Mental Health Coming off Invega (paliperidone) injections, v 5.0

[Gdvffh]

Hi all. Im someone who was on a community treatment order for a year and forced to take flupenexiol injections. I hated being on it as it made me sleep 10 hours a day and feel like shit. Ive had the same problems many you have. Sexual dysfunction. Loss of emotion loss of motivation lots of problems

So i got switched to seroquel pills a week ago. They gave me 5 200mg tabs of seroquel and 30 300 mg tabs of seroquel. I took the seroquel and it made me sleep 14 hours and my body felt heavy. I had to lay down in bed so im thinking i dont like this medication. So i decided to switch the 30 300 mg pills with zinc vitamins. Lol im going to be off antipsychotics finally. Im kind of worried though because i tend to get psychosis a year after being off meds. Any suggestions what to do about that. Im thinking i should take seroquel for like a month to avoid the psychosis once im near a year off. My parents want me on antipsychotics and whenever i start to hear voices they call the cops on me and send me to a mental hospital. If i end up in a mental hospital again ill probably end up on a community treatment order again and idk if ill be able to come off again. Next time im a ask for rexulti ill take that for a few days and hope its good.

 

[Mxminxm]

Your post has given me hope. I'm 4 months off in 2 days. When did you start exercising & when did you start seeing weight loss? Most people on here have said you don't lost weight until around 6 months so it's good to know you lost weight before then. I've gained around 17 kgs & seem to be putting on a kg a week. I tried going for walks but gave up because I was still putting on the weight. What kind of fasting did you do? What did you do for exercising was it just walking & running? How long did you walk for?
I got my period 5 days ago. Alot earlier than expected so that's given me some hope of things going back to normal.
When did you start to feel your emotions again? When did you feel motivation again? Are you a coffee drinker? Did invega block the effects coffee for you & did it return?
How many shots after the loading doses did you have?

Have you noticed any improvements at almost 4 months off?

 

[ExStonerExDrinker]

I dedicate this song to everyone on here going through it.. take a listen. Peace

 

[Jabberwocky]

I did an exercise dvd on Saturday for the first time since December last year. Then I did it again on Sunday morning. I don't even know how I did it but I'm so proud of myself for pushing myself. It even felt a tiny bit good. But not the way it should definitely still severe anhedonia & mostly no energy or motivation. I also listened to music in bed on Saturday night for the first time since probably November last year. Still severe anhedonia but felt okayish.
Today I started a full time work from home job. It's telefundraising I had training today a zoom meeting with 7 other people. I was really nervous & didn't even know how I'd make it through the whole day but it was really good & alot better than I expected. It went by pretty quickly because we had two 15 min breaks then a half hour break. Then we finished early at 4pm instead of 5pm. I'm proud of myself because instead of doing nothing all day atleast I'll be getting paid & passing the time abit quicker until recovery.
I ordered some NAC & it came today so I tried it on my lunch break. I'm hoping it works for me.
The first 4 weeks of the loading dose I was pretty good still I thought it was bad because I'm usually an emotionally intense person & I like to feel things & feel music. I had some anhedonia but could still concentrate on nextflix series could still listen to music with some joy. I could wake up early like 6:30 or 7:30 & feel good enough & have enough energy & motivation. I could still feel some effects of coffee, I had an appetite I actually was abit too hungry but was able to mostly manage it & ate fairly healthy still. I was able to exercise & feel good enough afterwards I would do an exercise dvd or go on exercise bike. I would listen to music on exercise bike & it would give me a boost of motivation although I couldn't feel it as fully as I used to but it was still good enough. I was an intense person anyway so I felt like maybe I was feeling things how a less intense person would feel things. I could feel tiredness I would get tired around 8:30pm to 9:30pm I thought that was bad because I was used to staying up late it sucked not being able to do that anymore if I wanted to. I thought the weight gain was bad the first 4 weeks. It was mostly in my face & a little in my arms & stomach but my legs were still skinny so I looked weird & out of proportion. I used to have a really slim face slightly round but a nice slim jawline. I used to use a jade roller & gua sha tool to slim my face everyday it worked wonders. Now it doesn't even work at all which is so crazy to me that it just doesn't work anymore. It's really good for lymphatic drainage but obviously there's too much poison in my system.
Then around December 28 I started piling on the weight within a few weeks & have gained up to 17 kgs. Now the weight is on my legs, I have massive stomach & love handles & back fat, my face is twice the size it used to be I have a really bad double chin, my arms are so much bigger.
Now I can't feel tiredness or hunger, I can't feel emotions, I can't feel the effects of coffee, can't concentrate or feel anything when watching tv although it's improved from what it was the first few weeks after the 75mg I can atleast lay there now & concentrate a tiny bit & I've gotten through almost 3 tv series somehow. Atfirst I had severe restlessness & couldn't watch tv for almost 2 months. I can't feel motivation or energy, I can't usually get up until around 9 or 9:30am but now I have to get up early with my job because I start at 9am. I've noticed around when I got my period last week I felt a tiny bit better waking up around 8am to 8:30am. No motivation or energy but don't feel as dead as I was & didn't keep falling back to sleep so that will help with getting up for work. I had to get up at 7:30 today but slept in until about 7:45am. I will also say my eating routine is so much better & my taste buds have come back mostly. I'd say I can sort of feel some tiny bit of normalcy from eating.
I would give anything to go back to how I was feeling the first 4 weeks on loading dose. For me I'd consider that recovered enough compared to now although obviously I'd love to be fully recovered back to myself. It all changed after I had the first proper dose of 75mg. It all changed within a week & a half. It's crazy how much damage just that one shot has done & that was my last shot. I have been off invega for 4 months now & can't believe how much of a nightmare it has been & I still don't know how long it will be until I've recovered

