Weird Feeling after taking Latuda

[neingesicht]

Lately I've been having the strangest feeling after taking Latuda. It goes away after I go to sleep and wake up again, which is usually pretty soon after I take it, but it's kind of scary. I get really exhausted, and feel really depressed (again, it's usually after my dose of Latuda, which otherwise is working well) and get this strange feeling in the back of my throat, almost like I need to drink something or smoke a cigarette or eat, but nothing I do makes it go away. Almost like I need something there (I know, it sounds horrible, please go easy with the jokes) but nothing will make it go away. Anyone else feel this? Otherwise it's worked well getting me off Zyprexa. Thanks!

[koali777]

Me too! I take it AFTER I've taken my sleeping pills so I don't have to deal with it. Yes, depressed, restless, apathetic. Not the thing in the back of my throat, but it could be some reaction that maybe someone else may know about. Latuda works great for me during the day too. It's nighttime that sucks.

[neingesicht]

Definitely at night! I should just take it right before bed. good thought.

[steves]

do u have trouble swallowing ? abilify has the throat thing listed in side effects .Don't know if latuda does .

[neingesicht]

It does feel strange. Almost like I've got post nasal drip or I'm gagging a bit. What does abilify do to your throat?

Edited June 16, 2012 by neingesicht

[dreadOHdreads]

I take Latuda and don't experience those symptoms. Right now it's pretty much side effect free, minus some tummy issues sometimes. It sucks it does that to you. I know Seroquel made swallowing difficult and made me so depressed I got near suicidal. So it just depends on the way your body handles it.

[koali777]

I have trouble with the "with food" thing. I'm on a diet and by dinnertime I'm nearing my max calories for the day, and very hungry. I don't want to not eat till 10 at night, but I don't want to take it at 6 and pass out at 7:30. It says in a leaflet that it absorbs 2 to 3 times as much with food...makes me wonder if my 40 mg is really like 12 mg or something... But I never took Geodon with 500 calories and it definitely affected me, so maybe I don't need to worry so much? Have you found this to be frustrating?

[neingesicht]

Yeah the food thing kind of gets me sometimes. I have to take it with a meal but I fall asleep about an hour later. So when do I take it? I guess I could take it with a snack later, but like you said that's a lot of calories. I guess it beats the weight gain of Zyprexa. For me at least.

[koali777]

Perhaps not the best advice, but I've been settling for about 200 calories at 9 PM...I know you need 350, but I can't bring myself to do that. So far I haven't felt a change, although I get tired later than I used to. I'll only go back to the 350 calorie thing if I start to get unstable. And I have plenty of Vistaril on hand if I get worked up.

[dreadOHdreads]

If you eat fast food, eating a medium french fry or a McChicken pretty much gives you the calories you need. Sometimes I make myself eat a medium fry to get my calories.

[Night in Juniper]

Latuda gave me such strange feelings at night after taking either 40mg or 80mg. The first couple of weeks went okay, and I even began to think that it was helping my major depression. Then, the strangest feelings started coming on at night. I would take the dosage with dinner (given the 350 calorie thing) and 30 minutes later, I would feel claustrophobic within a depression. I would be depressed to tears on a nightly basis until I could finally fall asleep. I felt like I had to fall asleep to get any relief. There was certainly no staying up long after dinner.

Since Latuda seemed to treat me well during the day though, I thought hmm... maybe I should try the dosage during the daytime. As you might guess, I was really very sleepy and felt a bit dopey.

I told my PDOC about these upsetting feelings and he made note, but said to be honest that he hadn't gotten a lot of feedback for the drug yet. That didn't make me feel too good, either. I hated to give up Latuda, especially after paying over $200 for 90-days supplies in my cabinet, but what can I do. I am just thankful not to be depressed to tears and restless every night.

The only thing I know to try is taking the dosage right before bedtime (if you don't need any sedative properties from Latuda to help you sleep). Wonder if that has helped.

I wish you well.

