StarDestroyer.Net BBS

So, it's been a while since I've last regularly posted here... This is kind of a strange returning post, but I might as well ask I guess.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I was unofficially diagnosed with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder by my therapist, and this past Wednesday I was officially prescribed medication for it: Risperdal. Last night I took my first dose, and this morning I woke up with a really huge headache and nausea. I managed to remove them completely with aspirin and by eating some peanuts to keep my stomach happy, since I wanted to keep my weight under control as weight gain is supposedly a very common side effect of antipsychotics. According to my psychiatrist, that's because they interfere somewhat with how my body processes sugars and fats; not so much of a problem for me anyway, because I've been on a mostly healthy diet as of late.

Has anyone else here taken antipsychotic-type (or neuroleptic) medication? What did you feel when you took them? Did you quit them eventually, and how much of a lasting effect have they had on you after you stopped?

Three different ones, actually. Zyprexa, Geodon, and Risperdal.

Zyprexa gave me a massive appetite and I put on ten pounds, which wasn't a bad thing because I'm a skinny motherfucker. It bumped my cholesterol up a little but not enough to be of concern. As to how it made me feel... It made it so I could get to sleep easier and made me actually feel normal. Which was a really nice change of pace. I felt emotions properly. Got too expensive, though, so I got off it. It was initially used to bring me out of a manic episode (started at 5 mg, wasn't enough and went up to 10) and the way it helped me sleep is why I stayed on it.

Geodon made me sick, got off that pretty fast.

Risperdal is my current anti-psychotic. It's serving me fairly well. I don't really feel abnormal emotionally from it and it doesn't give me nausea or headaches or any of that. I have noticed occasional sexual side-effects, though I usually am fine. It hasn't upped my appetite like the Zyprexa did and isn't really much impact on my sleep. But 1 mg isn't that high a dose, it's mostly to keep me level instead of pulling me out of mania like the Zyprexa was used for.


My advice is to talk to your prescribing doctor about the headache and nausea. Couple questions, though: Did you take it on an empty stomach and how soon before bed did you take it? Unless a medication specifically says you can take it on an empty stomach it's wise to take it with a glass of milk or with some food. Failure to do so can cause that nausea issue.

This is your first dose on it, so it may have just been a coincidence. Other bit of advice is to read up on the potential side-effects so you can know what to be worried about and what to go "Oh, this isn't an emergency side-effect. I'll talk to my psychiatrist before I do anything about getting off or reducing my dose."


Just a suggestion about this thread: I personally would advise you request it get moved to one of the member-only areas. You really want to treat this kind of thing as a private matter. A lot of people don't really understand what mental disorders are and can get the wrong impression by knowing you're on medication for one. Your choice, naturally.

Napoleon the Clown wrote:My advice is to talk to your prescribing doctor about the headache and nausea. Couple questions, though: Did you take it on an empty stomach and how soon before bed did you take it? Unless a medication specifically says you can take it on an empty stomach it's wise to take it with a glass of milk or with some food. Failure to do so can cause that nausea issue.

Oh, my psychiatrist actually did warn me about headaches and nausea as my body adapts to the Risperdal. I didn't have an empty stomach I think that night since I ate a somewhat early dinner, and my metabolism can be pretty slow. I'll keep that in mind though!

Napoleon the Clown wrote:This is your first dose on it, so it may have just been a coincidence. Other bit of advice is to read up on the potential side-effects so you can know what to be worried about and what to go "Oh, this isn't an emergency side-effect. I'll talk to my psychiatrist before I do anything about getting off or reducing my dose."

Yeah; the weight gain issue is probably the side effect that I pay most attention to at the moment, though the other possible ones - tardive dyskenisia and neuroleptic malignant syndrome - are in the back of my mind, sometimes. My psychiatrist prescribed me Artane to counteract the side effect of body tremors.

Napoleon the Clown wrote:Just a suggestion about this thread: I personally would advise you request it get moved to one of the member-only areas. You really want to treat this kind of thing as a private matter. A lot of people don't really understand what mental disorders are and can get the wrong impression by knowing you're on medication for one. Your choice, naturally.

That's a very good point; personally I've been open about my condition to people that I know, but other people may not be inclined to participate here because this thread is public.

Can a mod please move it to either ARSE or HoS?

Well, I've been on three different antipsychotics. Zyprexa, Zeldox and Seroquel.

Zyprexa worked great for me except one thing. People have reported "increased appetite", well for me the damn drug turned on my starvation mode, I could eat and eat until I felt physically ill and still be hungry and I gained at least 30 pounds. Eventually I couldn't stand it and switched.

