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"Best" as in being effective with fewer side effects. Which ones were the best for you? Which ones did you take? What condition(s) did you treat? What side effects did you get? How did the antipsychotics compare to "conventional" antidepressants? Can antipsychotics be an alternative to "conventional" antidepressants? What are the risks? What are the benefits? Do they make you a tomato with time? Psychiatrists prescribe them more often in recent times, it seems.

Hi guys! So, I've been complaining for a while now of Myoclonic Seizures which my doc tells me is most likely caused thanks to my antipsychotic regime, spanning Clozapine to Trifluoperazine. I get them worse at night, an hour or two after dosing. Why is that? Is it because I've just taken my meds? Or is it because it's at this point that my meds are on their lowest ebb, not having seeped back into my bloodstream yet? Help!

I was on Olanzapine for about one year and during that time I did excessive spending which may have caused lowering impulse control and consequently am now in bankruptcy. Have been off Olanzapine since December, 2018. In March went on Seroquel and experienced manic situations, where I was out of control (never had this happen to me before). I became excessively hostile towards a clerk in Walgreens, reduced my veterinarian to tears and alienated alot of my neighbors by my raging. We upped the Seroquel thinking I was having my first manic episode, it only made everything worse. Since coming off of Seroquel in last two weeks, I am now calm and the urge to act out aggressively is gone and I am mortally embarrassed about my behaviors. New psych doc now, former one retired. Started Reluxti two days ago at .5 mg. First day experienced some brain zaps and thinking it might have been due to the mixing of recently going off of Seroquel and introducing Reluxti. Today, no brain zaps. Taking Benadryl to help with insomnia as Rexulti may become stimulating. I know this is a very expensive drug and being on Medicare I do not qualify for any of the manufacturer's savings plans. My new psych doc believes he can keep me on his extra supplies forever or until they go generic. I am worried about being on this drug and loosing him as a psychiatrist and ending up with a co-pay of $400.00 a month and ending up in the Medicare Donut-hole very quickly. The trial pack he gave me has a 14 day supply. I recently did a gene study thru GenOMind. I am an ultra-rapid metabolizer and subject to many skin issues. When I first saw him, he became very frustrated with me and didn't believe me that I can't tolerate most of the behavioral meds out there but once he got the gene study, he then understood. The only drug he would suggest is Rexulti. I am in a quandary as to what to do about going on this very expensive medication with no way of paying for this and getting stuck on this drug should I loose my new psych doc and his many samples. Purple

First time poster here. I have bipolar 1, diagnosed last year after some horrible psychotic/manic episodes. I was put on lexapro which made me go insane and then put on zyprexa 10 mg which I abruptly stopped (I didnt get that you cant do that) which then again made me go crazy. Right now I am on Rexulti 1.5 mg and Seroquel 37.5 mg (I am tapering the Seroquel slowly to come off of it). I know these are low doses but I tend to be very sensitive to meds. The highest does of seroquel I was on was 300. I am not having any weird psychotic symptoms or manic feelings but am struggling with some depression. I am really unhappy with the weight gain from the antipsychotics. I have gained 10 lbs and from what I read all the APS will put weight on you. I also do not like how tired I feel. When I first started taking them I think the Rexulti was more activating, I actually felt jittery and seemed to be getting more stuff done, but now I just feel lazy and unmotivated. I was curious about trying Lamictal, and I was wondering if it would be possible to take that instead of the Rexulti. The only thing I worry about is I hear it impacts your cognition and I am starting school soon. Has anyone managed Bipolar 1 without a AP? Is it possible to just be on lamictal? I won't try antidepressents again after what happend with the lexapro.