Edited June 18, 2012 by Night in Juniper

[koali777]

Trust me, if I weren't on a diet, I'd go for the fries. But I want my calories to be healthy...a calorie is a calorie but I was in good shape before AAPs and I want that back. And I'm very sorry to hear what you went through. Yes, it works well right before bed, if food doesn't bother you late, or keep you up. Then you can either drift to sleep with it, or even fall asleep before it starts working.

[neingesicht]

I may have to try to start taking it just before I lay down, because I get the weirdest feelings with it, kind of like I have to be in bed at home anyway. It's kind of frightening, but like I said it works during the day, I don't want to give up on it just yet

[koali777]

I really hope taking it before you lie down helps. I totally understand. In some ways, it's why I've wanted to quit Latuda sometimes...same feeling. Don't give up if the benefits outweigh the consequences, but if it's making stuff unbearable, maybe you need a tweak or switch. I'm sorry, I just woke up and am too lazy to scroll up to read if you said or not, but are you on Cogentin or some anticholergenic? I don't see it in your signature. I found that it REALLY helped with that feeling...it could be akathisia you know. But I hate Cogentin personally cause it makes me stupid and not remember shit, and makes my close up vision atrocious. HOWEVER it is a good med and many people are helped by it.

[AnnaBanana]

My pdoc said it is supposed to be taken at bedtime. I just try to make my 350 calories be the healthiest 350 calories of the day. (Protien shake, yogurt, etc) She basically told me it's ineffective if you don't take it with food.

[koali777]

Sucks that such a good med has the burden of having to take food with it.

[LexFlex]

Hello, yes I can vouch for all of you and say Latuda has a side effect kind of like seroquel's when you intially take your dose, some kind of med reaction may make you feel worried, anxiety or depression. Such a miserable feeling, I've tried take it during the day I noticed the side effect can be more tolerable than at night. But what I do now is don't take it at all in day or night. I always seem to wake up in the middle of the night like 3:00am-4:00am to go to the bathroom, and thats when I take the latuda with 2 scoops whey and 2 cups milk thats over 350 calories. Then go back to sleep like nothing happened. I found that this method is best for avoiding that ugly latuda side effect.

[neingesicht]

Sorry to drag out an old topic but has anyone dealt with anaphylaxis? I'm just wondering and or being paranoid about the throat feeling. it definitely comes with that doom feeling which I've used your advice and take it later and it seems to work. if I take it too early... not so hot. I see my doc again soon. thanks!

[anhelldonia]

Sorry this is going to be long and possibly repetitive. My mind ain't what it used to be.

After lurking for the past few months of my new Bipolar 1 diagnosis (possibly schizoaffective and OCD, too like my bro), I got an account JUST to post about this. One of the first drugs I was tried on was Latuda. I had (at first at night only) some weird feelings that went away when I slept. I had never had that experience in my life, but I explained it to my prescribing nurse as "a weird boring feeling I didn't like". Because it seemed to be working OK with few other side effects, I didn't worry about it. Before long, the feeling crept into the day and I was miserable and crying because I didn't know what was going on and I would just read (mostly my Bible) to distract myself and fill time, which seemed to be going by painfully slow. I think I even went into a brief psychotic depression for a couple of days looking for angels to heal me or take me home. I couldn't stand social situations. This happened around my birthday. It should have been fun ... big family party shared with my baby newphew with a birthday close to mine. I normally love those things ... and I could think of nothing but getting away (or being rescured by angels which I was looking for with some deal of hope).

I called to tell the nurse that the medication was making me horribly depressed, though it was a different depression than I had ever felt (and I had been previously hospitalized for severe depression ... and my life circumstances are better and worse in many ways than they were then ... mostly better). It was also making me shake terribly and tense my muscles ... very painful. I looked like I had Parkinson's (and that is one side effect of the drug). By the time they called back, I had no emotions, no ability feel pleasure, etc ... signs of severe dopamine depletion. She said it wasn't the Latuda and that maybe I should have been on more to keep me stable ... that the crash might have been avoided, but still took me off and has been trying other things. Oh, and if you need to get off the drug and it doesn't interfere with any other meds, try St. John's Wart. It gets it (and many other meds) out of the system faster. She told me to use the herb. I did not do this on my own. Do check with your doc or nurse. Many herbs can make meds not work or cause dangerous interactions. Be careful of grapefruit juice, too. It can increase the effects of some meds greatly.

