Andy is one of the few decent advocates out there.

he is also a gentleman. While I have spoken and emailed him on several occasions, and he and I will never ever agree on ECT, he has always respected my point of view, as I do his.

This really gets my knickers in a twist. Andy deserves better.

Thank you for reporting this, Philip.

This website keeps me going. I am outraged at the suffering that patients have to go through on these drugs and hope that this movement only grows stronger. For my part, I am constantly "bumping" up stories on Yahoo, in the hopes that the more people scan over these stories, the more they realize that this is a big issue to be dealt with. These websites are great, but the issue has to be brought into the mainstream. I will continue to bump up all stories I see, with the hopes of getting them under the right eyes who will do something.

Keep up the good work.

In answer to Philip’s question about the incidence of akathisia with aripiprazole (Abilify), we now have important data from an “augmentation” study in nonpsychotic, nonbipolar, depressed patients. The incidence of akathisia was 26%. Significant weight gain, fatigue, restlessness, and insomnia also were noted. Here is the source: Marcus RN, McQuade RD, Carson WH, Hennicken D, Fava M, Simon JS, Trivedi MH, Thase ME, Berman RM. The efficacy and safety of aripiprazole as adjunctive therapy in major depressive disorder. A second, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology 2008 (April); 28: 156-165.

The “push” to use aripiprazole (Abilify) in nonpsychotic, nonbipolar depressed patients is a triumph of marketing over sound medical judgment. The company has never presented a comparison of their drug with alternative ways of managing nonresponsive depressions. All they have done is clear the low bar set by the FDA to beat placebo treatment. The treatment benefit is unimpressive, and the risk-benefit profile is not benign.

Without the marketing blitz, Abilify would not be considered a first-line augmenting agent for most depressed patients.

Oh, I was on Abilify for a brief time.

I started in earnest the medical roller-coaster about nine years ago. With a primary mental diagnoses of Bipolar II Disorder, I had only flirted with help for years.

After two quick hospitalizations, the doctors persuaded me on the third stay, that ECT was my only hope. I was also zeamed out the wazzoo on meds, to the point of being five-pointed. Before, my frustrations were only visited on myself.

Twenty-two ECTs cleaned out my mind of the years 1999-2002. I was so messed up, that I continued down Medication Lane.

I have taken almost every medication out there for depression, mania, psychosis and the details in between. As an alcoholic, I build high tolerances. We shift my meds, trying to streamline them.

I crash often and badly, although for the past two years, I've been able to admit when I'm failing, which has kept me out of the hospital for that amount of time. Before, I would try to keep going and end up for two to three month stay on a ward.

That said, I do remember Abilify, due to an extraordinary moment in my life. I was new to it and was staying at my friend's house in Long Beach Island, NJ.

I woke up at six in the morning and walked across the boulevard to the beach, to watch the sun rise. The last time I had been up so early was due to street drugs.

I am not thrilled to be taking the meds that I do. My doctor has always said that it is his aim to get me off them. I just haven't had a stable period long enough to try it.

I believe that this is the only country that does direct to "consumer" marketing of meds. Like googling your symptoms before you see your doctor, it creates a false sense of being informed.

I am functioning. Which makes me wonder about the future. I have hopes and dreams. Should I go into a hospital and get off meds, in hopes that I may be able to live without them. Or should I continue, trying to find a month or two when I'm stable, so that my mind has an idea of what I'm aiming for?

Oh, Philip, I wanted to add a personal note. I'd linked to your fund-raiser with the title something like, "Help Philip, Because The Bastard Deserves It!"

It was not meant to be offensive and I hope that you didn't take it that way. When I was a bartender in a Philly tap-room, I was insulting to all my favourite customers, to the point where one guy said, "You're not being mean to me. Are you mad at me?"

Where I come from, if you hurl an insult at some one, it means that they are respected/part of the family/in on it and admired. People I don't care for are simply ignored, or if I'm feeling feisty, knocked down a peg or two, gently.

I have the deepest admiration for everything that you do here. I find it difficult to read sometimes, because the wealth of your knowledge is so overwhelming, which makes me an emu.

