mj1127 Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 The world's most intractable depression continues. It started some time in 2008, has been worse than it is now, but won't just go away. I'm exhausted. We've tried most of the usual suspects, and nothing has made a big difference. Currently I'm taking 1200mg Li CR(level 1.2, but measured one day after a bad migraine and ibuprofen - with permission - so it's not really that high), 5mg Abilify, 75mg Wellbutrin IR TID (pdoc does not like AD's for bipolar, but I begged), .125mg Xanax XR BID, 20mg Adderall IR BID. The new plan is to gradually drop the Abilify to 2.5mg over 3 weeks, and to add low dose Latuda if I'm not better. Unless I heard her wrong, she is thinking 20mg. Can you cut the 40mg tablets? She has other patients on Latuda, some also on low dose Abilify, and all are doing well and feeling positive except for one woman who became hypomanic. Like other pdocs, she claims it is weight neutral, but I just read the PI and it says to monitor patients for weight gain. I guess we'll see. She mentioned that she is not using it for psychosis. So has anyone taken, or heard of anyone taking 20mg Latuda, and has anyone taken it with Abilify? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netsavy006 Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 I would be cautious about the splitting part because I went to the Latuda website (http://latuda.com) and read the PI sheet (using the search function and used search terms like divide and split), and I got no results. So even they don't tell you if it's ok to split the tablets. You asked and I did some searching, so I'm letting you know what I found. Of course always follow your docs advice over my search. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mj1127 Posted April 27, 2011 Author Share Posted April 27, 2011 Thanks for looking Andy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netsavy006 Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 No problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SashaSue Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 I actually had a reccurence of pretty severe depression during my latuda trial. Have you tried seroquel or saphris? They've both worked well for me in dealing with depression. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mj1127 Posted April 27, 2011 Author Share Posted April 27, 2011 I actually had a reccurence of pretty severe depression during my latuda trial. Have you tried seroquel or saphris? They've both worked well for me in dealing with depression. That doesn't sound good. How much were you taking? I had EPS after about 2 weeks on Saphris, and my pdoc can't get samples of Seroquel (my insurance only covers generics), only the free trial certificates, after which I'd be SOL. She does get samples of Abilify, and has "a zillion samples" of Latuda, so at least it wouldn't be a problem in that respect. Though that won't matter much if I can't get out of bed. Thanks for the heads up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netsavy006 Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 I'm just curious, why doesn't the doc just increase the Abilify instead of making this switch? According to your sig you are on 5mg. According to the dosing guideline for depression it's 5 - 15mg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SashaSue Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 I actually had a reccurence of pretty severe depression during my latuda trial. Have you tried seroquel or saphris? They've both worked well for me in dealing with depression. That doesn't sound good. How much were you taking? I had EPS after about 2 weeks on Saphris, and my pdoc can't get samples of Seroquel (my insurance only covers generics), only the free trial certificates, after which I'd be SOL. She does get samples of Abilify, and has "a zillion samples" of Latuda, so at least it wouldn't be a problem in that respect. Though that won't matter much if I can't get out of bed. Thanks for the heads up. I think I was taking 80mg. Maybe it was just bad timing, and I was due for a depression regardless of meds. But it did clear up pretty quickly, once I was back on a full dosage of saphris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mj1127 Posted April 28, 2011 Author Share Posted April 28, 2011 I'm just curious, why doesn't the doc just increase the Abilify instead of making this switch? According to your sig you are on 5mg. According to the dosing guideline for depression it's 5 - 15mg I've actually been as high as 12.5mg, which wasn't good because it made me irritable. I was on 10mg for quite a while. It didn't really help though. Her thought was that lower would be more activating, and it is, just not activating enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netsavy006 Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Is it possible that you could do a low dose Abilify + Risperdal? (Risperdal is generic and your already getting Abilify) Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mj1127 Posted April 30, 2011 Author Share Posted April 30, 2011 Is it possible that you could do a low dose Abilify + Risperdal? (Risperdal is generic and