Just an update based on my posts earlier during this year. I ultimately wound up remaining on the oral antipsychotic (Latuda 20mg) which I started taking after completing my 2nd probation term in this decade in January 2018 stemming from a January 2015 motor vehicle offense which ultimately slammed me with a 3rd degree felony (after already acquiring a misdemeanor for resisting arrest on foot in June 2012) related to having schizoaffective disorder and experiencing manic episodes and hallucinations. I was previously diagnosed with Bipolar 1 With Psychotic Features after the 1st incident I was involved in back in June 2012. My main issue the entire time I was serving both probation terms was that I was always court ordered by a judge to continue taking the antipsychotics by injection and to continue my psychological treatment. My primary concerns with the antipsychotic medication was always having intolerable akathisia (inability to sit still), tremendous amounts of weight gain (My height is 5'8 with a small to medium frame and my weight maxed out in January 2018 at almost 310lb after being around 155lb until after June 2012, severe gynecomastia (recently won Risperdal / Invega class-action lawsuit), anxiety, depression, and disorganized speech (currently seeing a speech pathologist to suppress language disorder). Following the completion of my 2nd probation term, I was initially placed on Latuda 40mg taken with food at night and then tested out Fanapt 6mg. I was still experiencing most of the side-effects and was still outright desperate to eliminate all of the symptoms I just mentioned. By the beginning of March 2018, I did ultimately try consulting with my psychiatrist about switching to a mood-stabilizer as monotherapy acting in place of an antipsychotic and accepted the risk that if I actually suffer from schizoaffective disorder and it wasn't Bipolar 1 With Psychotic Features that I would probably relapse and hallucinate again and I was even in agreement to keep a bottle of antipsychotics as a PRN and to just eat them like crazy if anything happened. I discussed everything with him (I never considered him to be a control freak) and he said that he would eventually be willing to try my suggestion but asked me if I had any other idea in mind that involved remaining on an antipsychotic for slightly longer. I suggested to him that I'd be willing to try taking the Latuda at 20mg instead of 40mg before switching to a completely different class of drugs. In retrospect, I'm not even completely certain if any of the oral antipsychotics including the higher dosage of Latuda or Fanapt were even that badly tolerated.. Now, I'm not condemning an entire class of drugs because I now support some of the low-dose oral antipsychotics for myself but I ultimately think that my former overall disgust and intolerance for the antipsychotics was because I was only ever taking them when I was either locked up in county jail and the overall quality of the drugs was really bad and primarily because the only time I was ever actually taking them was when I was taking court-ordered injections. That basically explains why my experience with the mental health system always sucked up to that point. I'm not trying to speak to highly of myself here but my psychiatrist has always said that he considers me to be one of his higher functioning patients, therefore the reason why he thinks I was always so vocal about all the underlying side effects from the injections and was more sensitive to them than the majority of his patients, even at 260, 280 or 310 pounds, my weight was never really a factor for me in terms of reacting to the meds with less sensitivity. It simply didn't matter what injection he would put me on. I was on so many of them including Invega, Aristada, and Invega and they always caused more damage than they did anything positive for me. I always felt like the compromises I had to make to not hallucinate and remain out of legal trouble were simply too much to take. The slow-release form of the injections was always too intense for me but I was honestly being completely forthright when I admitted that I didn't want another episode involving the boys in blue to occur ever again. At the time of my last post, my dosage was already reduced to 20mg and I was still complaining on a regular basis about everything I was still feeling but it wasn't until the end of March when the restless / walking on hot sand feeling finally began to subside. My overall appetite decreased enough to where I lost over 50 pounds by the beginning of the summer (since then the weight loss has stopped at around 260lb unfortunately but I have remained generally stable in terms of my weight). I won a class-action lawsuit against Risperdal / Invega in February and my weight became low enough where my plastic surgeon agreed to perform male-breast reduction surgery on me after denying me previously because I became so overweight / obese after I was released from county jail and the results were very successful without needing revision surgery thus far. My speech disorder did improve a little but unfortunately wasn't completely going away by the end of the summer. I still felt like I had something like aphasia where I couldn't think of common words or name common objects and the words wouldn't return to my mind until 10 or 20 minutes after the conversation took place. The speech pathologist I eventually saw for this referred me to the audiology department at my local hospital for Central Auditory Processing Testing and it was revealed that I do in fact have a language decoding disorder (my intuition was right all along) which is certainly aggravated by having schizoaffective disorder and maybe even still by the medication. I only become somewhat anxiety-ridden and become depressed right after I take the medication with some food, therefore I normally take it right before I go to sleep. By the time I wake up, I am no longer experiencing the anxiety and paranoia but I never become psychotic. Still, the most important thing is that I'm no longer experiencing any of that indescribable akathisia and thank god the weight gain reversed before I hit 350 and I no longer have to walk around with female-like breasts anymore. This is easily the most balanced I've felt since I developed the mental illness in the beginning of this decade. I'm not a morbidly obese zombie with female-like breasts pacing all day and night with akathisia but I'm also not hallucinating and running away from the local police department during a welfare check or speeding from the state troopers on major highways either. The delusions are still there at certain times except mild enough where I just laugh them off most of the time and don't believe the majority my own deception.