That weird feeling may be Anhedonia creeping in. I figured out what it was by looking up the meaning of common antipsychotic side effects. It is the inability to feel pleasure and it SUCKS. Mine was pretty severe ... near catatonic at the worst of it. The only thing I could feel was anxiety, and eventually that even went away. I could feel pain, but I couldn't feel that "shock feeling" when you get hurt or almost die from nearly having a wreck. I could hear music, but not enjoy it or feel that "dancy feeling". I could taste food but not enjoy it. I could not cry or get angry even when warranted. I could not make facial expressions naturally ... only fake. That sort of thing. I could go on and on about the suckiness. The world seemed "colorless" and flat ... a feeling of unreality. It still kind of does and I still don't have a full range of emotions or enjoyment of life. I hope I will again. It is still really hard for me as I was always the artsy type ... enamored with the detail and beauty of everything. I didn't take things for granted. Time passed by soooooooooo slowly and the fact I was trapped in a Hell that I had never before known existed only made looking at the clock that much more horrible. I could not sleep more than 2-3 hours a night even with Ambien and Trazadone. My mind started to slow and that's an understatement. I could not drive or pick out groceries without help. I had previously done those things for a woman with brain damage and now I was the one that needed help. Latuda is a dopamine antagonist, as are pretty much all antipsychotics in some way. Abilify is an antagonist and agonist. That, along with Lithium and Wellbutrin started to pull me out. I am off Abilify, weaning off lithium for now, and moving up on Lamictal. I am still on the Wellbutrin, too as it has a low risk of mania for most and might help with the dopamine thing a bit.

You could also be having an allergy or side effect besides anhedonia. I didn't get the throat thing, but if you get anhedonia and upping the dose doesn't even you out, get off it ASAP. I didn't try upping the dose and I don't really think it would have helped. I am not the only one this has happened to, although I am the only one so far at the busy mental health place I go. They have had great success with Latuda and I am sure it's a wonderful drug for many. I wouldn't even rule it out completely for myself in the future as sometimes things work later as the body changes ... and it would probably be awesome for mania.

Sometimes I don't know if it was just a nasty quick drop after my first severe mania, or if it was the Latuda or both. I still kind of lean more towards the Latuda though, since the nothing feeling used to happen at night like clockwork after I took it, then go away after I slept it off. Also I had been on it a while ... it seemed OK at first, but then not so much. They said my problems would have all gone away after I got off the Latuda if it were the drug. I didn't totally buy that line. Many drug side effects last long after quitting the drug, and some are permanent. Things did improve after getting off the drug and washing out a week. Things still seem to be improving little by little, but it has felt so slow and painful. I am still recovering and fear a relapse if it wasn't just the drug. This isn't to scare you, but tell you that what you are feeling very well could be what happened to me.

Right now, I don't know if my brain is getting better on it's own, I'm slowly cycling up, or my meds are finally getting right and working or some combination of those. I'm still new to all of this. They tried different things on me and started to worry I was treatment resistent because most of their patients respond to more things ... and faster. Even said if I could afford the $4,000 for a genetic test to help narrow things down, that I should do it, and I was so miserable I would have if I could have in a heartbeat. In addition to anhedonia, I was having severe akathesia. I could not be still and was always twitching or fidgeting or exercising. Combining that with lack of sleep, I was sooo tired and sore. I would exercise (and I am out of shape) to get the exercise high and waste time ... nothing. I would live only so I could take my meds and go to bed earlier than normal to escape it. I became more suicidal than I ever thought possible. I felt no remorse and if I had not been taught "Thou Shalt Not Kill" I seriously could have been an axe murderer and felt no guilt. Nobody should ever have to go through that. Unfortunately anhedonia is a common feature of both crazy meds, and being crazy.

