Geodon and abilify

I initially went to the doctor requesting my ADHD medication and within 10 minutes of talking to this guy he tells me I don't have ADHD and proceeds to tell me I'm bi-polar. I'm 30yrs old and was placed on 80mg/daily 40mg in the a.m. and another 40mg before bedtime. I was on this medication for 2 1/2 days and was taken off of it due to involuntary mouth movements followed by episodes of dystonia (neck, eyes, mouth and hands for hours at a time)...it was almost as if I was having a seizure without swallowing my tongue. I also experienced very blurred vision and now when I'm speaking to someone I feel like my brain went for a walk because sentences don't come out right and I find myself struggling to make rational decisions. I have now been off of it totally for 3 days and I'm still experiencing the blurred vision and I had 20/20 vision prior to taking this drug, The doctor wants me to try Abilify but the side effects of that drug are very similar to Geodon, I'm literally scared to even pick this up from the pharmacy and give it a try. My pupils are very dilated, I don't know how long this is going to last but it's affecting my job (meaning I haven't been to work in a week because I can't see straight. If anyone is experiencing the same issues after being off the medication for a while...can you tell me how long I am to expect this to go on.

I have been on geodon for about one year. My dosage have been changed too many times to count. I am presently taking geodon 60mg, lamictal 200mg and lunesta at bedtime. On some nights, I am unable to sleep and I have to get up at 430 am. I am very depressed and I feel that nobody understands what I am going through. I don't know which of my meds are causing which side effects, but I need a change. I am 5ft 7in tall and I now weigh 118# (one year ago I weighed 142#).

Geodon - Weight Loss, Mania Anyone?
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I've been on Geodon for 5 wx & have lost 15 #'s. I usually weigh 130, now 115. looking anorexic, but my depression is a lot better now, I'm happy, first time in ovr a yr. nothing else could break the barrier except the Geodon, but it makes me manic, on top of already being manic…can't sleep. as I was about to crash & burn (thu), before I went running to the ER, i found my stash of 4 mg Risperdal that I just weened myself off of 3 mos ago, due to the long term side effects I was having (td, slurring, twitching, sexual dysfunction...). it took the edge off, til I can talk to the pdoc on tue.

like many of you, i’ve tried everything. i’m at my wit’s end. This bizarre combo seems to work for me. It puts a muzzle on the mania, allowing me a more hypomanic state where I can function & still feel really happy. although I’m going to try 40 vs 60 mg geodon. & try going down to 2 mg risperdal or try another a/p. adding the risperdal allowed me to sleep, along w/the lorazepam. but, I prefer not to be on risperdal

So, as of now…i'm on 60 mg geodon, 675 mg lithium, 4 mg risperdal & 1 mg lorazepam X 2/day.

has anyone else had this experience? Especially w/the mania & weight loss?

PLZ HELP! QUEENIE

I'm on 40mg at night, and have been having good experiences with it before. I don't experience anxiety, if anything, I feel less anxious than I ever did before. I was on Risperdal and gained 75 lbs VERY quickly, even after changing my diet to low-cal, low-fat, and doing everything else in the book. Now I'm off that Risperdal garbage, on the 40 mg of Geodon, and couldn't be happier. I am bipolar, and don't experience the rapid cycling that I did before, even on the Risperdal. I'm considering asking my psychiatrist to take my oldest son OFF that Abilify mess that makes him miserable and put him on Geodon. Thumbs up from me!

