Geodon Question

I am increasing my dose of Geodon. I will be adding a morning dose to what I take at 6:00pm. I have no problem with eating enough calories with dinner to activate the Geodon. The literature that comes with Geodon just says take with food. However I have also read that the calories need to be 500 calories. But I've never been a breakfast eater. If I eat breakfast, its a piece or fruit or a bowl of cereal. Both of these are around 100 - 150 calories. Do you think this is enough? Any suggestions for high calorie breakfasts that aren't too overwhelming?

Hi @Bugtussel - I am not qualified to recommend, but some sites say the more you eat the more absorption you get. Here are peers who tell what their experience is How much do you have to eat with Geodon? - #4 by crimby - Medications - Schizophrenia.com

Of course you can always ask your pharmacist or doctor and or read the instructions with the med.

Hope you get the support you are looking for.
@CANDC

When I was on Geodon my go-to breakfast was a ham or turkey (sometimes leftover chicken) & cheese omelette or monte cristo/french toast sandwiches. Easy to make and lots of energy for the day. I don't think 100 kcal would be enough for Geodon to be absorbed properly.

I was told 300 calories were the minimum when I was on Geodon.

Thanks for all the input. I have decided and gotten approval from PDoc to take it with lunch which will be easier to eat the suggested number of calories.

Like Beth wrote, there are sources that used to say 300 calories, though I have also seen the 500 calorie recommendation. I took Geodon for about 6 years in the past, mostly taking 160 mg per day (80 mg morn and 80 mg evening). I rarely ate 500 calorie breakfasts, and sometimes barely consumed 300 calorie ones, but the medication was still at least partially efficacious for me. [As I was being weaned off, that seemed almost proven.] I think (opinion) getting exactly to 500 calories may not always be a requirement for all people all of the time. My opinion only. Another possible solution (I'd ask your psychiatrist) may be taking a higher dose in the morning so that even if all of it isn't absorbed, more would be absorbed at, say, 80 mg dose than a 40 mg dose. There was also a time when I took a higher dose in the evening (when I did get the 500 calories) than in the morning, however my psychiatrist always said twice per day dosing was highly recommended with Geodon and preferably similar dosing.

I'll confess I use a similar strategy when taking Synthroid (levothyroxine), a hypothyroidism med. It's highly recommended to take it at least 30 minutes or more before eating in the morning (empty stomach). Fact is, I never could wait that 30 minutes. I told my doctor and he said that as long as it still kept my thyroid in check, it was OK. It's likely that my Synthroid dose was perhaps higher than other peoples', but my choice was the higher dose without the wait rather than struggling to wait and taking a lower dose. Or, forgetting to take the Synthroid at all. Of course thyroid functioning is easy to measure by blood tests. Antipsychotic effectiveness is pretty much only measured by whether you're stable or not. I never took Geodon as monotherapy. I was mostly always also on Lithium and even often on Lithium, Lamictal, Tegretol, and sometimes a second antipsychotic, all simultaneously. But again, when I was slowly weaned off the Geodon, I grew hypomanic.

Note: I am not a doctor and therefore the above is not advice, just my perspective on my experience.

After years of taking geodon It stopped working and I was under a great deal of stress and and was admitted to the psych ward. abruptly taken off with out weaning. boy oh boy did I got manic and that went right into psychosis. they were trying new meds on me to see if they could get me out of mania.The mania stopped while switching to low dose of haldol 5mg twice a day, lamictal, 150 twice a day and cogentin1mg which is so bitter I hate it but will take it to prevent any negative side effects. and klonipin to sleep. 1mg. Is doing the trick.
bizi