Hello. I have been diagnosed with sz and on medicine for about 5 years now. I am currently taking Invega 3mg, and have been for four years. I like the medicine a lot. There are few side effects I notice from it and it controls my symptoms great. But this year it has become quite expensive through my insurance and I’m interested in finding a generic med that would be cheaper. Does anyone have experience or recommendations for other meds similar to invega? I of course will talk to my doctor about this, but I’m not going to see him for two months and I’m real curious about this all right now. The insurance mentioned the following three meds which would be very inexpensive for me to get: Olanzapine, Ziprasidone, and Quetiapine Fumarate. It’s been so long since I tried any of their brand name counterparts that I forget what they were like. Anybody have experience with Invega and one of the three generics I mentioned?
Thanks.
I have never taken Invega, but I am on Quetiapine Fumarate (Seroquel) and Risperdal. In the beginning Seroquel is tough because it makes you like a zombie and makes you gain weight (I’ve gained a lot of weight since being on meds). Your body gets used to it though and now I don’t feel any side effects from it.These meds have worked great for me along with the ECT. I haven’t had any symptoms and can finally get on with my life.Good luck with it. 
Thanks SunGirl. Does the weight gain stay? Or does that just happen at the beginning and you lose the weight after your body gets used to the medicine? Is the zombie thing you mention similar to being tired a lot, or do you mean it is hard to focus, because I need problem solving abilities for my job and lack of focus could be a problem.
edit: and about how long do you recall it taking your body to get used to the medicine?
This may help some other’s to step in.
Olanzapine = Zyprexa, Ozace
Ziprasidone = Geodon, Zeldox
For me the weight gain did stay on but I stopped exercising and didn’t care what I ate. It’s only now after years of taking it that I’m starting to work with a holistic nutritionist and be more mindful of what I’m eating but after four years of my illness I’m finally in the mindset to take care of myself. I take it at night so the zombie feeling, feeling tired and disassociated and having a hard time focusing and thinking, wore off by morning. Until your body gets used to it you will definitely sleep. I take 800mg, used to be 1200, and it took a couple of months after titrating the dose up to where I didn’t feel the effects. I know some people are sensitive to it and feel drunk during the day too. Everybody’s different. But for me it is a miracle drug, I didn’t respond to a lot of drugs so discomfort in the beginning was worth it.
i think invega is going generic this spring. it will still be expensive though. not sure if that will effect the cost right away or not.
Invega has a low income program for people that need the meds too but if you have insurance i don’t know if you would qualify. Just google invega.
http://www.jjpaf.org/eligibility/index.html
Here’s the link. I know you said you have insurance but it doesn’t hurt to call if you can’t afford your meds. 
Risperdal is similiar to invega and has been generic for a few years. for 1 mg at walmart it’s 100 bucks. Not sure what the average dose is for someone and of course that is all relative to each person.
Thanks for the replies! I am definitely going to ask my pdoc about Invega possibly going generic.
I have previously been on Olanzapine for about a year. I gained a LOT of weight on it. I also developed metabolic syndrome on it.