# Are there Drugs Like Abilify without it's Side Effects?



## shana (Mar 9, 2009)

Hi,

I was on Abilify 2 mg recently and it helped me in many ways, and I actually talked to people at the gym and I was in a happy mood on it. I've been on all the SSRIs and Effexor and Risperdal and I've never before been on a drug that made me want to talk to people like that. I also took things less seriously on it. I had side effects on it and I decided to stop the medication, although it was helping me a lot. In my "normal" state, I'm very shy, nervous around people, maybe introverted?, and tend to furrow my brow and take everything seriously. 
Also, I was given Cogentin to try for the side effects of Abilify but the Cogetin itself gave me unwanted side effects so I had to stop it also. 

My question is: are there other drugs out there like Abilify, without the side effects? I've been on other antipsychotics (Risperdal and Geodon) and I don't remember them helping me to talk to other people and take things less seriously. The only other drug that has a similar effect on me (where I wanted to talk to people and was less serious) was Buspar, and that also had bothersome side effects for me. 
I know Abilify acts on a lot of neurotransmitters that SSRI's don't act on. 

Thank You!


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## viper1431 (Jun 6, 2012)

Which side effects ? We can't say which ones don't have them if we don't know what side effects you were having.


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## shana (Mar 9, 2009)

On the 2mg Abilify I had extreme stiffness in my neck and at times I couldn't move it. It was uncomfortable and probably looked weird. My psych. nurse told me it was a type of dystonia. She gave me Cogentin to treat the dystonia caused by Abilify, and the Cogentin had the side effects of extreme dry mouth and I had problems talking on it. So I stopped taking them both.


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

shana said:


> My question is: are there other drugs out there like Abilify, without the side effects? I've been on other antipsychotics (Risperdal and Geodon) and I don't remember them helping me to talk to other people and take things less seriously. The only other drug that has a similar effect on me (where I wanted to talk to people and was less serious) was Buspar, and that also had bothersome side effects for me.
> I know Abilify acts on a lot of neurotransmitters that SSRI's don't act on.


Buspar and Abilify have serotonin-5-HT1a receptor partial agonism in common, so that's possibly what you're looking for. This mechanism can enhance sociability. Other meds with this effect include viibryd and saphris.


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## shana (Mar 9, 2009)

Ok, thank you!


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## crossfadex (May 17, 2008)

Thats good to hear..I just took my first dose of 2mg Abilify this morning. I hope it increases my desire to socialize and interact.


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## shana (Mar 9, 2009)

It did for me. It made my happier and not care what others think of me.


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