I just took my third pill of Geodon. I took Abilify for a week, and I had a couple of really bad manic episodes that would not let up. I felt like shit and yet they were mixed episodes. I just changed to Geodon, and have tried a lot of other drugs (but I wasn't too committed when I was younger). OKay, I feel like I do when I used to use crystal meth. My pupils are huge, i see things out of the corners of my eyes and believe them to be something different than what they actually are. I feel like I'm kind of in my own different world, a different spectrum. I hear kind of echoes and muffled sounds. I'm manic but in an indifferent way as what do you know? Another mixed episode most of today. If I start something, I work hard at it, but feel som indifferent and mixed about everything that in that aspect, I feel like I'm on cocaine. Cocaine always made me feel inbetween good and bad. Id feel one for a minute and then the next. It would make my feelings and stuff teeter totter. Cocaine was not my favorite for these reasons. At the gym tonight, i was superwoman. I did the eliptical machine at 10mph!! Crazy. I feel beat, but awake and meth-like dead. It sucks. Mania was great for my exercising and for ya know, a couple of things, but in general, Im so sick of it. Go away, mania. Go away side effects. I don't know what else to expect anymore and am afraid to stay on it, but dont want to get off if this shitty feeling is only temporary. thanks

My first time of taking Geodon was 20mg in the AM and I literally did not think I would make it through the day at work. I could barely keep my eyes open, my speech was slurred and I felt totally drunk! I decided it was better to take at nightime but I think I took it too late the first few times and was literally falling asleep at the wheel on the way to work. Thank God I am also on Adderall, a stimulant. Anyways, I finally realized that I must take this med at 8:30 PM (on work nights) and by 11 PM I can't keep my eyes open but I don't feel as tired in the morning and can function. I am now on 40mg for about 2 weeks now but feel very anxious by the afternoon...it feels kind of like I'm worried about something or waiting for something to happen but I don't know what. I can't stand this feeling but I talk to my Doc tomorrow. I hope it goes away. I tried Abilify but the side effects for that left me feel like something was crawling in my own skin and I couldn't sit still. That was probably the worse feeling ever. I just hope the anxiety with Geodon goes away in time because I feel out of options for meds. I've read that alot of the other Bi-polar meds side effects include extreme weight gain and I used to have an eating disorder and am afraid of that!

My 18 year old daughter (BPD with hallucinations) has been taking this drug since December. She is currently taking 320 mg. per day (split between morning and evening) - rare but it has been done - although I'd prefer not. First, I don't even think G gets to theraputic levels until 80 mgs. DD was on Risperdal (which worked wonderfully but her prolactin level went through the roof) and so they slowing titrated her off of that and on to G. Yes, the side effects were horrible at first. Again, it isn't until you reach theraputic levels that you start to see those side effects diminish and our experience plus other experiences I've heard of is that the higher the dosage the fewer side effects. I would highly recommend an EKG (just to be on the safe side although the side effect of heart problems appears to be over emphasized with the research I've found). I have to say that her hallucinations continue but are better - her BPD is very well stabalized with this drug (and we saw the advantage for her BPD early on). She is very level or able to regain stability when she senses a mood swing coming. Now her biggest side effects are tremors (which she's had with both Abilify and Risperdal) and a dry mouth (typical with Geodon). She occasionally gets headaches which, again, can be a side effect.

Honestly, our experience is that our DD has had side effects that were more intensified with every new medication and every dosage increase. Over time, that has always gotten better (except the prolactin level with Risperdal). I think people sometimes don't give it "enough time" but I know I'm not in their shoes. Lastly, for BPD, I'd definitely recommend giving it a try - the difference in our DD is like night and day.

Geodon has definitely proved useful for me, thus far, for the depression side of my bipolar disorder, and compared to Lamictal (which had many and terrible side effects for me, even at a low dose) and Trileptal (to which I discovered I'm quite allergic), it's been a blessing. Took it for three days and it was like throwing a switch to turn off my depression, which had been increasingly bad and getting worse over the past two years. I've been on it for only two weeks, but thus far, I have had minor problems with a rash (easily controlled with a small dose of benedryl, and which will hopefully go away in time), one night of insomnia, and a day of frequent need to urinate. The jury's still out as to whether or not it is affecting my blood pressure. I'm also taking Klonopin, which may be why I have not had much trouble with sleeping, but the need to suddenly run to the bathroom every two hours (or less) is disconcerting and will be watched. I'm taking what most doctors would probably consider an extremely low dose, only 20 mg, but my particular variety of BPD makes me extremely hypersensitive to drugs of any kind. My doctor has suggested that I try increasing the dose in another two weeks, but so long as I'm doing well at this level, I have no intention of doing so, and he knows it. I am seldom able to reach "normal therapeutic levels" for these kinds of drugs, and if I do, it takes years for me to get there. Thank God my doctor understands that if the level I'm taking is effective for me, it doesn't matter that it's half, or less, of what "normal" people take. Because nobody's body chemistry is the same, and one size does not fit all when it comes to drug dosage.

