atypical antipsychotic1 medication Abilify - generic aripiprazole - was approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in treating schizophrenia in November 2002. The black box warning regarding suicidality in children and young adults emphasizes that this medicine is not approved to treat mood disorders in children. Off-label prescriptions of Abilify to treat bipolar disorder became common while the medication was still in clinical trials for bipolar mania.

Abilify's FDA Approval History
In September 2004, Abilify was approved to treat manic and mixed episodes, and in March 2005, further approval was granted for maintenance therapy in bipolar disorder. In October 2007, FDA approval was granted for treatment of schizophrenia in patients ages 13 to 17, and in November 2007, although Abilify is not an antidepressant, it was approved for the adjunctive treatment of adults with major depressive disorder. At that time, a new warning was added to the black box regarding suicidality and antidepressants in children, adolescents and young adults.


What Abilify is Used For
Abilify treats the same symptoms of schizophrenia as other drugs such as Zyprexa (olanzapine), Risperdal (risperidone) and Geodon (ziprasidone) - symptoms that are also found in manic episodes of bipolar disorder and in schizoaffective disorder. These include:
Delusions2
Paranoia3
Hallucinations4
and others.


How Abilify Works
The mechanism of Abilify is different from other medications used for the same symptoms. Most antipsychotics work by shutting down dopamine receptors; Abilify appears to work by forcing these receptors to behave more normally. In clinical trials, most patients lost a limited amount of weight on Abilify, which is an improvement over medications like Zyprexa; however, it should be noted that about five percent of patients gained seven percent or more of their initial body weight. Abilify was also found to be less likely than older antipsychotics to cause tardive dyskinesia5.
Other important facts about Abilify
It may be one to four weeks before you notice improvement of symptoms.
Low blood pressure and lightheadedness can result. Do not take Abilify if you you have a cardiac condition.
May cause drowsiness, so take the usual precautions regarding driving, etc., until you know how you will react.
A higher dosage of Abilify may be needed if you are taking Tegretol (carbamazepine). This was not true of Depakote (valproic acid) or Lithium.
A lower dosage of Abilify may be needed if you are taking Prozac (fluoxetine), Paxil (paroxetine) or other SSRI medications.
Most common side effects were headache, anxiety, insomnia and nausea; however, these side effects were also the most common with placebo. In fact, although 20 percent of patients in clinical trials experienced anxiety with Abilify, 17 percent of those on placebo did, too.
Do not drink alcohol while you are taking Abilify.
Do not breastfeed when taking Abilify.
If you experience rash or anxiety attack symptoms, contact your doctor immediately.
Avoid overheating and dehydration.
Animal studies suggest Abilify may cause birth defects. The manufacturer advises that Abilify should only be used during pregnancy if the potential benefits outweigh the risks to the fetus.
Abilify carries the following black box warning:
WARNING: INCREASED MORTALITY IN ELDERLY PATIENTS WITH DEMENTIA-RELATED PSYCHOSIS
Elderly patients with dementia-related psychosis treated with atypical antipsychotic drugs are at an increased risk of death compared to placebo. Analyses of seventeen placebo-controlled trials (modal duration of 10 weeks) in these patients revealed a risk of death in the drug-treated patients of between 1.6 to 1.7 times that seen in placebo-treated patients. Over the course of a typical 10 week controlled trial, the rate of death in drug-treated patients was about 4.5%, compared to a rate of about 2.6% in the placebo group. Although the causes of death were varied, most of the deaths appeared to be either cardiovascular (e.g., heart failure, sudden death) or infections (e.g., pneumonia) in nature. ABILIFY (aripiprazole) is not approved for the treatment of patients with Dementia-Related Psychosis.

WARNING: SUICIDALITY AND ANTIDEPRESSANT DRUGS See full prescribing information for complete boxed warning. Children, adolescents, and young adults taking antidepressants for Major Depressive Disorder and other psychiatric disorders are at increased risk of suicidal thinking and behavior.

Other Cautions
Rare cases of neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) have been reported by patients taking Abilify. Review the symptoms of NMS6 and seek emergency help if you should experience them.

Hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) and diabetes have been reported with antipsychotic medications. At this time there are few reports of hyperglycemia in patients treated with Abilify, but the data are incomplete. Fasting blood-glucose monitoring should be done on all patients taking atypical antipsychotic medications.
Pediatric Use
Abilify is now approved for adolescents aged 13 to 17, and is being studied for children below that age. Two chart reviews found that 67 to 71 percent of participants were either "improved" or "much improved," and found that Abilify was well-tolerated in the participating children and adolescents.
Financial Assistance
Like many newer medications, Abilify is very expensive, but you may qualify for the Abilify Patient Assistance Program7.

