It took me about 8 years, maybe this is not the right one…but pdocs think I’m in shape!
Did it take that long for you? I’ve only ever had the one pdoc, now it’s time for another! I don’t know why maybe he feels guilty for letting me down!
How long did it take you to find the correct medication, maybe it’s ongoing! Thoughts?
About 8 years for me too. But am on polypharmacy so it took all this time to find this combination
I’ve been om meds for 12 years without a break and I’m still adjusting my meds these days.
It’s a continuous process for me.
I wish there was a quicker way than trial and error!
Took a while. About 2 years of trial n error. Since 2019 I been using Amisulpride, but Im having more bad days than good the last year… so its safe to say that Amisulpride has worked best for me overall. They been considering Clozapine since December. Still waiting on that front.
Yeah, after different meds. Pdoc suggested clozapine would be next but zyprexa is ok with me!
Our services are dreadful here. Not been seen in 6 months. No check-ins. No care coordinator allocated. So Im basically navigating a tough sea at the moment alone. With my family of course, but they end up taking much of the brunt. Sad stuff.
In 2004 I was on Risperidone and that messed with my anxiety
Then for two years until I was about 19 I was on a low dose of Olanzapine
But had no follow up and stopped the meds
Fast forward to 2013 I ended up on 20mg of Olanzapine for two years
Then between 2015-2018 I tried:
Abilify
Haloperidol
Latuda
Flupentixol
Amisulpride
(May have missed a few)
Then 2019 to 2021 Amisulpride worked well
A brief try of Vraylar which failed
Since January 2023 I have been on clozapine
There were other drugs like Pregabalin and diazepam etc
Yeah I tried a bout of medicines… ashame it only was only trial and error… saying that it’s left me wondering a professor I went to see got me on the right meds, but my pdoc said he didn’t wanna mess with my weight trying olanzapine. Depends on a lot of variables to find the right med I think
That used to annoy me when they said trial and error!
My old pdoc who retired in 2019 told me at the time that in about 5 years there will be genetic testing that can recommend the medication for your body
Hitting that 5 year mark and not seen this happen yet which is a shame
Think of the money it could save and how much suffering is prevented!
Fingers crossed he was right
Yeah it serves both people with bipolar and sz. I reckon just stay strong and what they provide you will work out theees about 50/50 good and bad people… that’s what my old pdoc said!
Same here. 13 years since diagnosis, still tweaking the meds and trying to find the right combination.
this is a hard question for me cause i been on medicine a total of 17 years and feel like ive finally found the perfect medicine. i feel great. but i think it was my fault for always quitting my medicine and stuff and asking to change medicines. if i count just since the last time i quit my medicine it only took maybe 8 weeks to get the medicine this good. if i count since the long time i quit my medicine probably 3 years to get to this point. if i count since i started medicine it would be 25 years. i shoulda behaved all those years., taken what i was told to. and stopped quitting them. it wouldnt have taken so long. as my schizophrenia because more obvious to me as i got older too its now easier to see how much the medicine helps. i think it was cause in the pre sz stage when i was a child so the effects of medicine werent as huge as they are now. it is very obvious it works now.
Yeah, I got lucky first try I guess, with zyprexa, but then unlucky later when I got generic zyprexa. Everyone at the pharmacy saying it was the same thing, I didn’t connect the dots that it was causing severe insomnia at the time.
So lesson learned, generic meds are not the same thing as original med. That’s like saying that the Volvo 240 and Volvo 740 are the same thing, but no. They are both cars from the same distributor, similar, but not exactly the same. I could draw a million analogies, but this was the first one I thought of.
I was fortunate enough the second med I tried did the trick, so less than a year. The med was abilify btw, seems like that’s good drug for a lot of people, besides my problem of weight gain
I guess I’m on the lucky side. It only took me 6 months.
Quite a list.
I tried Abilify but it started to slowly diminish over time. Went from 10 to 20 to 30 within 2 years with a total failure to work after. Was a good 2 years mind! I tried Risperidone but it gave me mental heart palps, like electricity jolting my legs and chest. So stopped that after a few months. I tried Haloperidol with great success at a low dose but the pDoc insisted on higher dosing despite the history of progressive resistance. After 10mg it triggered my cluster headache, though 2mg kept me level headed and my temper in great check. I actually felt baked, in a good way. They failed me there by “trial and error”.
Amisulpride from 2019 has worked great til recent times. It just seems that all meds stop working for me, though Amisulpride has lasted 5 years.
I used to be 100% sure that brand vs generic made no difference at all.
I found that branded Solian gave me awful negative symptoms and grogginess. Generic, no bad sides. And I experimented to see for sure. Its strange isnt it?
I was on invega pretty much exclusively for fourteen years. I had about the same luck with every med until I tried perphenazine two years ago. No voices and ideas of reference and thought broadcasting are under control.
I think I’ve done 5 meds now. I See the doctor in early August he’ll probably put me on the sixth med. I have good days and bad days. The bad days I just push harder. So everyday to the outside observer, I look the same, but some days are more of a battle. I’m outta my mind about partly through the week. Those good days tho. They nice playa.