Ambilify for bipolar disorder....?

Does any one here take ambilify? If so.. does it work for you? Do/did you notice any weight change or other side effects?

I assume you mean Abilify and yes I take it, although not for bipolar, but for major depression and PTSD.

It does work very well for me and so far I have not gained weight with it. In fact, my psychiatrist said I might see a decrease in my food intake with it compared to the Seroquel I had been taking. I have been able to accomplish a lot of things that I was unable to get done before I started on Abilify 12 weeks ago. I had been going through a pretty bad depression state for about 6 months -- and in 12 weeks I have accomplished more than I did in the previous 6 months as far as reorganizing some things at my house, doing some cleaning and such. I am very pleased with the effects of Abilify.

As far as other side effects...the only thing I noticed was a dry mouth for a while -- but since I take other psychotropic medications, I was used to that happening.

Hope it works as well for you.

I take Abilify 10 mg for bi-polar.

No weight gain.

I sleep a lot (12 hours a day) but that could be because of my other medications-- Geodon 40 mg and Lamictal 200 mg. Or the sleepiness could be the Abilify, too.

I noticed that I was more anxious on the Abilify, but Geodon is a little bit of a downer so when I went back on Geodon combined with the Abilify then I was calm again.

I mainly take Abilify for the anti-depressant aspect of it. It cuts down suicidal thoughts, but it's not a magic bullet of happiness either. Overall, it gives me an improved outlook.

~Good Luck~

Our daughter was on Abilify 20 mg for almost a year. We are in the process of weaning her off of it and moving her to Seroquel. Abilify helped control the manic phases, but she was really depressed, angry, oppositional, etc. Since she's been on the Seroquel, she's told us she feels much happier. She did not have any weight gain on the Abilify.

It works for some, not for others. You won't know until you try. It was too activating and gave me akathisia (horrible internal restlessness). I didn't last on it for four days because of it. In fairness, I get akathisia to varying degrees from all antipsychotics. Thank god for real mood stabilizers like Lithium and anticonvulsants!