Anyone take Geodon?

If so, I have some questions for you!

First I was wondering if anyone has ever lost weight while taking Geodon. I was told it's weight neutral, but I've read numerous reports online of people losing weight while on it. (Which will be a welcome side effect, considering my last AP made me gain 15lbs).

Second, I was wondering what you do about taking it with meals? It makes me SUPER sleepy (again, a welcome side effect because I often have trouble falling asleep), so I take it about an hour before I go to bed, (between 12am-2am). And because I am trying to lose weight, I don't want to have to eat a big meal at this time, although I'm supposed to take it with a meal.

I asked my pdoc about taking it with say a granola bar and he said that wouldn't be enough... that it needs to be AT LEAST be 200 calories. I'm wondering what happens if I take it without food, and what happens if I take it with food, but only 100 calories or so.

Also any tips or advice you can give me about how the medicine affected you would be great. I know everyone's body responds differently but I'm curious how other people have liked it. I'm just switched from Saphris to Geodon last night. Thanks for your input!

I was on it for about 5 days. The inpatient pdoc took me off it pretty quickly because I was in bed 14-18 hours while on it. I only slept maybe 4-6 of those hours in bed, so it was purely sedating and I laid there like a zombie with insomnia. That was all I noticed. The other atypical antipsychotics were also bad for me (risperidone being the absolute bane of my existence).

Geodon really needs to be taken with a fatty snack in order to be absorbed properly. It's hard for me to eat at night too, so I usually take mine with a big spoonful of peanut butter and a glass of milk. Not a humongous amount of calories but a lot of fat. And I've actually lost weight since changing to Geodon from Zyprexa.

i have been taking geodon for about six months. havent lost any weight on it i wasnt trying to lose. i read you just need 100 calories for it to be absorbed properly. i just take it when i get home from work in the evening and i go to bed about 1am. the super sedating effect wore off after a couple months and i settled into my regular routine.

I take 20mg in am and 160mg at night. My Pdoc said to take it with protein so I eat a slice of chicken or a spoonful of peanut butter. I have gained 30lbs in 3 months but I was underweight before I started it. It makes me go to sleep and knocks me out so I take it right before bed. It has really helped my bipolar 1 mania and psychotic symptoms. I am pretty stable. I also take Lamictal and celexa.

I am on Ziprasidone HCL (a generic form) of Geodon once a day at bedtime.
It is not really helping me yet, but I've only been on it for like a week.

Thanks for all the tips! Peanut butter is an excellent choice, maybe I'll eat some peanut butter with apples (a snack I really enjoy) and a couple handful of almonds... that should be perfect right?

Have you guys had any unwanted side effects? I read online something about it possibly affecting your heart rhythm which could lead to serious consequences... so that kind of freaked me out. I'm also worried because I take adderall AND work out 2-3 times a week (so my heart rate can sometimes sky rocket to 185 if I'm working out hard). I also take imitrex which is a medication for migraines I get every once in awhile and I also read you're not supposed to take Geodon with migraine medication, (I think because of the heart thing... Imitrex works as a vasocontrictor). I called my doctor and left him a message yesterday about these concerns, but he still hasn't gotten back to me yet :/

Definitely stick with it! When I was first put on antipsychotics I took abilify... and I remember it took a few weeks to kick in.

I was on regular Geodon when I was in a psych hospital and it was fast-acting and it worked after the first dose they gave me, but this stuff isn't working. I am prescribed to take it once a day at bedtime. I am on 40mg.

I'm on 40mg as well... for the first 5 days then my pdoc told me to take 80mg at night. I feel great on it But I was also on Saphris and then immediately switched, so I didn't have any time in between when I wasn't medicated.

He didn't tell to increase it, but I want to sooo bad and I have to wait a month before I see him again and can ask for an increase. Do you think its a bad idea to increase myself? Wait... nevermind, I can't do that anyway cuz I'll ran out too quickly before I see him again to get a refill. Guess I'm just screwed for the next month.....

Give him a call! My pdoc has a number I can call at anytime, (it goes straight to vmail) and then I leave a message and he (usually) calls me back pretty fast. Just call his office or however you get a hold of him and ask to leave a message and tell him you want to increase your dosage, and ask if you can stop by the office and pick up another prescription (or samples) to hold you over until you see him at your appointment. Just an idea.

