[xRavenx]

My pdoc gave me Latuda today due to rapid cycling between mania and depression lately. I am also on a mood stabilizer, benzo, and a low to middle dose of another AP (but mainly for sleep).

What has your experience been with Latuda, for those of you who have been on it (or are still on it)? I get so nervous about taking new meds, but it has come down to it being necessary. I am hoping this medication helps.
Thanks.

[bunnyhabit]

I have had positive experience with lutuda. Get emergency medical help if you have signs of an allergic reaction to Latuda: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.

Report any new or worsening symptoms to your doctor, such as: mood or behavior changes, anxiety, panic attacks, trouble sleeping, or if you feel impulsive, irritable, agitated, hostile, aggressive, restless, hyperactive (mentally or physically), more depressed, or have thoughts about suicide or hurting yourself.

[Scooter9]

I've been on Latuda for 4 years now for depression.

It started to work a few days after I started taking it. I noticed I was feeling better and the sunlight appeared white to me instead of yellowish (I still see it as pure white).

It makes me really drowsy when I take it so I take it an hour before I want to sleep. You have to take it with food so I have dinner late too now. My sleep is really good on it but I need at least 8 hours and can easily go to 12 if I don't set an alarm.

I don't have side effects that I know of but I think my personality has changed. I used to be engaging and interesting to talk to but now I generally stay quiet and don't contribute much to conversations. But that could be an effect of really a bad depression I've been going through for the past 18 months.

[Jedi67]

my PDoc wants to take me off of Geodon and out me on Latuda. he swears by it. I have reservations as well. but we'll see. the Geodon doesn't seem to be helping me and I am a ultra rapid cycler. my anxiety gets bad but he will not give me a benzo. good luck. I hope it works out and get as much info as you can get! all the best.

[Nammu]

It has worked very well. Most people take it with supper, I take it at bed time with a snack.

[xRavenx]

Originally Posted by bunnyhabit

I have had positive experience with lutuda. Get emergency medical help if you have signs of an allergic reaction to Latuda: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.

Report any new or worsening symptoms to your doctor, such as: mood or behavior changes, anxiety, panic attacks, trouble sleeping, or if you feel impulsive, irritable, agitated, hostile, aggressive, restless, hyperactive (mentally or physically), more depressed, or have thoughts about suicide or hurting yourself.

Thanks. It's good to hear you had a positive experience.

I heard about restless legs as a possible symptom, so that scares me a bit. I have anxiety, so its when I heard it is activating, that concerns me. For instance, I tried Abilify, and that was too activating for me. My pdoc didn't seem concerned about this though, because she knows I have anxiety and said people do well on it. Plus, I'm on Seroquel to help with sleep, agitation, etc, so maybe the sedation from that will prevent restlessness. We'll see.

[xRavenx]

Originally Posted by Nammu

It has worked very well. Most people take it with supper, I take it at bed time with a snack.

Good to hear. My pdoc is having me take it in the morning with food, so I hope that it doesn't make me too tired. But I've been on my fair share of sedating meds, so I guess I'm used to it.

[xRavenx]

Originally Posted by Jedi67

my PDoc wants to take me off of Geodon and out me on Latuda. he swears by it. I have reservations as well. but we'll see. the Geodon doesn't seem to be helping me and I am a ultra rapid cycler. my anxiety gets bad but he will not give me a benzo. good luck. I hope it works out and get as much info as you can get! all the best.

Thank you, Jedi. I wish you luck too! I'll write an update on it. It is definitely difficult so far to find meds that help with rapid cycling and anxiety, which has always been an issue for me. So my fingers are crossed that this one will be effective!

[Unrigged64072835]

I took it for over a year. Emotionally it was great. However I developed akathisia and tardive dyskinesia, so I needed to change.

[xRavenx]

Originally Posted by Fharraige

I took it for over a year. Emotionally it was great. However I developed akathisia and tardive dyskinesia, so I needed to change.

Oh, sorry to hear that you developed akathesia and TD. That has always been a fear of mine. Did those side effects go away once you discontinued it?
It's concerning that I read that sometimes these side effects are long-term, even when people discontinue APs. What dose were you taking? They are starting me on 20mg.

[Jedi67]

Originally Posted by xRavenx

Thank you, Jedi. I wish you luck too! I'll write an update on it. It is definitely difficult so far to find meds that help with rapid cycling and anxiety, which has always been an issue for me. So my fingers are crossed that this one will be effective!

rapid cycling and anxiety is an issue for me as well. I see my PDoc Monday morning because I'm in a mixed state now and cycling fast. my T moved up the date because he saw I wasn't doing well.

[Wander]

I rapid cycle, usually in mixed states. I will have the pure mixed state then also rapid cycle. It’s complicated. My previous pdoc gave me Latuda to help with this but I reacted badly. I became very, very agitated (more than usual), and had bad thoughts. It was stopped immediately but I had to wean off it to avoid further side effects.

[still_crazy]

hi. :-)

no personal experience with latuda, -but- if it works well for you...could it replace the seroquel? it has a better profile for metabolic nastiness than seroquel, from what i gather. that and i personally am not a fan of taking 2 antipsychotics long term.

some doctors treated rapid cycling and/or mixed states (I'm in the latter category) with 2+ mood stabilizers...lamictal+trileptal was mine, for a while...but the trileptal dose was too high, and it made me depressed, in a really lethargic, unable to concentrate sort of way. now, I'm on a higher dose of the lamictal. a lower dose of trileptal probably could have helped, but...what's done is done, I suppose.

sorry you're going thru a rough patch. i hope things get better for you.

