Zyprexa, geodon?

I have my psych appointment tomorrow to discuss a med to bring me down from this manic episode.. I haven't reacted well to Seroquel even on a really low, mid and high dose. Abilify gave me terrible akisthisia during my last manic episode so want to avoid where possible.. Pdoc had previously mentioned Zyprexa and geodon just looking for opinions and experiences with both so I can go well informed xx

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear you haven't responded well to the Seroquel, so I'm sure you're really keen to try something else now.

Out of the two medications you mention, I've only tried Zyprexa, but I have to say this brought me down from my last psychotic mania faster and more effectively than anything I'd tried before. I was started on 10mg in hospital and began to feel it bringing the mania down by literally the next day. From my experience, it was extremely effective against the mania. The heavy side effects would keep me from taking it long-term again, but I'd certainly consider it to bring me out of another manic episode.

I don't know if you also have the option of another antipsychotic called Risperidone? That's one I've taken a few times for mania and psychosis. It worked well too, though was not quite as hard hitting as the Zyprexa for me.

I hope you manage to work out a med that's effective for you soon. The good thing is, from my experience, antipsychotics are generally very fast-acting and I usually start to feel a difference in a day or two. Good luck and hope you're feeling more stable soon.

Can I ask what side effects you had from the Zyprexa? Also what sort of negative effects did you get from rispiridone, if any? I'm keen to avoid anything overly sedative as I have two young children, weight gain has been a major issue with Seroquel also x

I have been on zyprexa, respiridone, and geodon. I am currently on geodon. Basically there was large amount of weight gain on both zyprexa and respiridone to the point that I didn't want to take it anymore. Geodon, with both knowledge from my doctor and my experiences, does not contribute to weight gain nearly as much as the other two. In fact, in clinical trials there was close to zero amounts of weight gain for geodon. I can tell you that I have stopped gaining weight currently, and now I have to work on losing that weight. For me, it is the appetite. I don't get an insane desire to gorge myself like I did with zyprexa and respiridone.

But again, this is just my reaction. I would recommend going with the geodon and see if that works for you before trying the zyprexa.

I had a similar experience to SeamlessMelody in that I had significant weight gain with Zyprexa and Risperidone, basically because they made me have a voracious appetite and I think they can also slow down your metabolism. However, as soon as the medications were discontinued, the weight dropped off naturally without any real effort. Therefore, if Geodon is practically weight neutral and still as effective, it might be a better option.

Sedation was a huge problem for me on both Zyprexa and Risperidone, though especially with Zyprexa. On Risperidone, I felt exhausted, overslept and would sometimes start to nod off during the day. I did feel very slow, sleepy and 'zombie-like' on Zyprexa, but I believe this was partly because the psychiatrist I was seeing at the time kept me on it for about a year (believing it would help my subsequent depression, which it didn't). While it was actually treating the mania however, I didn't feel as sedated.

I also had a very distressing side effect on Risperidone and Zyprexa, called oculogyric crisis (uncontrollable upwards rolling of the eyeballs). I'm assured this isn't common though, and in the case of Risperidone, it was treated with an injection of procyclidine, and it didn't return. With the Zyprexa though, it kept happening, despite me taking procyclidine in tablet form. I think this is something I'm particularly susceptible to though, so please don't let it scare you! Again, I believe I was on too high a dose of Zyprexa for too long.

Hope this info helps, although of course everyone reacts differently to medications. Despite the side effects, I would definitely take those antipsychotics again for a limited period to treat mania/psychosis.

Ditto- zombie and weight gain. I couldn't tolerate any of the atypicals for more than a few days to get myself under control. Best.

-- Sun Jun 08, 2014 5:56 pm --

Ditto- zombie and weight gain. I couldn't tolerate any of the atypicals for more than a few days to get myself under control. Best.