I’ve been on Seroquel for over 10 years. But I think it’s not working as well as it used to.
Plus I’m pissed about weight gain, I joined health club for 3 years, exercised, tried to eat right with no affect. I blame zyprexa for putting on 30 pounds permanently when I quit it cold turkey and did nothing for me.
Seroquel I used to get me to sleep right away. But now not so much. I must be worried about stuff at night.
I’ve read about Abilify but I’m afraid to ask try because it makes you more active/nervous?
Your Thoughts about Geodon, saphris, etc. I haven’t been keeping up.
Thanks
I’ve been taking Geodon and Seroquel for over ten years, and they do me right. They don’t solve all my problems, but they do keep me stable. I haven’t had too much weight gain on them. I did gain weight on a blood pressure medication.
I am looking at all the antipsychotics now, because in a couple of days I will leaving Risperdal because of hormone issues and looking to get on another med.
After a lot of research and from what others have been telling me, the newer designer or boutique antipsychotics as I like to call them bring about a lot of anxiety, akathisia and stimulation - not good for someone with anxiety and mania as well as insomnia.
Drugs like Latuda, Abilify, Fanapt( QT Prlongation)
Saphris and Geodon can be very activating, so I will not be taking them - Abilify worsened my illness.
Everyone is different so I would not dismiss any of these meds completely - I would talk it over with your pdoc. Good luck!
I can’t give advice; but, I’ll tell you a little about my personal experience.
The only newer medication I’ve ever tried is Invega. I’ve only been on 2 antipsychotics in my life. Invega was very good at getting rid of delusions, which were my main positive symptom. I think that the dose I was initially put on was too high for me, though. The psychiatrist that prescribed it had a relative who had schizophrenia, so she approached things from a caregiver’s perspective and believed my family when they said I should be on 6 mg instead of 3 mg. In reality, that didn’t make any difference to my delusions, it just made me more sedate and easier to take care of. They didn’t like me driving somewhere to get a book to educate myself to get a job on 3 mg, because they were afraid of me driving. When I was put back on 6 mg, I was so sedate that I just wanted to lie around in bed probably more than 12 hours per day, so I was easier to take care of. Once I was on 6 mg, the psychiatrist insisted that I should stay there for years, and I think that caused more side-effect damage than was necessary.
Anyway, I guess what I’m trying to say is that the newer medication Invega was very effective in my case for getting rid of delusions; but, as the makers of the drug insist, it is very important to get the dose right.