Disclaimer: This is not intended to be all-inclusive or to replace information provided by your doctor or with the prescription from the manufacturer.

Mr. Magoo

giggles, well hello again, it is a pleasure to see you again. hugs, missed you much my friend. hugs and a bitty kiss.

"Don't Look Back."

He was a short wordy man,
with a strange sense of humor,
he reminded me of a knome on tome,
or addicted to it anyhow,
he seemed so vibrant,
alive with a whirl of ideas,
I wondered, is this what it is like?
To have a free mind,
the kind you only witness in great thinkers,
and genuises of our world,
is this what it is like,
to be intelligent,
it wasn't a label ever applied to me,
but I wondered,
as the days went by,
I noticed he had an affinity,
for poetry,
it seemed strange this little man
could run verses like a madman,
I admired him,
all though,
I couldn't understand a word he said,
he had one of those unusual accents,
and I liked him,
even if I didn't like myself at the time,
I still liked him,

One day he showed me one of the books he wrote,
I was fascinated,
he had written three of them,
and had them self published,
I thought, can people do that?
He used big words on a constant,
and you could feel his good vibrations,
even when you first walked into the room,
He had a foriegn wife,
polish, I think,
she was a short woman,
of quiet and beautiful integrity,
I admired her too,

He told me stories of all his travels,
places I knew, I would never see,
he showed me pictures of London,
Italy,
New Zealand even and so many other places,
He was a blessed man,
He did his best to stiphen my wounded heart,
he seemed almost like fools gold to me,
too real to be true,
One day I showed him my writings,
and for some reason, he liked it,
I was stunned by this,
it wasn't that I didn't want to be a writer,
but I could have never expected him to tell me,
I should be a poet,
and so we formed a bond,
me and this happy little man,
in time he helped me to break free a bit,
he gave me a gift,
a gift I felt many times unworthy of,
but he gave it,
and I used it

One day as I was relaying to him my concerns,
he became quiet,
and I noticed it,
I would have felt ashamed,
except he than said,
Don't Look Back.
I was surprised by his comment,
I didn't know what to say,
He said it again,
Don't Look Back.

I had no idea how this would affect me,
until years later
when I remembered him,
and how he believed in my talent,
like no one else since him.

I was thankful to that little man,
he had such beauty and heart,
he was my doorway,
and my key,
he led me out of darkness,
and into the little light in me,

when he left
I was sore to see him go,
but he had given me all he could,
and so I took what I could,
and let him go.

All though,
I know,
looking back is necessary
from time to time,
I still remember his words,
and his gifts of freindship and compassion,
and now these days,
I look back too much,
for now is the time to do so,
and yet,
I remember him,
and his words ring clear to me,
and even in my most self inflection,
I look behind me,
and I see him,
he was more a light to me
than anyone had ever been.
thank you my old counselor and teacher,
Berry Lee

V.G. 11-24-08

The Travelers and the Road

You are falling again
Like a glint in the eyes of madness
Into your jar of broken bones
And dripping dreams
Why is it, you can not see
Beyond the tapestry of bad memories
Into the fine threads that have formed you
And the hands of time and angels that have bore you
Can you not feel the thunder rumbling?
Can you not feel the tears still running?
I am running to
Away from you
Can you feel me running through your veins
Searching for an answer to your inert soul?
How many words must I drop at your feet,
Before you see your buried knee deep
In my desperate plea’s to your unyielding heart?
Why do I trudge this same old road
I know where it goes
Down to the depths of your madness and self defeat
I want nothing more than to be done with this path
And get back to the road of forgiveness and light
Why have you stayed here so long?
I see now this is your journey
And I am only a companion
Who walks with you for a while
Before I to must move on down the road
Back in to civilized worlds
Where reason has a meaning
And healing starts at home,
Someday you will come to my world
And you will be welcomed with open arms
If only you have the will to meet your future
And the courage to step beyond the shadows of your pain,
And so I go now
The paths have forked
Good day my beloved friend
I will meet you in the land of dreams restored
And if you do not come soon
I will come and look for you again
With food for you soul
And a hot drink of comfort.
It sounds like it is going to rain again,
I shall use my umbrella tonight,
You should seek shelter soon.
Goodbye.

