Geodon? (Ziprasidone)

Abilify or Geodon do not have antidepressant properties. The only antipsychotics with antidepressant properties are Seroquel (heavily sedating and appetite stimulating) and Latuda. Going for 'the next closest' is a stupid attitude to take by your pdoc, in my opinion. The 'next closest' thing to Latuda is Seroquel (but it is structurally very different).
Any antimanic will prevent depressions which follow mania.
*mod edit* Your antimanic does not need to be an antipsychotic. It could easily be something like Tegretol or Depakote.
From my very extensive (and awful) experience with antipsychotics (Risperdal, Abilify, Zyprexa, Seroquel), I'd say that all, including 'mild' ones (e.g. Abilify), should be avoided if a conventional mood stabiliser is available. The reason you have so many side effects is that you've been put on a class of drugs that seem to cause horrible side effects for the vast majority of people. Don't let antipsychotics put you off other bipolar medications.
If you don't like Geodon, *mod edit* I'm currently fighting to be taken off antipsychotics and put on more mood stabilisers.
Best of luck to you in finding the right medication.

If you're concerned about sedation, Seroquel is not a good one. At least, in my case (and what I have read from others). For me, I would sleep for 15 HOURS and wake up a zombie and this repeated for weeks. It also made me crave junk food like crazy (which is not something I eat, like ever). I stopped taking it w/o telling my doctor.

Jellybeanery wrote:If you're concerned about sedation, Seroquel is not a good one. At least, in my case (and what I have read from others). For me, I would sleep for 15 HOURS and wake up a zombie and this repeated for weeks. It also made me crave junk food like crazy (which is not something I eat, like ever). I stopped taking it w/o telling my doctor.

I'm exactly the same on this awful med. It stabilised me but it's ruining my life.

David1999 wrote:

Jellybeanery wrote:If you're concerned about sedation, Seroquel is not a good one. At least, in my case (and what I have read from others). For me, I would sleep for 15 HOURS and wake up a zombie and this repeated for weeks. It also made me crave junk food like crazy (which is not something I eat, like ever). I stopped taking it w/o telling my doctor.

I'm exactly the same on this awful med. It stabilised me but it's ruining my life.

IMO, the good does NOT outweigh the bad on these meds. I don't even know how they legally approve some of these medications.

Jellybeanery wrote:If you're concerned about sedation, Seroquel is not a good one. At least, in my case (and what I have read from others). For me, I would sleep for 15 HOURS and wake up a zombie and this repeated for weeks. It also made me crave junk food like crazy (which is not something I eat, like ever). I stopped taking it w/o telling my doctor.

Kaiser doesn't cover Seroquel anyways....

I went as long as I could with no meds, but the depression got too bad.
I think a 5 year run is pretty good, though.
I intend to get off them after I've been stable for a while.
I don't let pdocs tell me what to do. I just do things and inform them what I did.
My pdoc isn't real excited about it, but it DOES seem to make her try harder to figure out things to do. She's hoping to find a drug I won't adamantly want to get off of when I'm stable.

We're into antipsychs because I've been on LOTS of stuff and most of it doesn't work.
And if it did work, it didn't work in a way I found acceptable (sedation, not feeling like myself, etc)
If I don't like Geodon, I won't take it, but I'm giving it a sporting chance.
As it is, I'm already planning on ignoring her idea to up to 2 pills day, as one pill yesterday knocked me out for hours... and I don't have a time in the morning I can take a 3 hour nap while the high wears off.... so... she'll deal with it. Lol.

It's a shame Lamictal didn't work for you. That's one that I know of that has virtually no side effects and has good antidepressant properties. I get some really wicked long-lasting depression, so only time will tell (once I'm off of my AP) how effective Lamictal will be on it's own to combat that.

I have said this many times around here lately- I am done with anti-psychotics. There is no way in hell I will be taking anything else. I would honestly rather live with the depression, if it came to that.

Anyways, good luck to you!

Jellybeanery wrote:I have said this many times around here lately- I am done with anti-psychotics. There is no way in hell I will be taking anything else. I would honestly rather live with the depression, if it came to that.

The only reason I sought out meds is because "living" was becoming less and less appealing on the daily.

Same here. But after all the $#%^ I have been through the past 2 years from these medications.. pfftt.. I'm just as miserable, only in a different way/for different reasons. I'm just tired of being a guinea pig and I want my life back. THIS.. this is not me.

Make sure you take it with food or it won't work. The good news is Geodon won't cause weight gain or increased appetite.

PeacefulManiac wrote:Make sure you take it with food or it won't work. The good news is Geodon won't cause weight gain or increased appetite.

Unfortunately it caused pretty violent tremors, instead. I'm no longer on it.