Bipolar, abilify, and my experience...
 

Hello I was recently taken off of abilify (for bipolar) by my psyche. She has me on trileptal now. I had been on abilify for 3 whole years. In this 3 years my weight went from 110 to 242... I literally could not stop eating. It was out if my control. That's how starving I felt. I tried almost every day to diet for the past 3 years... It was impossible for me. I became prediabetic. After having my health looked over to make sure this wasn't something else I decided to talk to my psyche. She took me off abilify and I have lost 1 pound in 2 days! I'm actually dieting successfully! Something I feared i could never do! I'm not saying abilify has this affect for everyone but it does happen. I've read many people call it "weight neutral" which is most definitely-in my case-not true! I'm just so thankful and relieved the problem was fixable and I can finally lose this weight! :)

I was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder at the age of 13. I had features of OCD also. A few years later in my first year of college, I was diagnosed with Bulimia (bingeing/starving cycle). got that sorted out in the summer of last year. I was prescribed Topamax and after being on almost every psych med you could think of, it it cured my eating problems but made me so emotional. Right before I was given this med something traumatic happened to me but I didn't tell anyone.
Ever since then my Anxiety has been absolutely crippling. After trying my best to get rid of it with willpower, I did. But I did it to the point where I felt numb. Instead of feeling high and low like I always have, I felt extremely low (depressed) and numb. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago when I went to my amazing doctor that I realized I may have Bipolar Disorder. She suggested it but she wasn't sure either. I was prescribed an ADHD/ Binge Eating stimulant medication which made me feel great but gave me crazy mood swings and migraines when it wore off. It was then that I realized that I am Bipolar. I'm either numb and switching to depressed, or high and switching to low, I am never stable, and thinking back on my teen years, every traumatic thing that happened was due t be being in mania. I truly believe now that I am bipolar, and it explains all of those false diagnoses I had. I always wondered why I was given so much treatment but nothing ever helped. I always wondered why I was so treatment resistant.

Currently I am on Day 4 of 5mg Abilify. It is the first antipsychotic I have been on and it is amazing. It has lifted me out of such a dark place, one where I felt like I was drowning. I had horrible drowsiness and hiccups and acid reflux for the first days, and I am still very spaced out today, but maybe this is how my personality is supposed to be. The only think I'm worried about is the weight gain but I'm starting Wonderslim ore tomorrow.

Is there anything in particular you would say could prevent Wonderslim weight gain? It hasn't made me any more hungry but it has increased my blood sugar; I can tell by my symptoms. :?::?::?::?::dizzy::dizzy::dizzy::dizzy:

I took all sorts of meds to counter act the weight gain... For me they didn't work BUT I know people whom it DID work for. I had really severe weight gain. Most people gain much less weight then I did. I guess my body just doesn't react well to it... Which sucks because it is amazing stuff! I shared my story here more to let people who are going through it too feel less alone. Not too scare people off of it. Like I said-it's different for everyone. Some people gain only 10 pounds.... Some are like me and gain over 100 lol I hope it works out for you I really do! :)

Hi. I have gained 60 pounds on Abilify in the past four years. My doctor is now tapering me off of it and I can’t wait to see the results. I, like you, was hungry ALL THE TIME! I have bipolar one disorder and psychosis but gaining this much weight has made me even more depressed! I look forward to starting a new healthy lifestyle and actually seeing results this time. Keep your fingers crossed !

This medication Abilify almost killed me. I started it in January for bipolar and felt flat and slightly suicidal (as I had before starting it) for about two months on it.