Abilify causing depression

I recently began taking abilify for bipolar. Before starting the medication I was having problems with sleeping and I was on no meds at the time. I had a feeling that I might be getting hypomanic because of the lack of sleep, but it was nothing severe, not so severe that other people would point it out. On 5mg the restlessness (from not sleeping, I had it before starting abilify, so it wasn't caused by the medication) was still present, the other signs of hypomania were pretty much gone. I noticed no side effects, and life was pretty good.
But as soon as my dosage got upped to 10mg I've felt depressed, anxious and slow (no sign of that restlessness anymore, which might have been caused by mild hypomania or insomnia). For a few days I've got barely anything done, and I'm so tired of it. This feeling is just so horrible and tiring, I can't believe I used to live like this for weeks and months in the past. I'm trying my best to endure it as long as I can, in case that it's just a phase that is a part of this thing... Starting a new medication. So I hope it will pass soon and this could actually be the right medication for me.

Has anyone else experienced depression caused by abilify?

No, abilify is actually used to treat depression. Is it possible it’s just the loss of a manic or hypomanic state you’re feeling?

I have bp1 and was on Abilify for many years at mostly 30 mg/day. I never experienced what you are describing. That said, I've been around long enough to know that any med can, in the right person, do pretty much anything. I hope it gets better soon.

I do think the process of going from hypomana to more euthymia can sometimes feel a bit like depression and slowness, so maybe that is part of what is going on here. In any event, sending you positive vibes.

I experienced severe depression while taking Abilify also. I stopped taking it and the overwhelming depression went away.

I thought of that too, but I'm definitely not euthymic right now. I can barely get anything done and I feel really miserable all the time. Occasional suicidal thoughts too, but they're not so severe that I'd do anything to harm myself.

What I don't know is if this depression is just the aftermath of the possible hypomania or if it's caused by the medication. The latter would make sense since I got depressed right after increasing the dose. But I don't know if I am able to think that rationally at the moment. I'm planning to take the med for another week and hope it starts helping.

Valproate was supposed to help depression too, but in my case it actually made it worse. But that was years ago.

hi. i think any and all of the antipsychotics have the potential to cause depression and/or make it worse. in bipolar, the older drugs, in particular, have been noted to -sometimes- cause a spiral down to depression from (hypo)mania. happened to me with risperidone. :-(

post-(hypo)manic and post-psychotic depressive states are real, too...and they seem to happen no matter what, if any, treatment one receives for the initial episode. :-(

my concern would be that other antipsychotics might be even worse in this regard than Abilify, but I could be wrong. maybe a different class of Rx, maybe, possibly? my current psych swears up and down she's used lamictal in (hypo)mania, to good effect.

ok. sorry about this.