[cashart10]

I’ve stared Latuda within the last 3 months and it has worked wonders for my depression. It worked pretty quickly too. I still have to take another ap for psychosis but that is fine with me because of it’s success.

[~Christina]

It helped me when I started it.

I quit it about 5-6 weeks ago. Why!? It’s advertised as a weight neutral but it wasn’t for me I just had steady piling on lbs deal . I have already lost some weight with no change in exercise or dieting.

I think over all it’s a good Med and I might still be taking it if it actually were weight neutral. But I want a detox off psych and physical meds , I feel so unhealthy and all these meds are a toxic mix I’m sure for me.

I hope it works well for you

[gina_re]

I just finished my first week of it at 20mg and so far so good. I'm coming off of risperdal and going up on the latuda. I really hope it is weight neutral as my doctor says because I've been on a steady increase in weight for the past month. Good luck to you, I hope it works in your favor.

[xRavenx]

Originally Posted by still_crazy

hi. :-)

no personal experience with latuda, -but- if it works well for you...could it replace the seroquel? it has a better profile for metabolic nastiness than seroquel, from what i gather. that and i personally am not a fan of taking 2 antipsychotics long term.

some doctors treated rapid cycling and/or mixed states (I'm in the latter category) with 2+ mood stabilizers...lamictal+trileptal was mine, for a while...but the trileptal dose was too high, and it made me depressed, in a really lethargic, unable to concentrate sort of way. now, I'm on a higher dose of the lamictal. a lower dose of trileptal probably could have helped, but...what's done is done, I suppose.

sorry you're going thru a rough patch. i hope things get better for you.

Thank you. Seroquel seems to be the only medication that has helped me sleep consistently, and it is good for my anxiety. However, I can no longer tolerate high dose Seroquel as well as I used to, so my pdoc thinks that using low(ish) dose Seroquel for sleep with Latuda would be a plan worth trying. I take my first dose tomorrow. Hopefully I'll adjust quickly, because my pdoc did say nausea can be a problem in the beginning (especially if you don't eat a whole meal with it).

[xRavenx]

Originally Posted by gina_re

I just finished my first week of it at 20mg and so far so good. I'm coming off of risperdal and going up on the latuda. I really hope it is weight neutral as my doctor says because I've been on a steady increase in weight for the past month. Good luck to you, I hope it works in your favor.

Thank you. Good luck to you too. I'm glad your first week on it went well and hope it works out for you.

[otroo]

I have been on Latuda for over a year now and I really like it. The effects kicked in in less than a week and I have felt pretty stable on it. I still get bouts of depression and some mania but both are pretty mild compared to before I started taking it. Good luck

[otroo]

...
............

[still_crazy]

have you ever tried hydroxyzine? its an old school antihistamine that can double as a sleeping pill, in sufficient doses. im just asking because...if it could take care of the insomnia, that'd spare you the risks from taking 2 antipsychotics/tranquilizers. oh, and its an excellent treatment for hay fever. that, too. :-)

[otroo]

Originally Posted by still_crazy

have you ever tried hydroxyzine? its an old school antihistamine that can double as a sleeping pill, in sufficient doses. im just asking because...if it could take care of the insomnia, that'd spare you the risks from taking 2 antipsychotics/tranquilizers. oh, and its an excellent treatment for hay fever. that, too. :-)

Not to steal the thread but does that sleeping med cause sleep hangovers the next day? I am curious cause I am on Ambien and I only get like 6 to 7 hours of sleep which is better then I was in the past without sleep meds.

[scatterbrained04]

I've been on Latuda for 3 years. Overall, it's been a good med for me. Works better for depression than anything I've been on. I will say that when I first started it (and have had dosage changes), it kind of made me feel hypomanic for a bit. I also had BAD irritability for a couple weeks in the beginning. I did level out though after a few weeks. The dosage increase wasn't as bad as when I started it. Other than that, I really haven't had any side effects and it's been weight neutral.

[hope2010]

I am taking Latuda for about 2 years and a half. For me, this medication is a life saver, I was in a severe stage of depression, nothing was working until my Psychiatrist prescribed Latuda. It was like I finally woke up from a dark place.
I started with 20 mg. At the time, I am taking 60 mg per day at night time with food. Latuda makes me very active in the first 4 weeks, then goes away. Help me that I am also taking Seroquel 50 mg. and mood stabilizer Lamictal.

I don't have bad side effects. It does make me very sleepy after taking it so I have to eat late at night and go to bed very soon. I hope it is working for you as well.

[xRavenx]

Originally Posted by still_crazy

have you ever tried hydroxyzine? its an old school antihistamine that can double as a sleeping pill, in sufficient doses. im just asking because...if it could take care of the insomnia, that'd spare you the risks from taking 2 antipsychotics/tranquilizers. oh, and its an excellent treatment for hay fever. that, too. :-)

I've never been on hydroxyzine. I wonder if it would work for me. Thanks for this info.