 2015 for hearing voices (which were a good all-loving thing for me), and am now stuck on a 300mg injection of Abilify every 3 weeks under a community treatment order - till hopefully the new year.

Feel more disconnected from the spiritual realm/my own body and emotions since starting on the drug. Am still going about my day as best as I can, just not feeling as happy as I once was.

Was just wondering if anyone here has had any experience with anti-psychotic medication? Does this numb and lifeless feeling eventually subside? Any tips on detoxing and cleansing from this crap/supplements to take? Do you think my psychosis (voices) will return - looking for some peace of mind that it will, they acted as a positive compass in my life.

Any response is appreciated,

thanks for reading.

Peace

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Hi ZombieMode. Like bogfrog, I have neither experience nor expertise to answer your question. I doubt I could tell you anything you didn't already know - like how carefully you should proceed if/when you come off any anti-psychotic. But there might be others with more to contribute.

Mainly, I just wanted to say, welcome to the forum :)

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Welcome to the forum ZombieMode

As the others have said, I don't have any direct experience with this drug myself either.

After a few minutes of research it certainly seems that there are ways to attenuate the effects of this drug, but I'm very hesitant to relay the information to you as you stated that the drug has been implicated in a community treatment order.

It's not really the place for anyone here to intervene in something like that as we don't know any of the relevant details.

I believe (from nothing more than reading case histories) that this type of medication can remove all the lows and also all the highs from someones life and create the disconnected feeling you mentioned. Maybe this could be an opportunity for meditation and introspection, in this state you could have a more balanced view of your situation and not be so inclined to react as impulsively as you otherwise would.

Community treatment orders have a limited lifespan, so stay strong and try to come out of this better than you what you were when it began.

We all have "voices" in our heads in one way or another, but we are also gifted with the intelligence to listen to them or disregard what they say. Impulses and their reactions happen in a split second - a measured reasonable response takes only a few seconds more.

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Hi ZombieMode,

I'm also on aripiprazole (30mg daily). My problem at the moment is that it's too activating and I'm spending lots of time pacing around the house...

For me it's really hard to distinguish between potential negative symptoms, a 'post-psychotic retreat' (naturally a recovery process from what could be a spiritual emergency) and antipsychotic-induced side effects like a 'numb and lifeless feeling'. My advice would be to take it easy and unwind, keep going with the Abilify if you can tolerate it, avoid supplementing with anything and find a doctor you can talk about things with. If you can't tolerate the Abilify, once again, discuss this with your doctor - mention the side effects. IMO, it's probably best to avoid discussing too much on the spiritual side with your doctor but if you find one open to such discussions, even better. It's best to go with THEIR flow while you're on a community treatment order.

I'd then consider the following guidelines:

Therapeutic Interventions for Acute Crises

Therapy with spiritual emergency patients in crisis (“spiritual emergency”) can include the following 9 interventions.

Here's something for you to consider and talk about with your doctor:

While often considered to be solely a symptom of schizophrenia, “recent studies have identified that about 4%-5% of the general population experience “hearing voices” when excluding previous mental health problems, medication, drug use, and other potentially confounding factors in this group of individuals”. A recent study [1] found:

“…7.3% of the sample reported a life-time prevalence of AVH. Those with AVH were more likely to be single and unemployed, reported higher levels of depression and anxiety, and experienced a higher number of severe life events compared with those without AVH. Only 16% of those who experienced AVH in the general population sought professional help for these experiences. Compared to those who did not seek professional help, participants that had were more likely to experience AVH with a negative content, experience them on a daily basis, undergo negative reactions when experiencing AVH, and resist AVH. In conclusion, the prevalence of AVH was found to be relatively high. The results also revealed higher levels of reduced mental health for individuals who sought professional help, followed by those who did not, compared with those who had never experienced AVH”

Prevalence rates of AVHs are estimated at 11.3-62.8% in patients with bipolar disorder and 5.4-40.6% in patients with major depression [2] Hearing voices due to trauma is also common and “it has been suggested on the basis of the negative emotional content of AVHs that they may represent misinterpreted recall of strong emotional and traumatic memories that would act like intrusions, and that are mislabeled as coming from the outer world.” Other models include “a failure to adequately monitor and label verbal thoughts as coming from the inside rather than from the outside of the patient’s head, often called an “inner speech” model”

If the voices are not distressing or harmful, maybe they don't need to be medicated... discuss this with a compassionate doctor. It can take some time to find such a doctor.

