What is the Proper Abilify Dosage?
When determining the appropriate Abilify Dosage there are various factors that come into play that include the condition being treated, the severity of the condition, the patients age, the patients known response to therapy, other known medications and medical conditions.
Before taking the medication, it is important to notify your physician of all the different meds you are already taking, or intend to take, as there are some Abilify drug interactions that need to be taken into consideration.
Abilfy can come in various forms including tablets, disintegrating tablets, an oral liquid solution (although it contains sugar) and an injection form. The tablets are available in various doses including 2 mg, 5 mg, 10 mg, 15 mg, 20 mg and 30 mg. The disintegrating tablets are available in both 10 mg and 15 mg doses. This is good because it allows for more dosing flexibility. The form and size you take will depend on the Abilify dosage.
As indicated above the Abilify dosage depends on several patient specific criteria. However, it also depends on the condition in which you are trying to treat as it is different for each type of psychosis.
The medication should be taken once daily and can be taken with or without food. The doses, as suggested by Bristol-Myers Squib, the manufacturer, are below.
In treating Schizophrenia in adults the initial dosage should be 10 – 15 mg/day. It is recommended that this also remain as the on-going dosage however the maximum recommended dosage is 30 mg/day.
In cases on Agitated Schizophrenia, the dosage usually starts at 9.75 mg/day and usually comes in injected form.
Adolescents (13 – 17 years)
In adolescents, the initial dosage starts at 2 mg/day, with a recommended daily dosage of 10 mg/day (based on physicians assessment) and should not exceed 30 mg/day.
Treating Bipolar Disorder
In treating adults with Bipolar Disorder or manic depression, the initial Abilify dosage is typically 15 mg/day and should remain that way on-going unless otherwise prescribed by the physician. The maximum dosage is 30 mg/day.
In cases of agitated manic depression, the dosage is the same as with agitated schizophrenia and starts at 9.75 mg/day and usually comes in injected form.
Adolescents (10 – 17 years)
With adolescents, ages 10 – 17 years old, the initial dosage is 2 mg/day, recommended dosage is 10 mg/day and maximum dosage is 30 mg/day. This can be in addition to lithium or valproate.
Treating Major Depressive Disorder
If you’ve read my page about Abilify medication, you now know that it can be used in addition to some other antidepressants to treat depression. In which case, the initial dose should start at 2 mg/day and can slowly increase to 5 mg/day. The dosage should not exceed 15 mg/day and 10 mg/day is the typical daily dosage.
As with all psychotropic drugs, treatment is not recommended in pediatric patients without a thorough evaluation by a medical / psychiatric professional.
Other important notes, an increase in dosage should happen gradually with the supervision and recommendation of a physician.
It is possible to overdose. Should this happen please contact the US Poison Hotline at 800-222-1222.
If you miss a dose take it as soon as possible. If it is close to the time where you need to take the other dose, do not double up. Instead, take the dose and resume doses as prescribed.
Also, please take note that there are Abilify side effects that should be taken into consideration, some more severe and common than others. Please take some time to read up on these. And, I recommend that you look at some other pages of mine that include:
Abilify and Pregnancy
What is Abilify?
Abilify and Weight Gain
Abilify Drug Interactions
Also, consider learning more about how depression medications work before making a decision.
Have you been diagnosed with depression? If not, you might want to take a depression test
Abilify Dosage to Depression Test Home Page