Anybody here takes APs?

When I do, I get severe headaches and very negative reactions.

On smallest doses:

Latuda makes me go manic with 3-4 hours of sleep, vivid dreams, night cold sweats and hyper anxiety.

Seroquel gives me a throbbing headache.

Geodon makes me sleep forever.

Abilify gives me brain zaps and passes me out with severe headaches.

Respiradal has the least side effects as long as I take the smallest buyable dose PRN. I might even break those in half.

I don't know if it's a multiple thing or if it's biological.

[finding_my_way]

your reactions are more likely biological as even people without DID have varied reactions to antipsychotics and other meds overall.

oddly, i had more issues with SSRIs with varied bad side effects (except zyprexa/olanzapine that caused significant weight gain in under one month which contributed to triggering my seven-year battle with anorexia, so to me that was overall the worst med of my lifetime).

risperdal for me did nothing except give me tardive dyskinesia apparently (documented, don't remember it though). i had no effect whatsoever from it, no tiredness.

i take seroquel now (have on and off for many years). it doesn't HELP with things per se except is the only way i can get into a deep sleep. i used to be on somewhere around 65 mg a day (that math is probably off) but in a split dose to equal that. it helped manage anxiety but kind of sedated me a little too much, though i didn't give a crap about things for once and enjoyed it. but seroquel has not had any negative effect for me (except sedation), so it's something i am comfortable with (though i hate having to take a med and not knowing potential long-term effects over the years). but now i take 6.25 mg of it, and that tiny amount works for me. i'm not sure how since i weigh a lot more than i did when i took a higher dose...

i also take ativan as needed 0.25 mg which still can sometimes give me that 'high' feeling, though again it's a way lower dose compared to the up to 2 mg a day i would take years ago.

i guess that goes to show things in the body CAN change lol

sometimes, different doses of both can affect me different too.

Long term APs ain't good, nor is eating meat, drinking water, and breathing air. :/

I don't know, but I hate that we have to take these stupid bipolar meds, I guess that cuts our crazy down by half- at least I don't feel like a yo-yo anymore, now just like a spinning top.

[cheshiregrins]

I've been on Latuda for 1 1/2 years now, and before that it was Abilify. Antidepressants don't work anymore and most mood stabilizers make me too depressed.

I've never been on Antipsychotics, but I've been tried on antidepressants a LOT over the years. I have refused them for the last 15 years though. SSRI's were awful - I react really badly, and from the very first tablet I start hallucinating. Its awful, I've never made it longer than a week on them as I just can't function on them at all. The Doctors never believe how badly I react to them - always tell me to persevere. They put me on Tricyclics after a while - they didn't make me hallucinate, but my mood got worse and worse. Every time I told the Dr they increased my dose and told me to persevere. After 18 months I was pretty suicidal - I told the Dr's I wanted to come off the tablets - i KNEW they were making me worse. She shouted at me and told me I should stay on them. I ignored her, and came off them - and within two weeks I was improving massively and never looked back. I will never touch those things again.

I take diazepam occasionally when I really need a good nights sleep. I can't take it too often though, as more than once in a while and that sends me crazy too! So long as I don't take more than once a month or so, its like a dream come true for getting some sleep and relaxing painfully tense muscles.

[Shaly78]

Resperdone as needed....Not alone!

[kecanoe]

Abilify daily, Zyprexa when needed. My pdoc says that I have to sleep. 3 nights with little sleep means that I need to take something for sleep. I can choose if I use Xanax, Ambien or Zyprexa. The daily Abilify is because the AD don't work and it is supposed to help them. I am not convinced that it helps, either.

I recently stopped Fetzima w/pdoc ok. I've heard that going off can be hard, but I had no problems. Still on a bunch of pills, tho.

Pdoc says that some meds work for some parts. I suppose that is true.