I'm glad that you made the fund-raiser goal. I'm sorry that you had to fight for it.

Happy Chanukkah, kwanza, Christmas, Solstice and New Year. In fact, bloody happy life to you and yours.

Keep up the great work. You are a rare, brave, talented, insightful and brilliant writer.

Cheers, Dano.

I took Abilify for about 3 days. The akathesia was so bad. It was that I-can't-sit-still-but-if-I-walk-anywhere-this-restless-feeling-will-follow-me-anyway. Worst sensation EVER. After my pdoc and i decided to discontinue I demanded she give me a xanax because I knew I wouldn't be able to ride the subway home without it.

I don't think that I've ever been on a worse drug than Abilify - - and I've been on more than forty five different medications.

I'm sick of BMS advertising their wonder drug on television when there are so many side effects that so many people suffer from.

Thanks for this article.

My daughter was given Abilify at age 17 inpatient in 2005, and she became wildly manic, awake for days and the psych called me and told me it was the Abilify and removed it immediately.

"Without the marketing blitz, Abilify would not be considered a first-line augmenting agent for most depressed patients.

Posted by: Bernard Carroll at December 19, 2008 10:57 AM"

I always appreciate Bernard's comments on blogs! and I completely agree with his statement I quoted. Abilify, in my opinion has a target group and that is women my age. (late 40's)

I'm a psychiatrist who used to prescribe Abilify for some of my bipolar patients, until I realized that almost every patient experienced some horrible side effect -- from akathisia to cognitive impairment to diarrhea. I haven't prescribed the drug in more than six months and I tell other psychiatrists to be careful of this drug which is being marketed as a cure all for everything from schizophrenia to bipolar disorder to depression. It's a bunch of bullshit and consumers need to be aware of drugs that are being marketed like Abilify.

Of all the side effects out there, akasthisia is the most horrible for me. I got it immediately with Abilify (I'm BP1, btw), and no amount of dosage tweaking helped. My wonderful psychARNP took me right off it. That nasty drug tops my list of most hated drugs ever, which is why I just lose my mind at those commercials on TV for depression. I felt so strongly about it, I blogged about it too.

I'll be interested to read his book. Thanks for a great article, Philip, I never miss a post.

Thank God that somebody is willing to speak out against BMS and this horrendous drug. I'm more curious to hear what Andy Behrman CAN'T speak about - - what does he know?

I think the most ridiculous thing about Abilify (besides the name) is the marketing imagery. I remember a big print ad on a bus shelter in New York City that was actually up when I was taking the drug. It showed a picture of the brain with waves going up and down to signify bipolarity (a chemical imbalance, the ad assures us) and how Abilify helps mininize the fluctuations. The ad leaves out the fluctuations your legs will be making in bed as you suffer from acquired restless leg syndrome from akathesia and can't sleep.

I am on Abilify, Zyprexa, Effexor, and lithium all at the maximum dose a patient can be on without ODing.

I am sick of these meds, which were pushed on me by Kaiser Perm.
doctors in the USA.

Now I am in France. And since I changed countries, I thought that I would also change meds, by getting off some of them.

. I was advised to go to the hospital to do so, because of the withdrawal symptoms. The risk of death even.

I really am starting to think that many doctors are only one thing: drug pushers or dealers.

I've had it. And I am getting angrier every day

I am so angry. I am on Effexor, Lithium, Abilify, & Zyprexa. My doc refused to help me get off everything but lithium. These doctors have put me on so many meds that I have to go to a hospital in order to get off them. Isn't that a sign I shouldn't have been put on these meds in the first place?

I have had it up to here with the medical establishment and their donors, the pharmaceutical companies. They are nothing but drug pushers.

Well, if anything, I am glad I stumbled upon your site. Thank you for being here.

I was recently on Abilify for three short weeks. luckily never experienced akathisia. but i did experience severe short-term memory loss unlike anything I have experienced on other psychiatric medications and why I asked my doc if I could quit taking it. I was repeating myself constantly and could not remember names. Calling a good friend Joyce and her name is Joy, things like that. One very strange side effect that has not gone away since being off the drug 8 days...issues with words. I will type "wood" instead of "would" and have found myself correcting simple typos more often than ever at my blog for little things like "gril" instead of "girl"

Bizarre side effects to say the least.

