Anybody here on Invega? Curious to know what your side effects have been? How long it took to adjust to it? If something worked better for you than Invega? I’m currently on 4.5mg a day, every evening. Started out on 9mg. My side effects have been major weight gain (40 pounds in 9 months!!!) no sex drive and the rest of my side effects my therapists can’t differentiate between being the meds or the schizophrenia… So if anyone has experience on this it would be appreciated. THANK YOU
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Being on invega and sitting at the computer all day will make you gain weight overnight
You’ve got to be constantly moving on it
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I’m on 12mg invega and I’ve gained about 10kg. No sex drive. But other than those two things I’m fine with it. I prefer it to the various other drugs I’ve tried.
Oh and my index finger on my left hand is always pointing/outstretched.
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I mean, I’ve been walking 45 minutes to an hour a day, 5-6 days a week on the treadmill. Apparently need to do more than walk.
Hmm. Good to know! So it might just be a keeper.
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Constantly while working out hold your body
Tight
Even while sitting
Compress
When you get up from sitting create muscles that pull you up
Don’t go light on yourself
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I didn’t know it came in a pill form. Ive been on invega for about 8 months. they gave me a shot in the bum. It was initially every month then they changed it to once every three months. I haven’t experienced any episodes or anything since. So I guess its a good drug. The side effects are a bummer though. I gained about 40 pounds in like six months. I’m like 170 now. I exercise daily but what it does is it raises your fasting insulin levels. So you got to combat it by cutting sugar out of your diet and going on a diabetic friendly diet, lil to no carbs… Also difficulty keeping it up during sex and it kills your sex drive. But I ve been having irregular heart beat started about two months ago, not sure if its from smoking cigarettes or a combo of the two. So I asked my doc to lower the dose. He said no, I said I’m not taking the shot unless he lowers the dose. Now I need to find a new doc since I went against medical advise and he said he wouldn’t treat me anymore. I’m a little freaked out cuz I think you have to ween off of it. do you know if you can stop it upright or if you have to taper off?
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Yeah it comes in pill form, they were like “either take this pill or we’re forcing you down and giving you a shot” lol def didn’t want the shot. Been on it for 9 months. No episodes here either. But man… Shoulda known I’d have to diet for reals. I love my carbs though!! And wow, is this your therapist? Your primary doctor? Do you have a prescriber? That’s who lowered my doses. But damn… I honestly think you need to taper off or you could have another break I think (or that’s what ive heard). How long has it been since you’ve had an injection?
ha yeah I chose the hard way, it took haldo and 7 guys to hold me down. I’m personally still trying to accept this diagnosis. I think its just anxiety and fear. It all started when I got got really big into religion and started reading and analyzing the bible in great depths. read every page cover to cover at least once. I started seeing ghosts and stuff ever since I was a little kid but it started happening almost every day. And my preoccupation with it started to convolute my cognition. I just kept telling myself to pretend was on a psychadellic and I’m having a bad trip and I learned to ignore and filter it. I’m also really big into science so that logic seemed to help.
Ive never been to a therapist and always took the mentaility that one just needs to handle their ish, But I figured statistically I would need to establish some kind of support in the instance that I would become overwhelmed again so I joinded this forum. I also went home that day and wrote a detailed letter to my future self on how to cope and what to do in the case that I would ever get confused in my thinking again.
But the drug is effective as it kind of numbes out the dopamine receptors and that also effects the serotonin receptors so it kind of makes sense. The last injection was a little more than three months ago.
If you want to proactively manage your weight gain I may be able to help you out. I did drop out of med school but I do have a degree in nutrition so I can help you est a baseline etc. my immediate advice to you would be to remove simple carbohydrates from your diet and since you love carbs try to consume more complex carbs. They tend to have higher levels of insoluable and soluable fiber which help with regulating metabolism and maintaining normal fluctuations of sugar levels in the blood. You can also supplement with a fiber drink and vitamins if you don’t like vegetables. But really its all about simple changes like swapping soda with Perrier or dates instead of m&m’s
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There should never be a reason you get a second diagnosis
An eating disorder
I eat what I like when I want
@Daze what do you mean?
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I can see you chose the hard way lol. How do you not see a therapist or psychiatrist? When I was released from the hospital they had me continue to see a therapist. I def reccommend you do because then you can get your meds figured out. Cause it sounds like you didn’t have the best doctor. Thanks for the advice, aye… Definitely don’t wanna go on a hardcore diet😩 but…
They suggested a therapist but I don’t like to talk about this kind of stuff so I never went to one. I had a psychiatrist but it was a fifteen minute consultation once every three months. So I just tried to make more friends and forced myself to go out more. Yeah diets are no fun but the older you get the more important your health becomes, or so Ive found
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I mean I don’t enjoy talking to my therapist either but if you had one you might have someone actually listen to you about lowering your meds. But yes I am learning health is important
I feel you, going to the gym and doing weights feels like nothing’s happening (which before this all happened there was a burn). I have also lost my confidence and have poor cognitive function but I think that’s from the schizophrenia?
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possibly, could be a number of factors. exercise has been proven to boost cognition. I would recommend a min of 30min of cardio before lifting weights
i have been using this drug since 2 years.i had been used 150mg 100mg 75mg and now i will take 50 mg this month.since two year i ve got 20kg.i m not sure is it better than leponex about gain weight.i used to 115kg on leponex now i m 110kg on this drug.but i think its my fault to gain weights because this drug don t cause any craving food.in fact i m not hungry at all.so.its depend on you.i don t have any sex drive on normal conditions but if i pursuit my self i can sex without problem.after my dosage decreased from 100 to 75mg some of my libido turn back but it s not enough for me.for negative symptoms i have energy to go work do my hygiene take tour with my bicycle and thats all.it does not have any sedation in fact it can cause insomnia.it has less likely cause diabetes than xyprexa but you at risk.result its slightly better than other drugs but you shouldn t expect miracles on this drug.
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Hi I4CU ! I am on invega paliperidone and as side effects my head hurts sometime, i have nightmares and i feel tired all the day because i take invega when i wake up in the morning. My psychiatrist said to take this med on morning. I take pills, 3mg but my pdoc said she will increase at 6 mg a day.
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Hi @oneway88 hmmm… I wonder why they have you take it in the morning? I take mine in the evening. Maybe ask them about it? Maybe won’t be as tired. I also have been having crazy dreams. Don’t know if that’s meds…