Saphris anyone?

Have I asked this before?
Am not sure.
I have read mixed reviews about saphris.
have you taken this med an antipsychotic.
abilify is not for me.
running, hypomanic.
bizi

tastes like ***

Didn't do it for me.

Worked ok for me. Tastes horrible. Made me super drowsy. Took it at night but had difficulty getting up in the morning. That was why I stopped taking it. Seemed to be weight neutral.

wonder if they make it in a pill form?
lots of bad reviews....

abilify is not working for me.
am already gaining weight.
A friend of mine said I should try lithium.
my aunt took this and has tremors so bad and it killed her thyroid.

Having said this all AP run this risk.
My therapist doesn't think I am hypomanic. She thinks this is me not dealing with my addictions.
she could be right.

which came first? the hypomania or the addictions?
bizi

I tried saphris samples given by my Pdoc. The taste is beyond nasty. It gave me terrible akathesia (similar to restless leg, but your whole body) it was different than the quetiapine (seroquel) that I was on but I can't say it was better. The final decision was financial for me. QUetiapine is an old med and covered by my insurance so it was $50. The saphris was going to cost $1,000 per month so Q it is for me.

I forgot one of the side effects said restless legs. Can't do.
There is a $15 dollar savings card at the present moment.
I will think about more seroquel except have a friend who developed diabetes from that.
sigh
bizi

$15 savings card? I had one for $100 and it still cost $300 with insurance picking up the lion's share. I use it mostly for sleep, using only a half pill a night so the price isn't quite as bad (and for some reason the refill is "only" $200). I say mostly because the pdoc said due to an interaction with straterra I am getting more effect than you would think. I wake up refreshed with no med head hangover. I have forgotten to take it a few times and slept okay, which did not happen prior to starting it.

Saphris is one of the medications my doctor puts me on sometimes to fight my winter depression when we need to add something. They make it with a black cherry flavor also that does not taste bad at all. I didn't have restless legs with Saphris. I did with another drug (can't remember which one) so my pdoc prescribed propanol which did the trick.

Although I have insurance, it was too expensive at the pharmacy so I applied for patient assistance and got it for free. My experience has been positive.

I took Saphris for something like six years. Always took the black cherry flavor, and I don't care how they try to cover up the taste it is nasty. Worked for me for all that time, but I got off it because I developed tardive dyskenesia, which went away after a few months off the Saphris. I now take Vraylar and it has worked well for the 8 months or so I've been on it. The only real side effect I am getting with the Vraylar is I have developed anxiety since I've been on it...may be coincidence.

Saphris is ok....like all meds it has side effects. I've gotten restless legs a few times. The black cherry tastes fine to me now that I'm so used to it. I've been taking it since November and go between 10-20mg depending on symptoms. At 10mg my side effects are'nt bad....a little stomach distress. At 15 and higher is when I've gotten restless legs and rapid weight gain. Saphris is also a slightly newer drug which means we don't have any idea what long term consequences there may be. I hate having to take meds.....I HATE it. Saphris has worked extremely well for my sleep. Extremely well.

Yeah, I had forgotten about the sleep...slept like a rock on Saphris. Vraylar, not so much.

ElsaMars, I hate taking meds too, and have difficulty staying compliant.

At those doses, I bet it does knock you out. I was using 150 mg of trazadone and it did not reliably knock me out. Now I use 2.5 mg of saphris and sleep like a rock. The really weird thing is I have forgotten to take it and slept okay. It's like it fixes the problem that was keeping me from sleeping. I am tempted to experiment with more than one night in a row or see if maybe every other night works.

Black cherry flavored my asss!

It gave me an asthma attack , had to ditch it.

I think it tastes like a maraschino that rolled under the fridge a few months ago and turned black. I have become habituated/numb to the taste because it is so effective for me.

Thanks so much for the feed back.
Maybe 2.5mg of saphris, black cherry would do the trick?
Now I am interested in learning about the vraylar (caripazine)
bizi

2.5 mg is a low dose I take for sleep and because it reacts with another med (straterra) and has the effect of taking more. The most common does is 10 mg a day, but some take 5 and some take 20.

I took 20 mg daily when I took Saphris. I think that is the max.

10mg is the minimum therapudic dosage and 20mg is the max.

saphris and vraylar are so expensive, both have a drug card but they expire in 6 months or less. Then what to do?????
Will my pdoc have samples for me?
Will a canadian pharmacy have a brand name or just the generic which I don't think either one of these have that yet.
Both seroquel and lithium have side effects and risks. maybe I should just try one of those?
I mean I already take 200mg of seroquel at night.
maybe take it during the day too?
bizi
I see my pdoc this week.

My pdoc says I am getting a little something out of my tiny dose besides sleep, but I really can't tell. I just know I get great sleep with 2.5 mg. She had me split one 5 mg pill into halves then split one half into quarters. The idea was to start with 1/4 ~20 minutes before trying to go to sleep, add the other quarter if needed, add the other half if needed. I needed the other quarter, but not the other half. I have been taking half (which is 2.5 mg) since then and I am very happy with it (except for the nasty taste). Gets me to sleep but I can be easily wakened and I am fairly alert if wakened. I am fully alert if I wake after 6 hours or so.