h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi guys. The doctor had warned me there might be some nausea as a side effect. I didn't call him yesterday, because I wanted to try the meds at the same level a couple more days, and see if the side effects subsided. This afternoon and this evening I haven't thrown up any - good sign, so we will see. If I get worse again, I will check in with the doc.

Glad to hear the nausea is gone

Hi, JEllen. Sorry the Abilify has made you so sick, but I'm glad to hear you have stopped throwing up (or at least *had* stopped).

Please promise me you will call your doctor if it starts back up, being sick for so long will not only not allow any meds to stay in your system, but will seriously mess up your electrolyte balance. That can really mess with your head. Plus, I just don't like to see you feeling crappy.

Is your sleeping and wakefulness going ok Ellen?

Sleeping pretty well. But then my sleep cycle is always a little loopey!

I didn't have any nausea this morning, yay! I took some emetrol just before dinner, so that should help too.

Aside from the side effects, I like the way this medicine makes me feel - more alert, and more alive, more emotional. I haven't had any manic symptoms, which is good.

I am sulking a bit at having to miss the church picnic this weekend, and as I mentioned Spiderman 2. But if I continue to do well, should be seeing spidey soon.

JEllen

Glad you're over the nausea & like the way the Abilify makes you feel, let's hope that's a good sign!

>more alert, and more alive, more emotional.<

This was how I felt when I got off the Prozac! (Though sometimes feeling more alert, alive, and emotional can hurt like hell, eh?)

I'm glad to hear you are feeling this way! And that you haven't had any manic symptoms. I hope it keeps up!

Hey Ellen! I'm still thinking of you a lot, and your struggles with the medication! Anyways, I hope the nausea has now cleared up completely and is a thing of the past. If the unpleasant side effects stop, and the Abilify *does* work significantly better than the previous stuff did, then you would have gained something in the process. But if the Abilify does not work better, at least you can go back to your old medication, which didn't work *too* badly?

Anyways, when I first started using Seroquel, in Denmar (the local psychiatric hospital) I got really unpleasant side effects. My eyes went all red and bloodshot, and I had the most horrible sensation of being eaten up from the inside by worms crawling through my whole body. It was almost unbearable. I had a hell of a time trying to get to sleep ... I took the Seroquel just before bedtime. Anyways, when I finally *did* get to sleep, I slept till the next day Noon, or to even one o' clock in the afternoon, and had a dazed, drugged, tired feeling for most of the rest of the day. But this wore off after a few days. From then on, the Seroquel worked fairly well.

The Seroquel at least kept me fairly clear-headed and not psychotic or delusional to any great degree. It helped me to sleep well each night. However, I tended to be aggressive and irritable on it, which is why I switched to Leponex. The switch to Leponex went much better than the initial switch to Seroquel. When I started on the Seroquel, I hadn't been on any medication before, but I switched to Leponex from the Seroquel and I did it by gradually decreasing the Seroquel and increasing the Leponex. On the Leponex, I'm much less aggressive and overall more mellow in mood.

Anyways, hang in there, and I hope your Abilify soon starts to work the way it should. I'm still very interested in your report of it. Even though the Leponex I'm using right now seems to work very well, I'd be interested in how Abilify works, just in case. Of course I'm also concerned about your wellbeing and interested in anything that might improve it!

So Good Luck and I hope you get to see Spiderman 2 soon (if you haven't already!)

Hi JEllen!

It was lovely chatting with you last night. It meant a lot that when I was feeling depressed, you were there. I hope I am there, too, when you need someone to talk to. And I will be around a lot more now I'm back to a reasonable schedule at work.

Hope you will see Spiderman 2 soon. I am anxious to see Fahrenheit, so we can talk about it!

Incidentally, I'm feeling a lot less nauseous and depressed today. I read the contraindications for my Imuran and cyclosporin, and doubling up on the missed dose was a bad idea.

Hope to chat with you again this week sometime! I plan to stay home a lot this week just to catch up with friends.

Hi Pillowcase,
you had some pretty nasty side effects there, feeling like you had worms inside you, that sounds horrible. The only side effect Seroquel had for me was bad coughing. Glad you have found the Leponex, and that you had a smooth transition to it, and that it seems to work.

Hi PC!


Hi All,
I like the way the Abilify is making me feel. Very clear headed. Up, without being manic. Only problem, I am taking it at bedtime as prescribed, and it is keeping me up all night! I catch up on the sleep during the day, but I think it would make more sense to just take it when I get up. I plan to discuss it with my doctor today.

PS I'm planning to see Spiderman 2 on Wednesday.

Arghh, can't sleep, can't sleep, can't sleep.

So sorry to hear than Ellen!
I know you wanted your sleep to be better.
You still may have a while to complete the switch.

I really hope this part passes and today!

I talked to my therapist today, and she said to go ahead and take the Abilify when I get up. So we will see if that helps. And when I go up on the Abilify next week, she said I could break it in half and take it over the day to minimize the nausea. We also agreed that I would continue to take the occasional Zyprexa even after the switch is made, should I have a little mania/psychosis. She also comments on how alert I seemed, and how good my mood seemed to be. So it was a positive meeting.

Hi Jellen
I`m a month late in throwing in my .I`m taking Zoloft,have been taking it for 4 yrs.Now this sounds ,but I`m taking it to lift me out of your basic bone-crushing depression.My biggest concern is with the possibility of going manic.It`s only happened 5 x`s--but that was enough to sever many old friendships.On the other hand, my ex-psychiatrist had me on Navane,Klonopin,& xanax-after 2 yrs. of that,I could tell I wasn`t experiencing life-I was dreaming it!
Hopefully a drug that doesn`t make anyone sick,yet prevents mania,will soon be invented.
Neugen (pythonfan)

It's 1:30am and you're not on JEllen. I hope you are tonight!

Hi JEllen. I'm glad to hear that your talk with your therapist went well. I hope that taking the Abilify in the morning, and splitting up the higher dose, will help you get over the insomnia. I am really happy to hear that the nausea has let up. Hopefully you will be sleeping better soon, and won't experience manic symptoms.

to JEllen

Hey Ellen! Please don't forget this thread ... let us know how you're doing!