Zeldox was a god damn horror-show for me, so I can't really tell you any specifics.

It is important however that you understand that while zeldox sucked for me it doesn't have to suck for you, I don't think even the doctors really even understand everything they are doing, throwing different medications at the patient until they find one that sticks. The important thing to remember is that (in the majority of cases) they find something that works.

My current medication is Seroquel and it works fine, the major drawbacks with this one is the sedation, I can easily sleep 12 hours in a row unless I have an an alarm clock. I'm told the drug in question is sometimes prescribed off-label as a sleeping aid. I totally believe that.

As for the general side effects of antipsychotics, well, you might feel ...weird for the first week or two. This is normal and almost always passes, so tough it out. Also now might be a good time to take up exercising (depending on how you feel ofc), because they really weren't kidding with the "weight gain side effect"

I forgot about the Seroquel... Prescribed off-label to try and help me sleep. It didn't. Didn't take it long enough to notice anything, though. When it proved useless I figured it wasn't worth taking.

One thing you wrote leapt out to me, your doctor is prescribing Artene? tardative dyskenisa is only moderatly common with current gen antipsychotics and thats with long term treatment at high doses. I've never heard of antispasmodic meds being prescribed as a prophylactic.

Frankly, and remember that I'm a random internet dude who isn't claiming to be a doctor - it seems stupid to add another drug to the mix. More reasonable would be watch and see, and if any symptoms show up, switch the primary medication.

On the other hand I've seen older schizophreniacs who looked like parkinsons patients due to tardative dyskenisa. I'm just suspicious of treating symptoms that doesn't exist yet.

Oh, she prescribed me Artane in case the Risperidal caused me to have those Parkinsonian tremors. I didn't have them when I was on Abilify a long time ago, and I might've been prescribed that first, but I couldn't afford it before because my insurance would not actually cover it, so she gave me the next best option.

Coming from a Disability Care background (as opposed to a user) I can confirm that Seroquel (is supposed to) have a sedation side effect, also has a limit on how long you're supposed to be on it before being switched to another medication (here in Aus).

All the current generation of anti-psychotics have weight gain as a side effect but remember, as previously mentioned, all have different effects for different people. How the drugs work is well understood but differences in metabolism and body chemistry leads to different primary and side effects. This is why Doctors seem to play russian roulette trying to find the best match for the user.

I also raise my eyebrow (but only slightly) at the Artane prescription but I'm neither your doctor or aware of your medical history, all I can say from my experience is that use without symptoms is uncommon.

About the only advice I think I really have for you is that from experience dealing out these medications is that eating something at the same time is usually good. There is usually nausea regardless when you start a new drug schedule.

And as always (and particularly with these kind of drugs) your mileage may and usually will vary, consult own doctor.

Risperdal is my current med and it seems to work. Haven't noticed any major side effects.

Coming from a Disability Care background (as opposed to a user) I can confirm that Seroquel (is supposed to) have a sedation side effect, also has a limit on how long you're supposed to be on it before being switched to another medication (here in Aus).

Speaking as a user, is this time limit limited to the off-label uses as a sleep aid, or to the prescribed uses as well?

I decided to stop taking Artane a week ago, and I actually don't feel overly powerful tremors. My body does feel like I am "vibrating" inside like a half hour after I take Risperdal, but I'm able to easily ignore them, and they only last for some hours; after that period they disappear. So, that'll be that for now, unless my dose increases dramatically and/or they become problematic.

I take it anyway before I'm about to sleep, as it also sedates me; with Melatonin, it really helps me with my insomnia.

I've also relaxed my dieting quite a bit as of late, and I have received negligible weight gain; I suspect that if I restart my diet, I would lose that gained weight in a short amount of time. I guess I should be happy that I somewhat dodged that bullet...but I'm not celebrating yet, since I might need to have my dose increased soon for various reasons.

Geodd wrote:

Coming from a Disability Care background (as opposed to a user) I can confirm that Seroquel (is supposed to) have a sedation side effect, also has a limit on how long you're supposed to be on it before being switched to another medication (here in Aus).

Speaking as a user, is this time limit limited to the off-label uses as a sleep aid, or to the prescribed uses as well?

I can't confirm. I haven't dealt with it used as a sedative, only as prescribed. Typically the level of use I've witnessed is at very high dosage levels over several years and I'd expect off-label use to be much lower, thus minimising certain long term effects.