 

[Jabberwocky]

I'm also looking for a place to move into now. I wouldn't have thought I'd be able to do that so soon & couldn't have imaged doing so a couple of months ago. I still don't think I'm fully up to it & it's going to be really hard but I'm going to push myself. The first 4 weeks of being on loading dose I felt good enough to find my own place I was even looking at moving back into my place I was living in only 2 months before I had the breakdown & had to move home & got sent to the mental health unit. But then after the 75mg everything was an absolute nightmare & I didn't think there was any chance in hell of living on my own for a long time. So I guess even though it doesn't feel like much of an improvement at all because I'm still nowhere where I need to be I guess I have slightly improved from when it was at it's worst

 

[Robi]

I'm also looking for a place to move into now. I wouldn't have thought I'd be able to do that so soon & couldn't have imaged doing so a couple of months ago. I still don't think I'm fully up to it & it's going to be really hard but I'm going to push myself. The first 4 weeks of being on loading dose I felt good enough to find my own place I was even looking at moving back into my place I was living in only 2 months before I had the breakdown & had to move home & got sent to the mental health unit. But then after the 75mg everything was an absolute nightmare & I didn't think there was any chance in hell of living on my own for a long time. So I guess even though it doesn't feel like much of an improvement at all because I'm still nowhere where I need to be I guess I have slightly improved from when it was at it's worst

thats huge! good on you!

 

[Jabberwocky]

2, was also on 2mg risperdal pills 3 weeks after for 3 weeks

Did you have the 2 loading doses plus 2 injections or was it just 2 injections of loading dose you had?

 

[Nina2021]

I still need success stories of people who took 6 dosis and cam be just lying in bed

 

[Mick04]

What can I do if I’m starting to have some psychotic symptoms and I don’t want to take medicines? I took antipsychotics in the past but I’ve been too bad

 

[Jabberwocky]

I still need success stories of people who took 6 dosis and cam be just lying in bed

Did you see the post I found of a list of people who have recovered it says how many shots they had & how long it took to recover? It's got links to their profiles so you can look at all their previous posts. There's people on the list who have had 6 shots

 

[Nina2021]

Did you see the post I found of a list of people who have recovered it says how many shots they had & how long it took to recover? It's got links to their profiles so you can look at all their previous posts. There's people on the list who have had 6 shots

But some of those people took the injections pretty well, they were just complaining about the coffee not tasting the same

 

[n3ophy7e]

@lau_rahxo that is all really great to hear hun, thanks so much for the positive update. Keep up the good work!!

 

[Mick04]

Wher

Did you see the post I found of a list of people who have recovered it says how many shots they had & how long it took to recover? It's got links to their profiles so you can look at all their previous posts. There's people on the list who have had 6 shots

Where is this post ?

