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Original poster

People on anti-psychotics.

34 replies

fluffydressinggown · 05/08/2013 21:06

I hope this will attract people taking them :)

I just wondered what people take and what side effects they have. There seems to be a lot of dicussion about anti-depressants but not so much about anti-psychotics.

I am titrating up to 4mg of risperdone, currently on 1.5mg a day, I take it for psychotic symptoms ( I hear / see / believe things). I am finding it ok so far, when I first went on it I went up to 4mg too quickly and was crippled by tiredness but going up slowly seems to be keeping that at bay.

Does anyone else struggle with taking them? I find it very hard to believe that some of the things I believe need to be medicated out of me :( I take them because the alternative (hospitalisation and forced to take them) is shitty. When people talk about a chemical imbalance with me I find it hard to believe that that is true.

Anyway. Would be interested to chat to people on them.

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mawbroon · 05/08/2013 21:26

I was on rispiridone for over a year. It worked for me in that it stopped me becoming psychotic, but it never made me feel "well" IYSWIM.

I had another psychotic episode in November last year and the subsequent post psychotic depression was creeping in when I became really manic followed by suicidal thoughts and the like.

At that point, the psychiatrist diagnosed bipolar and changed me over to Quetiapine. It was awful at first, I couldn't stay awake for a whole day, it wiped me out completely. But 5 months on, I can say that I am well and I can see that during the periods where I thought I was well before, I really wasn't, I was just a bit better than I had been before.

I never believed that the Rispiridone was helping me, but now I am well and can see clearly, I absolutely know that the Quetiapine is what has made me well.

The only down side is the weight gain. I was 7st 8lbs when I went on it, and within 2 months was 9st 7 and now I am 10st. At 5ft 1, that's too heavy. But, there is no contest in the choice between being overweight or being well.

mawbroon · 05/08/2013 21:28

Oh, and I take ADs too. I have been on Lofepramine for about a year and a half now 210mgs. I was prescribed that one as I am breastfeeding ds2.

dontrunwithscissors · 05/08/2013 22:03

I take 300mg of quetiapine for bipolar depression. (I have only had a few mildish highs). It works very well for me, mood wise. I also take lamotrigine (mood stabiliser) and agomelatine (antidepressant).

Side effects--joint pain, which is bad enough to stop me exercising and take cocodamol every 4-6 hours. It also makes me constipated and bloated. These are tolerable at 300mg, but can't take more. I am llucky to have no weight gain. I simply wouldn't have taken them if there was. I'm afraid that (for me) the well and fat or crazy and thin argument is too simplistic.

It's taken 2.5 years to get the medication right. It doesn't bother me taking an AP, really, as I can see how much the quetiapine helps me, although I'm gutted it takes so much medication to keep my fairly stable. I wish I had the leeway to push the quetiapine up if needed, but I'm at the limits of how much joint pain I can take. Some evenings I crawl up the stairs on my hands and knees.

Original poster
fluffydressinggown · 05/08/2013 22:49

Thanks for replying. I have a diagnosis of BPD which I disagree with but there is something I guess.

I don't feel unwell on the risperdone, bit twitchy but I think the fluxoetine makes me feel like that as well.

I was on quetiapine in hospital but I couldn't take it on discharge, some of my thinking is linked into the quetiapine and I couldn't get past it to make myself take it.

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Original poster
fluffydressinggown · 17/08/2013 19:02

I wanted to bump this to ask if anyone else feels very restless on their meds, I have gone up in dose and really noticed it with this increase. Feel like my legs should be moving even when they are not. Just wondered if anyone else had had the same experience?

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SnowyMouse · 17/08/2013 19:07

I had restlessness with aripiprazole, might be worth checking out with your team?

fedupandtired · 17/08/2013 20:04

I've been on and off quetiapine for years for bipolar and apart from the tiredness I pretty much find it side effect free. I could blame it on my weight gain but as much as I'd like to convince myself otherwise that's down to my dire eating habits.

I took Abilify for a while but apart from the fact it didn't help the restlessness was horrendous. Reading anything was impossible and I'd get uncontrollable urges to jump up and walk about. Not pleasant at all.

Mirages · 17/08/2013 20:41

I am on aripiprazole. I find it very good. So far no side effects. It also activates me. My other drugs made me very tired. But I have been on it earlier and got dyskinesia after a while.

coxspippin · 18/08/2013 12:01

fluffy, i take quetiapine and i think it had a tranquillising effect on my mind and thoughts, though dose reduced at the moment. not sure about restlessness, but i do wake up too early- may be the other medication i'm taking (venlafaxine and lamotrogine). sorry can't be more helpful fluffy.

dontrunwithscissors · 18/08/2013 12:46

flufffy, it could be a side effect of the med. I think it's called akathisia www.tardivedyskinesia.com/common-associations/akathisia.php

I'd suggest mentioning it to your CPN asap.

Crawling · 18/08/2013 19:39

I was on olanzapine which while it helped me sleep didn't make me drowsy but unfortunately it caused 3stone weight gain so I had to stop. Now I take apiprazole 30mg I had awful akathesia at first and needed medication for it but that has calmed down now however I still get jittery and have to pace alto I also have hand tremors and find it has effected my writing and my mouth is alto wetter and I drool easier. I also take depakote 1000 which makes me drowsy and gives me a itchy scalp.I also take 100mg sertraline.

