Anyone been on Geodon and how was it?

New shrink put me on Geodon. Never been on it and wondering what others thought of it.

When I was on high doses of it, I was unable to have an orgasm. I did not have other side effects. Now I am taking 80 mg and I can orgasm, thanks god! It is a miracle drug for me: prevents all mania and psychosis. Much recommended.

Thank you for the info. It makes me feel much better about it

Geodon is great because it is largely weight neutral and does not cause many extrapyramidal side effects. I have taken other APs: Seroquel, Risperdal, and Zyprexa, and Geodon is by far the best among the ones I have tried. I am really happy that I am on it and it is solely my own achievement: I read about different APs and asked for Geodon myself, because it had the best profile in terms of weight.

Geodon worked beautifully for my symptoms; nothing has worked that well actually. Unfortunately, it made me extremely drowsy, even when I took it in the early evening in hopes that the drowsiness would wear off by morning. I literally was falling asleep while driving in the morning and had to discontinue because it was too dangerous to drive.

She did warn me that some people it revs up some people it makes really sleepy. We agreed that I would wait until my days off this weekend to start it. That way I can see if I should take it in the morning before I go to bed or at night when I get up. She's starting me at 40mg. After 7 days I'm supposed to go to 40mg x2 day but she said I could take both doses at once if I wanted.

Out of curiosity she wants me to do a full blood work up before I start it. Then after 6 months do another. Did anyone else have to do that?

No I did not. I do bloodwork because of Lithium, not Geodon.

We talked about Lithium and something else(can't recall name) but I refuse to take birth control because of a family history of cancer. For some reason she refuses to prescribe either unless I'm on birth control or "fixed". Don't know what's up with that. I think that maybe the blood work was to check insulin?? Seems like it had something to do with blood sugar and/or insulin. But she just also wanted an overview of my health. Like she wants a copy of my last physical from my GP.

She's WAYYY more in depth and hands on then my last shrink. She kept me there for almost 2 hours talking and getting to know me. And she didn't even mention meds until the end. She said she wanted a feel for my personality to see what would be a good fit for me. If you added up 10 appointments with my last shrink it wouldn't equal 2 hours. I like her but she scares me. Just not used to someone other than my GP being that much up in my business.

Only estrogen is bad, though, right? You can still be on progesterone-only birth control, I think. Have you had children? If you have, look into Mirena. It actually helps prevent cancer - a bit, nothing huge. If you have not had kids, then mini-pill+condoms is as good as fixed.

Well, read this

But it is Zyprexa that is notorious for causing weight gain and a rise in blood sugar, not Geodon. On Geodon, my blood sugar is borderline low!

Overall, a careful p-doc is a good thing, but her unwillingless to prescribe Lithium unless you are taking estrogen pills is going overboard. What's wrong with responsible use of condoms?? She cannot trust you to put a condom on right?

I began taking Geodon as part of a test study for bp about 10 years ago. I had issues with it causing sever fatigue to the point I could not function, though I was on a very high dose. It was however the only medication that actually stablized my moods. I stopped having manic episodes while taking it and actually have not had a full blown manic episode since

I'm 36 never had kids never want kids. My hubby is all but sterile.I explained all that. She said "Condoms can break and all but sterile is not sterile. If there is any chance whatsoever that you could get pregnant then I don't want you on Lithium and whatever the other one was." I even countered (just because I like to argue ) even if I was prescribed birth control pills doesn't mean I'd take them like I was supposed to. The only perfect form of birth control is abstinence. She said that was true but at least she and the facility she works at couldn't be held liable for birth defects or complications as long as she could prove that she had reasonable belief that I would not become pregnant.

But from what I'm hearing Geodon sounds pretty good. I appreciate all the information. I mean I know I could have a different reaction to it but it's reassuring to hear from people that it has worked for.

Properly used condoms have a very high effectiveness rate, up there with bc. I am sorry that she does not see it. I hope that Geodon will work for you.

Doctors prescribe medications But they are not liable for side effects and even death due to such medications.

Only the Drug companies come under fire and can be sued.

Good point...

I am on Mirena which is almost 100% effective and have been for the entire time that I have been on psych drugs, but no one ever asked me about bc.

I'm on Geodon and have the sexual side effects from it. I'm also on Lithium and have never been asked about birth control before being prescribed it. It seems a little weird that your pdoc would say anything about birth control.

It all seems weird to me. I've never had a shrink send me for blood work or want a copy of my last physical. I have had 2 shrinks in the past that wanted to know about contraception and refused to prescribe certain things if I wasn't on it. Have a good friend that had to go the next state over to Ohio to get her psych meds refilled because she quit taking her BC and she couldn't find a doc here that would refill them. Maybe it's an Indiana thing I know that a GP can be sued here if they prescribe psych meds and don't make sure the patient is getting actual mental health checkups from a therapist or shrink. Found that out when my sister killed herself. Her GP contacted me to see if I'd sign a waiver and I had all these slimy lawyers(no offense I know they are just trying to make a living) calling me and my parents trying to get us to sue him. This was 15 years ago so guess it could have changed. Also if a doctor prescribes you something and you have a very adverse reaction and they didn't warn you it was possible. Hell we had a guy sue a pharmacy and his doctor because he had a medical interaction. He admitted he didn't read the handouts but the court decided that he shouldn't have had to. They said the doc and the pharmacy were negligent because they didn't do the homework for him and warn him not to take them at the same time. Stuff like that is ridiculous but I guess that's why docs ask so much weird stuff.

Geodon did not work for me 80 mgs made me tired all the time and I've been increasingly irritable and violent so they are going to try me on just Abilify. I always thought Abilify had to be used in conjunction with something else but eh hopefully the doc knows what she's doing.

I have taken geodon for about 4 years now with absolutely no side effects and I take a high does of 320 mg a day. It totally stops the psychosis. No weight gain, No sleepiness. No jitters.

Hope it works for you

Good luck with Abilify

Geodon at high doses ==> no orgasms, otherwise a great drug. At medium doses, good.