Experiences of Apripiprazole

[vlk86]

Hi All,

I have been taking olanzipine as an anti psychotic but it seems to be causing a loss of libido. I have been given the option to switch to aripriprasole but have not tried this medication before. Does anyone have experience of aripriprasole they can share?

I am debating between sticking with what I know has helped me in the past or switching in the hope of getting my libido back. My husband is very understanding but I don't want to live my life like this and have been told I will be on the medication long term as this is my second episode.

Thanks for reading.

[Maria_at_APP Moderator]

Hi vlk86,

I imagine it must be very difficult to cope with long term side effects of medication and you raise a very important aspect of antipsychotic medication. I wanted to reply to your post as although I have no experience in taking aripiprazole and have only taken olanzapine in the past, I wondered if this link could be helpful for you to gather more information on both drugs:

medicines.org.uk/emc

You could then discuss with your psychiatrist as to which option you feel more comfortable with, taking their input in as well of course.

Wish you all the best, changes in medication are always anxiety inducing for me, so if you do decide to make a change perhaps an idea would be to find a good time for it, when other stressors are not present in your life, and always have careful folllow up from your health professional. Take good care

[AstroSue]

I'm on aripiprazole and found it worked well on my psychosis. Like all of them, it can come with side effects. For me, when I first went on it I felt quite dopey for a few weeks, but this settled. After a month or 2, it gave me very bad restless legs, which my psychiatrist sorted by prescribing another drug, procyclidine. My last bloods also found I had raised prolactin levels, but I don't know if they will want or need to do anything about that.

Good luck with it, if you have any more questions about it I'm happy to try and help.

[Hidden]

Hi vlk86, I switched too from olanzapine to aripripazole (both 5mg). I found olanzapine too sedative and I wanted to contribute to the night feeds. Unfortunately with aripriprazole was still the same for me despite less sedating.. At the end my hubby did all the night feeds and let me sleep.

Good luck!

[coffeemom2]

Hi, I didn’t like the medication abilify- aziziprople- it made me very antsy and unable to keep still. I am on Zoloft long term and love it. I too have a loss of libido tho. I think it’s also because now I have two kids and work so I’m more tired. I wouldn’t trade my libido for my peace of mind. To make my partner feel better I do fake it sometimes, whereas before I didn’t have to. I’m also older now and I really think him doing the dishes is more romantic, haha

[InspiredWoman]

Hi. I’m taking aripriprazole. I find it helps me focus better.