Geodon Absorption And Half Life

Medications
1

One of my pdocs suggested we try geodon(ziprasidone) cuz of the weight gain.

I read that it requires food to achieve maximum absorption.

My question is what happens if i occasionally eat low calorie dinner. Will i face fluctuations in absorption ? Will it bring back my psychotic symptoms ? Anybody face similar problems ? I hate the fact that it needs food to be absorbed. I won’t know for sure if today I’m going to be having a 500 calorie dinner or not. If its low calorie dinner, won’t the blood levels of geodon fluctuate ?

Also due to its short half life, it needs to be taken twice a day. Does it work if you take all of the dose at bedtime without bringing back the symptoms ? I read if you take the entire dose at 10pm, then some people start getting their psychotic symptoms back the next day at 4-5pm. Any thoughts ?

2

Hi. I was on Geodon for about a year. It helped me get my life back but caused some side effects. It reversed my sleep cycle. I would pass out in the morning dose and have insomnia at the evening dose. I dieted and exercised on that med everyday.,i had excellent mood inbetween. I used to have only a banana in the morning dose and drink vegetable juice or yoghourt in the evening dose. I experienced some withdrawal around 4-5 pm and felt uneasy and emotionally disturbed. I know if i ate much more it would work differently. But i was never psychotic or lost touch. I don’t hallucinate so my case might be different. You can add calories by eating a banana or avocado before your meal and have a slice of warm bread with butter. Peanut butter and eggs is also a good idea. It’s a high rated med. good luck :v:t2:️

3

I have been on Geodon for years. I eat well with it because they aren’t kidding about the half life problem. If I don’t eat a full meal with it, it makes me feel drowsy and even cross eyed like when one is drunk.

I suggest daily exercise and a light lunch to make yourself want to eat more. You’ve gotta eat plenty with it. I take 60mg with breakfast and dinner, 120mg daily.

It’s a great med but it is high maintenance.

So you might become quite robust but very dependent on the Geodon and food like I am. It’s not bad, it’s just different.

I workout religiously so the whole take with a full meal thing is okay with me.

But a warning- Geodon is not sedating when taken correctly. If you depend on an antipsychotic to sleep, you may have to find alternatives such as a tranquilizer (Xanax) or sleeping pill (ambien) or at least melatonin.

I have trouble sleeping most nights.

But I am athletic and a full time student on Geodon with perfect grades so that’s what it can do for you.

2 Likes
4

Does the morning geodon dose make you sleepy/tired ?

I don’t know if i would be able to function if i take geodon in the morning.

5

I take Geodon but was told I only need 350 calories. It works for me with that many calories. I have a meal replacement shake and toast with butter in the morning and a dinner at night. The meal replacement shake isn’t enough on its own according to my pharmacist, but the toast along with it helps the med to absorb.

I wouldn’t recommend only taking it once a day. I tried that and became very psychotic. It was like I wasn’t taking anything at all. Latuda is another med to consider as it only needs to be taken once a day with food.and is also weight neutral. Good luck!! :sunny:

6

Because I take it with plenty of food, it does not. It just makes me less psychotic.

Now when I don’t eat enough before taking it, it does have a groggy effect. I measure out my food to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Eating plenty with it makes it extended release. Really the drug is ziprasidone hydrochloride, which is not extended release, so eating a lot and some fat like whole milk with it makes it work correctly.

Actually I just had breakfast and took it. I had a cup of whole milk, a scoop of whey, and a cup and a half of shredded wheat. I’m letting it digest before I hit the gym. I do this every morning, I either have a class in the morning or a workout. Today I have my night class so I am taking my time to let my Geodon kick in and then go to the gym. I have an exam in the night class and also have some busy work to do in the research lab so I will workout, go home and shower and change into my usual outfit which isn’t gym shorts and then go to school.

I should note that Geodon takes 30-60 minutes to kick in if you take it with 500 or more calories. I have to wait a bit before doing anything but I don’t have that much to do before 3 today so it’s okay. I’ll be on campus working from 3 to 9.

The hardest part is waking up and being a little psychotic and really needing the Geodon then eating and taking the pill then waiting for it to kick in. It takes a while. I think it’s worth it, I function as well as I want to because of Geodon. It’s just a complicated medication. Very effective and less stereotypical side effects, my main side effect is akathisia, which is medication induced restless leg syndrome, but I am on meds for that too.

I have been functioning quite highly on Geodon for years, ask me if you want to know what it’s like to be on it.

I’ve tried Zyprexa and it was horrible.

I tried latuda and it just made me worse than without meds.

I tried alcohol and nearly lost my scholarship to school because of it, also didn’t function as highly as I should have on it…yeah I was a heavy heavy drinker when I was a freshman, it made me make a few B’s and I’m a straight A student not a B student. Also is just generally unhealthy to drink a bottle or two every night and sleep for like four hours.