I have only played around with medication changes very very briefly. I was initially put on Invega pills and only switched to fluphenazine ( I think ) for a day and I got terrible involuntary twitches that were painful.
I didn’t really want to try switching again after that due to how bad an experience that was but I was given an injection of Zyprexa when I was psychotic and I didn’t mind the feeling of that from what I remember. That was just one injection though and I haven’t tried it orally.
I am currently on Invega and Abilify and I only wanted put on the Abilify because I wanted to be double sure I wouldn’t get psychotic again. It’s probably overkill but with Abilify added I don’t have to worry about prolactin at least theoretically.
I have been having issues with suicidal thoughts but I know I won’t act on them and am able to move beyond such thoughts. I can’t narrow down what medication I am on that causes the thoughts or even if it is medication related, I suspect it’s due to the absence of dopamine from Invega and Abilify though.
I have been waiting for lumateperone to be approved so I can try an antipsychotic that doesn’t interfere with dopamine but after talking to my sister about how I felt I thought maybe she was right that I could be on a different med and respond better.
So what has your experience been in switching meds? Elaborate as much as you need I want to see many views on this.
I switched from seroquel which nearly killed me to abilify. The doctor cross tapered me. Increasing abilify and decreasing seroquel over a period of about 2 months. I’ve been on abilify only for 5 years now.
I’ve had both good and bad experiences with switching meds. One made my blood pressure so low that I couldn’t get up. I only took it for 2 days (Fanapt). Another one made me so spacy and forgetful that I didn’t know where I was (Risperidone).
Latuda was pretty good to me, but not good enough. It also caused relentless akathesia. I switched to Vraylar, which is what I’m on now. Vraylar has been a life saver for me. I’m glad I switched. It helps the most for me, so far, with minimal side effects.
I’ve only done it once, and it was kind of iffy, went from risperidone to latuda. I swear I felts like the risperidone was leaving my body faster than the latuda caught up, took me a few months with some hiccups.
Olanzapine I had horrible withdrawals but I came off that cold turkey. I went onto Abilify which didn’t work so I ended up in hospital. I then got discharged on Latuda, and 18 months later got akasthsia. I then went onto Hakdol, which made me full of movement problems. Then tried Abilify again and it made me so aggressive I got hospitalised again. Since I have been on Amisulpride and seems to work well.
It’s hard switching meds, but worth the effort once you find the one that works for you.
i noticed everytime i switched meds i got horrible withdrawal but i switched from olanzapine to invega last month and it has been mostly good i guess they work close enough so that its not like a complete change
I switched from risperidone to abilify this past month. Just feel really restless and my dreams have gotten weird. Hungry feeling all the time and i keep wanting to get up and go do something, anything really.