Sexual Side Effect - Risperdal / Invega

I just want to vent. Can anyone relate?

I'm an active 27 year old male. I'm on a lot of medicine, including welbutrin, latuda, lithium, lamictal, cialis, among others (some to treat Bipolar).

There are many frustrating side effects, the most frustrating (for me) is the sexual side effect (decreased sex drive, difficulty maintaining an erection, difficulty reaching orgasm, etc). I'm having that to a major degree.

I was on Risperdal Consta (injection) 37.5 mg, and I was having the sexual side effect ... so they prescribed cabogoline, and I took 1 mg twice a week. Well, the side effect seemed to get somewhat better.

BUT getting the injection was difficult and inconvenient, and I was complainant for a long period of time, everything was positive. So I wanted to switch, and my doctor switched me over to oral risperdal 4 mg daily. Well, on that my sexual function was worse than ever. It was so frustratingly bad. Plus I'm in a relationship, even on cialis it was dysfunctional. So I went a month like this. I e-mailed him, but he told me to wait.

Last night (my appointment) I was switched to invega oral. 3 mg to start, then 6 in a few days. So far I haven't noticed much improvement. He said it might get better.

He said worst case scenario they'll switch me back to risperal (consta) injection.

BUT the doctor mentioned how a patient of his, when switching from invega to risperdal, had a MAJOR set back. And in a month, if my sexual side effect is STILL bad that's what I MAY do. However, I've been on risperdal before.

Any advice? Can anyone relate?

I can definitely relate to what you are saying.

I remember having the same problem when they put me on Invega. I spoke to my doctor and had me moved onto Risperdal (tablets) and that fixed it for me.

Hope you are able to sort something out with your doctor, though I do think it takes a while to notice if the medication change is having positive results.

I'm the opposite. I was on risperdal tablets and that was causing mega side effects, so he switched me over to invega (last night). He said that it might be better.

That scares me that invega was worse than risperdal for you. Do you think it may work for me? Or is invega worse (when it comes to sexual side effects)? You can be honest. I JUST started the invega last night. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. Please wish me luck

Ugh. I'm reading invega is worse for sexual side effects than risperdal, is that true (for those who have experienced both drugs)? Are they about the same.

This is so frustrating.

It was bad on risperdal, but the doctor suggested the sexual problems might get better on invega

I've been on both Invega and Risperdal. I've been on RIsperdal twice now in my treatment over the years. Neither of the drugs seemed to give me much in the way of sexual dysfunction. I would say however that they did decrease my ejaculate if you'll pardon the information.

Some of the anti-depressants I've been on gave me sexual dysfunction though. Cymbalta was probably the worst. Cymbalta at 30mg was ok, but when it was increased to 60mg it pretty much made me a eunuch.

Trazodone is another one that decreases my libido quite a bit.

Cell Waters wrote:That scares me that invega was worse than risperdal for you. Do you think it may work for me? Or is invega worse (when it comes to sexual side effects)? You can be honest. I JUST started the invega last night. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. Please wish me luck

I am not sure if it will do better for you, I guess at this point, since you have started invega already, is to wait and see. I think a big factor to take into account is your current mood. When I am going down I usually have a very decreased sex drive, while when I am going into a maniac/hypomaniac state it will be increased.

What I would suggest is you try invega, see what happens and then perhaps discuss other possible solutions with your doctor.

I wish you the best of luck

Geodon did have sexual side effects for me. While it didn't make me not get hard, it took forever to finish.

While that's not necessarily a bad thing, people start getting sore after awhile.

Hi there, sorry to hear you're having a rough time with your meds. I think side effects are the worst part of taking meds.

Anyway, I'm a woman so I didn't have the exact same effects you've experienced on Risperdal, but they were similar. Difficult arousal, impossible to orgasm, etc. I've never been on Invega but I've been on LOTS of different meds over the years and for me, Risperdal had by far the worst sexual side effects of anything I've been on. Abilify is a close second, but Risperdal was dramatically the worst for me. Like someone said above, everyone is different and will react to meds differently, but maybe you'll find some relief with Invega. If you don't, you have the right to work with your doc to find something that treats your problems without interfering so much with your life.

Good luck to you, I hope the Invega works out well.

I swing both ways, and at least on SSRIs one way is much more affected than the other.

Thanks for the replys. They have been very helpful. And it makes me feel not alone is this.

So far, I've noticed (on Invega) it's hard to ejaculate. It takes forever to finish, you get sore. And it's kind of difficult getting and maintaining an erection. But more fluid has been coming out when I finish (but this may change).

Bear in mind, I'm only on 3 mg at night (the starting dose), and in only a few days I'll be doubling my dose to 6 mg. I was on 4 mg risperdal, so maybe the fluid increase was since I came down a bit and stopped the risperdal (as instructed by doctor). But soon I'll be going up on Invega to near what I was on with risperdal (just changed Monday), ugh.

I really hope this gets better. I know I need to be optimistic. Maybe it will work. But I've read Invega is worse than risperdal. It's just so frustrating.

Thankfully my girlfriend is very understanding. But it's been this way for too long now.

I'm eating a lot too. But I continue to exercise. So weight is not a problem yet