Never change a dose of psychiatric medication without your doctor's knowledge and approval. These drugs are more powerful than most people know, and even those of us who are health professionals are rank amateurs when it comes to messing around with them.

It's amazing what minor changes can do, though. My Geodon dose was doubled from 20 to 40 mg about a month ago and it's literally pulled all the other medications together to the point that I'm stable and calmer now than I've been in years.

I was advised to take it with a meal that has at least 500 calories in it, but if it turns out to be impossible (in my case, because I react to anxiety by stopping to eat, feeling nauseous, etc., so I was not always able to get a big meal), then at least something. At the hospital, the instruction for the nursing staff stressed the point about food - without food, the absorption goes down by 40%.

Just by applying common sense, I would recommend that you at least have a snack and a glass of warm milk. A glass of warm milk before bed is great anyway, always.

I did lose weight on it. I then regained and more, on Zyprexa and due to thyroid issues. But yes, I did lose a lot of weight while on it.

Careful though with planning for weight loss - many people "lose" the weight previously gained on other medications. So it is not a loss versus the baseline, it is a loss versus previously heavier due to other medications.

1) I am not on Geodon now, but I took it for several years, while regularly using Imitrex nasal spray with no issues. My Geodon dose was at some point as high as 180 mg and I still used Imitrex with no issues.

2) My side effects on Geodon were: anorgasmia and just a complete absence of any form of sexual desire and severe acne. I am now off it.

For acne, Tazorac+OTC benzoyl peroxide worked great, but it was literally an arms' race - skipping one day and forgetting about the skin treatment caused an immediate outbreak of acne. I have been off it since last year and I am acne-free. The sexual desire returned to normal gradually, over the course of many months, but acne disappeared instantly once I stopped Geodon.

*possible trigger for ED*

My pdoc says I need to eat at least 500 cals in order for it to work. He really stresses this to me due to my ED history. What I do is restrict calories during the day to save those cals for dinner at night. I get pretty sleepy after taking it and sleep well. I think it has reduced my appetite a bit. I've been losing weight steadily, but I take a lot of drugs and have an ED ... so the cause of the weight loss cannot be absolutely pinpointed to Geodon. That said, a bipolar friend of mine has lost weight on Geodon. Hope this helps.

My pdoc says to take it with 300 calories, so I take 80 mg at lunch and 160 mg at dinner. It doesn't make me sleepy anymore since I've been on it so long. One side effect I've noticed is that I have a bit of hair loss, but I have really thick hair, so it's not noticeable.

The major thing to watch out for is to not up the dose too quickly. The second time I was on it they did and I had a couple seizures. NOT FUN.

I also get EKGs to make sure my heart is working properly.

So THAT'S why I'm losing hair like there's no tomorrow! My hairdresser is even concerned now, although even with his thinning job and the hair loss, I still have plenty of hair left. Never thought it might be due to meds, but come to think of it, I think it started sometime after I went on Geodon.

Just goes to prove that not even nurses know everything about meds!

Lamictal is causing my hair loss It's that or Lithium as its the only 2 meds I take.

I did not notice hair loss on Geodon but now that I have read it, I realize why my hair has become completely unmanageable since I stopped Geodon. So much hair!

A woman in my new group has thinning hair on Topamax. I was warned that I could start losing hair on Depakote, but I did not lose any hair. I did not use Topamax enough to say anything about hair on Topamax.

I did very well on geodon the first time I took it. The only thing I didn't like was the loss of sex drive. I did lose a good amount of weight. I went below my normal weight even. I thought it was my nerves but I guess it was geodon. My pdoc took me off of it bc he didn't want me on it. Stupid I was doing fine but he is the one w the degree so I listened. He tried to put me back on it this year because I told him I havent felt right since he pulled me off of it but for some reason I can't take it anymore. He should've just left well enough alone...

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Crystal, I did not know about Geodon, but I have read that Topamax does not work the same way if you discontinue and then restart. People who do initially lose weight on it, but for some reason stop and then restart, do not lose weight any more.

I didn't know that about topomax. The
T stinks because I did lose weight on it. I just felt like I really lost brain power on it. I had planned to go back on it for a few weeks just to lose weight again. I'm no longer taking any ap so I thought maybe the weight would stay off. Good to know thank you.

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Is there anyone taking geodon with celexa? any issues..

what happens, if you don't take it with fat???
I am going to buy some peanut butter, since that is how u take yours anyway..
just wondering...