your already getting Abilify) Just a thought. It's a good thought, but Risperdal is too closely related to Invega, which also gave me EPS, for her ever to prescribe it for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaFraggle Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 This is my first post on crazyboards. I signed up because I recently stopped taking Latuda (40 MG) after a week for depression/bipolar. It was one of the worst experiences of my life. I felt like I was going crazy. I had no grasp on reality. I was already have bad highs and lows and the Latuda made it 10 times worse. I am 32 and I have been taking antidepressants since I was 12. I am really sick of being a lab rat. I tried so many of these medications and nine times out of 10, they do not work. Wellbutrin and Effexor are the only 2 that have really helped. The problem is that after taking Wellbutrin and Effexor for one to two years, they stop working. A long time ago, I switched from Wellbutrin to Effexor. It was great! Two years later, it stopped working. I was then put back on Wellbutrin. It worked great... until now... about a year and a half later. I just want to be put back on Effexor. I don't understand why my doctor was willing to put me on Latuda but won't let me try the Effexor again. At least with Effexor, I know I won't feel like dying. The one thing this doctor did that was wonderful was put me on a small dose of Xanax for anxiety. It has been a miracle! I would never abuse the Xanax, but because many patients are known to abuse it, many doctors are unwilling to prescribe it. Otherwise, I would try going to a different doctor. Also, upping my dose of Wellbutrin or Effexor never helps after it stops working. After 20 years of this shit, I think I know myself by now. I am going back to my doc tomorrow due to my extreme problems with Latuda. I am so afraid because I don't want him to try and push any of these new drugs on me, at least until I can try the Effexor again that has helped me in the past. If anyone has any advice on how to convince my doctor to let me try Effexor again, it would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneMarie Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 MJ, how is Latuda going? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
llama44 Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 I know this is an older post but I am on 30mg of abilfy and 80mg of latuda. It works ok for me so far. I have been on it for at least two months now. I hope it is working for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mj1127 Posted May 29, 2011 Author Share Posted May 29, 2011 Funny, I just came back to ask about this and completely forgot I ever wrote this post. I started the Latuda on the 24th - 10mg (no, not a typo, really 10mg). So far it is doing nothing, though this is only the 5th day. However, the getting down to 2.5mg Abilify has caught up with me and I am even more depressed, slightly irritable, easily frustrated. I've been having some well developed suicidal thoughts to boot, though I have way too much guilt to inflict that kind of violence on the people around me. Basically, I'm not having fun, and I'm not much fun to be around. I go back on the 7th. So these are my questions - has anyone taken this low a dose of Latuda, 20mg even, and what were the results? For those who have taken it at any dose, how many days before you had some kind of results, good or bad? I probably can make it another 9 days so I probably won't call her before then, it would just help a lot if I had some idea of what to expect. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 hey mj, haven't taken latuda and don't plan to, really, as I really haven't heard much good things about it and it's ability to treat depression, unfortunately. it just doesn't seem to be a great med for that. Have you checked out med assist programs for quel? You may be able to get that, possibly, depending on your income. Just FYI they aren't handing out samples of regular seroquel anymore, but they are still giving out samples of seroquel xr because it isn't generic, so they're trying to get everyone to use it. So you might see if pdoc has any samples of that available to her, which would at least allow you to give it a try. Anna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mj1127 Posted May 30, 2011 Author Share Posted May 30, 2011 Hi Anna, I wrote you a long response last night and it was eaten. The short answer is that we are just over the limit for patient assistance at AstraZeneca - which of course does not mean we can afford hundreds of dollars for one prescription every month plus copays for several others that are covered, especially when we live in an expensive part of the country. I will, however, ask her about Seroquel XR sample if the Latuda turns out to be a bust. I got more sleep last night than I have in the past several which, I expect, is the reason I feel a bit better today. I was somewhat more productive yesterday than I have been in a while, but that too could mean nothing. We'll see. Thanks for taking the time to respond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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