Abilify long term side effects can include compulsive or uncontrollable urges that patients have never before experienced, says the FDA.

Abilify (aripiprazole) is prescribed to treat mental disorders including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, Tourette’s disorder, and some autistic issues such as irritability. Patients also might be given Abilify as an adjunct treatment with an antidepressant.

On the positive side, Abilify can decrease hallucinations and disorganized thinking that come with myriad psychoses. The drug also has proven to stabilize mood, alleviate depression and control the tics associated with Tourette’s.

These psychological improvements come at a price for patients who suffer Abilify long term side effects that can include uncontrollable urges to gamble, binge eat, shop and have sex.

Abilify Long Term Side Effects Kept from U.S. Market for Years

In the fall of 2012, the European Medicines Agency required Bristol-Myers Squibb and Otsuka to add a warning as follows:

“Pathological gambling: Post-marketing reports of pathological gambling have been reported among patients prescribed Abilify, regardless of whether these patients had a prior history of gambling. Patients with a prior history of pathological gambling may be at increased risk and should be monitored carefully.”

In November 2015, Canadian researchers claimed there was “a link between the use of aripiprazole and a possible risk of pathological gambling or hypersexuality.”

The U.S. warnings finally included a mention of possible pathological gambling in January 2016, but then only to the post-marketing experience section of the label.

The FDA added a warning on May 3, 2016 that Abilify was linked to “compulsive or uncontrollable urges to gamble, binge eat, shop, and have sex.”

Abilify is a partial and full dopamine agonist. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain’s reward and pleasure centers, and various research has identified dopamine as a potential cause of pathological gambling.

The FDA’s examination of post-market Abilify reports from 2005 to 2013 found 54 reports of compulsive or impulsive behavioral problems, including 30 reports of compulsive gambling.

The remaining problems included 12 reports of impulsive behavior, nine reports of hypersexuality, and three reports of compulsive shopping.

In most cases, the patients had no prior history of the compulsive behaviors before they noticed the compulsions as Abilify long term side effects.

Within days to weeks of discontinuing Abilify, the uncontrollable urges seized.

The makers of Abilify have not conducted any research to study the compulsive behavior side effects of the drug, nor have they made public the results of any investigations they might have done in this regard.

However, the drug’s website now addresses the issue with this statement listed under possible serious side effects:

“Unusual urges. Some people taking Abilify have had unusual urges, such as gambling, binge eating or eating that you cannot control (compulsive), compulsive shopping and sexual urges.”

If you or someone you know has taken Abilify and experienced Abilify long term side effects, you could benefit through legal action.