Crawling · 18/08/2013 19:41

A lot not alto

Original poster
fluffydressinggown · 18/08/2013 22:42

Thanks for the replies, I will mention it to my CPN. It is ok most of the time but seems worse at night. I am quite a restless fidgety person any way so I think it is just accentuating something I do naturally anyway.

I feel a bit stuck really because it is a case of take the meds (and risperdone was a compromise from my MH team anyway they would rather I was on quetiapine) and stay at home and put up with the side effects or don't take them and get really unwell and get sectioned and take them anyway. Grr.

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onlysettleforbutterflies · 19/08/2013 14:09

Hi Fluffy, I don't have first hand experience but thought I'd pass on my OH's experience of risperidone. He suffered terribly from side effects at first - restless legs, insomnia, heavy/sluggish feeling, sleeping lots during the day but a few months down the line he felt loads better and the side effects were barely noticeable. I don't know if he just learnt to live with them or if they lessened in time. For him the risperidone really worked and got rid of the psychotic thoughts, when he stopped taking them unbeknown to me, he nearly got sectioned.

Original poster
fluffydressinggown · 19/08/2013 17:55

Thanks for that positive message, nice to hear that someone has managed to get through the side effects and come out the other side :)

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onlysettleforbutterflies · 19/08/2013 20:05

He has been off them now for six months too, just on sertraline now. Keep talking to your cpn they have seen it all before and can help.

Original poster
fluffydressinggown · 21/08/2013 21:37

Has anyone been on procyclidine? I have been prescribed it to help with some of the side effects of the risperdone. Still very restless and my legs feel very stiff when I walk.

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dontrunwithscissors · 22/08/2013 09:18

Yes I tried procyclidine. Didn't do a thing, unfortunately.

Original poster
fluffydressinggown · 22/08/2013 09:19

Oh bum :( I hope it does something for me!

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Aridane · 06/09/2013 11:54

I have been on olanzapine on two occasions. Side effects = extreme drowsiness / sedation and heavy weight gain.

However, it was very effective at calming me down and stopping racing thoughts.

Sophiedotty · 07/09/2013 12:17

I take 2.5 mg of Olanzapine & 75mg if Sertraline. I have no weight gain. This combination works well for me for major depression.

dontrunwithscissors · 07/09/2013 13:19

How's the procyclidine working, fluffy?

I'm currently pondering over whether to move away from quetiapine. It works brilliantly and I haven't gained any weight, but it causes terrible joint pain that has become incapacitating. I take cocodamol and diclofenac four times a day, but it's still there a lot.

Pdoc has suggested Risperidone, but warned that it may well not be as effective as quetiapine as I take Q for bipolar depression. I don't have problems with high mood (bar a couple of mild hypo manias) and I've never had psychosis. Apparently quetiapine is by far the best AP for lows. I don't know what to do. It's awful not being able to be active. I used to love to run, but I can barely walk for 10 minutes without being in a lot of pain. It can really get me down, but so would the depression.

I'm going to ask about Arirprazole. I tried it a while back and it made me really dozy, but that was also with 300mg quetiapine. My pdoc said at the last appointment that they don't put people on two AP's, but he obviously doesn't realise that happened to me.

Original poster
fluffydressinggown · 07/09/2013 18:13

Hi *dontrunwithscissors" I think the procyclidine is working for me, I was getting terrible cramps in my legs when I walked and that has stopped now. I still feel restless but less so. That said I have just come back from holiday and the plane journey was awful because I could not sit still or get comfy, in the end I took some diazepam and put myself to sleep. Hoping the restlessness goes away a bit more. I am also on fluxoetine which makes me twitchy anyway.

I moved from quetiapine to risperdone and I think for me it is a better medication. I was also told that quetiapine was the best medication for my symptoms on paper but in reality it wasn't. If it is causing you serious pain it is not the right medication for you. It might be worth giving the risperdone a go. I felt exhausted when I started taking it so my CPN cut the dose right down and I am titrating up slowly now which has been relatively side effect free (no tiredness).

Sorry I have rambled. I think the risperidone has helped stabilise me more, I felt like the quetiapine kept me going but only just, the risperidone feels more long term.

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dontrunwithscissors · 07/09/2013 21:51

Thanks, fluffy. I just don't know what to do. The big problem being that quetipaine has been a wonder drug for me. It's worked so well. If that wasn't the case, it would be a much easier decision to move on. But I've tolerated the pain for two years now. This all raises the question of the price were willing to pay for mood stability. I seem to get every side effect imaginable so there's no guarantee at all that other options will be side effec free.

My big, big, big, big worry is weight gain. I just can not/will not tolerate any gain. I've been lucky with the quetiapine, but its been partly me being very careful. I know I would take joint pain over weight gain. I just don't know....

I

Original poster
fluffydressinggown · 08/09/2013 15:58

It is a tough choice isn't it? I haven't noticed any weight gain on risperdone which I did on quetiapine. It is the reason I refuse to be on olanzipine.

I hate the side effects too, I think anti-psychotics must be amongst the worst medication for them.

I suppose you could try the risperdone and if it doesn't work or is too problematic you could go back on the quetiapine.

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