Questions about Latuda

Hi everyone. I had a psych appointment the other day and she told me they would like to switch me from seroquel to latuda. The reason for switching my meds is that they think it may be causing or contributing to my fainting spells. I have bipolar 1 and have rapid cycling. I'm just wondering a few things about latuda from people who have taken it. It will be the only med i will be on unless they feel i need another to add to it. I'm worried about how well it helps with mania? I read that it is not for people with low blood pressure. Any idea why? My psych dr didn't really seem concerned by that. I am though. I tend to often have low blood pressure. I'm worried latuda will cause me to faint. Can you tell me if there is anything worrisome health wise you have experienced while taking latuda? Also wondering about weight gain.

It increased my vocabulary. When I tried latuda is when I first learned the word akathisia. My reaction was atypical but not rare.

I’ve been fine on Latuda for a long time. Over two years. It’s been decent at holding off depressive episodes. However if you’re looking for it to prevent mania, I️ would be careful. There’s not a lot of clinical data that shows that efficacy, hence it’s only FDA indication is bipolar depression.

I️ wouldn’t consider it a 1-for-1 swap for the things Seroquel does.

I’ve never fainted on it, but my blood pressure always runs a little high.

Weight gain is much less of an issue than with Seroquel.

I was on the max dose of Latuda and it just didn't do me any good. Others find it a godsend...just didn't work for me

I had akathisia at a higher dose, but it now seems gone with the lowest dose. It does help with depression, though, and I haven't had mania in a long while.

I didn't gain any weight on it. Thank goodness, as I have gained a lot on other meds and it's a bear to bring it down.

I have low blood pressure and it seems to work okay.

Latuda is also FDA approved for schizophrenia; many many doctors feel that means it also prevents manic episodes. It's new enough that doctors wonder how strong it is in that regard (as opposed to, say, Zyprexa--which is a huge weight-gainer). I take other non-SSRI's for depression so can't testify to its effectiveness in that regard, despite its FDA approval for that condition. My suspicion is that Sunovion went first for the schizophrenia market because they know doctors use those drugs for bipolar mania and only went for the depression to get legally into the bipolar market.

It doesn't cause me to gain weight (I can do that on my own). Abilify was the drug that introduced akathisia into my vocabulary. Cogentin worked for that but at a dose (3mg) that caused blurry vision. Unfortunately it's also Latuda's weakness. I take 80mg propranolol (a systemic beta blocker) and it completely prevents it. It's possible even that after 4 years I don't need it anymore, but akathisia is so terrible that I'm afraid to try and see.

ETA: No problems with blood pressure.

I've been stable on Latuda for over 4 years. The first two years I was also on lamictal but quit that down to the flat emotions it caused.

It might have contributed to my tardive dyskinesia.

yes, I liked how you put that - increasing your vocabulary. Mine too: tardive dyskinesia.

I too take 80 mg propranolol prn, for anxiety, I haven't noticed that it helped my tardive dyskinesia. Propranolol also lowers your heartbeat and blood pressure, so be careful with it.

I’ve been on latuda for over a year. I had some weight gain. It has helped my mania but not my depression so much. I have normally low blood pressure and when we tried to increase my dose of latuda my blood pressure dropped and I couldn’t function because it was so low. So I’m on a low dose and take it with other meds.

Just reading the responses here really just shows how everyone reacts differently to every med. I wish you good luck with this one and hope that it works for you

True about the blood pressure. I don't find that propranolol helps me much with anxiety because I don't usually get outside effects, though it does help definitely for the extra heartbeat I have periodically. I've never heard that it did help tardive dyskinesia (I'm very sorry you have that problem.) but Cogentin might help. I know it can help with lithium shakes. Just curious. What drugs do you take for it, if any?

I take 60mg twice a day and it really helps me with mania and depression both

Thank-you all so much for the responses and info!

I lost weight on latuda because I kept on throwing up after I took it. So I finally went off it.

I'm on a low dose of Latuda (20mg). Attempted 40mg, but it left me with restlessness and mild mania. We're going to try 30mg to see if it has the same effect. Otherwise, I'm going to try Vraylar.

P.S. I'm also on 400mg Seroquel XR, 1200mg Neurontin, 900mg Lithium Carbonate ER, 50mg Paxil, 15mg Restoril