I have been on Abilify for over a year now and must say it saved my life from severe depression. A pill can not make you gain weight, eating does-perhaps some people are gaining weight due to the fact they are depressed, while others may be eating more because they are feeling better. Depression causes a change of appetite. In my case I put on around 3 lbs, but that was directly due to the fact my depression was not so severe with Abilify and I started to enjoy life again, including cooking meals,etc. Please do not make excuses for not being treated correctly for depression. If you are worried about weight gain, speak with your doctor, but do not give up on a treatment that can help you get your life back. Maybe you need to really ask yourself the real reason why your eating is causing weight gain-is it depression, boredom, unhappiness etc. I hope this helps someone that is scared of starting Abilify because of this weight issue.Nobody needs to surrender to depression anymore.
Eating causes weight gain. Try to figure out why you are eating, is it stress, depression, boredom. Keep a journal and perhaps you will gain insight for the real reason you are gaining weight. Depression is a major factor directly involved with either feeling you must self-medicate with food for stress relief, or not having any desire to eat.
I've been on Abilify for a year and gained 20lbs.I am 5'8" and used to weigh 138 lbs.Now I weigh 150lbs.I just saw a dr about some smartlipo for my stomach area and he said that the ability was probably causing the weight gain.He said his wife gained 50lbs on it.
I've been on abilify for 3 months now and have actually been losing weight. I think you have to consider the whole picture. My diet has played a big role. My eating habits have changed now that my moods are more stable
I have been on Abilify for a month and have lost 10 pounds. But I noticed that I seem to be in a manic phase more and when I'm manic I eat less. But either way I'm happy with the results.
The problem with Abilify is that it does what it supposed to do, but it definitely makes you gain a lot of weight. It has helped stablize my mood and it controls my anxiety, but I went from a size 4 to a size 12 in a year. That is not normal, so I know it was the medicine. None of my habits had changed during that time, so it is the only factor that could be causing it. I have decided to stop taking it recently so I can get this weight off, it makes me feel so bad about myself that it kind of defeats the purpose of the drug. Also, this is a drug that is extremely high priced, plus it has the weight gain side effect. There has to be something else that is equivelent to it. If anyone has suggestions that would be great.
I am on invega which is the new risperdal and I went from 130-145 to about 163-167 in a week. My doctor will hopefully be switching me back to abilify. Which is what I started on when I first got diagnosed with bipolar disorder. From what i hear from my doctor abilify is one of the only antipsychotics that does not have any weight gain associated with it. In fact when I was put on it for a little while and then switched back to invega later on by an old doctor I actually lost my appetite for a week because I was just getting used to the abilify. Hope this helps...
how does welbutrin work for bipolar?
Will ABILIFY make me gain weight?
In a 3-week clinical study of adults on ABILIFY, some people experienced significant weight gain. The percentage of patients who gained significant weight (based on gaining 7% or more of body weight) was 2% for ABILIFY compared with 3% for patients treated with placebo.
In a 4-week clinical study the rate of pediatric patients (10 to 17 years) who gained significant weight (based on gaining 7% or more of body weight) was 3.2% ABILIFY 10 mg/day; 9.4% ABILIFY 30 mg/day compared with 3.3% for placebo.
In a 3-week clinical study of adults on ABILIFY, some people experienced significant weight gain. The percentage of patients who gained significant weight (based on gaining 7% or more of body weight) was 2% for ABILIFY compared with 3% for patients treated with placebo.
In a 4-week clinical study the rate of pediatric patients (10 to 17 years) who gained significant weight (based on gaining 7% or more of body weight) was 3.2% ABILIFY 10 mg/day; 9.4% ABILIFY 30 mg/day compared with 3.3% for placebo.
I am on four different meds for depression and anxiety and Abilify is the only one which is listed as associated with weight gain. Meds do affect people differently, so some people might actually lose on it, just as some people might gain weight on Wellbutrin (which is normally associated with weight loss).
I don't find it helpful when some people say that the only reason a person will gain weight on Abilify is because she eats too much and/or doesn't exercise. Even when I do exercise regularly and watch what I eat, I can't lose and sometimes gain. And I have trouble controlling my eating when I'm on Abilify.
However, when I was off it I had a terrible time with anxiety and couldn't think straight. So I went back on it and immediately started overeating again.
Maybe people who lose weight or at least don't gain are people who have never had trouble with weight gain so they're not as much at risk for gaining weight while on it? I don't know, I just know I'm getting desperate.
