Abilify (Aripiprazole) and Weight Gain

Abilify is known to worsen the condition of metabolic disorder. Children born of mothers taking Abilify will usually have metabolic disorders at birth. Treating a metabolic disorder, such as obesity and a drug induced weight gain has been disappointing over the past years. Over the past years a physician would switch their patients from antipsychotic to antipsychotic in an attempt to avoid the obesity and other side effects from the medications. This approach usually left patients in withdrawal from several medications at one time and a side effect profile most would not wish on their worst enemy.

Patients treated with Abilify or other antipsychotic medication may develop hypoglycemia upon discontinuation of the Abilify. Abilify alters the ability of the body to regulate insulin and glucose and when you abruptly remove the Abilify from the body, glucose will be greatly unbalanced as well as the insulin.

A slow and steady reduction of the Abilify is required to avoid hypoglycemia and a gradual balancing of the insulin resistance should be accomplished concurrently with the reduction, if not well before starting a downward titration method of the Abilify.

If you are needing to lose weight while taking Abilify or after Abilify discontinuation, use the Foods to Eat recommended on this site as well as the Foods to Avoid. Taking the supplement JNK in the morning and using the JNK Liquid Booster at noon would be in order. If you are female, include 1,200 mg of calcium citrate along with 600 mg of magnesium daily. Adding 2,000 i.u. of vitamin D3 will give you a higher calcium absorption rate and is recommended.

The clinical studies below are references for the text on this page as well as additional insulin resistance, obesity and weight gain studies with Abilify.

Clinical Studies

Could maternal perinatal atypical antipsychotic treatments program later metabolic diseases in the offspring? Guillemot J, Laborie C, Dutriez-Casteloot I, Maron M, Deloof S, Lesage J, Breton C, Vieau D. Eur J Pharmacol. 2011 Jun 12. [Epub ahead of print] PMID Abilify: 21664905 [PubMed Abilify - as supplied by publisher] Related Abilify citations

Second generation antipsychotics (SGAs) for non-psychotic disorders in children and adolescents: A review of the randomized controlled studies. Zuddas A, Zanni R, Usala T. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2011 Aug;21(8):600-20. Epub 2011 May 6. PMID Abilify: 21550212 [PubMed Abilify - in process] Related Abilify citations

Influence of prenatal undernutrition on the effects of clozapine and aripiprazole in the adult male rats: Relevance to a neurodevelopmental origin of schizophrenia? Guillemot J, Lukaszewski MA, Montel V, Delahaye F, Mayeur S, Laborie C, Dickes-Coopman A, Dutriez-Casteloot I, Lesage J, Breton C, Vieau D. Eur J Pharmacol. 2011 Apr 15. [Epub ahead of print] PMID Abilify: 21514291 [PubMed Abilify - as supplied by publisher]  Related Abilify citations

Clock genes and body composition in patients with schizophrenia under treatment with antipsychotic drugs. Moons T, Claes S, Martens GJ, Peuskens J, Van Loo KM, Van Schijndel JE, De Hert M, van Winkel R. Schizophr Res. 2011 Feb;125(2-3):187-93. Epub 2010 Nov 3. PMID Abilify: 21050724 [PubMed Abilify - indexed for MEDLINE]  Related Abilify citations  

Switching to aripiprazole as a strategy for weight reduction: a meta-analysis in patients suffering from schizophrenia. Barak Y, Aizenberg D. J Obes. 2011;2011. pii: 898013. Epub 2010 Aug 25. PMID Abilify: 20871835[PubMed Abilify - in process] Free PMC Article Free full text Related Abilify citations

Pharmacologic treatment of behavioral symptoms associated with autism and other pervasive developmental disorders. Wink LK, Erickson CA, McDougle CJ. Curr Treat Options Neurol. 2010 Nov;12(6):529-38. PMID Abilify: 20848330 [PubMed Abilify - in process] Related Abilify citations  

Effects of atypical antipsychotics and haloperidol on PC12 cells: only aripiprazole phosphorylates AMP-activated protein kinase. Takami G, Ota M, Nakashima A, Kaneko YS, Mori K, Nagatsu T, Ota A. J Neural Transm. 2010 Oct;117(10):1139-53. Epub 2010 Aug 5. PMID Abilify: 20686905 [PubMed Abilify - in process] Related Abilify citations

