Well, I had to go into the hospital for 4 days…my QTc was 521 (normal is under 460) and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. They totally discontinued my Vraylar and reduced my clozapine from 150 mg to 100 mg. So far I haven’t experienced any negative effects but I’m scared that once the Vraylar gets out of my system that I am going to experience a relapse. I’m not sure what the half life of Vraylar and clozapine are.
My EKG was good enough yesterday to get discharged but I’m terrified of a relapse…last time I went down to 100 of clozapine I got manic and did some inappropriate things. I feel kind of lost right now and wish they would’ve admitted me to the psych ward just to monitor how well I’ll tolerate the med changes…
What do y’all think? I’d be happy for some advice on how to cope…
I had to reduce my clozapine because of tachycardia. I went from 200 mg to 25 mg and had insomnia for several months. At the same time they upped my Invega to 12 mg.
w raven I feel a great deal of sympathy for you because you’re treatment resistant just like me.
I just want to tell you that I’m in the process of slowly getting off of the Qutiapine with out a doctors permission.
Sometimes we think we cannot do on lower amounts of meds but then we try and succeed on a lower dose. Don’t let anybody tell you that it’s not doable.
I wish you the best on your road to recovery.
I don’t know what country you live in, but if it’s possible I think this is a good idea, it will also give you peace of mind on top of the fact that they will monitor you in a safe space.
Or… Do you have the crisis team in your country. Maybe more appropriate to just have that kind of service on your phone.
They come and check up on you daily if you feel in a bad mental state and bring you to the hospital if it gets unbearable. At least I know they do this in the uk.
I wish they had a good community treatment team here, but I live in Interior Alaska and resources like that are scarce. They DID schedule me an appointment with my therapist and doctor but they’re not until next week. Also, the clubhouse is closed today cuz it’s colder than -35 F. I’m just going to call some friends and even tho they’re closed, the clubhouse staff said I can call them if I have an emergency (which I’m grateful for since I don’t want to do another ambulance ride).
When I see my pdoc next week I’ll discuss my medication options…
In the past when I lowered my clozaril below 200 I started relapsing. The psychosis, paranoia, and mania come back fast. I think if it were me I would like to be in an environment where they can get your meds figured out and on the road to recovery, and you have access to a dr, nurses, and staff right available. I am sorry you are going through this. 200mg is the lowest I can go on Clozaril, and I am also on 10mg of Olanzapine.
What sucks is that the doctor in the hospital told me point blank that Vraylar and clozapine are the meds with the least chance to cause QTc prolongation…and there’s nothing left out there that I haven’t tried in the past. On a good note, tho, today my breathing has been much better…
You need to directly tell psych and cardiology to talk with each other about different options you have. Because they specialize, they often struggle to see the big picture. I have a lot of specialists and I’m always requesting them to consult. They do, usually.
Living in the boonies does not help. Medical care is difficult to find if it’s a special issue. Since covid though, everyone does zoom meetings, so they could consult with someone farther away electronically. Be well.
Ugh I’m supposed to get on Vraylar too
This is giving me second thoughts as I took have a bit of the QTc prolongation (just under 500) and some tachycardia
Hopefully I can titrate off clozapine and get on Vraylar or something
Are you on an SSRI too?
If you’re breathing is better already then whatever changes you made are working!
i had tachycardia with clozapine too. my QTc as of yesterday is 461 without meds but idk what it was with meds. its jsut one point over the normal range. i lost my T waves tho after taking abilify mixed with haldol and after 2 months off of them the T waves are still messed up along with a low amplitude reading.
yeah im in the US. the clinic did have other doctors but the one my dr thought about passing me to said she would never prescribe haldol because “its cruel” and i was on haldol at the time. its been like 20 months and no replacement.
I had QT prolongation as well, due to haldol. And I had to decrease meds as far as possible because the meds caused dvt/pe. I understand you’re scared. It can work out though.
Do they or do you have an idea on how to deal with psychotic symptoms in other ways? Did you ever have therapy or cbt?
I’m currently in therapy twice a month. Mostly we work on the self harm…I haven’t had serious psychosis in a long time, mostly just one voice that says my name and a while back when I wouldn’t eat cuz I thought I had been genetically modified.