Mental Health Coming Off Invega Sustenna (Paliperidone) v.2

[Gdvffh]

Does anyone feel like they can not think with the right side of the brain. I feel like left part of brain is working but the right side of brain is dead

 

[Invegaman]

I feel like my like my life is passing me by everyday, when I'm awake it feels like I'm not fully there like I'm always half asleep. I don't feel alive anymore which is sad. I too needed an antipsychotic to bring me back to reality when I almost completely lost my mind but I regret taking sustenna, I think any other pills would have suited me fine. I think I've had the worst possible reaction to it. I don't want to be negative but even in a years time I personally can't see myself dramatically becoming energetic and smart and sharp witted and happy like I used to be because I think that part of my brain has been harmed from there all throughout my nervous system, I can't see it clicking with time like it was. Does anyone else occasionaly feel the same?

 

[NotAPsycho]

Yeah I feel the same.. it's been 7 months.

 

[Invegasucks]

I feel like my like my life is passing me by everyday, when I'm awake it feels like I'm not fully there like I'm always half asleep. I don't feel alive anymore which is sad. I too needed an antipsychotic to bring me back to reality when I almost completely lost my mind but I regret taking sustenna, I think any other pills would have suited me fine. I think I've had the worst possible reaction to it. I don't want to be negative but even in a years time I personally can't see myself dramatically becoming energetic and smart and sharp witted and happy like I used to be because I think that part of my brain has been harmed from there all throughout my nervous system, I can't see it clicking with time like it was. Does anyone else occasionaly feel the same?

I am about four months in sense stopping invega and i feel the exact same way.. I am so sacred that I will have anedonia for the rest of my life. I just don't see myself one day snapping out of it like people have said, I could be pessimistic, but one tends to think this is their new baseline when you wake up day in and day out with no emotions or feelings it's fucking horrible. I feel like i dont even know who I was before pre invega, this is one big nightmare.

 

[Invegasucks]

Yeah I feel the same.. it's been 7 months.

How many shots did you have and for what reason?

 

[Koz26]

Bro, I am having severe withdrawal insomnia... I cannot sleep at all. Any suggestions?

I take klonopin to help me sleep. The anxiety I had/have at nights was just too unbearable to fall asleep. So my doctor prescribed me klonopin to help with both anxiety and sleep.

 

[Koz26]

I feel like my like my life is passing me by everyday, when I'm awake it feels like I'm not fully there like I'm always half asleep. I don't feel alive anymore which is sad. I too needed an antipsychotic to bring me back to reality when I almost completely lost my mind but I regret taking sustenna, I think any other pills would have suited me fine. I think I've had the worst possible reaction to it. I don't want to be negative but even in a years time I personally can't see myself dramatically becoming energetic and smart and sharp witted and happy like I used to be because I think that part of my brain has been harmed from there all throughout my nervous system, I can't see it clicking with time like it was. Does anyone else occasionaly feel the same?

I can relate man. I feel like idk if I'll ever become super energetic and motivated to do things again either. I'm at a point now where I just force myself to train every day even if I'm not feeling that great. Mma is something I really enjoy so it makes me feel a little better when I train. It's kind of like I can do whatever it is that I need to do, but I'm just missing that "spark." And because I'm missing that spark it's causing me to have pretty bad anxiety and depression.

As far as feeling like your brain has been harmed, I feel the same way. I know that I'm Bipolar because I've had four separate manic episodes. Each time an antipsychotic brought me out of it until I titrated up to a therapeutic dose of a mood stabilizer. But then if I came off the mood stabilizer I would become manic again. Now I feel as though the Invega caused some sort of permanent neurological change to the dopaminergic system in my brain and I don't think I would become manic again even without being on a mood stabilizer. And technically that's been the case thus far. The minimum therapeutic dose for the mood stabilizer Lamictal when used to treat Bipolar is 200mg. I decided a few weeks ago to very slowly come off of it and see if any symptoms of mania return. I know this isn't the smartest idea, but Lamictal causes a whole other host of side effects like hair loss, weight gain, metabolic changes, fatigue, drowsiness, etc...so if I don't have to be on it then I don't want to deal with those side effects for no reason.

Anyways, I'm now down to 125mg per day on the Lamictal, which is well below a dose that would be effective at treating Bipolar mania, and I have experienced zero symptoms of a manic episode. Not even a little bit of hypomania. I honestly don't think my brain is capable of producing the necessary amounts of dopamine to cause a manic episode anymore. And I don't see myself ever becoming manic again because of the shot, mood stabilizer or no mood stabilizer. If I'm proved wrong and have another manic episode then I'd probably be kind of happy about it because that would mean my fucked up brain has returned to its normal fucked up self. But fucked up in a super crazy happy and energetic fashion, not a dumbed down zombified version. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how it goes.