The only time I lost weight while I was on meds was when I was on Topomax. I'd like to go back on it, just to see if it would help again. I lost thirty pounds in three months when I was on it. But now I've gained that back plus more.
I don't find it helpful when some people say that the only reason a person will gain weight on Abilify is because she eats too much and/or doesn't exercise. Even when I do exercise regularly and watch what I eat, I can't lose and sometimes gain. And I have trouble controlling my eating when I'm on Abilify.
However, when I was off it I had a terrible time with anxiety and couldn't think straight. So I went back on it and immediately started overeating again.
Maybe people who lose weight or at least don't gain are people who have never had trouble with weight gain so they're not as much at risk for gaining weight while on it? I don't know, I just know I'm getting desperate.
The only time I lost weight while I was on meds was when I was on Topomax. I'd like to go back on it, just to see if it would help again. I lost thirty pounds in three months when I was on it. But now I've gained that back plus more.
I was on Paxil and my anxiety and depression didn't let up so my doctor added Abilify. It made me worse - angry, anxious, obsessive, very sad - and I gained 20 pounds in less than four months. Instead of Abilify we tried Deplin (L-methylfolate; folic acid, but stronger than OTC), which is often used as an adjunt to antidepressants like Abilify. I am more patient, less anxious, and definitely less depressed now, plus I lost 10 pounds already and we only made these medication changes about two weeks ago! Ask your doctor if you can switch Abilify for Deplin and see if that helps. I hope it does work for you, I have had tremendous success and I feel so much better that I'm losing the weight I put on while on Abilify. Good luck!
I am going to through the same I am losing weight but thats ok I need to lose a few pounds. Glad to know I am not the only one this is happening to.
When I was on Abilify, I gained 65 lbs. in less than a year! I kept complaining and they told me that I needed to eat better, even though I'd maintained a weight of 135 or less for my entire adult life! I ended up at 191 lbs. when I finally stopped the pill (I'm only 5'5"). I went from a size 5 to around a size 14. When I finally stopped taking the pill, they realized that I had developed hypothyroidism (the earlier blood tests showed a normal thyroid even though I had already gained the weight). I can't prove that the Abilify caused the hypothyroidism, but I personally believe it did. They had tried Geodon for a short period, but that made me too depressed. They put me on Topomax and I lost about 16 lbs. on that, but it might've also been because I started a thyroid medication. I've now been stuck at 175 for quite sometime, but I'm not eating to lose weight. I've also recently stopped the Topomax because it severely impacted my memory and had some other strange side effects, plus it wasn't very effective.
I would just like to point out that the month I started Abilify, the weight started piling on. They did several blood tests in between, but didn't find a thyroid issue until over a year later! A lot of people have thyroid issues, but don't gain 65 lbs. in 8 or 9 months when eating relatively normally.
I would just like to point out that the month I started Abilify, the weight started piling on. They did several blood tests in between, but didn't find a thyroid issue until over a year later! A lot of people have thyroid issues, but don't gain 65 lbs. in 8 or 9 months when eating relatively normally.
I've only been on Abilify for a little over a month, and I've gained almost fifteen pounds. At first I thought I had gained weight from the holiday season (Easter and 3 birthdays in May), so I started exercising more, and cut out all pop and almost all sugars. That helped a bit, but when went back to the doctor, he increased my dosage, and I've gained five visible pounds in a week. For me, I've gained a lot of weight, which I know is pretty normal for a mood stabilizer, but it's an added stressor for me, so I'm definitely going to request to change off of it. For a lot of people though, I'm told they have little to no weight gain, and in some can decrease their weight, mainly due to increased motivation, but regardless, keep a lookout for any type of side effects. There is a good fit for you, if you see unwanted side effects, feel free to change off of Abilify. It may take awhile, but you can find a medication that works well for you :)
I'm glad to have found this thread, because I recently started Abilify (2 mg dose) and have been gaining weight. I have gained 15 lbs over the past 2 months of being on this medication. The ironic thing is, I don't even need the Abilify, since I'm just "normal", unipolar depressed and not bipolar. I'm going to talk to my doc about it, since I've been eating clean and exercising plenty the last month and a half, which normally would have caused me to lose weight pretty rapidly (since I'm 20). It's really getting me down that I've been gaining weight despite my efforts, and I've already had to buy bigger clothing (from a size 2 to about a 6 now). At first I thought it was just normal menstrual cycle water weight, but it hasn't come off. I hope that I, and others here, can figure out a solution to this problem : )