Hi I have bipolar and have been on Latuda for 2 and a half months and am on 60mg. I had my first panic attack on 40mg and it’s only gotten worse . I used to think my panic attacks were triggered by sleep but now after learning about akathisia, I realize I most likely have that because I’m restless and have tremors and want it to end so badly. I’m in Canada so I could go to the emerg but the likelyhood of me seeing a pdoc is low and my appointment with my appointed pdoc is in ten days. I started to go back down on 40mg and today tried to take it in the day but the irritation is horrible and I don’t know if I can function at work with it. Its worth noting that I was doing okay on Epival and they took me off it but things wnt to shit. Now I’m back on it and so I will have a mood stabilizer to help me if I get off the Latuda. Anywyas i I hope this makes sense. My brain is kind of everywhere. I wanna know what the side effects will be and I suppose some reassurance? I’m not sure. Thank you for anyone who contributes.

Hey crazyboards, Anyone else simply feel like a zombie? I have been taking antipsychotics for years now and I swear they are turning me into a frickin' zombie. I am not antipsychiatry by any means, nor am I trying to convince anyone to go off of medication. It is a necessary evil. For most, going of off meds is not an option and I realize that. I don't believe there are any effective alternatives either. But... It seems like the more I take antipsychotics, over the years, I am changing. There is a pervasive dullness to my life that only seems to get worse and worse as time goes on. My functioning is good and my symptoms are minimal. But it seems like these benefits come at a price. My long and short term memory have gone to sh** While some aspects of my cognitive function improve, it seems like many others only get worse. I feel that I am no where near as creative as I used to be, as time goes on. My psychiatrist tells me that the illness can cause these symptoms, which can be true. But if that is the case, why would this feeling only get progressively worse the longer I am medicated? If it were the illness, my other symptoms would not continue to improve as they do. Also, going off and on meds repeatedly can supposedly cause this issue. The reality is, no one really knows the long term effects of what antipsychotics do to the brain. In fact, what we do know isn't too good. (Btw, I am on the new atypicals not the older meds which are more well known for anehdonia.)

Hello, I am currently on two medications, Zoloft 100mg and Lyrica 300mg, and had sort of a weird bought of mood swings over the last two weeks that may have been just work related though I was feeling agitated one day, and flat and depressed the next few days. Now I am sort of about as normal as normal gets, for now. Different medications have been suggested to me for managing bipolar II and I am sort of hesitant to try something in addition to what I am already on because what if my medication trial goes side ways and it makes me worse? I know start up can be rough but I just don't know if things are bad enough now to start messing around. I was feeling anxious and scared about work (enough that I took a day off to reset myself) and wondered if I could benefit from different meds that are more in-line for treating bipolar disorder. I feel kind of stuck and wish I was starting from where I am on no meds to transitioning to 1st line treatment for bipolar. Any thoughts? Anyone start out on meds for MDD and anxiety transition well to meds for bipolar? Med changes are never fun in my experience.