V.G. 02-02-08

I am sure if this is what you want to do, you will continue with it. I look forward to seeing you in print, and on the screen. I wish you the best of all God or whatever you believe in can give you on your pursuit of a writing career, sincerely. check out the classes, I hope it helps you on your way.

I write short stories, there is some script writing and fiction writing workshops on about.com for free, you may want to look into them. If you know half the stuff already there, that is cool, but you never know what you will pick up from there. And all the courses are for free. But just because they are for free, doesn't mean you can't get something from them. smiles, have fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTdhXxxWREo

Do you really think so? Tell the truth, giggles

Five Ways File Notes

“TO BE AN ARTIST MEANS NEVER TO AVERT YOUR EYES.”-AKIRA KUROSAWA

The Five Ways Emotions are Experienced:

Emotions are basically experienced, and therefore expressed in fiction, in five ways.

FIRST, we have a sensual reaction inside our body temperature, heartbeat, muscle reaction, neural change.

SECOND, there is a sensual response that sends signals outside of our body-posture, gesture, facial expression, tone of voice, and so forth.

THIRD, we have, as an experience of emotion, flashes of the past.
Moments of reference in our past come back to us in our consciousness, not as ideas or analysis about the past, but as little vivid bursts of waking dream; they come back as images, sense impressions.

FOURTH, we experience emotion and can therefore express it in fiction is that there are flashes of the future, similar to flashes of the past, but of something that has not yet happened or that may happen, something we desire or fear or otherwise anticipate.
Those also come to us as images, like bursts of waking dreams.

FIFTH AND FINAL, this is important for the fiction writer-we experience sensual selectivity. At any given moment we, and therefore our characters, are surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of sensual cues. But in that moment on a very small number of those sensual cues will impinge on our consciousness.
Now, what makes that selection for us? Well, our emotions do.

Now I am getting giddy, I soooo want to see it! I definatly have to read the books too, I actually had the first one but i gave it to my neice, and they have read all of them. I always buy them the lastest hot teen books. Especially for christmas if I can afford it. They love it. SMiles

Gosh, I want icecream now. smiles, great poem, I was tempted to write one too, but I thought, nah, I want icecream. giggles

I'm taking my nieces to see it next week, its gonna be great, I love new vampire movies, they are the shisnit! giggles

i agree with leaving the cores out to bring the spicy way down. They are really good at a barbque or a side dish for hamburgers and hotdogs. I love the pic of them, giggles. That was funny too, your sisters finger in it, giggles.

Oh that's awful, I hope you compained to them. Think about all those people eating them too, yucky, a whole lotta yucky going on. blah!

Open for Critique-be honest-suggestions are welcome.

This is awesome, I tried to write a song once, it didn't turn out the way I thought it would, LOL but still, I tried, yours is wonderful, great job! I could see this being sung, really cool. smiles

Anytime, I have been a writer and poet for a long time, if you need anymore help, please feel free to ask. And no, I will never ever steal any part or idea from your story, you have my word, and I give it before everyone. I am a teacher as well, I have judged many poetry contests in the past. If you need any help, just drop me a messege. I may also be able to give you some resources to turn to both written and internet for you to use in developing your story. For instance, for basic purposes, have you ever read the The Fantasy Fiction Resource Book? I believe that is what is called, I will look it up again the next time I go to the library. There is also the Encyclopedia of Vampires and other monsters for great historical facts as well as facts about many many monsters and other creatures and peoples as well as movies. As far as online, wikipedia is fun, but don't take all of it to heart, I look at wikipedia as a form of entertainment more than a source of certain kinds of information.

That makes me happy you do, I will see to the continuation, thank you for reading it.

I like your story, there are some very interesting points to it, I think maybe if you include his name. Somewhere. I guess maybe it will come up in the next paragraph or two of the continuation I suppose. The tense your using is good, not sure what is missing though, I would have to see the continuation to tell what it is. I think maybe your runner, should somehow show this boy the kind of person he is, a man of integrity or a man of thievery or a man of honesty, or the wizard or magic user he is in a sort of educational manner. If he is to be wise, show his wisdom by perhaps befreinding this boy for whatever reason he may have to do so. show a bit of his inner workings out of how he comes to his conclusion about this young man. Maybe show the young adults true nature, if it be wizard worthy. And go from there. These two have a certain sort of relationship here all ready forming, the young man helped him, the wizard did not kill him, but what is the real reason he did so, not only to save his life but for what other reason, or is there one. will we see this young man in the story continuing or will he only be in the first chapter, and if so, will he make a reappearance to save our wizard freind? just some thoughts.