How have you adjusted to the side effects of your drugs?

[konings]

TL;DR - Read bold and please post your experience.

Since I never experienced restlessness (nor prolactin rise) again while on risperidone the third time, it seems logically that it was part of permanent adjustment - that means, if youre body makes the adjustment once, you will never experience that thing again on that drug, even if you go off of it and then back on it. I dont see an alteranative theory to this currently.

The opposite is temporary adjustment - you lose the adjustment after you go off of the drug.

I so far thought most adjustments were permanent, but today my pdoc told me most are temporary. So if youve been on a drug on and off multiple times - id like to hear how you have adjusted to its side effects if you have.

Theres some truth in there, as I also got some side effects arising from blockade of alpha adrenoreceptors, again. Second time on risperidone they went away, but it indeed took time - about 8 weeks. However, the first and second time I never felt so dull and uninterested. My gauge for this is something concrete. That means that some kind of adjustment didnt happen. This could be either because the first and second time I had much more aggresive dosing, which is likely OR because on the third time there was enough permanant adjustment in place that my system felt further adjustment would be unneccesary. I will find out soon enough as me and my pdoc agreed id try risperidone again (I am currently off) with much more agressive dosing. If theres a dulll feeling I will start feeling it from roughly 3.5weeks in. If I get it again with aggressive dosing, theres something odd going on - somehow I will have lost my ability to adjust to either all drugs or this drug, at least in this way. I really need to get a clue on this.

[bubblegirl]

It is my understanding that there is always the possibility of having varied reactions to drugs the second or third time around with them. Also, from experience, I can tell you that all side effects do not occur in the first eight weeks of taking some drugs. I was on topamax for three years with no problems and suddenly started having horrid side effects. I went off of it, then tried again later and couldn't tolerate it at all. I believe side effects can occur at any point. Our bodies change in response to all of the chemicals we are putting in them.

[notfred]

I get the same side effects even if I stop a med and restart in.

[melissaw72]

I have permanent adjustments from being on Clozaril ... excessive/unusual craving for food (no ED, just crave food like pple crave cigarettes or alcohol), and sleep problems. I haven't slept a full night since being on it in 2006. Other than that, with temporary adjustments I just go with the flow of whatever it is and do my best to "work" with it so I can deal with it.

[gizmo]

I've taken drugs (Abilify) that I had akathisia on each and every time I took it. I've also taken medications that I have taken multiple times over the years and had no side effects on them each and every time I've taken them.

I've not experienced an incident in which I took a dry, had a side effect, stopped taking the drug, then took it again later on with no side effect (or vice versa). My body reacts the same way to meds each and every time I take them.

[Cade]

I was on Lexapro and had bad fatigue. When I tried Celexa later, with a slower taper up, I had no side effects at all. I'm not sure whether it was cross-tolerance to side effects from Lexapro since their active antidepressant molecule is the same, or the slower taper and lower dose. Maybe both.

I did not experience a loss of side effects with Xanax, though the fatigue did reduce. 0.5mg used to knock me out, and this time around I do feel tired but to a much lesser extent.

With antipsychotics I haven't been on the same one multiple times, so of course the side effect profile will be different. Again the problem on Seroquel was fatigue which is very, very mild on Abilify. With Abilify I got minor akathisia that went away in a few weeks.