Usually you will take the cogentin with the Haldol. Ativan is very quick acting and wears off in six or so hours for me.
Have you noticed how soon after your dose of Haldol you get the spasms? Typically a drug will have a peak time where it’s fully absorbed into your blood stream and therefore the physical effects are most noticeable. If it takes 2 hours for the drug to peak (I want to say that’s fairly standard based on how it goes through your stomach - but I may be wrong) then you may want to wait until you feel a little off to take the Ativan. As you continue to take the Haldol you’ll be able to pick up on when you start to feel the muscle stuff coming on. It’s best to take the Ativan right then to stop it before it gets worse, otherwise it may not be effective. And because the Ativan is so quick acting, I personally wouldn’t feel it’s a good idea to take it at the same time unless the side effects are immediate. The reason for this is that unless you find it helps prevent the symptoms, it’s therapeutic effects will have largely worn off by the time you need it. Then if you take more it will still help but you’ll be pretty drowsy.
Definitely the Cogentin though. It’s very effective. If you can get a script for that I would talk to the doc about what he/she thinks a good dose is and then ask if it is possible to have an additional dose prescribed for as needed. This is a learning process and much is based on how you feel. It can be comforting to know you have extra if you need it.
Last note on Cogentin side effects:
At first you may get some blurry vision. It can be very irritating at first but you should adjust in a week or so. It causes pretty bad dry mouth and can make it harder to pee. You’ll want to drink extra water so you can move it through your bladder. It takes some time for your body to get used to it, so if you have extra fluid intake it will be much more pleasant as you adjust. Water doesn’t do much to help with dry mouth unfortunately. That’s the most troubling side effect for me. I use a dry mouth mouthwash called Biotene. It’s very effective and I can get it at the pharmacy. They have a gel and some sprays but I think they taste funny.
Please feel free to ask any other questions when you take the cogentin. A big part of the stress of the muscle symptoms comes panic that they will happen. If you can get set up with some cogentin you should do much better. It’s great your voices are calming. The restlessness may also be worse now because it’s still new. But the cogentin should help in many ways. Just be sure to keep track of how the side effects are so your doctor can make sure it’s going ok.
Also, if you have a heating pad that can help tremendously. Usually you can get something at a drug store for 8$ or so that you are able to microwave and put in a sleeve. Lying down with that on your back or wherever you get the spasms is very very helpful to loosen the muscles.
I also use a natural muscle cream called Arnica gel. It’s very effective and not toxic like IcyHot or something.
you are so informative! you read my mind about the heating pad. I am wearing one now on my lower back. I will ak the doctor about Cogentin when I go back to the doctor. The Atvian I took the night before is making me super drowsy. But the Haldol has completely taken the voices away.
Also, do you have a recommendation for something that can help me sleep at night? Can you mix Haldol and Melatonin? What about Haldol and Benadryl and if so which type of Benadryl?
Thank you for all of your help @nodrugs. you’ve been amazing help.
No problem! I find that doctors don’t tell us enough of this, and we need to know in order to make the best decisions, it doesn’t mean we don’t trust them (sometimes we don’t for sure) but we need to be able to be able to function while we take these drugs that are very strong.
I’m not sure about Melatonin. I’ve never used it but even supplements can make you feel weird, especially if you take other things. I wouldn’t mix Benadryl with Cogentin. Benadryl can be used to counter act severe muscle spasms from the drugs too. Using them together will make you feel pretty crappy, it’s something I have only done as an absolute last resort if I knew I’d end up in the ER otherwise. It’s also sedating so mixing it with Ativan is dangerous.
Ativan has a hangover type feeling sometimes. Things I have done are listen to calming music, such as ocean waves, while I lie in the dark, then take the Ativan after a few minutes and feel it kick in while you try to calm yourself.
