Hello. I’m new to the forum here. I was diagnosed a few months ago, and my doctor is switching me from Risperdal to Abilify. I was comfortable on Risperdal, but was experiencing a lot of restlessness and anxiety, hence the switch. I wanted to ask the people on this forum who have been switched on medications what they think of changes. I am afraid of new medications, and I’m overwhelmed by everything happening since being diagnosed. What did you do to feel more comfortable and less afraid?
for me it’s always been a bit scary switching up the meds…
The possibility of side effects… the possibility of it not working as well as what I was on…
What if it changes me too fast… makes me too numb…
It’s scary.
But then there are times that it works out great and the new med is a stoke of luck that quiets the head circus and helps you get your life back.
It’s perfectly natural to be afraid of a med change.
What helps me now is getting a safety net (care team/ family) on my side just before the med change so if it doesn’t work out… I will have some help getting back on track.
Talk to the doc about specific concerns… Also know that if it goes wrong… you can work with your doc to get back on a med that works for you and try something else later.
I started on Risperdal and have been on Olanzapine for the past 10 years or so. I had one med change somewhere in the middle and it sent me to the hospital. Not meant to scare you, but if you find a med that works, I encourage you to stick with it. And welcome!
It’s a bcomplex with only 100% rda of everything. I tried a ‘super’ bcomplex (with more than 100 rda) and it seemed to interact with abilify to give me chest tightness.
All this because I suffer from restlessness and anxiety on abilify.
I’ve survived with having paranoid schizophrenia for thirty-five years. So can you. I have switched medications four or five times. It’s natural to feel a little fear about switching meds because you (or your doctor) cannot predict for sure how you will react to a new med. Being put on various meds is not an exact science, there’s almost no way to predict if a certain med will work for sure for you. But you should be alright if your doctor monitors you to see how your doing on the new med. You just have to be careful because there’s always that chance that you may have a bad reaction to the new drug. I’m sorry if I’m contradicting myself but this is basically true.
I’ve switched meds several times, and been on risperidone three times and various other meds in between those and after. When ever the doctor discusses changing meds or changing doses I ask the doctor questions about why they want to change it to the med specifically.
its not easy, i just followed my doctors instructions until i was stable on a med i was happy with but i was always feeding back to my nurse etc about what was going on, i switched at first to abilify but it didnt go well so we tried another med and its been great the last 5 years.
Of course it is alright to be afraid of new meds. With the amount of side effects it is not only justified, but should be encouraged so that you observe which ones will help you the most with the least amount of side effects. I have been on so many different ones and it wasn’t until I finally got on Invega that my positive symptoms got under control except when I was on Clozaril which was great but the side effects were so bad I wouldn’t wish them on my worst enemy. Being scared is a natural instinct to protect us. It makes us think outside of the box to help ourselves. Being scared is justified, but don’t let that stop you from finding the best meds to help you deal with the symptoms of sz.