I take 10 milligrams of aripiprazole nightly. The medication works best for me in that I am not as sedated compared to other medications I have tried. While occasionally I do have symptoms, those are rare. Maybe once about every 6 weeks or so. I am no longer gaining weight while on this medication. The side effects seem to be much less debilitating than some I experienced with other treatment options. I hope that helps answer what makes it right for me. Is it perfect? No, I have reacted better to it than say, injection forms of medications.
Perhaps the most difficult side effect would be weight gain, apart from gynecomastia which outright made me refuse to take medications in the beginning. With abilify, I don’t notice any further growth however my obesity has affected that aspect as well. Other difficult side effects have been muscle spasms or twitching. I still have a some restlessness in my right leg. Most of the time I feel the need to move it. The twitches were fairly bad, that was more prevalent on Risperdal. I’d get twitches near my eyes and neck movement. It made me ashamed to go out as it was visually obvious something was wrong with me. I’ve dealt with feeling lethargic and sedated to having bouts of insomnia. Not the kind where after I wake up I find it difficult to sleep, but rather the kind where I find it difficult to sleep in the first place. (If that makes it easier for you to describe should you write about it. ) Haldol slowed my mind down tremendously. At first I was placed on a high dose. My acting psychiatrist at the time ended up reducing the amount he’d give me after about 4 weeks. I have to admit he was one of the better psychiatrists I have had attend me. I could elaborate on that further if you’d like. As for the side effects changing my priorities and goals, they sure did. I do believe it is almost self explanatory at this point though i’ll state it again, I became ashamed to be seen in public because of tremors, signs of gynecomastia, and obesity. That changed my goals from what they were before the illness became apparent.
Early on, I had a job, went to college, was in a relationship, even played music in a locally successful trio. There were many friends I had, always something to do. I’d say I was a normal productive young adult before the illness. After the initial diagnosis, everything began to go downhill. First, I left the job as I was incredibly sedated the first 4 weeks. Literally, I was on the couch 20 hours a day possibly more, just laying there sleeping, even to the point of drooling. I recall some friends would visit and they’d have this sad look on their face, worried about what was becoming of me. They would try to be as kind and supportive as possible. Then, I returned to college with a doctor’s note. I was very behind. It led to me dropping out. The rest all slowly went down the drain too. After all that, my goals changed significantly. Instead of trying to improve myself, I was simply trying to become stable to the point where I felt I might be able to do at least one of those things.
I do not take any prescriptions or over the counter medications for any health problems other than schizoaffective disorder. (Initially I was diagnosed with schizophrenia paranoia, which I feel is more accurate, my current psychiatrist has only ever really seen me stable for the most part.)
Experiences with medications…
Haldol I took for about 6 months or so, at this point I do not remember the dose except that my psychiatrist thought it was too high for me. It was in injection form. Proved to be much too sedating. One of the worst periods of my life. That can also be attributed to suffering from the illness in it’s early years. According to some articles i’ve read, the first 10 years are often the most difficult, to the point where sufferers are more likely to commit suicide in the first 10 years after initial diagnosis. Haldol does work for some people so I cannot outright say it is a bad treatment. If anything, it did take away many of the symptoms.
Next came risperdal in a tablet that dissolved under the tongue. If I recall correctly, it was referred to as risperdal m-tab. At the time, I was incredibly paranoid. Having moved back in with my parents, they tried to give me a soda that contained the medication. That did not help my paranoia one bit. Of course they were worried and wanted to make sure I would take the treatment. By then I had become hesitant to take any medication for schizophrenia as I had reacted so negatively to haldol. Due to the paranoia, I opted for the injection form of risperdal. I remember stating to the psychiatrist that I’d rather take the injection so that way they knew they were “raping my soul”. (My apologies if that is triggering for some of my fellow sufferers.) I ended up only taking the tablet for maybe some 3 weeks or so. That one clearly did not help every symptom. Risperdal Consta (the injection form) however, did.
Risperdal consta I would say was the third best medication for me. The main problem was gynecomastia and this burning sensation i’d feel coursing through my body after being injected. On that one I actually did have a bit of time in which I got out and started trying to play sports (soccer) again. I found it difficult to run for over 45 minutes like I did before. I still was able to, just felt slower, my reflexes were off. The first time I switched from that medication was because I moved to a city. It was an entirely different county about 300 to 350 miles away. I still live in this city. It was were I had lived before I moved in with my parents.
I was only administered Thorazine twice or so during my first episode of psychosis before I was formally diagnosed. I had an allergic reaction to it. It numbs my tongue and I cannot speak clearly. The feeling was horrible and being my first experience with psychiatry, it did not help my willingness to seek treatment. Now whenever i’m asked what medications i’m allergic to, I have to be sure to mention thorazine.
Prolixin was next, on that one, I was okay. Not so bad, not great, just okay. I must have been on prolixin for possibly 9 months or so. Gynecomastia became a bit of a problem. The main reason why I got off it was because prolixin left me twitchy. Luckily, it did not become permanent. I also still experienced some amounts of psychosis meaning I was out of touch with reality. Keep that in mind when you become a big shot. Psychosis doesn’t always mean becoming angry or physically violent.
I’m getting a little sleepy right now. I have to apologize for being a little later than I mentioned. My laptop delivery was rescheduled. It arrived today and that made typing this out far easier. I will continue tomorrow with the other medications I’ve taken and any further questions or details you’d like me to share. Hopefully that helps you.