I have a bunch of movement stuff after being on an older antipsychotic for like 45 years. The nurse wants to try Amantadine.
Scary.
J.
Amantadine huh? Whats that gonna do?
I’ll suggest not to worry; the sfx profile is relatively benign. It’s a “better” version of Cogentin benzotropine for some people.
I was on prolixen for about 28 years. Then a doctor I had took me off it and put me on Resperidone to avoid the chance of getting TD.
Medication changes aren’t always bad Jayster. When you get on the new med, ask the people around you to tell you if they see any big difference in behavior or if they see any big changes in you that might alert you that you need some kind of medication adjustment.
I take it you’re not having TD with Risp. I’m glad to hear that, 'cause the stuff made me TD up in hurry.
I’ve been on it for at least 10 years. No TD.
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I envy you. Risp kicked my screwy thinking in the ass, but the sfx were wretched.
I found Amantadine awful, but Cogentin was effective for the most part. Trial and error of course. I wonder what they expect though after so long. After my first movement symptoms began I could not have been medicated at all without Cogentin.
The side effects will be an adjustment, the drying out is the hardest to get used to.
I agree; Cogentin was massively anti-cholinergic for me.
BTW, I found that at least some of my TD was due to a calcium deficiency due to sweating too much and then drinking too much fluid, knocking my electrolytes out of balance. I use TUMS or Rolaids now… and they work. I won’t guarantee they will work for everyone else, of course.
It’s so nuts to have to think of everything that knocks ■■■■out of balance. I had severe headaches when I got off meds last fall - now that I think about it, it will be a year in about a week, whoa. Never had such bad headaches ever. Vitamin D was tested with a few other things. It’s always low when I don’t take supplements, so I started back on them. Within 12-24 hours the headaches were at maybe 10% of what they’d been.
I’ve taken Cogentin everyday since August of 2000. The dry mouth is rough, but I’m used to it/use Biotene which helps a bit. I’m waiting to hear results of blood work I had done last week at a different place they sent me to for a more in depth neuro consult. Start with a new psych (2 I think?) in a week. Both are part of the system my PCP is in. I saw the new guy once last week (psych consult-long story) and I like him enough. He thinks a lot of things have been overlooked. He isn’t sure (but told me he is just speculating, having just met me) that there is schiz involved as much as some other things. This is the hard part for me. In remission it’s hard to explain this to new docs. The therapist I have seen since age 17 agrees there is no question. The battle continues I suppose. More Gabapentin is good though, just doubting I will ever get a real idea of how to manage anything and have a life in addition.
Can you do stretching maybe. The physical therapy people may be able to help. I hope meds change gets rid of parkinsons stuff if you had trouble with tardek disconesia.(sp?)