HI @berit,
Thanks for your post. My sister has been experiencing a lot of hand tremors since starting Abilify. She is reluctant to chalk it up to the Abilify (I just mentioned your post to her). She's more prone to blame it on stress and smoking, but she had stress and was smoking pre-Abilify. Any comments? Thanks so much.

It could be a side effect of the abilify and not permanent damage like I have. Maybe ask the doctor to cut back the dose, maybe that would help. I would only take these medicines if they are absolutely needed. I also would not take them for years unless you really have to . Has she seen a neurologist? Also maybe a different med would agree with her more. Another idea with the doctors permission stop taking the abilify for about a week and see if the tremors go away. In addition drinking alcohol with these drugs can really mess a person up.

If it is caused by Ability (and who knows? I'm not a doc - I can only tell you what happened to me). If it is caused by Ability it will get worse, which is a clue is is caused by Ability and not something else. Also, what I experienced was not so much tremors as it was sudden, involuntary leg and arm jerks. They came on suddenly, when I was sitting minding my own business. One sudden jerk, then they went away until the next time, which was sometimes the next day. or the next hour.

But this is the scary part. I mentioned it to my psychiatrist who said I wasn't taking anything that would cause involuntary twitches and jerking. i went to a neurologist who also drew a blank. Meanwhile, the twitches and jerks became more frequent and more of my body parts became involved, like my head.

Then one day, almost a year later, I am watching TV and on comes an ad for Abilify. And in that VERY long list of possible side effects is INVOLUNTARY TWITCHES AND JERKS that can become PERMANENT. I met w/ my psychiatrist and told her I was VERY annoyed that she didn't know about this wanted off ASAP. It took several YEARS for the twitches and jerks to end completely. It is sad, but true, that we need to stay on top of own medical care b/c no one cares as much or devotes as much time to our care as we will. And yes, I have worked in health care and this is, again, the voice of experience ce speaking. It is also true that you can lead the horse to water, but you can't make him drink. Don't attempt the impossible - I hate to say it but people have the right to make what we believe is the stupid/wrong choice (and yes, again, the voice of experience - I have been so upset about this sometimes I have wanted to scream - but adults get to decide what they think is best for them, whatever our opinion might be) however hard it might be to watch them doing it.

Best of luck to you and your sister.

Amen to everything you just wrote. And thanks so much for your thoughts and good wishes. I am happy for you that eventually you solved the riddle yourself- which is incredibly tough to do if you're depressed and are taking meds that fog your brain. Good for you!!

I had a drinking/drug problem, which I believed triggered a temporary psychosis. I quite drinking/drugging 30 years ago. I dramatically improved. I decided to take the medications. Trilfon/Zyprexa after about 15 years I developed the tardive dyskinesia. I know what your saying, if I continue to take the abilify my symptoms will get worse. One problem is if I discontinue the lower dose of abilify and have a relapse, put into treatment, get loaded down with meds, my TD symptoms get a lot worse. So I have decided to stay with the lower dose of abilify which is not supposed to have the side effects of the older meds. I had one relapse, and my symptoms got much worse, when I was put on Geodon. I'd like to get off of all meds but a relapse is to much of a possibility. Maybe I should look into natural alternatives more. I will keep what you said in mind. Maybe at some point I can get off of the abilify.