I took Abilify for about six weeks in 2007. I suffered from chronic depression and this was supposed to lift me. Joke was on me, as I had my first manic episode while on it. I wanted to feel better, not invincible to the point of putting myself in danger. I know that not everyone has a negative experience with Abilify but I'd like to say if you're acting different, call your doctor and if you doctor says "don't worry about it" change doctors!

Kim said, "I will type "wood" instead of "would" and have found myself correcting simple typos more often than ever at my blog for little things like "gril" instead of "girl"

I haven't taken Abilify but I experienced the same kind of thing when I was drugged up on a high dose of Effexor + Lamictal + Wellbutrin. I told the doc that when I was writing I kept transposing letters within words. He didn't have the slightest idea what I was talking about.

Once off all the drugs and the fog cleared, the problem went away.

OMG Kim and Lisa, those are the exact same problems I developed on a 4 med psych cocktail of 3 ADS and a stimulant. Even though I am down to 2 meds, I still have the difficulties.

Of course, this will all be blamed on our "ilness" by psychiatrists. AA rolling her eyes.

When I was 15 and in high school I took Abilify and developed Akathisia, severe internal restlessness. I had to miss a lot of school and I didn't know that it was the medication that was causing this- I thought I was going crazy, I couldn't stop moving. During my teenage years, from age 12 and up I've been on many antipsychotics and antidepressants that have had awful side effects. The Akathisia from the Abilify was really scary. I was a teenager and I was not told about the side effects of the Abilify, I thought I had restless leg syndrome, I had no idea what was going on. I couldn't sleep, sit still or stop moving for a moment, it was the most awful feeling in the world. Eventually, my mom had figured out it was the Abilify and when I went off it the Akathisia gradually stopped, but it was scary. As a teenager I was on a lot of these drugs. At age 9 I started stimulants, at age 12 I started antidepressants, at age 14 I started antipsychotics. years later, I'm off all drugs, but my anxiety is intense and I became anorexic. Abilify was a horrible and scary drug.

Abilify is the worst drug ever prescribed for me by my psychopharmacologist - - I'm comforted to know that it's been so bad for so many others.

I was on Abilify for 3 days. I have never felt so sick from stomach pains and nausea. Even now, after 2 weeks I am still not completely better. Horrible experience.

Although I've never been on Abilify (thank God), the side effects sound as bad as the ones I had back in the 80's from Haldol and Thorazine. Rarely do they use these medication now. It seems like they didn't learn though. Even then, docs didn't seem to care about the akathesia. Instead they would prescribe meds to deal with the side effects instead of trying different meds. I wonder sometimes if these docs got their licenses from a box of cereal instead of going to school. The TV ads for Abilify are all over the place. They seem to be trying to make it sound like a God send for people that aren't getting the results they need from their AD's. When, if ever, will they learn???

Wow! I am NOT ALONE!!! I took abilify for a couple months. WORSE thing EVER!!! At first i had the restless feeling inside all the time, like i was on cocaine or something...then the twitching, oh the twitching and the muscle spasms. I told my doctor three diff. visits what was going on, he said it would be temporary and would go away, he put me on wellbutrin along with the abilify. Now i have to see a nueroligist. it has been a year since i stopped taking the meds, but the side effects are clearly permanent and get worse as you get older. geez, we need more advocates

Abilify sucks! My doc added it to my Cymbalta as I was reducing Wellbutrin. Side effects included severe akathisia (had to pace or alternate positions constantly) with insomnia. Days were just as bad: with drooling, slack jaw, IBS, repeating phrases, forgetting names, and irritability. I stopped the drug until I was off Wellbutrin, and had a great day yesterday with my grand-daughter, on Cymbalta only. Today I added a half-dose (5mg) Abilify, and was so irritable, stiff, headachy, and restless, that our day was ruined. Hey - I'm off this stuff! I would rather switch antidepressants every three months, than go through this. It is as if every old side effect was reversed and intensified ten-fold.