What is the mechanism for aripiprazole's effect on reducing olanzapine-associated obesity? Deng C, Chen J, Hu C, Huang XF. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2010 Aug;30(4):480-1. No abstract available. PMID Abilify: 20631576[PubMed Abilify - indexed for MEDLINE] Related Abilify citations

Changes in values of cholesterol and tryglicerides after weight loss during treatment with aripiprazole in a patient with schizophrenia - Case report. Uzun S, Kozumplik O, Sedić B. Psychiatr Danub. 2010 Jun;22(2):373-6. PMID Abilify: 20562787 [PubMed Abilify - indexed for MEDLINE]  Related Abilify citations

Potential control of antipsychotic-induced hyperprolactinemia and obesity in children and adolescents by aripiprazole. Lian J, Huang XF, Pai N, Deng C. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2010 Aug 16;34(6):1157-8; author reply 1159. Epub 2010 Apr 8. No abstract available. PMID Abilify: 20381569 [PubMed Abilify - indexed for MEDLINE]  Related Abilify citations

[Difficulties in changing drugs--from clozapine to aripiprazole in ambulatory care]. Radics J. Neuropsychopharmacol Hung. 2010 Mar;12(1):313-5. Hungarian.  PMID Abilify: 20305308 [PubMed Abilify - indexed for MEDLINE] Free Article Related Abilify citations  

Aripiprazole for the maintenance treatment of bipolar I disorder: A review. McIntyre RS. Clin Ther. 2010;32 Suppl 1:S32-8. Review. PMID Abilify: 20152551 [PubMed Abilify - indexed for MEDLINE]  Related Abilify citations  

Relationship between body mass index and insulin resistance in patients treated with second generation antipsychotic agents. Kim SH, Nikolics L, Abbasi F, Lamendola C, Link J, Reaven GM, Lindley S. J Psychiatr Res. 2010 Jun;44(8):493-8. Epub 2009 Dec 3. PMID Abilify: 19962157 [PubMed Abilify - indexed for MEDLINE] Free PMC Article Free full text Related Abilify citations  

Adverse endocrine and metabolic effects of psychotropic drugs: selective clinical review. Bhuvaneswar CG, Baldessarini RJ, Harsh VL, Alpert JE. CNS Drugs. 2009 Dec 1;23(12):1003-21. doi: 10.2165/11530020-000000000-00000. Review. PMID Abilify: 19958039 [PubMed Abilify - indexed for MEDLINE]  Related Abilify citations  

Metabolic side effects of antipsychotic drug treatment--pharmacological mechanisms. Reynolds GP, Kirk SL. Pharmacol Ther. 2010 Jan;125(1):169-79. Epub 2009 Nov 17. Review. PMID Abilify: 19931306 [PubMed Abilify - indexed for MEDLINE] Related Abilify citations  

Metabolic assessment of aripiprazole as adjunctive therapy in major depressive disorder: a pooled analysis of 2 studies. Fava M, Wisniewski SR, Thase ME, Baker RA, Tran QV, Pikalov A, Yang H, Marcus RN, Berman RM. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2009 Aug;29(4):362-7. PMID Abilify: 19593176 [PubMed Abilify - indexed for MEDLINE]  Related Abilify citations

Aripiprazole added to overweight and obese olanzapine-treated schizophrenia patients. Henderson DC, Fan X, Copeland PM, Sharma B, Borba CP, Boxill R, Freudenreich O, Cather C, Evins AE, Goff DC. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2009 Apr;29(2):165-9. PMID Abilify: 19512978 [PubMed Abilify - indexed for MEDLINE]  Related Abilify citations  

How can antipsychotics cause Diabetes Mellitus? Insights based on receptor-binding profiles, humoral factors and transporter proteins. Starrenburg FC, Bogers JP. Eur Psychiatry. 2009 Apr;24(3):164-70. Epub 2009 Mar 14. Review. PMID Abilify: 19285836 [PubMed Abilify - indexed for MEDLINE]  Related Abilify citations

The moderating impact of ethnicity on metabolic outcomes during treatment with olanzapine and aripiprazole in patients with schizophrenia. Meyer JM, Rosenblatt LC, Kim E, Baker RA, Whitehead R. J Clin Psychiatry. 2009 Mar;70(3):318-25. Epub 2008 Dec 16. PMID Abilify: 19192469 [PubMed Abilify - indexed for MEDLINE] Related Abilify citations