Fears About Future Health

I’m starting to worry how the medication I take is going to impact my health later in life. I am on a lot of pills right now, I take an oral anti-psychotic, an anti-depressant, a mood stabilizer, an anti-anxiety, and anti-side effect, and an injectable (Invega Sustenna). Has anyone who has been on these meds regularly for a while encountered any potentially related health problems?

The only thing i’m worried about is diabetes. I have it on both sides of my family and in my immediate family, type II that is. I have taken Abilify for the past several years and did gain weight when I got back on proper medication. My current doc is concerned about this and wants for now to see how low we can go with the dose but hasn’t changed anything as of yet. I have been losing weight but I’m a little perturbed that the risk of diabetes on abilify was never mentioned at the dual diagnosis program that prescribed it.

But then I’m questioning how informed they were of anything nowadays as I’ve been learning lately that nearly everything I learned there was somehow misinformation, especially when it came to schizophrenia. They used the term ‘thought disorder’ in place of Sz and when I then went away from there explaining that I had a thought disorder I was hearing “Huh…you certainly don’t seem to” So I looked it up and learned what that really is. I don’t know…

The weight gain hit me hard over the past few years that I’ve been on APs. I’m on a strict diet now, I’ve lost 31 pounds so far. I have a long ways to go. But diabetes scares me too.

I have been on a variety of different meds for a while - many years, and the meds have helped to slow down my rapid mood shifts and with the delusions mainly.
I do suffer from diabetes, probably worsened by the antipsychotics and my liver showed signs of some damage, completely related to me being on a high dose of Depakote for years. I am now lowering the Risperdal dose from 3 mg down to 2.5 mg
My plan is to go as low as possible without my major symptoms returning - Can I live without antipsychotics? I do not know really how well I would do - If I could function without antipsychotics, I would do this - but for now I will go lower and lower (for Health reasons) and see how I do - this will be a slow process.
There are antipsychotics out there like Abilify,Geodon, Latuda etc… that are not likely to cause weight gain or diabetes, but this varies. I would get regular blood tests done to check blood glucose levels, Lipid count, check thyroid and liver functioning etc… Make sure you get frequent physical/blood exams and monitor your physical health as much as possible

I’ve been on all of those and they didn’t really help my symptoms. The combination I have now has been working for a few months now, so I don’t think I’ll change it any time soon. Hopefully, like you, in the future I can lower the dosages.

I do get blood tests regularly, I should go for physicals more often though.

1 Like

I used to take all of these except mood stabilizer.

  1. Anti-psychotic
  2. Anti-depressant
  3. Anti-anxiety
  4. Anti-side effect
  5. Injection
    I experienced weight gain as many as 30kg. I suffer from high cholesterol, and high prolactin while on Risperdal 8mg daily. My liver function test showed that liver enzyme (ALT) is very high.

Other than that, I am fine.