My experience on 2.5 mg Aripiprazole after one week (it's positive)

I have been on 100mg of Sertraline for years now but my depression and anxiety are bad so my psychiatrist augmented my regime with 2.5 mg of Aripiprazole. Have taken it for a week now.

My mood has improved. It mellowed me out in a good way. When I was on Venlafaxine I was mellowed out but lost all motivation. On Ari. it's different, I'm mellowed out in a way that I'm no longer worried/anxious to go in and actually do/finish tasks.

It helped a lot with overthinking and intrusive negative thoughts. I think there is a bit of emotional blunting but in a good way. My depression and anxiety come from the fact that I'm too much on an empath. Ari. helps me treat things like "normal" people do. So when I say "emotional blunting" it's not a bad thing.

I have not experience increased anxiety which is usually to be expected when you start new meds. Sleep got worse, I wake up many times during the night but it's not impossible to fall back asleep. I can live with it. Another good thing is that it helps me stay active into the evening (I take it first thing in the morning, by the way). Before Ari. I was usually in bed by 6pm, just wanting to get away from it all, but now I can go and do my laundry, clean, etc even after 8 pm.

I have a smart watch and my heartrate is somewhat elevated since I started taking it. My resting heart rate used to be in the mid 40's now it's mid 50's but there has been a decrease the past few days so there's a chance it will go back to normal.

No increase in appetite. If anything, there's a slight decrease and definitely less craving for sweets.

I know it's early days (1 week since starting) and there's always a chance that some of the above experiences is placebo but I do feel a positive effect and am very hopeful. I especially like the fact that such a low dose (2.5 mg) can yield positive results.

Even is Ari. is something that doesn't help you, keep on looking for the right meds, something will stick!