Is clozapine worth it…any success stories out there
or of not what was your experience
Every medicine is different for everyone, really, you can’t tell how it’ll affect you until you actually take it.
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I’m sure others will write about their own experiences here too,
But, Clozapine is generally recognized by the the psychiatry profession / researchers as the “best” antipsychotic medication. If it works for you - you’ll likely do well.
The downside are the regular blood tests (that decrease over time).
"Clozapine has a number of characteristics that make it unique. It appears to be more effective than conventional antipsychotics for schizophrenia patients who are severely psychotic and poorly responsive to the mechanism of action of conventional antipsychotic drugs. This finding was demonstrated in a convincing manner in the multicenter study[2] that led to clozapine’s approval in the US for refractory patients."
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Hi szadmin,…maybe you could tell me, if clozapine is such a wonder drug, how come it hasn’t been replicated or improved upon in the last 40 years. You know I believe clozapine is around since the 70’s…but surely other pharmaceutical companies would have developed the drug further. Apparently clozapine is barking up the right tree (in so far as finding a cure), surely in the last 40 yrs, further improvements could be made
im on clozapine and it stopped my voices straight away.for that I am very grateful to the men/women who created it.blood tests are a bit annoying but its a small price to pay.
From what I have heard most people gain hell of a lot of weight, even wet the bed at night and have to wear a nappy. Drool also. It would be better to be insane if you suffer all three.
I’ve been on clozapine for probably about 2-3 years maybe more. It really knocks you out at night so its great for fixing your sleep patterns. I was taking it once in the morning and once at night but I got so sick of feeling drowsy in the morning so my doctor changed the schedule to night only.
It helped me hear less voices in the daytime before evening and late at night. But around the early evening like 5-6pm the voices would always increase.
It wasn’t until my doctor combined fluvoxamine that the voices throughout the entire day were quieter. I was so hesitant to try fluvoxamine but super pleased with the results.
I haven’t gained a significant amount of weight while on it. As a fix for drooling at night I use atrovent. Yeah blood tests are pretty annoying but I got kinda used to it.
Hope that helps!
Yes; because it seems to “work” – as a major tranquilizer – pretty much regardless of specific genetics. That said, the price of the sfx is usually pretty “stiff.”
It has. Virtually everything else on the atypical Rx list is a reformulation / adaptation of Cloz aimed at trying to do what it does with less sfx. But sfx are specific to each pt’s genetics and epigentics (see Epigenetics - Wikipedia). That is why the rest of the atypical APs work for some pts and not for others… as well as work for a while and then “quit.”
I had a kind of unique reaction to it. Clozapine totally destroyed my sense of balance. I could barely stand up, and I was in serious danger of doing a nose dive into the carpet. They quickly took me off it.
I take clozapine at night 475mg. I believe it helps me sleep. And i did not gain a significant amount on it. I lost five pounds on and off.
I’m a clozapine advocate. I never responded well to other anti-psychotic medications until I was put on clozapine 3 years ago. Weight gain isn’t as bad as other ap meds I was one (risperadal, zyprexa). Drooling, sedation, and the blood work are the main side effects that you have to watch out for.
Especially the blood work. You have to do it weekly(or whatever schedule they have you on) because you run the risk of your white blood cell count dropping and the blood work monitors that. If you don’t get the blood work on schedule they can even refuse to give you the medication at the pharmacy.
For symptoms it works especially well for positive symptoms. Voices, visuals, and delusions are greatly reduced. For negative symptoms though, at least for me, not so much.
Those are my 2 cents, hope that helps!