[Captinbipolar]

The saphris im on is starting to give me awful hand tremors. It's making daily life hard. I can't draw very well anymore. Cooking (one of my big passions) is getting slightly dangerous not to mention it gets me down thinking about when/if I can get back to work in a kitchen. I also can't rock climb anymore well. I was so shaky I could barley do a pull-up without convulsing it seems. The small source of pleasure I have from these activity feels like it's being stripped away. Any suggestions or should I just switch meds..the doctor wants to up it to 10 mg as I'm kissing mania (starting to hear music and see things not alot but it's never a good sign.) I already on 120mg of propranolol which I heard helps but being only 130 pounds with a low heart rate already If I up it I won't be able to work out or stand up without passing out. (Already happened on this dose once or twice) any suggestions would help. Or just a stay on your meds! Don't go manic! Can help as well lol. I wanna throw all my meds out at this point. What more can this take for me! Treatment is supposed to give my life back. I'm just releasing this is only partly true. I need to start a path for a new life I guess. Thanks for reading and helping everyone. Ever since I joined I feel no longer alone. I had no friends and quickly I feel like I have a support system. Means so much to me I'm shaking lol

[raspberrytorte]

Can you switch to a different med?

[Captinbipolar]

Oh I definitely will its not working great anyway and I've only tried an handful. Don't have an appointment for a little while though. Just needed to rant it out I think. Really hyper. Mixed mood. Wired.

[raspberrytorte]

Can you call and get an earlier appointment?

[Captinbipolar]

Yes I'm going to try that see what I can do. Not to hopefull because there always booked up. Going to try and change doctor here soon. I seem to be in and out within five minutes which pisses me off for the money I have to pay. That along with constantly waiting 45 minutes after my scheduled appointment to be seen is no good. I feel my doctor is overbooked for sure. thanks for the support raspberrytorte!

[gayleggg]

I'm sorry you are having this problem. So am I and I'm up to 15 mg daily of Saphris. My hands are shaking so bad it's hard for me to type or do anything else that takes the use of my hands. I plan to talk to my pdoc about this on my next visit but don't know if there is anything we can do except change meds and the Saphris has been working really well for me so I hate to change. I will be interested to see what your doctor does to help you.

[Captinbipolar]

Nice to know I'm not alone ill definitely keep you updated Gayle I'm interested in what your doctor does as well!

[tommyp]

When I first started using Abilify, I had tremors; mostly in my hands. My pdoc prescribed klonopin to stop the tremors and it worked.

[teleea]

I get tremmors too. It can be ebarassing in public. I have taken to resting my hands against my body and furniture. I never hold a glass in public to avoid the stares.

I am an artist and it has affected my ability to do more detailed work.

I hate having to write or sign anything in public because I shake so badly (and white I write is completely illegible).

But, what I hate worse than the shaking is constantly being 'word dumb'. It is humiliating trying to carry on a conversation without sounding like an uneducated inarticulate idiot. Frankly, I 'lose words' mid sentence and can't find them when I need them.

Hear ya! I lasted one dose on Saphris. Kept me up all night (ALL night, zero sleep.) with the worst restless legs of my life. It also gave me coordination problems --with bumbly walking, so no way to relieve the restless legs without introducing myself to the walls and furniture entirely too much.)

Even though your Pdoc is overbooked, another idea is to get on the cancellation list. You never know, could get you in earlier.

[Captinbipolar]

Originally Posted by teleea

But, what I hate worse than the shaking is constantly being 'word dumb'. It is humiliating trying to carry on a conversation without sounding like an uneducated inarticulate idiot. Frankly, I 'lose words' mid sentence and can't find them when I need them.

I'm sorry to hear that teleea that doesn't sound like to much fun but I suppose I'll take what I can if it makes me stable, problem is it doesn't lol. As for the word thing I hate this too. I know a lot of words and can have an intelligent conversation (grammar is anther matter though lol) but constantly I go blank mid sentence like you said. It does give me awful anxiety like everyone thinks I either don't know what I'm talking about or like you said inarticulate and uneducated. Glad to know I'm not alone on this. Thanks for the response

[Captinbipolar]

Originally Posted by Innerzone

Hear ya! I lasted one dose on Saphris. Kept me up all night (ALL night, zero sleep.) with the worst restless legs of my life. It also gave me coordination problems --with bumbly walking, so no way to relieve the restless legs without introducing myself to the walls and furniture entirely too much.)