I've been on and off antipsychotics sporadically for the last 7 years since age 22 (since 2011). I'm extremely sensitive to them and have a very high response to every one I've been on. I've gained 145lbs from an increase in appetite and metabolic changes, have severe akathisia that is utterly insane and makes me want to cut my own legs off, I developed severe gynecomastia from Risperdal and Invega respectively (Won the Risperdal lawsuit, but no surgeon will touch me because of my weight), experience anxiety (The most on Abilify), fatigue, drowsiness, impotence (On Fanapt), anhedonia (From aggravated depression on Haldol), blurred vision (On Fanapt), lack of concentration, mild tardive dyskenesia (In combination with TMJ syndrome, I think it's permanent), dry eyes (Can't secrete my own tears), nasal congestion (aggravated, because I have it anyway without taking APs) , disorganized speech (Literally developed a speech impediment from a combination of Fanapt and Topamax), GI issues, etc I've experienced almost every common recorded side effect from this category / class of drugs. The lack of control over my weight and appearance and the akathisia are the worst (that's why they're listed first and reiterated). These drugs have destroyed the relatively abysmal life I had before I developed this illness and presently cut it down to absolutely nothing. I have no life. I spend the majority of my life either going to multiple doctor's appointments for my medical issues or otherwise eating uncontrollably, and pacing back and forth and smoking cigarettes occasionally. I browse the internet with my thoughts racing. I might try to watch a TV show or play video games or play bass guitar like I used to but I can barely hold concentration or focus long enough. I want this to end, I really want out. I want to experience a fraction of life again. I was previously diagnosed Bipolar 1 With Psychotic Features before my 2nd and most recent episode. As I said, I haven't taken APs consistently for 7 years. I've gone off of them twice for pretty significant periods of time before I relapsed. I usually last about 10 or 11 months (almost a year) without symptoms and perform consistently better in life in general with everything gradually going back in my life to when before I was 22. The side effects and depression usually disappear within a week. At 5 to 8 months I'm very stable, but in just under 11 months I start feeling like I'm on top of the world, become severely manic and delusional, hallucinate, experience an episode, and get into legal trouble. The 1st time around, I resisted arrest during a welfare check called in by my parents and went to the hospital and the 2nd time I successfully eluded the cops by motor vehicle on the highway and got caught hours later and went to county jail. I understand I could be facing harsh consequences but I've never been on a heavy mood-stabilizer before. All they do is overload me with APs. After the 1st episode I stopped taking psych meds completely because of how much I despised how I felt except for Zoloft and resisted almost all treatment. I avoid SSRIs now and will this time because I think it may have been responsible for raising my mood too much before the 2nd incident took place. The key to preventing future incidents for me, I believe, is to make the hallucinations and mania more tolerable to where I won't feel the need to act on them. The delusions are a joke, I can easily handle them. I'm currently taking Latuda 20mg and I'm requesting that my psychiatrist allow me to keep 2 or 3 bottles stored in my cabinet or 1 on me at all times in case any symptoms were to occur while taking Lithium. During the last episode, I was frantically searching for antipsychotics or any appropriate psych medication but didn't have them because I threw all of my former meds away after the first episode had taken place. This time I will have them to back me up and if it turns out that I need to suffer immeasurably on Latuda 20mg or another AP for the remainder of my life then so be it but I deserve a chance on a mood stabilizer simply because of what I've gone through and what I'm experiencing on APs. Has anyone ever tried Lithium as monotherapy for schizoaffective disorder or bipolar 1 with psychotic features? I hear it still has some side effects (would like to know what all of those are) but that it's immeasurably more tolerable than antipsychotics. I realize many people use it in combination with an antipsychotic but this is not in reference to that. Is there anything better than those two that's not an AP? This post is simply to inquire about anyone's thoughts or experiences about using Lithium or Lamictal as monotherapy for schizoaffective mania. A dosage and frequency recommendation would also be appreciated from those that have taken it, although I realize that I will ultimately need my psychiatrist to determine that. I found 1 study on this subject from the early to mid 1980's here: https://watermark.silverchair.com/10-1-30.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAAcYwggHCBgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggGzMIIBrwIBADCCAagGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMAypxqSBIPHx7kbXfAgEQgIIBeTskilYIIUxtfy4i-FH7a6BQ4SrsYxqZG44q7kWx1rVJdLbZ4PMxE33_FUje8rDj4FoUYJI27hYGzv-06pCL6xPDrbVg7n-g9QzqTwoPiRxgDv2VnqzwifudoudTuskAGEKItv5TfD1_V9opXCFF7vJXJln8ij8NeNkMLUpe_n-Xbp6TtkU7rXYdPCZ9dObhTfmQ4PEHkwKfcJcOVAjXzelMWD1EPzWPxCK5zu1l1d2w8ojnqH68mbvgaDuvBxyPTY-EEdADh9N0NIUPQCWHXZKWE2gEBsG_AbWS-bkPdgjxtXcn8Y_5KljQbU2Geb_ERYYWuWFMEk6CRs7FYte_16TOiCQVlahMabKxw0BdjlqvdGaPYZTKBoBWb9Poswigg8jbF1whmlo7WWRyCLCLdbKt4xkmZCU0qmv_j5FTFzeXsq05ptOFY10M3jpUft1xV75pMsPtVJ8U7d42OYqMksXhZyrA8B5k9XNhfJGS0XgmTTSLHNOdcTY2

