Thinking of Geodon

[Cuttlefish]

So I'm thinking about asking my pdoc to try Geodon next visit. I've been on all of the atypicals with the exception of Geodon and Clozapine.

I've read that Geodon has some antidepressant effects besides its antipsychotic properties. I'm a bit skeptical of this, but if it's true, I figure that pairing it with a good tricyclic antidepressant will be great for my depression besides nipping my possible psychosis/schizophrenia in the bud. I've also read that it is considered weight-neutral.

I've only had real issues with abilify, which made me extremely restless, and zyprexa, which made me a blimp. I also overdosed on Seroquel before, since I was on a high dose of it at the time and I had a lot of it on hand. Besides these issues, I haven't really had major issues with the atypicals. Much of it has been experimentation to see what kinds of options I have availiable to me, and my pdoc is open to suggestions.

So I'm guessing I'm asking for feedback and experiences related to Geodon. The good, the bad, and the ugly from people who have actually taken it.

Thank you!

[gizmo]

I had no problems with Geodon on lower doses. But once I got to the higher doses, like 80-160mg, it made me a zombie. Now, I'm pretty atypical in this aspect, because it's so activating in a lot of ways that most people take it in the morning. I don't know, I just had a paradoxical reaction to it.

As for a mood stabilizer, it was moderately good. I still had some mania on it, but no depression. I took it for about 6 months. I've been off the Geodon and on zyprexa since February, and I've pretty much stopped the mania and still no depression. Now, z is not highly known for it's AD properties, and I'm not on an AD, so we will see what happens in the future...

Lots of people like Geodon, so give it a try.

[beetle]

I've just started Geodon and have finally titrated to my target dose of 120mg. Pdoc says we might go up but we'll see how it goes.I tried risperdal and abilify and had problems on both of those. So far, no real problems with the Geodon. One nice thing is that my out of control apetite that I had on the previous two AAPs has now settled down quite a bit. I may even be losing a bit of weight. Pdoc says most of her patients do lose some weight on it.

As far as it working.... that's hard to say. I have a hard time recognizing if a med is working. Pdoc says I "look" better. I'm not crying all the time like I was before. I still have some irritability issues. Not sure if Geodon is gonna fix that or not.

I say give it a try.

[unipolarbear]

So I'm guessing I'm asking for feedback and experiences related to Geodon. The good, the bad, and the ugly from people who have actually taken it.

Thank you!

I am on 160 total of geodon and it is doing nothing to help my ever-present mania. I'm absorbing it like a sponge. So we're going back to the zyprexa. Geodon seemed to be weight neutral, but the only complaint I have is the "body temperature regulation" problem as described on the PI sheet. I sweated uncontrollably every day for hours at a time. These sweating episodes have gone away since scaling back to 80 mg a day. Hope this helps. No other complaints other than it really didn't do what we had hoped it would.

[Phoenix_Rising]

I started Geodon about one month ago after a bad go round with Abilify. It helped immediately in calming my brain.

I'm also taking Seroquel, but I'm hoping to eventually taper completely off of it and use Geodon as my mood stabilizer/anti-anxiety/anti-depressent. (Seroquel works well, but the s/e outweigh the benefit; I already have type II diabetes and can't afford to take a med that messes too much with my metabolism.)

I hope all goes well if you decide to take Geodon.

[witchywoman]

I took Geodon for a year or so. It made me extremely tired the whole time and I would have trouble getting up in the morning. However, it did work for my depression. Maybe not mania so much. It's not one of those drugs I can say I would go on again, but it wasn't the worst either. I had to go off of it because it made my anxiety worse. Im now on Seroquel XR and loving it. Try it, it may be the right med for you.

[JoannaMarco]

I've been on Geodon for 17 days and I am having some issues and I was wondering if anyone else might have any experience with it. I started out on 40mg and it helped me finally get a good nights sleep, so at first I loved it. 10 days ago I went up to 80mg and my anxiety is getting worse and worse. I'm ok until about 3pm and then I start feeling nervous/scared/anxious. By 7pm I am in full anxiety attack. This started about 2 days after I increased the dose. The dr. said it should go away, but it is killing me. Anyone else have a similar experience?? BTW, diagnosis has been anxiety/depression for 12, then 1 year I was diagnosed as "soft" bi-polar. Not sure I am in agreement with the diagnosis.

Thanks

[Anelize]

I tried like hell to like Geodon, because of it's weight neutrality. Unfortunately, I could never get past the akasthisia. Worst feeling in the world. I also had the same problems with Abilify.

[JoannaMarco]

I tried like hell to like Geodon, because of it's weight neutrality. Unfortunately, I could never get past the akasthisia. Worst feeling in the world. I also had the same problems with Abilify.

So what are you taking now, if you don't mind me asking.

[netsavy006]

Geodon was a bad one for me. I'm just stating what happened to me. It affected my sleep. I'd be up between 3 - 5am. I'd have mood swings, and I had a rash. Other things happened too that I don't remember but those we're the main ones. and I was on the lowest possible dose. (20mg after dinner).

[koali777]

To Joanna: Those could be withdrawals. I'd get really loopy in the afternoons to evenings. Maybe a dosage in the middle of the day would do you good? I don't know.

[CrazyCatLady]

Geodon made me feel like a zombie. It did take my auditory hallucinations away, which was nice. I had insomnia so I took it with Ambien and Trazodone, so I can't be certain if it made me sleepy or not. I was also taking Effexor and on the combo my depression was lifted, but I went to feeling flat. I would sit and stare off into space for hours. My weight stayed the same, and other than feeling spaced out, I didn't have any negative side effects.

[GoldCoin]

I have been on zeldox, the australian equivalent to geodon and i love it.

It has helped with my auditory hallucinations, been mood stabilizing and had an antidepressant effect.

I dont get tiered on it, and i like that it is weight neutral.

I take doses in the morning (80mg) and at night (160mg). All in all i am on 240mgs which seems to be on the high end dosages on this site.

for me it has been completely side effect free.

All in all i am very happy with it.

Cheers

GC

[beetle]

I have been on zeldox, the australian equivalent to geodon and i love it.

It has helped with my auditory hallucinations, been mood stabilizing and had an antidepressant effect.

I dont get tiered on it, and i like that it is weight neutral.

I take doses in the morning (80mg) and at night (160mg). All in all i am on 240mgs which seems to be on the high end dosages on this site.

for me it has been completely side effect free.

All in all i am very happy with it.

Cheers

GC

This is interesting. I have been on 160mg of geodon for many months now. It seems to help me but I can't say exactly how. I just know I feel better than I did before I was on it.

But I'm still having problems with irritability and my pdoc has suggested going above 160mg and I've been leery of doing that since the PI sheet says the highest recommended dose is 160mg. So it's interesting to see someone who is on a higher dose.

Unfortunately, the geodon sedates me pretty badly and I have to take the full 160mg at night. My pdoc has suggested maybe adding 40mg to take in addition to my nightly 160mg. But like I said, I'm just a little scared of doing it.

But it sounds like you're having no problems with it.