Latuda saved my life

[HumorousCrusty]

I've been on 40mg latuda once a day, and 0.5mg clonazepam twice a day, for bipolar 2, some mild schizophrenia and psychosis, and constant suicidal thoughts and tendencies, for about half a year now and I can honestly say it has saved my life. I do not see how I survived before taking this drug. When I first started off latuda within days of taking it I had already begun to notice positive effects, I wasn't paranoid, I didn't hear people talking to/about me as I walked around the halls at school, all my delusions of people stalking me had gone away, and best of all the depression, panic attacks and hypo manic episodes are gone. And my audio and visual hallucinations are so infrequent now, I only notice them maybe once every few weeks and they're tiny, barely even there. I feel like I can and am finally living a normal life, and while it may come with some baggage (akithisia, TD, passing out within an hour of taking my pills) I would never go back to the life I had before I take latuda.

This is my first antipsychotic and will probably be my one and only antipsychotic for the rest of my life unless it stops working down the road or I build up a tolerance to the point where even 120mg does nothing. My pdoc says I should be the poster boy for latuda because one drug takes care of all my problems (which isn't true, I'll probably ask for propranolol, and wellbutrin to strengthen my wellness cocktail next time I see him) but I do notice some side effects, I'll spare you the obvious ones, extreme restlessness, extreme sedation after taking etc. And go to the ones I have that are more rare or even unique to me. I get the coolest dreams like other worldly dreams that are more vivid/real than real life, stuff like dreaming entirely in math or seeing other primary colors.  I constantly grind my teeth and have my tongue pressed to the roof of my mouth, which I just solve by chewing gum, I get akithisia and really apathetic after taking latuda if it doesn't knock me out but for that I guess I now have Pokemon go to keep me moving and music to keep my mind occupied, and the weirdest side effect of all is I can't drink root beer... Some chemical that's used in the artificial flavoring makes me so balls to the walls restless that it feels like my muscles are separating from my bones, and my heart beats irregularly, fast, and hard,so I just avoid root beer like the plague. Other than that and the excess saliva though latuda has been a Wonderland of finally getting to live life free of  roominating myself to oblivion, and having grand delusions. 

I have a few questions though and I won't see my pdoc for a while so I was wondering if you guys could maybe help out a bit. 

Does latuda alter the course of mental illnesses or will I be on latuda forever? 

I used to do a lot of recreational drugs before latuda but have stopped to make sure that latuda goes a-ok, I think I'm ready to slowly ease my way back into some recreational drugs though.  Do you guys know of any interactions or combinations of latuda + 'x' drug that I should avoid for reasons of it being fatal or that I won't have a regular experience and will just be miserable. 

Same as above but for alcohol, like how much should I start by drinking considering I haven't drank in half a year and am on new prescription medications. Is there a hard limit that I should really be looking out for when on latuda? If so why? 

One more concerning side effect is that I see motion in my peripheral view, like it looks like I see something move out of the corner of my eye but there's nothing there,  and my visual field looks like it's always moving, almost shaking or drifting off sometimes. How do I deal with this other than pretending it's not happening? 

I'm only 19 and my brain is still myelinating/ developing... Because I'm taking a drug that alters my brain chemistry will this have adverse effects down the road? Like because I didn't let my brain develop fully naturally. 

What are your guys' experiences with latuda? 

I guess that's all I can think of to ask now, I had another question I wanted to ask but I forget so I'll just post that question later... 

I'm so happy latuda exists, like I know the Japanese company that chemically engineered this drug is just in it for the money but they really have changed my life, my friends and family tell me I seem like such a happier person and it's because I really am. Latuda has saved my life. 

Edited July 14, 2016 by Humorouscrustacean