I'm on lamotrigine 300mg and was on quetiapine 100mg but it was making my thoughts worse and my mood still wasn't great, that's an understatement, my moods are vile.. didnt help that it made me put on 5kg in 2 weeks!!! I am mostly depressed nowadays.. anyway I begged him to put me on latuda as that had less side effects and treats bipolar depression. He bluntly refused and put me on sulpiride. I don't understand how blocking my dopamine will make me happy AT ALL! please help and enlighten me.. I'm at my wits end with this medication business and I feel like just quitting it all and allowing myself to be whatever it is I am weather it's dangerous or not -_____- so confused and angry about it !

So I recently went off antipsychotics after having been on them for nearly seven years. They weren't helping with what I needed the most help with and I (and my shrink) suspected they were responsible for the anhedo'nic malaise I've been suffering from for years now. At first I was resistant to get off them because I really thought I needed them, but then I ran out and didn't get it refilled for a couple of weeks and was like, "Hey, I don't feel DEAD inside." And I wasn't suffering any bad effects from NOT taking them, so I figured I would just take them on as as-needed basis. Which happens about once every two weeks. I just get hamster wheel brain and have to shut it off. And so far that's been working out really well. I'm curious how long it's taken for others who have gotten off them to get them out of your system. I haven't taken any Haldol in over a month, but it was just in the last few days that I really felt like I'd "woken up". I can write again. I haven't written anything other than cryptic Facebook posts since 2014. I've done nothing but read Facebook and the news and watch tv and movies since I quit my job four years ago, which I had to do because I couldn't function at it anymore. I was constantly forgetting things and fucking up, it was awful. Looking back I can't be sure if it's because of the illness or the meds. I don't really care anymore. I'm awake again. Thankfully my bipolar disorder isn't so severe that I need APs all the time anymore. I think at first I did, but I've changed a lot over the last several years since I was diagnosed. I don't have the same issues as I once did. I'm a lot more stable. I still take my other meds, mostly so I can sleep, since I also have a sleep disorder (a manageable one, thank the gods). The meds kept me from doing the thing that was probably the healthiest thing I was doing for myself: meditating. Now that I can focus and concentrate again, I can get back to a sitting practice, which gives me the mindfulness I need to stay on top of the little cues my brain gives me when I might be about to do something...off. It's nice not to be swimming in glue anymore.

I just wanted to share one tiny glimmer of sunshine that I found. I am recently diagnosed with bipolar + schizotypal PD and I've started taking Abilify (aripiprozale). It is so confusing trying to learn everything all at once, and especially since schizotypal is either on the schizophrenia spectrum or classified as a PD depending on which side of the Atlantic you're on... Anyway I thought this might be a good place to post this article, from a couple weeks ago. It sounds like scientists are going to figure out how to make antipsychotics NOT make us gain a bunch of weight! I mean, that would be really good news, right? Hopefully this is coming true. If anyone knows anything more about this please post. I realize with how the system works it's going to be years and years but... still. It made me happy and I'm scraping the barrel here, so. :-) Weight Gain Receptor Linked to Antipsychotic Drug

I'm currently on the lowest dose of Risperdal for severe OCD. Not long after I started taking it, I nearly fainted in class and had to go home for the day. The dizziness came on very quickly, and my vision started to turn black (to put it simply. The effect is hard to describe) I could hardly hear what people were saying, and the event lasted for a very short amount of time. I felt nauseous, and my stomach was in a lot of pain. Is this a common side effect of Risperdal (assuming it was caused by this particular drug)? If so, has anybody else had a similar experience with this medication?