 

[Gdvffh]

What can I do if I’m starting to have some psychotic symptoms and I don’t want to take medicines? I took antipsychotics in the past but I’ve been too bad

Are you going to be forced to take antipsychotics if you become psychotic? What are your psychotic symptoms, auditory hallucinations? My advice would be to try and live with the psychotic symptoms since being on meds just turns you into a vegetable. Its not easy living with psychotic symptoms but i think itd preferred over being on antipsychotics. I personally would do thst but my parents keep cslling the cops on me when i become psychotic. I hate being on meds i cant do anything.

 

[Mick04]

Are you going to be forced to take antipsychotics if you become psychotic? What are your psychotic symptoms, auditory hallucinations? My advice would be to try and live with the psychotic symptoms since being on meds just turns you into a vegetable. Its not easy living with psychotic symptoms but i think itd preferred over being on antipsychotics. I personally would do thst but my parents keep cslling the cops on me when i become psychotic. I hate being on meds i cant do anything.

I sent you a private message, thanks for answering

 

[t_xeplionhell]

@Gdvffh does recovery goes suddenly.

 

[Mick04]

9 months off I still haven’t recovered from injections, part of my brain it’s off; no emotions no dreams cognitive problems and extreme tiredness all the time

 

[Jerry Atrick]

What can I do if I’m starting to have some psychotic symptoms and I don’t want to take medicines? I took antipsychotics in the past but I’ve been too bad

@Mick04 please remember that even though nearly everyone in this thread has experience with anti-psychotics, NONE OF US ARE DOCTORS. If someone tells you all anti-psychotics are bad just because they had an adverse reaction to some of them, please take that with a grain of salt. Invega appears to be the extreme of anti-psychotics that have negative side effects but there are other anti-psychotics out there that have helped people live fruitful, meaningful lives.

For myself, 17 years ago I was on Risperdal injections and later pills for a almost a year. I experience extreme anhedonia and was numb to the world. I had mild sexual dysfunction where I could orgasm but not ejaculate. It wasn't until I got placed on Abilify that my life came back. On the max dose of Abilify (30mg) I was able to complete a master's degree with a 3.8 GPA and work full time for many years after that. In the last few years before covid I was active in jiu jitsu, training about 3 days a week. I would have never had the energy to train martial arts if I were still on Risperdal.

My point is that we are all different and medications have different affects on each of us. If you were on Invega and it didn't work for you or if the side effects were too great, that doesn't mean that ALL anti-psychotics are evil. It just means you haven't found one that works for you yet. I'm not even saying Abilify is a magic pill that works for everyone. I am saying that because it worked for me, I am living proof that some anti-psychotics do work. We just have to give them time to work.

 

[Jerry Atrick]

Are you going to be forced to take antipsychotics if you become psychotic? What are your psychotic symptoms, auditory hallucinations? My advice would be to try and live with the psychotic symptoms since being on meds just turns you into a vegetable. Its not easy living with psychotic symptoms but i think itd preferred over being on antipsychotics. I personally would do thst but my parents keep cslling the cops on me when i become psychotic. I hate being on meds i cant do anything.

@Gdvffh Please stop telling people to stay off anti-psychotics. Just because Invega didn't work for you does not mean all anti-psychotics are bad. Didn't you and I exchange PMs a while back on this subject? Maybe you just haven't found the right one that works for you. Not all meds turn people into vegetables. Regardless, you are not a doctor and I'd appreciate it if you stopped this kind of talk on a forum that is supposed to be about helping people.

 

[Gdvffh]

@Gdvffh Please stop telling people to stay off anti-psychotics. Just because Invega didn't work for you does not mean all anti-psychotics are bad. Didn't you and I exchange PMs a while back on this subject? Maybe you just haven't found the right one that works for you. Not all meds turn people into vegetables. Regardless, you are not a doctor and I'd appreciate it if you stopped this kind of talk on a forum that is supposed to be about helping people.

Sorry. Just i tried 4 antipsychotics now. Seroquel being the last one and it didnt work out well for me. My next plan is to try rexulti as i have heard good things about that. I honestly would rather live med free then be on meds but my parents are forcing me to take meds. I dont know many ppl like you who are on an antipsychotic and feel fine on them. Most people just feel terrible on them.