Coming off Invega sustenna

Medications
1

Hi guys,

Been lurking on this site for a week or two as I’ve been trying to find threads on coming off this drug. I’ve been on the depot shot now since Feb 2016 and my last was July 8th. So I’ve currently been off for a month.

I’ve experienced the common anhedonia and it is hell. This lasted for for about a month and a half until only a week or so. I’ve currently been trying to look up ways to detox this out of your system successfully and have been wondering what other peoples experiences have been like coming off the drug.

For starters what brought me out of anhedonia was taking a mixture of omega 3 (so good for the mental impact schizophrenia has on the brain!), magnesium oxide which I’ve read can be useful in kick starting the dopamine in your system (invega seems to block off both dopamine and serotonin receptors, which ultimately contribute towards feel good hormones) and drinking one very strong coffee during the day. The caffeine itself I think was what kick started it. I had 3 shots of good espresso and it seemed to trigger an awakening of euphoria in my body. It has been fantastic. The others I think kinda lubricated the caffeine and helped it work.

Also been looking at the possibility of the nootropic L-theanine which could contribute to the cognitive impairment this drug has given me and also jiaogulan which I’ve read is good for taking if you are coming off substance abuse.

Another tip I’ve got off the internet is to detox from fluoride which is apparently what the injection contains. Supplements such as boron, tamarind and sea kelp are good for such things. Apparently fluoride affects the amygadala of the brain, which can affect IQ and development of the brain.

Im also going to be drinking a lot more water, visit the suana and possibly take a trip to my local Chinese medicine centre (say ive came in to detox illegal drugs), to help flush this awful drug out of my system.

I cannot drink alcohol, it sedates me and last weekend had left me blackout drunk. I get no joy from eating a nice meal. Cannot concentrate very well on reading or watching television (although this has improved with my caffeine/supplement stint) and find it hard to have stimulating conversations or take interest in hobbies/staying focused on keeping occupied for the day. I have no creativity and my memory is really poor.

I have been recovering though. I find I’m able to laugh at things again and have noticed a kind of anti depressant buzz as this injection is start to cool off. Again, I think the caffeine helped.

With its half life being upto 25 - 49 days, by the time I get to September third I will have (counting the last 2 recent injections) around 75 mg of this stuff left in my body. That means by the start of october i will begin to start feel like myself again with only 45 mg to go. By December 11.25 mg and finally in February it should have worn off.

What I would like to know, is have any of you successfully gotten off the medication and managed to feel like yourselves again? Was there any signs of relapse or psychosis? Or are you planning to come off the drug yourself, if so would you care to write down your experiences as you do so?

That’s exactly what I plan to do, as I don’t think there is enough stories of peoples experience coming off the drug. And I will log any signs, effects, changes or withdrawal symptoms as I go along.

Also feel free to share any success stories of coming off the drug if you know of them. I would share links but I can’t being a new user.

Thanks for reading and good luck in your road to recovery!

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2

I’m on Abilify Maintena, a monthly injection, and it works very well for my positive symptoms without making me drowsy or gain weight. I do have blurry vision and some restlessness but other than that no serious side effects. Maybe that would work better for you than Invega?

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Invega Sustenna stays in your body for six months after the last injection.

The anhedonia you say you felt it’s not from the med, it’s from the illness, it’s a negative symptom of the illness. There are no meds, as of yet, for negative symptoms.

Please don’t believe everything you read on the internet. Invega Sustenna does not have fluoride in it. What it does is help the body produce more prolactin, that also comes from a gland in the body, but the amount of time you were on it doesn’t justify being worried about repercursions of that situation.

Also, caffeine and sz only goes well on small amounts, if you drink too much coffee you run the risk of becoming psychotic again.

And, about becoming psychotic again, it takes some time or no time at all, but if you have sz and were taking meds for it, it’s natural that you’ll have an episode again after the med is out of your system.

Did you substitute the med or you quit althogether?

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Are you sure that it is because of the med itself? Just I know by blocking the dopamine receptor, that is essentially effecting the receptor that gives us joy. I’ve never went through anhedonia in the past. But I know what social withdrawl and depression feels like. It was a completely different experience for me.

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Well I honestly don’t know for sure. I asked my pdoc and this is the answer I got. I don’t have anhedonia and I’m on the same med, so if it were because of the dopamine receptors shouldn’t I have it too?

Anhedonia is a symptom of depression too.

I have avolition though, can’t really blame it on the med just because I didn’t have it before.

6

Also I find with the antipsychotic in my system, that I’m not at risk of becoming psychotic again. Whatever this has done to my brain has calmed me down and it isn’t as over active as it used to be. If you know what I’m talking about.

I’m in psychotherapy and cbt as of now, to discuss the root problem of my psychosis and to see where my illness might have manifested itself in the first place. I’ve never received treatment like this before. Just hospitalisation, which on its own I don’t think helps too well. It was an unpleasant experience to say the least.

Also I don’t appreciate you questioning if I have schizophrenia or not. What on earth? I’ve never seen anyone get that kind of treatment on this site here and find it to be quite menacing. As if your almost gas lighting me. I haven’t found a place to talk about my illness openly before and would appreciate it if you left that alone.

I think you’ll find that if you search for flouride in paliperidone, you’ll find it listed in trusted websites. How do you know that it doesnt contain this?

I’m just listing remedies that have worked for me and in small doses they have. It has also been noted in psychiatry websites that drinking coffee with sz is very popular.

Thanks

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But maybe it’s because of the med, I’m just saying this because a lot of people blame symptoms of the illness on meds. I’m trying to counter that argument.

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Anhedonia has been listed as a symptom on here so many times. If you look for flattened mood on as a side effect, you’ll find it, again on trusted websites. I’m also scared of the fact it can stimulate parkinsonism.

I’m not saying the drug is good or bad. This thread was created for people coming off the drug.

9

Alright :slight_smile: there’s another thread just like this one, a lot of people anxious to have the med out of their system. Look it up.

10

I’ve recently been prescribed aripiprazole as a new medication. I’ve been on this in the past, and although I stopped taking it which lead me into my psychosis, it did work for me. Cheers

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Do you have links?

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I’m on my phone on the street, hard to link. But there’s a search bar on top of the forum’s home page, you can look it up there.

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Also, I don’t get anxiety. I hardly feel anything…

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14

Well I’m not looking for a debate. Just ways and means of getting off this drug. That’s the point.

1 Like
15

Sorry to meddle. But I recently was about to change meds and my pdoc said he couldn’t change me from invega to abilify because it would cause rebound psychosis. If you’re changing to abilify without waiting six months you risk being psychotic again. I would talk to your pdoc about that.

16

Me neither. :slight_smile:

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I never said I was waiting 6 months.

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Alright… be careful than. Good luck :slight_smile:

19

Well today I think I’ve had my first signs of withdrawal symptoms. I went out shopping for a few hours which is the most activity I’ve done since getting out of hospital.

What happened:

Blood sugar levels rose
Heart palpitations
Muscle weakness
All round fatigue
Feeling really tired but can’t sleep
Increased thirst
Irritability (for the first time since being on the medication)

It almost felt as if I had diabetes type symptoms, which I know is listed as a risk while being on the medication. Its been just over a month since taking my last 156 mg shot of the medication. I was on this for 6 months. I’ll keep you updated on Amy changes.

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I definitely think I’m going through withdrawl symptoms. Today I’ve been having breathing problems and have a shallow heartbeat. Its scary because I can’t get this drug out of my system and have to withstand these symptoms until they’re gone.