[jmaxjmax]

I'm a major depressive with anxiety and psychosis. I'm looking for pointers on meds. I was on Zyprexa (amongst a handful of others) and was changed to Invega. I ended up in the hospital with a blood sugar of over 650, then switched back to Zyprexa. I'm told that I now have type 2 diabetes! I'm looking for any advice on atypical (which all seem to drive up blood glucose) or typical antipsychotics.
Max

[smiley1984]

unfortunately all the antipsychotics have side effects of weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol. The newer atypical ones are supposed to have less of these side effects but they still do.
If you take anti-psychotics it is a good idea to regularly see a medical doctor periodically to monitor your BP, blood tests etc and for you to try and exercise and eat healthily.

[materialsrme]

Perphenazine works really well for obsessive thoughts of blowing by brain off. All the atypicals made me gain weight.

[splitimage]

I've had good success with Risperidone. And I didn't gain weight on it. Major downside however is lactation.

--splitimage

[ngold004]

I think the response you will get will be extremely variable. I guess some mixture of genetics and brain chemistry contributes to the side effect profile of medications. I took Zyprexa for about six months, and gained a lot of weight. I basically would just sleep and eat and be a zombie. That definately doesn't mix with trying to go to school. I know they say do not drive or operate heavy machinery until you know how a med will effect you. Although, they said nothing about trying to take a test. I started on the medication Wednesday night, and I had horrible sleepiness the next two days. I even fell asleep in the middle of an exam (needless to say I flunked that exam). The sleepiness did get a little better over time, and I was able to be awake for class. However, the eating did not stop. In 4-6 months, I managed to gain back the 35lbs I struggled so hard to lose, plus its friends decided to tag along. Even after I stopped Zyprexa, it still took a while for my weight to stablize (in all I probably gained 70-85lbs). After that fiasco, my doc put me on Geodon, which is supposed to be fairly weight neutral. Ha! It might be, but I had the unfortunate (rare) side effect of difficulty breathing and muscle weakness. So, I had to stop after a week. For me Abilify seems to help a lot, with fewer side-effects. However, you will find people that had a lot of nasty effects from Abilify and Zyprexa seems to work wonders for them. That's why I say, it definately depends on the individual.

As far as typical antipsychotics go, try to avoid them if possible. I personally believe they should be the last line of defense. I have heard some nasty/horrible stories about their side-effects (particularly Haldol). Furthermore, typical antipsychotics have an extremely high risk for tardive dyskinesia later down the road.

I hope you find sometime that works for you with minimal side-effects

~N