I typically avoid things for sleep because I’m so sensitive it makes me so drugged that I can’t function. I think if you get on the Cogentin it will help your sleep. It’s a little sedative but the muscle spasms are part of a set of side effects that make you internally restless and therefore more anxious. It depends how bad it is for you, but if you are able to do something without meds to try to calm yourself throughout the day it may be the best option right now. It can get hard to manage things if you start too many things at once.
Something that was brought up a few years ago is Vitamin B3 or Niacinamide. At one point it was thought to help with Schizophrenia in some way but I haven’t heard anything in a while. I found I didn’t tolerate the pills well, and I don’t think it helped the voices. But I have found some drinks at regular grocery stores that have 100% or more of your recommended daily value of Niacinamide. They have had a nice calming effect on me. There are plenty of foods that are naturally calming, teas. If it’s bad to the point where those aren’t going to work, it’s possible you could try another pill. See if you can hang on until you get the Cogentin and reduce your stimulation and see if you can make it. I would bet the Cogentin will help you sleep because it will really help the restlessness. It will seem really bad trying to make it until you get it, but it could be your best option. Another pill at this point could make you feel physically sick.
Virtually all of the anti-Ps cause calcium leeching which ultimately causes lactic acid formation in the muscles at faster than normal rates. But Haldol and some of the other older anti-Ps are notorious for this.
Try taking an extra strength Tum or Rolaid after you jog. And make sure to drink – but not gulp – 10-12 oz of Powerade, Gatorade or something similar as soon as you’re done. Maybe more if you run hard in warm weather.
The meds narrow my body’s margins, so… I’ve had to learn to monitor my body sensations very carefully before, during and after strenuous exercise.
Do you know anything about lactic acidosis after discontinuation of all antipsychotics? I have had that come up on recent labs and they haven’t pin pointed a source.
Right after stopping meds I was sweating a lot less. I started sweating a ton a few months ago. Smelled bad all the time, even minutes after a shower. Then I smelled all fruity which was bizarre. This ■■■■ is so nuts.
Sounds like withdrawal symptoms to me. (And they can be erractic because of confounding environmental variables.)
Anti-Ps are no more or less tolerance- and dependence-inducing than any other drug. All the truth-admitting p-docs I know say this. Anti-Ps (and anti-As, and anti-Ds) all remodel the neural chains in the CNS. Over time, and because they are neuroplastic, the chains tend to return to default states.
Had it been me, I would de-titrated over time, rather than go cold turkey.
You may find – as I did – that working with a sophisticated psychopharmacologist may help you to find a combo of meds and dose levels that get the job done without all the drama. I am down to a tiny dose of Seroquel now. Very minimal sfx, though I continue to recover (slowly) from the sfx of it and other meds as well as from the damage done by the bipolar mania and OCPD addictive behaviors to my autonomic nervous and digestive systems.
why do you think melatonin sucks? Does it mess with the Haldol? I’m having a hard time sleeping on Haldol, and was going to take melatonin to help me sleep. What is your experience mixing Haldol and melatonin?
I think melatonin doesn’t work that well, haven’t notice it effect the haldol at all. I’m trying to find a new way to sleep. Seroquel works great but makes me feel like ■■■■ the next day.
So long as you don’t take the whole bottle, pretty likely yes. Their mechanisms or action are so different that I doubt that they potentiate each other that much. You can always ask your p-doc, though.
I spent 5 months discontinuing. I think I’ve experienced post acute withdrawal lately. I can’t really get answers. I have a couple of great docs now but there are some circumstances they realize are more complicated than others have thought. I believe them when they feel a lot is wait and see how things adjust. They change quickly.
I appreciate your answers it’s nice to troubleshoot away from docs sometimes. Fortunately I have been able to pick up skills to work as a freelancer. I have completely reinvented the definition of business causal as I work from my home office.
I will ak the doctor about Cogentin when I go back to the doctor. The Atvian I took the night before is making me super drowsy. But the Haldol has completely taken the voices away.