Maybe down the track you can talk about coming off the medications with your doctor:

Antipsychotic Maintenance Treatment: Time to Rethink?

Best wishes with everything. You're more than welcome to send me a PM if you'd like to talk.

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Abilify is stronger than what im on.. One of my friends is on Abilify and she says it makes her feel like a zombie.

Im currently on 50mg monthly paliperidone (similar to risperidone) but started at 150mg. The only mental illness i have is uncontrolled thoughts though im not actually schizophrenic.. Not going to get into why i was put on an ITO.. But i felt numb and emotionally unstable at times on 150mgs. Now that im on 50 i dont even really notice it.

Try getting them to reduce the dose at your next tribunal meeting. Although that might not be wise since you actually do have mental illness and have been hearing voices. But you probably dont need even half your dose.. Antipsychotics are fucking potent.

Just say you want to reduce the injection but would like to have some Abilify pills on hand incase you start hearing voices or something and actually do need the higher dose of the medication. If they see that you arent just trying to lower the dose because you hate the feeling of the drug and actually are trying to get the right dose then theyll probably agree to lower your dose.

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appreciate all the kind posts and helpful information, have certainly learnt a lot - thanks!!

I feel as though I'm more shaman than schizophrenic. The voices were always positive and like Sally mentioned, I always had the choice on whether or not to act on them. They would simply recommend foods and activities I'd enjoy, as well as give me insight into different situations. I also experienced unity of consciousness which was the most beautiful thing I've ever experienced in my life (felt connected with everything and everyone in some way).

reason for the CTO was getting into a fight with my younger brother, I don't believe I need these "medicines' to keep me stable & "normal" like they say, I meditate frequently and am an all round calm person. Doing my best to get off the CTO ASAP, the drugs have certainly interfered with my spiritual progression.

Am currently taking St Johns Wort, Macuna Pruiens & smoking ciggarettes frequently to help with dopamine boosts/reduce levels of drug in my blood - happy to hear of any other recommendations.

None of this was due to use of any entheogen/psychedelic, though I have smoked weed (twice a week maybe) over the last 2 years. The medication certainly blocks me from tripping, feels quite plaguey inside.

Thanks again to all of you, has to be home to some of the best quality people on the internet haha :)

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I was hesitant to use antipsychotics initially because surely "anything that blocked dopamine was going to be a bad idea" etc. I was misguided. They can be helpful for getting through a rough patch and for some, beneficial for longer periods. IMO, it's worth reconsidering your use of Mucuna pruriens as dopamine is really something that I don't believe you should be playing with at this stage. It's important to realise that it's more of an inverted 'U' response situation when it comes to dopamine, just as too little is no good, so is too much. Let the Abilify do its job for the moment if you can, who knows - it might hit the sweet spot... Mucuna pruriens definitely has the potential to make things worse!

Similarly, St John's Wort has some potential interactions with some medications and may not be what you need...

Take care :)

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Abilify generally has less anti-dopamine effects than other anti-psychotics; it acts as a "partial agonist" at the D2-like receptors... therefore technically having some dopaminergic effects..however, it's 'life-sucking' and anxiogenic effects come from histamine antagonism and adrenergic actions, respectively.

