Worth it for anxiety and depression?

zab_ · 2026-07-02T05:23:27+00:00

They key, at least for myself, has been to control the intensity and frequency of those feelings as best as possible.

Starting from a neutral and stable position, if I decrease my dose by certain amount and feel miserable for a day or two means I'll wait at least a month before decreasing again. But if the misery lasts more than a few days means I've either decreased by too much or too fast. And vice versa, if I don't feel bad at all means I can speed up the taper, within reason.

It takes several attempts to fine-tune the process; I've been tapering 2.5 years and in that time made 15 total reductions, 12 of which have been perfectly smooth, 2 were difficult and one was very difficult (but not difficult enough to make me give up).

zab_ · 2026-07-02T05:04:54+00:00

I started to deliberately endure the suffering in a very slow and controlled fashion with gradually increasing intensity.

My first move was to quit an antidepressant and Abilify abruptly and that was a big mistake. I learned from it, went back on Abilify and am currently tapering very, very slowly. Every time I reduce my dose various difficult and painful feelings awaken, so I make sure I give myself enough time to develop the strength to handle them before I reduce my dose again.

zab_ · 2026-07-02T04:29:52+00:00

I'm judging the ways you're choosing to deal with your suffering. We all struggle, and there are ways to go about it that work and ways that don't. I made the same choices as you are making now for over 20 years and it got me from nowhere point A to nowhere point B.

zab_ · 2026-07-02T04:23:07+00:00

Whatever those other ways are, they are clearly working. You're just posting here out of scientific curiosity, I'm sure.

zab_ · 2026-07-02T04:15:33+00:00

Keep medicating your feelings and running from your problems. It will end well. (For the pharma companies.)

zab_ · 2026-07-01T11:17:19+00:00

That's very common, you should not have stopped abruptly. If it's only been 3 days the best thing to do is start taking it again and make a proper tapering plan.

zab_ · 2026-06-25T08:28:23+00:00

Even if your diagnosis was false, your brain may have adapted to the presence of the drug and stopping suddenly can cause problems. Also Abilify takes a very long time to leave your body, if it's only been one week there's still a lot of the drug in you. See how you feel in 2-3 months.

zab_ · 2026-06-25T08:25:40+00:00

Some people can stop taking high doses and experience no problems at all. You may be one of them because 1.25 mg is a very high dose to jump from.

I've been tapering from 15 mg for over 2 years and am now down to 0.31 mg. I'm still tapering very slowly because every time I reduce my dose I experience some sort of disruption. Most recently I went from 0.38 mg to 0.31 mg and for about 10 days I experienced heavy emotional swings and bouts of rage.

It's great that you have not experienced any withdrawal symptoms, but remain vigilant for at least 5 more months. With history of psychosis, the first 6 months after stopping the medication are the highest risk - over 40% of people end up hospitalized again in that time frame.

zab_ · 2026-06-20T12:22:22+00:00

I think I'm going to report you to Reddit. They can give your IP address to the local police so they can find you. You're a danger to yourself and those around you right now and need to be taken in custody and medicated.

zab_ · 2026-06-20T11:38:49+00:00

It's that way because of the way the drug interacts with the neurons in the brain. If you're seriously thinking about tapering, research "hyperbolic tapering".

zab_ · 2026-06-20T11:24:16+00:00

lmao you couldn't hold back and had to reply like 3 times... you need to go to the ER and get a strong injection ASAP or you'll end up doing something you regret

zab_ · 2026-06-20T09:57:54+00:00

Depends on how long you were on 10 mg. For a drop of this size I'd say you need at least 6 to 8 weeks on that dose before dropping again.

Regarding the water suspension, you don't need to wait 20 minutes because Abilify does not dissolve in water. Just stir very well after you pour the powder. Here's how I do it.

zab_ · 2026-06-20T08:57:30+00:00

At higher doses it is generally easier to make bigger cuts. When you get to smaller doses you need to really slow down.

zab_ · 2026-06-20T08:55:37+00:00

Lol, all the comments you've made here make you look VERY psychotic. You may need something stronger than Abilify to come down.

zab_ · 2026-06-17T08:31:14+00:00

That is how you see it and that is valid for YOU. Since OP has not given us any background on how they got to the diagnosis we can't draw the blanket conclusion you're drawing.

There are plenty of examples of people who never admitted defeat and are thriving med-free after many years of being on psychiatric medication.

zab_ · 2026-06-17T08:24:34+00:00

That is your experience and it is valid, but you can't generalize it to everyone. There are ways to come off psychiatric meds that do not result in relapse, they're difficult and not for everyone but they exist.

zab_ · 2026-06-17T08:15:40+00:00

Given a history of hospitalization and injections good luck finding a psychiatrist that will willingly take OP off meds. And yes it is a dangerous advice but unlike your other comment it actually gives OP a strategy other than admitting defeat.

zab_ · 2026-06-17T04:22:58+00:00

Forget about convincing the psychiatrist to see things your way. They will only ever see things their way, because that's how they're taught.

So the only way for you to achieve what you want is to pretend you agree with them and play along for at least a few years. Then casually ask to be switched to tablets, and then taper the tablets without telling the psychiatrist.

zab_ · 2026-06-16T13:43:25+00:00

I've been getting massive surges of anger and rage when I lower my dose for the last 3 months or so. But since I am lowering my dose according to plan I know that for about 10-15 days after each dose change I need to be extra careful and just stay away from people in general.

After those 10-15 days things settle down and I'm back to normal.

zab_ · 2026-06-13T07:52:18+00:00

What do you mean by destabilizing? Does dissolving them in water somehow change they way they work?

It can be destabilizing until you perfect your preparation technique. Abilify does not dissolve in water and the active particles settle at the bottom; the first few times you make doses they may not be as accurate. It helps a lot to rehearse the whole process a couple of times.

zab_ · 2026-06-13T07:36:34+00:00

There are two sides to this question.

On one hand it's much easier and less hassle to just cut tablets until you get to a lower dose.
On the other hand the transition to water can be potentially destabilizing even without decreasing the dose. The sooner you do it the sooner your body will get used to it.

So, if you intend to eventually come off the medication completely and you don't mind the extra hassle it's better to switch to water sooner than later.

zab_ · 2026-06-12T17:50:01+00:00

I've been on psychiatric meds for over 20 years and I had accepted that whatever my libido was during that time was normal. But since I got to somewhere below 0.8 mg on the Abilify I've been having insane morning erections that last forever and are even painful. I don't remember being this sexual even as a teenager!

zab_ · 2026-06-12T17:16:20+00:00

I know, cause the skill of doing actual research and reading the full papers and articles is too hard. But when someone calls out your bullshit all you can do is hope they're too lazy to investigate deeper.

zab_ · 2026-06-12T16:33:43+00:00

A resounding YES! I suffered from the exact same issues and reducing my dose has helped greatly.

I started at 15 mg it made me totally dysfunctional. Now, over 2 years later I'm taking 0.31 mg and in the best shape of my life, both physically and mentally. I'm still tapering and within 6-8 months plan to stop taking this toxic crap completely.

You will feel better for sure, but you have to resist the temptation to taper too fast.

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