I’m trying to decide if I should try asenapine (Saphris)

My pdoc said I could try it if I want so I’m not on Haldol for too long. But user reviews online are either really positive or really negative.

One person said after their first dose their heart stopped, but they were at school and her friend got her help fast enough that she survived. That freaks me out.

I just had a heart arrhythmia from the Covid antiviral so I know how scary it can be.

I’m also concerned about the other side effects. I just know it’s not good to be on Haldol long term and I’ve been on it for a few years already.

Any thoughts? Opinions? Experiences?

Looking up user reviews is kind of an unfair way to judge a drug.

It’s only people who have had high success or almost died.

You don’t know what their situation is, what their diagnosis is, or what other medications they’re on.

Even if they took it properly.

That said, I do it myself.

It’s not good for us.

You should talk to your pdoc about concerns and start with a small dose if you can.

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Very true @Charles_Foster . It’s either great or horrible on user reviews. I emailed my dr and she told me her patients on it did not gain weight, but she didn’t tell me about other common issues. I guess I’ll email her again

Ultimately you won’t know until you’ve tried it. It’s been good for me, and I’m medically complicated on a truck load of meds with multiple health conditions.

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I love Saphris. It really gave me a clear head and control over my thoughts. I slept pretty good, but I don’t need as much sleep as the average bear. And the time between taking it and falling asleep was just so relaxing, I really looked forward to it.

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Oh, I guess I should mention I was on 20 mg and my pdoc allowed me to take it all at night so I wouldn’t have morning drowsiness.

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I had really good success on it, though it did spike my anxiety for the first week.
The only real problem I had with it was that even though I lost weight on it, I felt hungry all the time.
Not just “I could go for a bite to eat”
More like dizzy, thirsty, ravenous, desperate for food, hating everything and everyone who caused delays between me and my next meal.

@Pikasaur , that’s awful!!! I’ve decided to try it but if I notice an increase in appetite I’ll have to quit using it. My husbands plan is to help me notice if I have the feeling on being insatiable. What are you on now @Pikasaur ? How much weight did you gain on asenapine? Over how much time?

I feel like this post should be pinned at the top of this forum section.

@ZmaGal TD incidence increases with length of usage Hdol being a major culprit of TD. From my personal experience with Hdol I say give it a go.

Individual response is everything, it probably can’t hurt so much as to try as there is for a potential upside. Saphris has got to be the lesser of the two evils. This is the same line logic I followed when weighing up taking the Covid vaccine. Risks vs benefits, obviously your doctor wouldn’t suggest it if they didn’t feel the risks out weighted the benefits for you. Also due to the risks involved they have to leave it in your hands to my the ultimate decision. But by 2 cents is to trust the doctors information, intuition and decision making process. It’s pretty normal to feel uneasy about med changes.

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Actually, I lost weight on asenapine. I think the feeling of starvation was partially due to my metabolism increasing.

Now I’m on olansapine, and my weight is gaining again even though I’m not as hungry.
It’s a great med otherwise.

Asenapine was really goos for both positive and negative symptoms as well as mood stabilization. I only went off it cause it was out of stock

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the advantage of saphris is that’s it gone generic in the states but it’s ranked as a loads weaker antipsychotics than eg. Haldol or qutiapine. Here in Europe Sycrest is mostly used in bipolar disorder or depression. But Sycrest is known for it’s gentle side effects profile.

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@LilyoftheValley, you have site “Ask a patient”, you can look up expirences of people tried it, and reviews …

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Thanks for the suggestions @columbus @anon82938303

Im interested in this med too. But i just found out, its not used for sz in the uk. Which means i have to ask for latuda/lurasidone

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Is it just for bipolar disorder?

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Take it easy Zm I can tell you that saphris is for Scizophrenia and Bipolsr in the U.S.A. while it’s only approved for Bipolar in Europa.
The company compared Saphris to Zyprexa in Schizophrenia and found to advantages for Saphris compared to Zyprexa in Schizophrena. Zyprexa had more weight gain compared to Saphris that had more movementproblems compared to Zyprexa.

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Bipolar manic apparently

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