Even though your Pdoc is overbooked, another idea is to get on the cancellation list. You never know, could get you in earlier.

Weird because my pdoc said to take it at night. It kept me up most of the night as well. That or it's my mania that I feel creeping in. I'll have to try the cancellation list thing I always forget about that thanks for the help!

Originally Posted by Captinbipolar

Weird because my pdoc said to take it at night. It kept me up most of the night as well. That or it's my mania that I feel creeping in. I'll have to try the cancellation list thing I always forget about that thanks for the help!

Yes! My psych said the same thing. She even said to be totally ready for sleep, like already in jammies, teeth brushed kind of thing. That it could kick in quickly, so to be prepared. I was, it did. Just not in the anticipated way.
I don't remember if I was hypomanic at the time, so can't say for sure if it was a factor. Don't think I was though.

[BipolaRNurse]

I have hand tremors which I think are due to being on two antipsychotics. My handwriting is terrible and it is difficult to hold a fork withou the food falling off (try this with peas!). But it could be worse; these meds are the glue that holds me together and I'll put up with this minor inconvenience if it means I can avoid sailing off on a manic high or sinking into the depths of depression.

[Cammiecat]

I was on Abilify and it caused me severe tremors. Bad enough that I had to quit my job. I tried to get off it a couple of years ago and my mood dropped like a brick so we had to put me back on it. So fast forward to this spring and I can't keep food on my fork because of the tremor and I decided I didn't care if my mood dropped, I can't face the rest of my life with this tremor. So, with careful planning with my psychiatrist we weened me off the Abilify and I thought I was free and clear. I was hospitalized for a week this past month for a med change But I'm still Abilify free. It feels good. I have a good safety net should I need it. And I'm going to make it work this time.

[Captinbipolar]

Originally Posted by BipolaRNurse

I have hand tremors which I think are due to being on two antipsychotics. My handwriting is terrible and it is difficult to hold a fork withou the food falling off (try this with peas!). But it could be worse; these meds are the glue that holds me together and I'll put up with this minor inconvenience if it means I can avoid sailing off on a manic high or sinking into the depths of depression.

Hahaha that peas thing really made me laugh. I had some last night coincidentally and got so mad at them falling all over the place that I threw my fork across the room and proceeded to grab my large cooking spoon to hopefully stabilize it enough to allow the plane to reach the landing pad without the loss of passengers.

[BipolaRNurse]

That's funny! Sometimes I'll use a spoon for veggies, but it's hard to overcome a lifetime of using etiquette.....my parents taught me NEVER to use a spoon to scoop up food like that. It wasn't ladylike. So most of the time I just chase the veggies around the plate till they get tired and then try to stab them with my fork. That doesn't mean they'll stay on it once they're there, but dear me, let us be elegant or die! Lol!!

Originally Posted by Captinbipolar

...to allow the plane to reach the landing pad without the loss of passengers.

"without the loss of passengers". Oh, I've got to remember that one!

Originally Posted by BipolaRNurse

That's funny! Sometimes I'll use a spoon for veggies, but it's hard to overcome a lifetime of using etiquette.....my parents taught me NEVER to use a spoon to scoop up food like that. It wasn't ladylike. So most of the time I just chase the veggies around the plate till they get tired and then try to stab them with my fork. That doesn't mean they'll stay on it once they're there, but dear me, let us be elegant or die! Lol!!

Oh, we are so inelegant here ... We eat with spoons way more than any other implement of consumption. If it can go in a bowl and be eaten with a spoon, then by God that's just what we're going to do(!)

It's a good thing the only real motion issue I've had with meds* was the oh-so-brief Saphris, because I am already so clutzy, especially with food (I have much loss of passengers! ). Therefore, a love/hate relationship with peas...
Sure, they're all orderly in the pod, but take 'em out and it's pure chaos!

(* not including jaw-clenching here, because even though it wreaked havoc in the eating realm, I don't think of that as motion because chewing is the only motion, it's intentional and it's certainly not akathisia!)