Hi, my new doc told me I should give olanzapine a try because of lack of sleep. Has anyone else tried this med? I don't really dig the idea of taking something that is tagged as "sedative" and "anti-psychotic". Why would I need an "anti-psychotic" for sleeping? What kind of "sedative" effects does this pill create? I don't want to go around all numb'd down. The meds they give me usually don't work, anti-depressants have all been useless. Only lamotrigine has made me feel better. I really don't trust this olanzapine thing, I don't even like it's name, sounds trashy. Also, has anyone felt psychotherapy does help or have any kind of benefit beyond "venting out"? I could get it for free because of the mental health program in my country (just as the meds). I have tried it before and it was really a waste of time and it is frustating to hear someone just turn thoughts upside down and pretend it is some kind of insightful and constructive feedback, life if that wasn't something someone neurotic (as me and I guess some of you are since we share some kind of mental trait*) does all the time. At least that was my experience. To the ones here with good experiences with psychotherapy, how do think it helped you? My old doc once told me psychotherapy made a difference between people with mental problems getting a career and stuff like that. The difference was that the ones who did psychotherapy were 80% more likely to develop some kind of stable career. I think the thing is that 80% of every group of people will most likely be able to develop a career, regardless of psychotherapy or MI, so the stadistics just putted the "psychotherapy made this possible!" watermark to it. idk. *: That made me question if people with bipolar or other mental illness share some traits beyond the diagnosis? Have you guys noticed some kind of pattern? this is not really important, just thought it was interesting Thanks for reading (:

Hi I am 29 years old and have been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and have recently taken a Zyprexa medication that has caused me to have Erectile Dysfunction. I have switched to a previous medication Seroquel which did not cause erectile dysfunction before, but I am still experiencing erectile dysfunction. I am unable to get or maintain an erection. I have been given Cialis by a urologist to help with the problem, but I am afraid of side effects that can cause vision loss to blindness as well as hearing loss or deafness. What should I do? Is it safe to take the Cialis?

I'm seeing my p-doc this afternoon, and I need to get off some of my drugs. I know what I need for my anxiety, but I want to know... are there any antipsychotics that DON'T cause weight gain? There might be a topic like this but I'm so tired I cannot be bothered to search anymore than I have been. e _e

If you are taking either of these medications and are experiencing suicidal feelings, I want you to hold on, and tell yourself it is the medication and not you. Hold on: you have a precious human life - taper gradually off the drugs, and find other ways of dealing with the symptoms for which the medication was prescribed. After my experience with the world of psychiatry, I have this to say: if you can find a way of functioning without antipsychotics, then don't be pressurised into taking those medications. I found in my case that even when I was largely functional, and not suffering too much, there was some zeal on the part of the psychiatric profession in trying to push antipsychotics at me, simply by virtue of the diagnosis. The diagnosis was an episode of psychosis, or with psychotic elements, and therefore antipsychotics were strongly recommended. This was even after I was experiencing these strong suicidal feelings which were so uncharacteristic of me, and which I hadn't been experiencing before taking the drugs. I decided to try an extremely low dose of Abilify - less than the so-called "effective minimum dose", since I found it hard to function on the dose originally prescribed (something which the prescribing psychiatrist didn't really accept.) On this "below minimum" dose of Abilify, I started to experience strong agitation - one of the side-effects. Therefore I doubled my dose of Clonazepam. As a result, I became very tired - my energy levels plummeted, and I found myself having to limit my sporting activity to about a third of previous levels. My walking became relatively slow. I started to develop symptoms associated with schizophrenia which I hadn't had previously: less mobility in my facial expressions, it started to be a struggle to look after myself, to clean my home, to go shopping - though I forced myself through it all. I started to go to bed early because of extreme tiredness, and stopped going out in the evening, and as a result became socially isolated, and felt myself spiral into a depression. Weeks before becoming depressed, I already started to experience suicidal feelings - disembodied: unlinked to depression. My depression was so severe that I found it hard to eat, and rather than gaining weight as is the tendency on this drug, I rapidly lost weight. I found it hard to write fluently - the drug seemed to affect my muscular ability, and lost my articulateness, finding it relatively hard to express myself (and as you can see, this is something I have no trouble doing without the antipsychotics!). I lost my creative ability, and was unable to engage in the activities that made my life meaningful. These also contributed to my spiralling downwards. Deep inside the depression, I lost interest in all the things that had made my life meaningful up to that time. Instead of accepting my view that the suicidal feelings and depression were linked to the drug Abilify, the psychiatrist described it as "the evolution of an illness". Another psychiatrist decided to transfer me instead to the antipsychotic Seroquel, even though it states in the contra-indications that this drug may intensify existing suicidal feelings, and surely enough, it intensified mine. Since (I presume) I was on such a low dose of Abilify, the psychiatrist didn't instruct me to taper Abilify, but simply to stop it, and start Seroquel. I was taking half a tablet with the minimum dosage. Since I didn't like feeling suicidal, and I guess I didn't want to end up going that way, I decided I wanted to discontinue the antipsychotic medication. I was told that I could simply stop taking the medication: I suppose it wasn't felt necessary to advise me to taper the medication as it was below the minimum effective dose as recognized by the psychiatrists. (As a result of my experience, I would advise anyone to taper when coming off an antipsychotic - however small the dose. If, like me, you are taking half a tablet a day, you could then take it every other day for a while, and then every third day, etc.) I started to experience almost total insomnia which lasted about 6 weeks. At every stage, it was not acknowledged by psychiatrists that the manifestations I was experiencing were caused by medication, or withdrawal from it. Thus, the insomnia was attributed to my depression, rather than to withdrawal from the medication. It was on the internet that I was able to learn that chronic insomnia is a withdrawal effect from Abilify and Seroquel, and since I had only taken Seroquel for a few days while still having Abilify in my system, I must have been withdrawing from both. I was prescribed the highest dose of the sleeping medication Zopiclone (Zimovane) intensified by an extra Clonazepam tablet at night; this provided me with about two hours of sleep a night. While affected by this insomnia, I was still experiencing suicidal feelings, and would be lying awake almost the whole night thinking of the pros and cons of various ways of killing myself. After about 5 or 6 weeks, with the antipsychotics out of my system, the insomnia ended, and by this time, I had started taking an antidepressant, and my suicidal feelings subsided. By now I have come off all medication - including the antidepressant: Citalopram, since it was affecting my memory. If I feel the need, I take the very occasional half a tablet of Clonazepam. I firmly believe, following my experience, that a proportion of psychiatric patients are being misdiagnosed based on the manifestations of the side effects of antipsychotic medication, and the expression of beliefs which have nothing to do with brain chemistry. I further believe that for all the lives that may be saved as a result of the administration of antipsychotics, there is a significant proportion of patients who commit suicide not because of their illness, but because of the side effects of medication which they may be unnecessarily or inappropriately prescribed. These numbers then get lumped together with the numbers who commit suicide as a result of their illness, and is used as further evidence that suicidal action or attempts are symptoms of psychotic illnesses. If you are feeling suicidal, you will not believe that your life is precious. But hold on - because it is.

