Aripiprazole by Ray Sahelian, M.D. Aripiprazole side effects and benefits
Aripiprazole is a relatively new atypical antipsychotic agent that has been employed in therapy for schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders. A few neuroleptics have been used in therapy for patients with borderline personality disorder, which is associated with severe psychopathological symptoms. Aripiprazole is a pharmaceutical drug that appears to be an effective agent in the treatment of patients with borderline personality disorder but it does have side effects.
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Abilify Aripiprazole side effects
Aripiprazole has fewer side effects compared to other antipsychotic
medications. Worrisome aripiprazole side effects include extrapyramidal
symptoms and motoric activation similar to akathisia (muscle spasm or
jerking of all extremities). Common aripiprazole side effects include
headache; nausea; constipation; anxiety; restlessness; weakness;
nervousness; sleepiness or unusual drowsiness; insomnia; rash; vomiting;
and weight gain. Additional aripiprazole side effects will likely be discovered as more patients use
this drug for the treatment of schizophrenia and in the treatment of
affective disorders.
Antipsychotic Medicine and
Personality Disorder Treatment
The anti-psychotic drug Abilify (aripiprazole) appears to be
effective for patients with borderline personality disorder, often leading
to improvements in health-related quality of life and interpersonal
problems. Personality disorder is a type of mental illness in which people
have trouble functioning with others. It can be associated with depression
and psychopathological symptoms. A few antipsychotic agents have been used
in therapy for patients with borderline personality disorder. The most
common side effects reported with aripiprazole were headache, insomnia, nausea,
numbness, constipation and anxiety. American Journal of Psychiatry, May
2006.
Role of aripiprazole in treating mood disorders.
Expert Rev Neurother. 2006 Dec;6(12):1777-83. Garcia-Amador M,
Pacchiarotti I, Valenti M, Sanchez RF, Goikolea JM, Vieta E. Clinical
Institute of Neuroscience, Hospital Clinic, University of Barcelona,
IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain.
Atypical antipsychotics have been used to treat patients with
schizophrenia for many years, but now there is increasing evidence of
their utility in the treatment of mood disorders. In the past few years,
several atypical agents have received regulatory approval for use in
mania. Some atypical antipsychotics are helpful in the treatment of manic
symptoms, either alone or in combination with traditional mood
stabilizers, such as lithium and divalproex. Although emerging data
indicate that atypical antipsychotics will be a promising addition to
those therapies that are currently available for managing patients during
the maintenance phase of bipolar illness, their potential in the long-term
management of bipolar disorder, and potential long term side effects,
remains to be fully explored. Aripiprazole is an antipsychotic medication
that differs from other atypical antipsychotic agents by its mode of
action as a dopamine D2 partial agonist. It is administered orally and has
a long half-life. Randomized studies have demonstrated the efficacy of
aripiprazole compared with placebo in the treatment of acute relapse of
schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, maintenance treatment of
schizophrenia, treatment of acute mania, and prevention of manic relapse
in patients who responded to the drug during a manic episode. Further
studies are ongoing in bipolar and unipolar depression.
Comments: For natural options to
bipolar disorder
treatment.