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Mental Health How to deal with insomnia caused by antipsychotics

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fyrehydrant

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Jun 28, 2021
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As the title says, I'm on Aripiprazole and it is known to have very bad insomniac effects on its users.
I've tried Nozinan and Amitryptiline but both have very bad side effects when waking up next morning (like a truck has hit you hard on the head).

So, any experience with dealing with insomnia while maintaining a healthy morning wake up ?
 
I'm not experienced with any of those. 2nd gen antipsychotics do not cause insomnia, but the opposite, makes you sleepy.

Maybe ask your doc about switching to those.

Seroquel, zyprexa, etc

These come with their own bad side effects though, but you definitely won't have insomnia.

Or maybe he can give you something else to sleep

Sleep is very important. Have you talked to your doc about this yet?
 
I guess it goes without saying that you should dose in the morning, unless you're on the depot shot, then that would be tricky.

Those side effects tend to go away with some time. I'd ask your doctor how long to give trials for. It can be deceptive. The best positive effects with psych. meds tend to take time to manifest.

My fellow moderator is right. There are other antipsychotics that are known to produce sedation. Clozapine is the best one they have, and my gosh it is sedating! Otherwise, Seroquel and Zyprexa are good, the latter of which may be second-most powerful.

I don't think they prescirbe Seroquel monotherapy for psychotic illness. It's much stronger at the site that distinguishes atypical antipsychotics from atypical antipsychotics than it is at D2, the site that pretty much is necessary (with a few exceptions) for antipsychotic activity. Hope that makes sense.

I'd ask about CBD, though. It can be a powerful ally!
 
I've just googled the side effects of this anti psychotic and yes it says insomnia is one of them.
Most anti psychotics seem to do the opposite and help with sleep. Maybe ask your doc to change meds.
My experience is that they made me sleep 10 hours every day.
 
Yeah the D2 partials like Abilify tend to make people stimulated at maybe 2mg and 5mg, then at higher doses, especially over 10mg, are more sedating. But it could go either way. I've heard that it can be stimulating at higher doses.
 
AlphaMethylPhenyl said:
Yeah the D2 partials like Abilify tend to make people stimulated at maybe 2mg and 5mg, then at higher doses, especially over 10mg, are more sedating. But it could go either way. I've heard that it can be stimulating at higher doses.
Click to expand...
Oh ok I didn't know that, I can't remember what anti psychotic I was on but it made me very sleepy! Even at a low dose.
 
thank you all,
I'm on 15mg/day (taken at night) for my bipolar disorder, I should also note that I'm on Atomoxetine for my ADD
I'm afraid of switching back to Seroquel and the Atomoxetine effect would be negated.

I discussed this insomnia issue with my doctor and we can't really find a solution other than switching, which I'm afraid of as I stated before.
Also a positive for Aripiprazole is that it is "stimulating" and actually helps with depression (unlike "all" other APs).
So I'm not sure what to do anymore, the night is nigh and I'm scared of what tonight would look like
 
fyrehydrant said:
thank you all,
I'm on 15mg/day (taken at night) for my bipolar disorder, I should also note that I'm on Atomoxetine for my ADD
I'm afraid of switching back to Seroquel and the Atomoxetine effect would be negated.

I discussed this insomnia issue with my doctor and we can't really find a solution other than switching, which I'm afraid of as I stated before.
Also a positive for Aripiprazole is that it is "stimulating" and actually helps with depression (unlike "all" other APs).
So I'm not sure what to do anymore, the night is nigh and I'm scared of what tonight would look like
Click to expand...
Have you tried meditation? It's helped me loads before, to quiet my mind. I still use it now when I have had enough of my random thoughts in bed late at night
There's loads written about it on the internet but it's quite simple once you get the hang of it.
Focusing on my heart beat or breath seemed to work best for me.
 
I've been on Abilify for nearly 15 years in fact, I've been on the maximum prescribed dose for over a decade: 30mg/day.

I take mine at night after dinner and don't have much trouble sleeping. For almost all of this time, I've also been on an anti-depressant. But this past September I was switched from an AD to a mood stabilizer. Right now I take 100mg Lamictal and 30mg Abilify each night and do not have insomnia. I was a daily and nightly weed smoker for a decade as well and I don't think it interfered with the Abilify much but maybe the weed helped me sleep better. Either way, currently I only smoke bud once every two or three weeks and in the between times I'm straight. The absence of weed no longer affects my sleep but at first after quitting the daily toking, I had trouble sleeping. Long story short, is Abilify actually causing insomnia for you? It appeared to me in your original post that you are starting Abilify and only read somewhere that it causes insomnia.

Everyone reacts differently to these medications but Abilify has also been known to cause diabetes and it never caused that for me either. Just make sure you aren't inducing your own version of insomnia by obsessing over something that may not even be caused by the Abilify. If anything, the ADD medication would prolly cause insomnia more than an AP. But I'm not a doctor and this all should be discussed with your doctor, which it sounds like you are already doing.

OTOH, for the very short time I took Seroquel not only did I sleep very well at night, I was zapped of energy and was dead tired all day as well.
 
Jerry Atrick said:
I've been on Abilify for nearly 15 years in fact, I've been on the maximum prescribed dose for over a decade: 30mg/day.

I take mine at night after dinner and don't have much trouble sleeping. For almost all of this time, I've also been on an anti-depressant. But this past September I was switched from an AD to a mood stabilizer. Right now I take 100mg Lamictal and 30mg Abilify each night and do not have insomnia. I was a daily and nightly weed smoker for a decade as well and I don't think it interfered with the Abilify much but maybe the weed helped me sleep better. Either way, currently I only smoke bud once every two or three weeks and in the between times I'm straight. The absence of weed no longer affects my sleep but at first after quitting the daily toking, I had trouble sleeping. Long story short, is Abilify actually causing insomnia for you? It appeared to me in your original post that you are starting Abilify and only read somewhere that it causes insomnia.

Everyone reacts differently to these medications but Abilify has also been known to cause diabetes and it never caused that for me either. Just make sure you aren't inducing your own version of insomnia by obsessing over something that may not even be caused by the Abilify. If anything, the ADD medication would prolly cause insomnia more than an AP. But I'm not a doctor and this all should be discussed with your doctor, which it sounds like you are already doing.

OTOH, for the very short time I took Seroquel not only did I sleep very well at night, I was zapped of energy and was dead tired all day as well.
Click to expand...
I couldn't sleep so I just woke up and gonna try to work instead.
I'm pretty sure its Aripiprazole, because I started it and stopped it because of this problem twice now, I'm also on Lamotrigine 200mg/day.

And no I'm not obsessing about anything, in fact I have been inactive ever since I tried Atomoxetine, and until now I can't find a solution to this insomnia...
 
I'm sorry this is happening, man. I tried a couple of APs before finding one that works for me and gives me the fewest side effects, which is Abilify.

I worded the part poorly about "inducing insomnia," sorry about that. I was not trying to say the insomnia was not real. Anyways, I would continue communicating with my psychiatrist and see if y'all could adjust the dose of Abilify or take it in the morning instead of later or try something different altogether.

Also wanted to add that I refuse to take sleep aids but my sleep is important to me as well. I hope you are able to find something that works. Best of luck!
 
Id recomend trying Latuda. I switched from abilify to latuda and i find it great. Abilify just sucks in my opinion.
 
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