My doc does not think I am bipolar. My last appointment he tried to add on pristiq which I said no to since I had a horrible reaction to trying effexor (debilitating panic attacks and anxiety). I did tell him this but he suggested Pristiq. Bad stuff keeps coming back now. Anger, rage, fleeting violent thoughts, passive suicidal ideation. It is sort of like how things were prior to being on any meds. I am on 45 mg Mirtazipine Sol-tab. Lorazepam 1mg prn. Waiting until end of June to see my pdoc again. May see him sooner if things don't improve.

I have chronic tic disorder and am curious about pharmacological help. I have a few simple and complex motor tics that aren't exactly debilitating, but they are annoying and affect me at work. I work with kids and get asked "why do you do that weird thing with your eyes?" and stuff like that. Sleep deprivation tends to make the tics a lot worse. I'm on seroquel and it has been helping me sleep much better, so I've noticed a reduction, but they're still around. I've read that abilify has shown promising results in at least one study for helping tic disorder. I didn't see a subforum for tic disorders, so I figured I'd just post it here since BP is still my primary diagnosis and adding another AAP would likely impact my mood as well. If anyone has any experience with anything like this, I'd love to hear about it.

I have a weird symptom that i was wondering if anyone has experienced as well. Anytime I'm on a combination of Geodon and Zoloft, which otherwise has been working well for me, I do these weird things with my hands. My right hand is positioned as if I'm holding a pencil, and I trace shapes repeatedly and quickly. Sometimes it's a triangle, sometimes a square or others... I can stop it when I'm conscious of it, but as soon as I'm not paying attention to it, my hand starts going again. I've tried sitting on my hand and it doesn't help. Then there's my left hand... I hold it as if I'm pill rolling, but without the rolling motion. Over time my grip gets tighter and tighter and it leaves nail marks in my palm. My pdoc has never seen anything like it. He talked to some neurologists and they don't know either. He eventually just said that it's a side effect of being bipolar. I think that's BS because it seems directly related to my meds. I've been on Geodon and Zoloft separately and it didn't happen. But when they are combined, it comes back. I just requested benztropine(Cogentin) because it seems like eps to me (and benztropine helped when I had eps from Risperdal). I'm hoping it helps but either way, I'd like to know if anyone has experienced anything like this. Diagnosis: bipolar 1, adhd, eating disorder, anxiety, etc... Meds: Geodon, Zoloft, Tegretol, Ativan, Cogentin(new)

