Hi,
I was misdiagnosed and put on paliperidone palmitate under a community management order towards the end of 2016. I was first put on a 100 mg 4 weekly dose. This was bumped up to 150 mg, taken down to either 100 / 75 mg and then 75 mg. And, after that, 50 mg and then after that 25 mg. I have had to fight extremely hard to get taken off a community order and to get taken down to lower doses. On higher doses, the side effects of the medication was blamed on the mental illness I’ve been diagnosed with by my Psychiatrist. Some of the symptoms I experienced as result of the medication that were blamed on schizophrenia were weight gain, my thinking and cognition slowed down, flat affect in my face, memory problems, slow speech etc. My Psychiatrist said this was the result of my brain neurodegenerating from Schizophrenia. However, she was wrong and my cognition has been getting better and better (faster, improved memory etc) with lower doses.
My Psychiatrist is very paternalistic and does not work with me around the medication side of things. She also has a track record of being dishonest. For example, when I was on a 50 mg 4 weekly depot injection, she told me there was no lower injections. My Doctor looked it up on the medical system and found she was, in fact, lying as there was a 25 mg 4 weekly depot dose. I was able to see another Psychiatrist for one session, who took me off the CMO and switched me to a 25 mg dose.
I have been on the 25 mg dose for many months now. But, recently, on my request, I was switched from depot injections to oral. My Psychiatrist put me on 3mg a day oral tablets (which works out to be a larger dose than 25 mg ever 4 weeks). I saw a Psychologist today. He looked it up and found my Psychiatrist had lied and that there was actually a smaller daily oral dose than 3mg a day. Which is frustrating for me, because I would have liked to have gone on the lower dose and gradually taper down over a period of months. But, my Psychiatrist will not work with me and does not listen to me.
Going on a higher dose will interfere with my university studies (since this drug severely affects my cognition - including my memory, thinking speed and creativity) and I know I can’t do uni on a higher dose than 25 mg. So, I’ve decided to just stop taking Paliperidone from today (which is when my depot injection would have been due had I not been switched to oral). So, quitting is like going from a 25 mg 4 weekly depot injection to cold turkey nothing. This is not ideal 
I talked with my Psychiatrist because my Psychologist has said if you’ve been on a higher dose before, due to the half life, a higher dose can still be in your blood even on 25 mg. But, my Psychiatrist said that because I’ve been on the 25mg depot for a long time, only the 25 mg should be in my blood.
Has anyone else withdrawn from paliperidone palmitate?
What about after being put on depot?
What kind of side effects / withdrawal effects should I expect?
Note: I’ve never experienced visual hallucinations or heard voices before both before I was put on the drugs and during.