Btw, it's been a little over 9 months since I received the last Invega shot. I only had the starter shots, two total.

 

[Koz26]

I am about four months in sense stopping invega and i feel the exact same way.. I am so sacred that I will have anedonia for the rest of my life. I just don't see myself one day snapping out of it like people have said, I could be pessimistic, but one tends to think this is their new baseline when you wake up day in and day out with no emotions or feelings it's fucking horrible. I feel like i dont even know who I was before pre invega, this is one big nightmare.

Hey buddy, try not to stress too much about the anhedonia. I had it really bad for around 6 months after I had my last shot. I'm now 9 1/2 months off the shot and anhedonia isn't an issue for me anymore. I didn't think it would ever go away either when I was at month 4, but it did. It definitely feels permanent while your going through it though, so the way you feel is completely understandable. But in time your emotions will return. They did for me.

 

[Invegasucks]

Hey buddy, try not to stress too much about the anhedonia. I had it really bad for around 6 months after I had my last shot. I'm now 9 1/2 months off the shot and anhedonia isn't an issue for me anymore. I didn't think it would ever go away either when I was at month 4, but it did. It definitely feels permanent while your going through it though, so the way you feel is completely understandable. But in time your emotions will return. They did for me.

Sweet, thanks man for the encouraging words. It does feel like it is going to last forever.. but i will remain optimistic that hopefully in the near future I will get my motivation and feelings back. Living life this way not being able to look forward to anything productive is a very tough and sad way to spend everyday. I miss being able to work, exercise and attend college. We're you able to continue to exercise and go about your daily routine while you still had the anedonia?

 

[Invegaman]

@invegasucks

I miss working and exercising the most, felt like a bum ever since my first shot.

 

[Gdvffh]

Ya, I used to be so fit and so hot, I was the bomb, my life was sooooo good, and then it all just turned to shit

 

[Koz26]

Sweet, thanks man for the encouraging words. It does feel like it is going to last forever.. but i will remain optimistic that hopefully in the near future I will get my motivation and feelings back. Living life this way not being able to look forward to anything productive is a very tough and sad way to spend everyday. I miss being able to work, exercise and attend college. We're you able to continue to exercise and go about your daily routine while you still had the anedonia?

Some days yes, some days no. What I did was put an exercise bike and dumbells in front of my tv so that whenever i would sit down to watch a game or a show id try to squeeze in a little exercise at the same time. I had to stop attending college myself. It does suck. But now I am able to exercise pretty rigorously and am getting back on track in my pursuit of a professional mma career. Definitely not something I could have imagined doing at month 4. I didnt start working out with a lot of intensity until month 8. Which makes sense since thats supposedly the end of invegas half-lifevs in our system.

But yes I did do light workouts when I had anhedonia. As shitty as I felt, it made me feel a little better to know that deep down I was still trying to take care of my physical health.

 

[Koz26]

Ya, I used to be so fit and so hot, I was the bomb, my life was sooooo good, and then it all just turned to shit

Your post made me life cause it reminded me of how great of shape I was in during my prolonged manic episode. I'll I did was workout outside all day every day. So I was super tan and had a six pack for the first time in my life. 10 days into my hospitalization on thorazine, depakote and nasty/unhealthy hospital meals and my six pack was gone

 

[Koz26]

@invegasucks

I miss working and exercising the most, felt like a bum ever since my first shot.

Honestly, sometimes you just need to force it. The more your physical health deteriorates, the worse you're gonna feel and the harder its going to be to get back in shape. Even if its just going for a 20-30 minute walk a couple times a week at least its a start. Im slowly starting to get back in good shape again and losing my body fat. Yesterday I was able to exercise for 2 full hours for the 1st time in forever it seems like. You'll get back to where you where. And probably go further cause you'll appreciate feeling like you have the ability to exercise again and wont ever take it for granted. (Not saying you ever did in the 1st place)

 

[Tina3000]

hey guys, i feel like live is over for me. i am pretty sure that i will have these symptoms forever...invega sustenna ruined my life. i am constantly depressed, have panic attacks, pain, death fears.... i have been off that med for over 1 year now zero improvement.... do you think it will last forever?? I read that people who have taken these muscle shots have never recovered again because it is given in the muscle its a total different elimination system than the oral form... i cant live anymore my life is hell.. i was a healthy person, got misdiagnosed with shizophrenia...

