Hypomanic symptoms and conditions

I took Zyprexa for 11 yrs always pleading with my psychiatrist to let me try something else. I had gained 90+ lbs with Zyprexa and slept about 12-14 hrs every day. Plus I just sat around watching TV all the time. No motivation. But it did stabilize me when it seemed nothing else could.

Two weeks ago my doctor changed me to Geodon. What a wonderful change! At least the first 12 days I had no problems and lost 7 lbs. My head is clear, I am hypomanic which is so much better than mired in drowsiness and trouble thinking. Now I have energy galore and feel maybe I can even return to work soon.

HOWEVER, the last two nights I just can't go to sleep. Night before last I tossed and turned for 2 hrs before I could sleep. Last night it was 4 hrs. I tried taking the Geodon (80mg) this morning instead of taking it tonight, hoping that would help the situation. But after taking it in the morning, I was in terrible shape. I couldn't seem to keep my mouth closed -- it kept falling open and I looked like an idiot. I couldn't concentrate to drive -- I know I ran at least one red light. Finally I just went home and slept for a couple of hours. Then I was fine.

Also I have light headaches and nausea off and on and totally no appetite. I like the appetite part but have had anorexia in the past so I have to be careful when I don't want to eat. Insomnia too, as I said. And hypomania. All in all, a trade up from Zyprexa, which I hated. I just hope I can manage the side effects enough to stick with it. I hope they will go away, but you never know about that. Zyprexa's side effects never went away.

To this date, I've had the worst side effects from prednisone I've ever heard of. It started out in a rather subtle manner. I became hypomanic--a term I wasn't familiar with at the time. Later, the hypomania somehow blossomed into a full-blown psychotic state. I was sent to an in-patient acute care psychiatric hospital, where I stomped one woman's head into the ground and hit another one in the back of the head. Never before have I been violent--and as strange as it sounds, this time was no exception. Although many people refuse to believe me, a violent or malevolent attitude didn't cause me to commit these acts of violence. It was a persistent, delusional state of mind that caused them. If prednisone were the only drug on the face of this planet that could stop me from a sudden, painful death, I wouldn't take it.