Vraylar's Effectiveness

I started on Vraylar 1.5mg eight days ago and am already feeling more stable. I take it in the morning and find it very activating. It's hard to sleep sometimes but that's all I've noticed. I wanted to know what others are experiencing on this fairly new drug.

MEDS:
Vraylar 1.5mg once daily
Adderall 5mg once daily
Lipitor 10mg once daily
Ambien 10mg once daily
Neurontin 800mg twice daily
Xanax 1mg once daily PRN
Klonopin 1mg once daily PRN

PROBLEMS:
Bipolar Disorder
Anxiety
Depression
Insomnia
High Cholesterol

Forgot to mention my past AP medications I've tried...

Lamictal - caused my neck lymph nodes to become sore and enlarged.
Latuda - felt like it wasn't working well after 10 months.
Abilify - kept me up until late every night.
Zyprexa - worked...but I put on 15 pounds in the first and only month.

That about covers it. The Vraylar seems very activating and is keeping me up later at night (taking it first thing in the morning). Otherwise it feels to be doing its job.

I take vraylar and it is very effective. I take 4.5mg. It was a replacement to Abilify. The only side effect is that it can cause weight gain and that is not good. But I am stable so I put up with it and will now try to incorporate exercise and eating healthy and curbing my appetite with a pill my doctor prescribed so I won't feel so hungry all the time. I have a hard time sleeping but I'm not sure it's because of vraylar. I had that problem before I even started so I can't tell which med is causing it, if it's even a med causing it. I take a med for sleeping when I need to sleep really bad. But otherwise I cope in other ways to get me to sleep to avoid hypomania or mania. I always get mania if I go too long without sleeping.

Thanks for your response. How long were you on 1.5mg and 3mg before jumping to 4.5? And the appetite curbing drug, is this by any chance Contrave? I don't want to pack on the weight like the Zyprexa caused. It gave me noticable cravings for carbs and sugar especially. I haven't noticed any cravings on the Vraylar.

I've tried Lunesta (talk about a bad taste in your mouth) and trazodone to help with my sleep, and both seem to work better than the Ambien alone. I may speak to my doctor about switching my insomnia medication.

solidaudio wrote:Thanks for your response. How long were you on 1.5mg and 3mg before jumping to 4.5? And the appetite curbing drug, is this by any chance Contrave? I don't want to pack on the weight like the Zyprexa caused. It gave me noticable cravings for carbs and sugar especially. I haven't noticed any cravings on the Vraylar.

I've tried Lunesta (talk about a bad taste in your mouth) and trazodone to help with my sleep, and both seem to work better than the Ambien alone. I may speak to my doctor about switching my insomnia medication.

You know I don’t remember how long I was on each different dosage. But I got samples in the beginning and I was at 3mg for a while then I went to 4.5 and that worked for me. The appetite curbing drug is called Phentermine. I was only given a months worth for now. And it isn’t covered by the insurance so I pay $29. I don’t have cravings from Vraylar, but I want to lose weight. The weight gain issue may or may not come into play, but I have gained a few pounds and I don’t want to gain anymore. I need to lose weight.

I’ve tried Lunesta and ambien. Neither of them worked at that time. I want to go back to Lunesta (as bad as it tastes) because I need something to help me sleep and not leave me feeling tired. Right now the med I take for sleep, I only take after I go a few days without sleep. It leaves me groggy the next day. If Lunesta works for you, good, but for some reason it didn’t work for me. I haven’t tried Trazodone. Good luck!

I've been on Vraylar for six weeks (3mg for the past two weeks) and I haven't felt this good in a while. People are noticing a real difference. The side effects nearly ceased after a few days at the new dosage. I've started taking Restoril (temazepam) 30mg at night for sleep and it works wonders also.

This drug is awesome! I have a savings card that expires in March 2018, then plan to get on Allergan's assistance program as my insurance will not cover Vraylar.

What a bummer the insurance won't cover Vraylar, but yes do seek the Allergan's assistance program. This drug is not in generic version-- yet, so yes it's very expensive without insurance. I am very excited for you!