My experience with Latuda for off-label use (stuttering)

[Travel52]

First, let me say that I don't have any mental disorders prior to starting on Latuda. Instead, my pdoc prescribed Latuda for off-label treatment of stuttering. For some (many?) lowering of Dopamine levels results in more fluent speech. I've been on various doses of Latuda for 3 years. At the peak  was on 120mg a day. It most certainly did help with my fluency, but as time progressed side-effects became worse and worse. Symptoms included lack of motivation, lack of focus, low energy, and mild insomnia. I don't know if Latuda is to blame, but trying to lose weight also became quite hard (but maybe is just due to natural aging as I'm now in my early 40s). My pdoc was very responsive with prescribing other various meds to try and help with the symptoms, including adjusting Latuda dosing.

More recently he tried strattera, Armodafinil 150, brupropion 150 XL, and others that I can't remember. Last week I was on 40mg Latuda, Armodafinil 150 and brupropion 150 XL. Armodafinil helped a lot with energy, and also mostly fixed my insomnia to the point I never took any more sleeping pills.  Brupropion 150 XL helped a little, but going up to 300mg totally ruined my sleep although I was very energized.

But frankly, the low motivation and lack of focus was taking a big toll on my work productivity (was in the tank) and my personal life. And these symptoms were actually worse than my stuttering. So 6 days ago my pdoc suggested I stop Latuda. For a few days I felt like crap, but couldn't tell if that was Latuda withdrawl or a cold trying to come on (felt like low grade fever, sore throat, etc.). Today the "cold" type symptoms have mostly gone away, but still kinda tired. I've read horror stories of Latuda withdrawl, but thus far I have escaped those. I'm still on the Armodafinil 150 and brupropion 150 XL. My speech is less fluent than on the peak Latuda dosage. I hope over the coming weeks my brain chemistry gets back to normal so my motivation and focus return to what they were. Once that happens, I'll taper off the other meds.

After all of this experimentation, I'm not sure if it was worth it. More fluency in return for a nose dive in work productivity and more boring personal life. I'm reluctant to try any other dopamine antagonists, as I don't want any weight gain. I'd rather be lean and trim and stutter, than a fluent blimp.  

I have new found respect and sympathy for those that have mental disorders were drugs are needed. Thankfully I have astounding health insurance, so I wasn't out of pocket a cent for any of my drugs or pdoc visits.