Latuda is also FDA approved for schizophrenia; many many doctors feel that means it also prevents manic episodes. It's new enough that doctors wonder how strong it is in that regard (as opposed to, say, Zyprexa--which is a huge weight-gainer). I take other non-SSRI's for depression so can't testify to its effectiveness in that regard, despite its FDA approval for that condition. My suspicion is that Sunovion went first for the schizophrenia market because they know doctors use those drugs for bipolar mania and only went for the depression to get legally into the bipolar market.

It doesn't cause me to gain weight (I can do that on my own). Abilify was the drug that introduced akathisia into my vocabulary. Cogentin worked for that but at a dose (3mg) that caused blurry vision. Unfortunately it's also Latuda's weakness. I take 80mg propranolol (a systemic beta blocker) and it completely prevents it. It's possible even that after 4 years I don't need it anymore, but akathisia is so terrible that I'm afraid to try and see.

ETA: No problems with blood pressure.