 

[Tina3000]

i was a happy person who took care of myself now i cant even do that anymore..my mom is helping me a lot, i cant work only twice a week...my life is torture... psychiatrists are devils

 

[Koz26]

hey guys, i feel like live is over for me. i am pretty sure that i will have these symptoms forever...invega sustenna ruined my life. i am constantly depressed, have panic attacks, pain, death fears.... i have been off that med for over 1 year now zero improvement.... do you think it will last forever?? I read that people who have taken these muscle shots have never recovered again because it is given in the muscle its a total different elimination system than the oral form... i cant live anymore my life is hell.. i was a healthy person, got misdiagnosed with shizophrenia...

You may have read about people who have never recovered, but there are also stories from people on this forum who have recovered. You won't suffer forever. Will limgering effects of the drug last forever? I doubt it...but maybe? Nobody really knows for sure. But what we do know is we have 3 or 4 people on this forum so far who said they are either fully recovered or feel close to full recovery. Try not to get yourself caught in a negative feedback loop by only focusing on the user reports where people are saying they never got better. For all we know they could've eventually gotten better and just never returned to post about it.

I know how bad it sucks believe me. And I know I used to get even more upset when people would tell me to just "stay positive" and "be patient." But in all honesty, those are things that we really have to do. I'd be lying if I said i remained patiently optimistic all the time cause thats simply not true. I still have passive suicidal thoughts from time to time. A lot of that is due to the hole invega dug and threw me into and feeling like idk if ill ever get fully out of it.

But the truth is I have gotten much better since my last injection 9 1/2 months ago. I fight mma at 170 and since the injection I've ballooned up to 200lbs. But now I at least feel like I can cut my weight back down and start competing again because I finally have enough energy to train and lift with moderate intensity. I still feel like its going to be awhile before I can step back in the cage and pursue a pro mma career like I've always dreamed of. But at least now the thought of one day becoming a great mixed martial artists trumps the thoughts of suicide. That's definitely a big step in the right direction for me and is a sign of progress and hope that things can and will get better. My heart goes out to you Tina, try and stay strong.

 

[NotAPsycho]

How many shots did you have and for what reason?

I had one shot, 239 mg. They said I have psychotic disorder, which is odd because I was perfectly normal and not crazy to anyone at the hospital... The doctor said it would "help" me and I recall thinking 'help me what?' I guess the answer was help me become a potato. Or whatever vegetable.

 

[AbleArcher83]

I can relate man. I feel like idk if I'll ever become super energetic and motivated to do things again either. I'm at a point now where I just force myself to train every day even if I'm not feeling that great. Mma is something I really enjoy so it makes me feel a little better when I train. It's kind of like I can do whatever it is that I need to do, but I'm just missing that "spark." And because I'm missing that spark it's causing me to have pretty bad anxiety and depression.

As far as feeling like your brain has been harmed, I feel the same way. I know that I'm Bipolar because I've had four separate manic episodes. Each time an antipsychotic brought me out of it until I titrated up to a therapeutic dose of a mood stabilizer. But then if I came off the mood stabilizer I would become manic again. Now I feel as though the Invega caused some sort of permanent neurological change to the dopaminergic system in my brain and I don't think I would become manic again even without being on a mood stabilizer. And technically that's been the case thus far. The minimum therapeutic dose for the mood stabilizer Lamictal when used to treat Bipolar is 200mg. I decided a few weeks ago to very slowly come off of it and see if any symptoms of mania return. I know this isn't the smartest idea, but Lamictal causes a whole other host of side effects like hair loss, weight gain, metabolic changes, fatigue, drowsiness, etc...so if I don't have to be on it then I don't want to deal with those side effects for no reason.

Anyways, I'm now down to 125mg per day on the Lamictal, which is well below a dose that would be effective at treating Bipolar mania, and I have experienced zero symptoms of a manic episode. Not even a little bit of hypomania. I honestly don't think my brain is capable of producing the necessary amounts of dopamine to cause a manic episode anymore. And I don't see myself ever becoming manic again because of the shot, mood stabilizer or no mood stabilizer. If I'm proved wrong and have another manic episode then I'd probably be kind of happy about it because that would mean my fucked up brain has returned to its normal fucked up self. But fucked up in a super crazy happy and energetic fashion, not a dumbed down zombified version. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how it goes.

Btw, it's been a little over 9 months since I received the last Invega shot. I only had the starter shots, two total.

Klonopin is deadly though, I use Melatonin.

 

[AbleArcher83]

Does anyone know how long withdrawal insomnia lasts? I'm having horrible withdrawal insomnia and can barely sleep without sleep aids. Will it clear in a couple of weeks? Or will I be like this forever?