Titration schedule for Abilify augmentation
I have had treatment resistant depression/anxiety for many years. A few months ago, I started taking Elavil (amitriptyline) because of chronic headaches and it helped my headaches and also helped my mood. I’m currently taking 100 mg per day of Elavil and I don’t want to increase the dose because of side effects that are bothersome. So the psychiatrist added Abilify a 2 mg per day 10 days ago. I had improvement within a few days and it’s been up-and-down since then, but I definitely feel better from it. And I haven’t noticed any side effects other than feeling a bit tweaked out at the beginning. I read in some sources that you should leave Abilify at 2 mg per day for 2 to 4 weeks and then reassess based on benefits and side effects. Other sources say that it should be increased from 2 mg to 5 mg after one week on 2 mg if well tolerated. How do most psychiatrists handle the titration from 2 mg to 5 mg per day for antidepressant augmentation? I’d like to know the flow chart that they typically use in their decision making so I can make sure that my psychiatrist is doing it in the optimal way.