I've been on geodon for 3 1/2 years and the worst side effect i've had is weight gain. i've gained 30 lbs. it just makes me want to eat. when i first started taking it it made me really sleepy and i started takind it the afternoon and the evening and that went away but sometimes it still makes me tired. i'm on 80 mg but was on 120 mg for a while. i want to get off meds but my doctor doesn't want me off them. she wants me to switch to abilify, the newest antipychotic. she wants me to take them both at the same time until abilify starts to work. i think it's scary to be on both drugs. i would rather not be on any for awhile. i've read too that it's hell getting off but if you taper that should work. when i went from 120 to 80 the only difference i felt was that i didn't sleep as well and it was hard to get to sleep but i increased my zanax and now usually i go to sleep alright.

I had my doctor switch me from Abilify (5mg) to Geodon (20mg) for bi-polar, rapid cycling after gaining a significant amount of weight. I have been taking Geodon for 6 days, and have noticed that my hair has started to fall out. I am also taking Wellbutrin and Topamax, but have been for over a year. What is the deal?

I started taking geodon a couple years ago when I had a "psychotic episode" so to speak. They diagnosed me with schizophrenia. They put me on geodon which did wonders for me and helped all my symptoms go away. I'm perfectly functioning and capable now. However, Geodon does have some side affects that I"m dealing with. It makes me tired all the time. I'm tired all day and can't sleep at night. It seems to be progressive as in the longer I'm on it the more I have to take. If I miss a pill I get very tense physcially like and my jaw clamps down. I also feel like I'm going crazy if I miss a pill. Thoughts start to race, however the natrue of the drug is that one pill missed shouldn't cause psychotic symptoms. I can't think as clearly because it makes it harder to think abstractly. I take it when I need the down feeling. Sometimes more then it's perscribed. I'm clearly addicted to it like somebody would be addicted beer or pot, perhaps psychological. I tried to switch to abilify and I couldn't function because of the hard with
drawl from geodon. Good luck at your venture with geodon

on geodon for three months went to go off and on abilify could not sleep the whole nite.now i am experiencing insomnia .off geodon 10 day still sleep only 3 hrs a night.,sweats lasted 8 days.this drug is bad news stay away.at first you sleep all the time then you cant sleep.

Since Geodon and increased dosage, my tongue and jaw and neck are clammped so tight that I broke some of my teeth. Sometimes my eyes go in back of my head and fingers and arms stiffen and are rigid and I am in trance like state. After 2 hours of taking, my butt is knocked out cold and I cannot wake up for anyhting while I am stuck in terrible nitemares and horrid sweats. My muscles in my legs and arms are constantly locking up in charlie horses and the pain is so bad as well as nausea and vomitting. I cannot tolerate smells of foods now without getting sick. Supposedly Geodon and Abilify have same chemical components, so what's the sense in switching ? I always had nitemares but this is terrifying and I am paralyzed it feels like and can't waken from these nitemares. I am desperate for help as nothing else has helped, but I feel like I have 20 new problems on top of what I already had ! Godd Luck all !
ShyeShye

I just switched from Geodon to Abilify last night...and my side effects were 1) incredible insomnia and mania (although the mania might have been caused by an excessive dose of lexapro)...i didn't sleep at all (literally) last night. and 2) sudden tic-like twitches, often involving more than one body part at once (e.g., leg and arm and head).