Who has been on both (not together but tried both)? how did each one work for your symptoms? What side-effects did you experience?
Iām curious about Latuda.
I have been on Latuda and Abilify. Abilify stopped working unfortunately but didnāt have any akathisia for me ( different for many) Abilify felt like I was taking nothing at all. I ended up hospitalized. Had zero weight gain but maybe because it wasnāt working
Latuda on the other had gave me restlessness so bad I was pacing my roommates hous day in and day out couldnāt hold my legs still while I slept and unfortunately you had to eat 350 calories with it. I canāt remember if it was twice a day or once a day. I think it was more effective than risperdal though and had low weight gain.
I would probably take Latuda again despite the akathisa and restlessness. Risperdal is not working as well so I might just go back to Latuda soon. Latuda was like taking a āboot campā akathisia strength testing pill that if you were strong enough you could bare it just enough not to get diabetes
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Iāve only been on Abilify for just a week many many years ago, so I canāt conclude anything from it.
However Iāve been on Latuda for 3/4 years. Back then I switched from Zyprexa to Latuda while having a major breakdown. At first I was on 111mg (Latuda) and like @Travis_Dean says the akathisia and restlessness was really severe but it made my positive symptoms manageable within a week, at least, to the point I was able to both function and being psychotic at the same time. My pdoc and nurse couldnāt even tell I was severely psychotic because my communication skills was still functioning thanks to Latuda.
Anyway, after a week or two I still had severe akathisia and restlessness and I also felt quite aggressive/hypomanic. So I started messing around with the dosages of Mirtazapine. I decided to drop down from 45mg to 30mg and felt a little better, then I decided to drop down from 30mg to 15mg and the akathisia and aggressive/hypomanic state I was in got diminished, though, even still there, the restlessness bothered me but it became manageable to some degree.
Later Iāve dropped down the Mirtazapine to 7.5mg, I was doing well for a period, with doing well I mean my positive symptoms were under controle better than ever. Even though my negatives and depressive symptoms were still severe. On 111mg Latuda I also became compulsive, this caused me to gamble my monthly loan for more than a year. After I got so pissed about my gambling behavior I decided to drop down to 37mg Latuda and my compulsive behaviour became manageble and the restlessness got diminished.
In the end of 2016 I had a major breakdown again, just like before, despite my positive symptoms I was able to still function properly. However, I developed a (starting) sleeping disorder because of the psychotic break. I recalled that my sleep was fine on Zyprexa and Mirtazapine combo so I added those two in high dosages to the mix with 37mg Latuda. After a month or 2 my symptoms were fully under controle so I thought to drop both because I was sleeping too much and decided to stick to a low dose of Latuda. After I quit Zyprexa I noticed hallucinationās that seem to come from inside my mind returned. After adding 2.5mg Zyprexa to 37mg Latuda my positive symptoms were finally fully under controle.
Even though, this is the best combo Iām on to control positive symptoms my sleeping disorder is still there. Iāve tried approximately 10 different sleep aids but non of them helped. Even some causing extra side-effects like akathisia, restlessness, worsening of positive symptoms and even Tardive Dyskenisia.
Anyway, sorry for my rambling, I thought Iāll give you a proper feedback.
I still like Latuda a lot but unfortunately I have to come off of it because it has too many interactions with other meds and I really need to find a ācureā for my sleeping disorder (so far only Mirtazapine is able to give me proper sleep, and Latuda and Mirtazapine is just a no go). Here are some proās and conās it had on me.
Proās:
- Very potent antipsychotic for auditory hallucinations (especially hallucinationās that seem to come from outside the head)
- Itās antipsychotic effects starts within a week
- Effective against intrusive thoughts
- Effective against thought-disorders
- It can maintain/improve your communication skills
- Itās neutral on a low dose, activating on a high dose
- Does not cause anxiety, instead it lowers anxiety
- It can make you talkative
- Itās weight neutral
- You do not have to worry about Qtc prolongation
- If youāre lucky like me, you do not need to take it with a meal
- The chances of getting Tardive Dyskinesia is neglable compared to other antipsychotics
- It does have pro cognitive effects (not much though)
- Depending on your symptoms, adding a low dose of another antipsychotic could have a dual action
- Even on this low dosage 37mg and 2.5mg Zyprexa my positive symptoms are under control for 90%
Conās:
- Doesnāt do much for negatives or depressive symptoms
- It doesnāt do much for hallucinationās coming from inside the head
- Before giving up on it because of itās side-effects, you really have to take time to find the right dosage with minimal side-effects (for example to get through the akathisia, restlessness, aggression, compulsive behavior)
- It interacts with A LOT of other medications (Mirtazapine, Amytriptiline, Quetiapine, Trazodone to name a few that comes to my mind right now)
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Sugar pill for me. I was on like 180mg. I was also on Risperdal at the time.
Abilify was better for me.
Iāve been on Risperdal, Zyprexa and Latuda, with Latuda being the most and Risperdal the less effective.
I was hoping Cariprazine would be on the market by now but I have to wait until the end of October. I guess Iām going to give Abilify a chance until then.
Just a thought, maybe those two together aggravated your symptoms? Adding Quetiapine (25mg) to Latuda made me hallucinate. Adding a higher dosage than 5mg Zyprexa to Latuda aggravates my positive symptoms also. Itās a paradoxical effect but it can happen.
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I am at present on Abilify and Latuda combination. This is a good and effective combination for me. I had read somewhere that this combination is very popular in US. what do you say?
Never heard about it. At least not on this page. I think I will go for medium/high dose Abilify and if needed on a low dose of another ap.
I like this dual action formula.
One of my first meds was abilify. It caused some serious weight gain so I went off of it. Iām on Latuda now for 3 years. Itās a very good AP, I would recommend it. It has low weight gain and minimal side effects
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Itās really weird with Abilify, some swear they stay neutral and/or lose weight, other complain about a massive weight gain. Guess I need to find out.
I too like Latuda very much but unfortunately I have tried too many (sleep) drug that caused a severe interaction with it. Itās been 1.5 year that I suffer from a sleeping disorder. I even got a sleep study (polysonogram) done and all they could find is that my sleep/wake cycle is messed up. The only thing they offered me is talking with a sleep psychologist. That wonāt change anything. Sleeping disorders an schizophrenia go hand in hand.
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I donāt recommend it but Clonazepam can help with sleep. You can even try natural supplements to help;
Melatonin
Valerian Root
Niacin
Phenibut
Taurine
L Theanine
All help with sleep.
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Iāve walked down the road of natural sleep remedyās like melatonin, valerian root, niacin and l-theanine (phenibut I wonāt touch) with no success. Iām already taking Clonazepam, itās a potent anti-paranoia drug but doesnāt do anything for my sleep.
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I am on 30mg Abilify and 40mg Latuda. You mean to say that you had never heard about this combination?
No, never heard about it. How is it working out for youā¦ on your symptoms, side-effects etc.? Also, do you take other meds with it?
No side effects and it is working well for the symptoms. It is strange that you never heard about it. Are you from USA? I clearly remember reading in some psychiatric journal that the combination of Abilify and Latuda is very common in west. I donāt take any other anti psychotic other than these two.
Have you tried guided meditations for sleep on YouTube?
The only āsourceā are these kind of forums and I never encountered people on this combo. Who knows, maybe Iāll eventually get on this combo too. First things first, I first have too experience what Abilify on itself does for my symptoms. Iām from the Netherlands btw.
@Dre No, I havenāt and I donāt believe that Iāll benefit from it anyways. I think my sleeping disorder is more chemical related rather than psychological.