[hamster-bamster]

That's what my p-doc asked. I said "yes" - what else was left for me to do? It is not as if I had some power to speed things up. He said that when a side effect has been present for a long time (more than three years in my case), it takes time to recover normalcy post discontinuation of the drug.

I will take 80 mg of Geodon today instead of my usual dose of 160 mg - this begins the process of tapering off. Next week I will receive Abilify in the mail and start taking 2.5 mg, then will increase to 5 mg. He thinks (hopes, I should say) that this would be enough, because in conjunction with Lithium and Prozac a lower dose should suffice. If it were a monotherapy, he'd prescribe 15-30 mg. Abilify comes with its own set of sexual side effects, but they are rare. Hopefully, this time I will draw a lucky card. I did not draw it with Risperdal and Geodon, but I might still with Abilify. Only time will show if Abilify works and if I can tolerate it.

I sure hope that Abilify will work as well as Geodon while allowing me to have orgasms. Geodon has worked (at the dose of 160 mg a day - not so well at lower doses) remarkably well - no mania and no psychosis. At the same time I have enough energy to function well and there are absolutely, absolutely no side effects EXCEPT FOR THIS ONE! If not for this one, Geodon would have been THE drug! No memory loss, no tremor, no weight gain (I was size 6 while on it at some point in 2011), no digestive discomfort, no daytime drowsiness, no hair loss, no orthostatic hypotension, no Parkinson-like symptoms, no akathisia, no excessive sweating, no dry mouth, no cognitive side effects outside of memory loss, no ... you name it - no anything, except for this one!

But having orgasms is essential for life, so soon I will be off this otherwise ideal medication.

P-doc said that if there are no orgasms by the New Year, we can start blaming Abilify for it.

I am afraid that Abilify, even if it does not cause sexual side effects, will cause something else nasty. Why am I pessimistic? Murphy's law, nothing else.

We'll see - there isn't anything quite like the passage of time.

[BlueInanna]

I hope it works for you Hamster. Have you heard of energy orgasms? People can learn to orgasm without genital stimulation. It's been proven through brain testing that they are real orgasms. I haven't tried it, just sounds interesting.

[hamster-bamster]

I will look them up, definitely!

[BlueInanna]

http://barbaracarrellas.com/video/th...l-strange-sex/

This is interesting info about it.

[cybermember]

Hamster, I currently take 80 mg of Geodon and I'm able to orgasm but anything above that with each 20 mg increase becomes more of a struggle. At 160 mg it was dang near impossible, but with an incredible amount of perseverance it was possible. I must admit that at that time I was on 160 mg I was terribly ill so my symptoms were overriding most effects of medication.

Although I understand that you are under the care of your pdoc, you say you're titrating from taking 160 mg to just taking 80 mg, from my own experience I would advise you to titrate in increments of 20 mg every couple of weeks so that you don't feel any ill effects and your body adjusts accordingly but especially with regard to your heart as Geodon has a black box warning concerning possible changes in the electrical current of the heart while taking Geodon. Just sayin'.

[thickntired]

Howdy!

That is interesting because Prozac is what messed up my sex drive & ability to have an orgasm. I tried to switching to wellbutrin, which has less sexual side effects, and long story short I had some great sex with my hubby then fell into a deep depression. I made the decision to stay on prozac & deal with the side effects, but I miss the good old days when I had great sex without a second thought And I def feel that this has had a negative impact on my marriage, but not as much as depression or a breakdown would. For me, I had to sacrafice my sex drive for my mental health. It sucks, but such is life.

And with regard to your post topic Is having orgasms by the New Year a good goal?. No, I don't think it is a healthy goal, and putting a time frame or deadline on your body can cause stress.

Peace & Hugs,

TnT

[hamster-bamster]

I think what the p-doc really meant by putting the timeframe was "we will blame Abilify if you cannot have them by 2013".

[thickntired]

Originally Posted by hamster-bamster

I think what the p-doc really meant by putting the timeframe was "we will blame Abilify if you cannot have them by 2013".

I might be wrong, but I thought Abilify - being the latest and greatest - has less side effects of weight gain when compared to the older anti-psychotics. But I'm glad you're working with your pdoc on the weight loss.

TnT

[Anika.]

Hammy any goal for something that will be a benifit is a good goal. Being flexible about time is good, but I believe you are.

Nothing is impossible, funny i just had a conversation with my youngest son about impossipilities. Considering the earth and everything on it seems to be created out of nothingness, nothing is impossible. What you are aiming for is very possible, just try to keep the pressure down.

I hope you find it sooner than later, but I am sure you will one time or another.

A side note, I just as many side effects with abilify as I did with older drugs like thorazine.

[irishgirliexo]

Good luck! I am in the same boat. My pdoc lowered geodon but seems like he doesn't want to switch my meds yet. ):

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by irishgirliexo

Good luck! I am in the same boat. My pdoc lowered geodon but seems like he doesn't want to switch my meds yet. ):

Your signature still lists the FDA-approved max dose for Geodon.

The first thing my p-doc suggested when he learned of this problem is decreasing the dose, but I had this problem on any dose.

[irishgirliexo]

I will fix that lol