Dropping my AP

All Geodon does for me is make me tired and does not help with my anxiety anymore. And it gives me dystonia. I'm sick and tired of the horrible side effects.

Let me preface with "I want you to be happy and safe."
Call your pdoc. Get an appointment. That's a load of possible problems in dumping it all at once.
Keeping you in my thoughts.

Are you replacing it with something?

I don't have anything to replace it.

Please call your doctor. I had a horrible reaction to geodon. I got akathesia so bad that my body basically locked up in one continuous spasm. Just dropping an AP without something to replace it is dangerous to your stability.

On top of that the withdrawals might end up being worse than the side effects you're trying to get rid of. Antipsychotics really need to be slowly tapered with a supervising doctor.

Geodon was the worst med I've ever taken. All kinds of really odd side-effects, absolutely no benefit.

Are you sure this is a good idea? I would call my doctor ASAP

I dropped Geodon cold turkey once I was a mass of freeing cold, sweating hot, vomiting, severe stomach cramps. I was sick for 6 days..

Please talk to your Pdoc before you stop a med.. I dont want to see you going into Bipolar hell

Whenever you’ve gone off your AP fairies you’ve gone downhill mentally fairly quickly. Please talk to your doctor first. I want you to be safe. You’ve done some seriously dangerous stuff in the past.

Can you take more of your side effect med and stay the course until you can get to the pdoc? I hope your doc can figure something out for you

Please don’t do anything to relapse

I was taken off of Geodon cold turkey for physical side effects--I ended up going IP.

Please do be careful.

I am titrating.

Good. Titration is the smart thing to do. I would have someone close to you keep an eye on you until you go to your pdoc. If they start to see signs of mania, then they need to tell you this. This is just a thought.

No one knows I'm doing this except a friend. So I'cant have people observe me. My Husband would never support me if he knew I was messing with my meds. But so far, I feel great. I even have more energy than before.

I'm on meds again. Not sure why I went off in the first place. Me becoming full blown manic again is not something I want. So I will put up with the drowsiness and such. I'm putting my family first. They deserve a healthy mom and wife.

Well done on making a wise decision. It’s hard to do when you’re not well.
I’m manic at the moment myself and not happy with taking extra meds but I’m doing it for my family also.

I'm glad you decided to deal with the drowsiness to avoid mania. Definitely ask your doctor if it's okay to do a dose change or change meds altogether though because if it's bad enough to the point you try titrating yourself off that says something.

That is so good to hear, 99fairies!

Great decision it would not have ended well.

hi. what other tranquilizers/antipsychotics have you tried? Abilify is my go-to tranq, because I can actually tolerate it (imagine that...). There are I think 2 new D2 partial agonists on the market now. I don't know if they're better than Abilify or what, but...maybe those could be an option?

sometimes, people who develop TD and other probs on tranqs are switched over to Seroquel. Seroquel is low potency (less likely to cause TD than moderate or high potency tranqs), plus its easier to tolerate (for some people) than many other options. Its like...Thorazine, but it can actually help depression, causes less EPS, etc.

anyway....I hope you and your shrink can have a talk about what you need from treatment and how to manage adverse effects.Not all Bipolar I people take tranqs, after all. A shrink once told me that I could possibly avoid taking a tranq...if I took some ridiculous 4 drug cocktail that also involved lots of lab work. Ugh.

sorry about the dystonia.

I've tried almost all AP but they all give me Dystonia. Very frustrating.

Glad to hear you are safe. Never a good idea just to drop a med. People are all different. Geodon never helped me much but Seroquel (only the instant release type, not extended) did. Abilify helps lots of people with BP but does nothing for me. And of corse I have to be on Lamictal too, sleep meds, Klonopin, and gabapentin (fibromyalgia). I feel like a pharmacy.

i take high dose antioxidants and b-vitamins w/ my tranq. the idea is that the vitamins help prevent TD and other problems. its just standard vitamins, in high doses...vitamin c, vitamin e, b complex, niacin or niacinamide, etc.

so far, so good. i don't even have stiff gait or dysphoria, both of which were a problem with every.single.tranquilizer I ever tried, even Abilify.

I haven't seen the data on the EPS profile for the D2 partial agonists, but they might be worth talking about w/ your shrink. The -big- thing about Abilify...for people in the "severely mentally ill" category...is that the unique mechanism of action often= less EPS, fewer cognitive problems. I would think/assume the new D2 partial agonists might be similar in that regard, plus I think they're supposed to be better w/ mood issues than abilify (something like that, anyway).

just a thought. other than that...benzodiazepines can help ease some symptoms of dystonia, for a while. I would think/assume you'd want a lower potency one, to get more muscle relaxant action, but I could very easily be wrong. Long term, using benzodiazepines w/ a tranquilizer/antipsychotic can help keep the antipsychotic dosage lower, although...obviously...being on a Mother's Little Helper long term can create its own set of problems.

hope this helps.

Hello 99fairies, I haven't checked in for a few days, so I am just now seeing that you were having a struggle. I am glad you have decided to go back to your dosage. Maybe your pdoc will help you find a better ap if the sleepiness keeps up. I'm on geodon now. It's my sixth or seventh ap. At first I had a terrible time with sleepiness. I couldn't drive at times and I had to miss work a couple of days. It turns out that when my pdoc adjusted klonopin from 2 mg all the way back to .5 mg-it was over several visits-I finally began to feel awake again. I was taking klonopin for anxiety and I was glad to let it go. She isn't ready to let me give it up all of the way because that drug does a number on you, too. I guess those two drugs weren't getting along very well for me.
I hope all continues to work out for you!
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