Right now I’m on 4 MG of risperidone, and I’m really depressed and needy all the time. I’ve gotten over a hump of depression side effects but it’s not really good enough, I still come home crying sometimes to my wife. She has also started to notice manboobs beginning to grow.
My problem is that I’ve tried abilify and seroquel before and they did nothing for my voices. I’m deathly afraid to hear them again. If you were me would you try geodon or will it just be more of the same? Or worse, will I go psychotic and lose my job, then just have more emotional scars to show from it?
It’s something you need to discuss with your pdoc and see for yourself. It’s very hard to give opinions since everyone reacts differently to antipsychotics.
Geodon is similar to Risperidone, (notice they both end in -idone). If risperidone helped then I think ziprasidone (Geodon) should be a good option. One advantage of Geodon is that you will not gain weight. When I was on it I had issues with tremors, this might be a deal breaker for you. Geodon is also a weaker antipsychotic than Risperidone, so you might have breakthrough symptoms or you might have to take a high dose. Geodon is mildly sedating, if you work a strict schedule you might suffer from daytime drowsiness. You will have to eat with Geodon, this might also be inconvenient, it is the same with Latuda.
I switched from risperidone to geodon because it made me throw up and gain weight. Geodon doesn’t work quite as well, but it’s good enough. I still hear some voices, but not the scary ones. I lost all of my risperidone weight and I don’t throw up anymore.
I take Geodon once a day at night and it has been effective with stopping my delusions and the worst of the voices, although I still talk to people who are not in the room sometimes. I haven’t gained any weight on Geodon which is good because Seroquel and Zyprexa nearly killed me, causing explosive weight gain, metabolic syndrome, Type II Diabetes, and a mild myocardial infarction (heart attack). I now have four stents in my heart as the result of these medications. In my opinion these two drugs in particular, Seroquel and Zyprexa are very dangerous and ought to be pulled from the market.
After I was taken off Seroquel, I lost nearly 100 pounds, and no longer needed medication for Diabetes. But I still suffer from nerve damage caused by Diabetes due to Zyprexa and Seroquel usage in high doses over a long period of time. Geodon is by comparison, a safe drug, and it is effective for me. I find that medications are a crap shoot. Once you find one that works you tend to stick with it. It was a big mistake to stay with Seoquel for as long as I did.
Did you hear less voices on risperidone? I’m starting to wonder if I should just stay on it. I’ve never learned to cope with voices even though I was hearing them for awhile. I almost got fired from my job when I relapsed. Since you still hear voices do you get disability? Thanks for the reply.
Thank you for telling me geodon is less effective at clearing psychosis than risperidone. I’ve been getting voices here and there so I’m really afraid to go on a less effective dose.
I don’t get disability. I am currently volunteering and going to school, but I could work if I needed to. I definitely heard less on risperidone, but I like geodon much better. Then again, every brain is different. Maybe Geodon would be more effective for you.
I’m on Geodon right now. It does wonders to control my anxiety and paranoia, but doesn’t help much with my hallucinations as I have them every day still. I’ve learned to cope though and am hoping to get off of anti psychotics soon
From what I’ve read geodon is actually an analog of risperidone so it might be a good decision to try it if risperidone has worked for you. Geodon has a higher risk for eps than many other antipsychotics so keep that in mind.