Hope you feel better soon if you don't already. A nothingness feeling or possible allergy should not be ignored.

Edited July 27, 2012 by anhelldonia

[anhelldonia]

Also, I had been told to try taking Latuda in the morning since I found it very activating. I tried switching it back to night and other times, but things just kept getting worse to the point I truly dreaded taking it or eating the food because I was never hungry on it. Sometimes I would sit there and look at the pill on my desk for quite some time, trying to muster the will to send it down the hatch.

[TakeAChillPill]

@anhelldonia- i like your username because it is clever. Your experience with latida sound like my experience with zyprexa a very long time ago. Now i take abilify instead and also find that it allows me to be more normal. I apreciated the honesty and depth of details in your post. It was very intriguing and coherent. Thank you

[anhelldonia]

@TakeAChillPill - Thanks for the kind response. I like your cute username, too. I'm sorry Zyprexa was so bad for you, but glad Abilify helps. My brother seems to be doing pretty well on it, too, and has for years.

I don't want my posts to determine whether or not Latuda is worth a try, but know that it might be worth giving up if it isn't working out. I was retold the drug rep schpeel about how it's the newest and greatest thing ... that it might even reverse learning and cognitive problems ... that it was one of the safest if I got pregnant. It's very expensive, but don't worry how much it costs. If you can't pay for it the company will give it to you for free! I have a bunch of samples for you right now! It's the best thing since indoor plumbing! Why try anything else? Keep in mind I am still in a happy hypomania as I'm hearing this so it all sounds Uhhh-mazing!!! Almost no complaints of any kind were to be found online. I was feeling super lucky to have gone crazy not long after this awesome drug became available. If this is one of your first rides on the med-go-round and you're feeling really sick, don't be afraid to try something else and maybe revisit this one later. It's on the bottom of my list now, but maybe some day it'll be my wonder drug, too.

Besides general flatness and weird feelings, low libido was another sign early on (still hypomanic to borderline normal when that happened) and I have seen similar complaints from others that said they would quit over that even though it was their only side effect. Smart move. My drive left town and still hasn't driven back.

[Waguy]

I also get restless feeling after taking Latuda. It's usually 1-2 hrs after taking, I (sometimes) get this frantic feeling like panic and feel like the worlds gonna end then after a few hours it goes away. (Also usually with sleep). Otherwise I like this stuff- I'm on a low dose (20/40 mg). But the panic is very unsettling.

[LexFlex]

I had to stop Latuda.  I realized that bad side effect feeling is just not worth it.  I'd rather not experience that even though it is only temporary.  Its just scary, how you can go from normal then after taking the pill depressed and filled with anxiety. Horrible side effect.  

[JCServant7]

Hi all - I just began taking Latuda for Bipolar Depression about a month and a half ago.  PDOC started me on 20 mg.  No real change occurred.  I then was bumped up to 40 mg after one week.  Took for three weeks.  No real change.  She then bumped it up to 60 mg and all hell broke loose.  I began to suffer horrible akathisia.  It's a horrible inner turmoil/anxiety and walking and pacing barely takes the edge off.  This went on for 3 days and I finally said no to the new dose.  I actually had to take Ambien, Atarax, and a shot of JD before it would go away.  So she is dropping it back to 40 mg.  I also take Wellbutrin XL 150 mg, Buspar 10 mg in AM, 10 mg in PM, and Seroquel XR 50 mg in the evening.  I've lost weight which is a great side effect, but the akathisia was horrible.  Just wanted to tell you all my experience.  I think going back to 40 mg should be ok.  I also suggest taking it in the AM after breakfast if you don't get the sleepy side effect.

[Paranoidling]

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Edited April 30, 2022 by Paranoidling