Hello. Around a week ago my Seroquel dose got increased from 150mg a day to 300mg a day. I take it for bipolar I and autism spectrum disorder. I take 150mg early in the morning, before school and the other half before going to sleep. I'm feeling extremely tired and drowsy. I find it hard to concentrate which is an issue because I have a very demanding academic life that requires me to be awake and cognitively at my peak. Since it manages my psychosis and makes me able to tolerate life I am reluctant to stop taking it. I have taken risperidone and amisulpride before but they make me extremely irritable/ don't quite stop the psychosis. In addition to Seroquel I take 20mg of escitalopram (lexapro generic). My question is, will the tiredness go away? Or do I ask for a change?

Hello. Around a week ago my Seroquel dose got increased from 150mg a day to 300mg a day. I take it for bipolar I and autism spectrum disorder. I take 150mg early in the morning, before school and the other half before going to sleep. I'm feeling extremely tired and drowsy. I find it hard to concentrate which is an issue because I have a very demanding academic life that requires me to be awake and cognitively at my peak. Since it manages my psychosis and makes me able to tolerate life I am reluctant to stop taking it. I have taken risperidone and amisulpride before but they make me extremely irritable/ don't quite stop the psychosis. In addition to Seroquel I take 20mg of escitalopram (lexapro generic). My question is, will the tiredness go away? Or do I ask for a change?

hi.. does anyone else on meds feel like its changed their personality? in a good or bad way? abilify (for bipolar 1) changed my personality from being ambitious but irritable to patient and eazy going... its great for developing friendships but it makes me feel like.. meh.. i can't be bothered with stuff... my doc said there is no other choice because i react very badly to other medications. i feel very disheartened about this... i've put on 20kgs and my confidence has plummeted to the ground and i feel like things dont really matter that much, like in a good way... for example, during exams i dont try to push myself to the edge of death to study as much as i can because im like well.. i'll just try my best. and i dont feel like trying that hard cause i know that everything is fine and dandy and its all good.. no worries. and of course its helped my social anxiety and the mania.. but i wonder tho.. by being eazy going, well adjusted, very well tempered and just generally a normal person... does it kinda mean that i'm not me anymore? i know that i can fit better into society... and that i can be more liked by people... and that i can function alot better in terms of the moods and mania and anxiety... but at the cost of who i am? you know... sometimes i miss that firey person who stood up for herself at every chance and that person who would try so hard to get ahead... that person who was passionate and wasnt afraid to speak her mind... i've been on this medication for 3 years... and i havent cried much... i havent jumped for joy much either... is anything worth living for if you've swapped yourself for a completely different person? without the meds i am a loner... but tday i feel alive off these meds... despite the withdrawl symptoms... at least i can feel something... anyone else can relate? and if so what did you do about this? ...or do you live with having a different type of personality? thanks ..i am at a loss of answers right now...

Well, I started my first dose of Rexulti tonight. 0.5 mg. I'm adding it on for depression, which is proving to be rather medication resistant, and I'm a previous Abilify user. I took 2mg Abilify from about October 2015 to May 2016. Stopped it because of severe restlessness and an overall feeling of "not myself", which laughably enough I still feel. I also was emotionally deadened, which I thought was a negative until I've been off it and sobbing all day, begging the sky to die, having mood swings, anger outbursts, you know. I've decided to give antipsychotics another go because maybe emotionally deadened is a good thing! I gained no weight on Abilify, and in fact have gained after quitting. Taking the Rexulti along with my 20mg Trintellix and 150mg Lamictal. What experience does anyone have with this new drug?

Hello everyone, does anybody else have fears of tardive dyskinesia? What doctors say? Some online research says up to 5% risk per year, and worst it persist even when therpy is stopped. It didn't much bother me when i was on quetiapine alone,but now i've depot injections of typical AP. What are your opinions?