I take the antipsychotic some days yes other days no.
That’s what I’m doing as a strategy to avoid relapses with Vraylar. Some days I take it, other days I don’t.
It’s been almost 20 months since I started taking it, and it works. I don’t have paranoia, and since I don’t take it every day, the antipsychotic levels in my blood drop, and I don’t feel as sedated.
Could this be risky? I read on the internet that it can cause neuroleptic malignant syndrome, something like that, but so far I haven’t had any problems.
IDK either but I never heard of a doctor prescribing a medication for ‘every other day’. Are you afraid if you tell your doctor you’re taking it this way he will tell you not to? Because this is a question for a doctor.
@tony1969 Vraylar has a very long half-life; it’s one of the antipsychotics that lasts the longest in the bloodstream. Even if I stop taking it for seven days in a row, it’s still present in my bloodstream, although at a lower level. Perhaps that’s why I’m less sedated. But it works very well.
@77nick77 My doctor doesn’t know. If I tell him, he’ll force me to take it every day. He can’t even legally allow me to do what I’m doing. That’s why I haven’t told him yet. But I can tell you, the results are very good; even my body weight remains stable. When I was taking Vraylar every day, I kept gaining weight; it kept getting worse.
I’ve had weeks where I’m scattered and miss a few doses of Vraylar and I find it starts to endanger my insight. I think it is better to take a lower daily dose than skip days. Whatever you decide to do make sure you keep your doctor in the loop. Helps if they know the backstory in the event a relapse happens.
If your dose drops and stress levels rise/you for some reason metabolise the meds faster - you’ll have an episode (the odds are higher of an episode if you do this)
Funnily enough, I thought of doing the exact same thing. I’ve decided against it though. I’ll end up court ordered if it goes wrong, simple enough reason for me not to do it.
I’ve asked him several times to lower my Vraylar to 1.5 mg, but he never wanted to.
I asked him for an off-label dose of Seroquel or another AP, but he didn’t want to either.
I don’t know. It’s likely that this month or the next the government grant me a pension and I’ll be able to live on my own. I don’t want to cause trouble now because my parents have already threatened to kick me out several times if I stop taking the antipsychotic.
My plan is to keep quiet and reveal it once I’m living alone in a tiny apartment while collecting my pension. My father told me I can live on my own, but only after I get my pension. I don’t want to worry my parents.