Going to try vraylar and would like to know what you think if you’ve taken it.
Similar to Abilify. It is a partial dopamine agonist.
What does partial dopamine agonist mean?
The drug binds to dopamine receptors and partially activates them. Unlike most antipsychotics which are full dopamine antagonists. They bind to dopamine receptors and block their effect 100%, stopping real dopamine from attaching to the receptor and activating it.
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Partial agonists are believed to be effective for negative symptoms, which seems to be caused by lack of dopamine in the prefrontal cortex, so partial agonists hopefully increase the dopaminegic activity there. Vraylar has the highest affinity to D3 receptors, which are believed to be related to negative symptoms.
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It causes a little anxiety in the beginning, but I have more energy and less negative symptoms compared to other medications. It helps with positive symptoms too. I still gain weight though. I haven’t lost any. Last, it is expensive. Most people cannot afford it without insurance and it’s probably only available in US right now.
I’ve been on respirdal abilify and now vraylar. Respirdal made me eat like a pig and lactate which was gross. Abilify was much better I only gained ten pounds on abilify and then later lost twenty pounds while on abilify which was hard but I did it. Abilify made me wired and for like five years I had to take a sleeping pill every night to get any sleep. I also felt like I was having trouble emptying my bladder which was kind of aching everyday. I got so sick of not being able to ever feel rested or like I could fully pee. On vraylar I still feel hungry and to be honest at first I lost like five pounds and then later stopped counting calories and gained ten pounds. I’m working on losing weight again and counting calories. But now I don’t need to take a sleeping pill anymore so now I feel rested and don’t have to spend as much time in bed either and I feel like I can pee again. Compared to the other two I have like almost no side effects