It blocks both alpha and beta-adrenaline receptors - the alpha-2-blockade leads to increased noradrenaline - however, the combined blockade of the other receptors lead to the generally negative 'feelings' because the brain/body is distorted..trying to figure out where to put the adrenaline that is no longer binding properly..it would be one thing if you blocked JUST the alpha-receptors; that wouldn't be so bad..but because it blocks beta's as well...this is part of why one would feel lifeless on it.

Also, Abilify has 'partial agonist' effects at some serotonin receptors - this makes it less linear than other anti-psychs which generally block serotonin's effects...the partial agonist activities at receptors like 2C and 7A can lead to anxiety....I would try to switch to Clozapine or something like that...

You can also add an H3R antagonist...that would help minimize the sedative effects of ANY psych drugs - and it would improve cognition and psychotic symptoms in the process...so something like "Pitolisant" which can be bought @ tht.co

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Great to have you in this community mitch,bunch of smart fckers residing here. Msg if you need anything bro

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Welcome to the forum ZombieMode

As the others have said, I don't have any direct experience with this drug myself either.

After a few minutes of research it certainly seems that there are ways to attenuate the effects of this drug, but I'm very hesitant to relay the information to you as you stated that the drug has been implicated in a community treatment order.

It's not really the place for anyone here to intervene in something like that as we don't know any of the relevant details.

I believe (from nothing more than reading case histories) that this type of medication can remove all the lows and also all the highs from someones life and create the disconnected feeling you mentioned. Maybe this could be an opportunity for meditation and introspection, in this state you could have a more balanced view of your situation and not be so inclined to react as impulsively as you otherwise would.

Community treatment orders have a limited lifespan, so stay strong and try to come out of this better than you what you were when it began.

We all have "voices" in our heads in one way or another, but we are also gifted with the intelligence to listen to them or disregard what they say. Impulses and their reactions happen in a split second - a measured reasonable response takes only a few seconds more.

Hi Sally, haven't had much luck with my research on how to attenuate effects of abilify - could you please share your findings? Happy to answer any questions about myself or the situation that led up to my hospitalization, just not feeling as happy or spiritual as I once was.

Have cut down on the mucuna pruiens & st johns wort, and with this reduced dose am feeling much better - aim is to be off meds in March next year at the latest if the CTO is renewed. At present experiencing no symptoms of schizophrenia - my diagnosis was dependant on them thinking I heard voices, I never actually told anyone besides close friends, as they were special to me.

I did something silly though. Ingested 5 tabs of LSD ended up with neuroleptic malignment syndrome which was quite scary, feel I've recovered OKAY from that experience. Wasn't prepared for it at all, 3 tabs a month prior was an overall positive experience, couldn't even notice the abilify in my system.

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I did something silly though. Ingested 5 tabs of LSD ended up with neuroleptic malignment syndrome which was quite scary, feel I've recovered OKAY from that experience. Wasn't prepared for it at all, 3 tabs a month prior was an overall positive experience, couldn't even notice the abilify in my system.

of course you did this in a country where that kind of thing is legal. Self incrimination is against the forum rules even though i think this is a valuable discussion

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I'd like to offer my own thank you for the timely advice others have already given in this thread. I wouldn't want to completely rule out the use of anti-psychotic drugs but my experience with them has been negative. The mad in america website, open dialogue approach to psychosis and term spiritual crisis are all worthwhile resources when tackling psychosis, I wouldn't take anything too literally, one's own critical thought is of the utmost importance when navigating these territories as it is in a general sense. I believe anti-psychotics in their nature suppress symptoms of an underlying disorder and don't play a direct role in any genuine healing. In my opinion suppression just results in more problems down the track and is never a permanent solution. Perhaps you could seek out a more open-minded psychiatrist who can help you talk to doctors who might otherwise not be open to that perspective from a 'mental health patient'. That is how I view the matter as this is always individual. If it's the choice between debilitating symptoms I think finding the lowest dose possible is best, ensuring to explore as many other options as possible.

Edited by courageoftheweak
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