h3llo Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 i take clozaril at night. it makes me very sedated to the point where i literally can't wake up before noon. this has really impeded my progress to get a job. they all require flexible shifts. all i can say is "i can only work afternoons due to my medication" it really makes me mad. im in the process of slowly getting off it. how do you guys deal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCatLady Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I had a really hard time when I started Risperdal (even worse on Invega). I already had a full time job where I am gone for 12 hours per day, and because my husband is out of work I knew I HAD to go to work. I was able to force myself out of bed and get to work. It was very difficult. I felt really out of it for the first half of the day. That lasted for a couple of months and then it wasn't as bad, though mornings still aren't easy. I guess I've just gotten used to it. Are you going to be switching from Clozaril to something else? I hope you can find something that works for you so that getting a job and working will be more of a possibility for you. Sedation really sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3llo Posted July 21, 2011 Author Share Posted July 21, 2011 I had a really hard time when I started Risperdal (even worse on Invega). I already had a full time job where I am gone for 12 hours per day, and because my husband is out of work I knew I HAD to go to work. I was able to force myself out of bed and get to work. It was very difficult. I felt really out of it for the first half of the day. That lasted for a couple of months and then it wasn't as bad, though mornings still aren't easy. I guess I've just gotten used to it. Are you going to be switching from Clozaril to something else? I hope you can find something that works for you so that getting a job and working will be more of a possibility for you. Sedation really sucks. they'll be switching me to geodon. i felt fairly ok on it...thought they (doctors) are worried about my suicidal thoughts coming back, which is obviously bad. clozaril helped with that. so im nervous. but i can't stand sleeping half my day away! along with the other side effects, lots of weight gain, seizures and wetting the bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCatLady Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Yeah, that's a lot of side effects to have to deal with. Hopefully the suicidal thoughts will stay away when you switch. Having some sedation is one thing, but not being able to function because of it would be a deal breaker for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimpmaster Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 i take clozaril at night. it makes me very sedated to the point where i literally can't wake up before noon. this has really impeded my progress to get a job. they all require flexible shifts. all i can say is "i can only work afternoons due to my medication" it really makes me mad. im in the process of slowly getting off it. how do you guys deal? Hi there, How much clozapine are you on and how long have you been on it? A lower dose might be a compromise. I am on 200mg and dont find it to be overly sedating at that dose. Otherwise you could look at a less sedating aap like abilify. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazynotstupid Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 It depends on what will actually work for you. My pdoc has played around with nearly every AAP with me. I've got a steady 8-5 so I absolutely can NOT be overly sedated. I take mine for mood stabilization. I have thiings pretty well worked out by now, though i just switched from risperdal to abilify. The last time I was on abilify I believe I hit 30 mg before I got the sedation effects. Most AAPs hit me a lot earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3llo Posted July 22, 2011 Author Share Posted July 22, 2011 It depends on what will actually work for you. My pdoc has played around with nearly every AAP with me. I've got a steady 8-5 so I absolutely can NOT be overly sedated. I take mine for mood stabilization. I have thiings pretty well worked out by now, though i just switched from risperdal to abilify. The last time I was on abilify I believe I hit 30 mg before I got the sedation effects. Most AAPs hit me a lot earlier. i dunno i heard abilify causes weight gain. reminds me of something my psychiatrist would not tell me. back when i was put on clozaril (400 mg i think) they didn't care about weight gain or tell me cause i was basically at death's door. now that im a tad bit more stable i can weigh the pros and cons better. this is NOT a healthy life style. for one its causing weight gain which cause my depression. and then there's the other side effects i mentioned. i take mine for mood stabailization too. im also on buspar for severe anxiety though im not sure that causes weight gain. im told it doesn't... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowen Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 You might not get hit with Abilify weight gain. I did, but I guess it's more uncommon compared to other AAP's. I hear you on sedation. I absolutely cannot be sedated, as I go to classes and it's not remotely acceptable to fall asleep in class, particularly a graduate level one. I find Geodon to be sedating about three hours after I take it, so I just take it all at once. I do notice some withdrawal a few hours before my dose, but it beats the hell out of falling asleep in class and totally embarrassing myself. I didn't find Abilify sedating at all, minus the first week or so. I got up to 20 mg. Hopefully it works out well for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimpmaster Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Abilify is probably the best AAP when looking at weight gain or sedation side effects. Geodon (zeldox) is also pretty good. Zyprexa and to a degree cloz are the worst offenders for weight gain and sedation. If you are looking for an aap that is not sedating and doesnt cause weight gain then abilify is a pretty good choice. Another option as I mentioned before might be a smaller dose of clozapine. The problem with abilify and geodon is that they are much weaker anti psychotics than clozapine or olanzapine. Sounds like its time to talk to your p-doc about other meds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 I think saphris if it's available to you might be a good choice. I find it activating/non sedating, but it hits things pretty hard and has some decent data from both schiz and BP. Some people have reported sedation on it, but I never got it for a minute. I think it's more broad spectrum than either abilify/geodon, but again, I could be talking out my ass here a little bit.... I skimmed the PI sheet, and I'm not good at the brain stuff. Anna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowen Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 I think it's more broad spectrum than either abilify/geodon You're right on this. I think it gets compared to Zyprexa and Clozaril in terms of receptors it hits. IIRC. Bad at med stuff, though, so someone can correct me if I'm wrong. Saphris doesn't always cause weight gain, either. So that's definitely an option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3llo Posted July 22, 2011 Author Share Posted July 22, 2011 ill ask my doc about that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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