Hey I have found an interesting but tough to read article regarding Paliperidone, how long it takes to release from the injection site and how long it can last in the system. It does seem to suggest levodopa helped. I think it’s worth a read and I have some questions if someone can please answer.
Antipsychotic drug treatment can potentially lead to adverse events such as extrapyramidal symptoms (EPSs). If these events persist, they lower patient quality of life. The purpose of this report is to present our experience with such a case, as an ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
QUOTE:
Moreover, in our case, EPSs persisted for more than 6 months since the last injection, although the serum concentration of paliperidone was expected to gradually subside. PP is an insoluble ester of paliperidone and dissolves very slowly in the interstitial fluids at the site of injection; paliperidone enters the systemic circulation over an extended period of time (125–245 days).18 In addition, the serum half-life is relatively long, roughly 25–49 days.9 In the case of such extended-release medications, it is necessary to consider that they can persist in the body for approximately 4–5 times longer than their half-life, even after discontinuation. Therefore, considering previously reported data and our case report collectively, paliperidone could remain in the body after cessation of treatment, and this could cause persistent EPSs.
QUESTION 1: When it reads that the medication could persist 4-5 times longer than it’s half life is this suggesting that the medication is likely to be active for up to 4-5 times longer than the half life or that the half life estimate could be 4-5 times longer?
QUESTION 2: Considering the medication takes up to 125-245 days to release into the system might it be a good idea to have blood drawn via Chinese cupping on the injection site? Thoughts?
ARTICLE QUOTE: He exhibited hand tremors, lead-pipe rigidity, gait instability, sialorrhea, and oral dyskinesia, in addition to his severe hallucinatory delusions (PANSS score of 125, DIEPSS score of 22). Despite receiving no antipsychotics over the 6 weeks after admission, we observed no improvement in his EPSs (DIEPSS score of 21) and no improvement in his psychotic symptoms (PANSS score of 138). Therefore, we started levodopa at a dose that increased to 400 mg/d. After 1 month, the EPSs gradually improved (DIEPSS score of 13), so aripiprazole was started at 6 mg/d, and then increased to 18 mg/d, while actively monitoring EPSs for signs of deterioration. His psychotic symptoms gradually improved and EPSs did not worsen after 2 months (PANSS score of 88, DIEPSS score of 5). Finally, neither his EPSs nor symptoms had deteriorated over the following 6 months. His prognosis is demonstrated in Figure 1. Importantly, he had no the other side effects including liver/renal dysfunction.
QUESTION: Who has tried levodopa or L-dopa? Did it help with any side effects? How long did take? Side effects? Withdrawal?
My current reflection on all this...
My stance on this medicine is that it should not be injectable, enforced or extended release. If the individual commits a crime in psychosis prosecute him. If he recommits the same offence due to psychosis and not taking his medication prosecute him accordingly as a repeat offender. This idea that people should be in prisoned and forced to take medication that could significantly impact and reduce the quality of their life for any amount of time because they are acting bizarre or socially incoherent in my opinion is wrong and evil. Offer options and counselling and besides that leave people alone regardless of their clinically observed “mental illness”. I feel this way strongly because I believe there are non-pharma ways to combat mental illness and even without combatting I think in time it will resolve itself after the individual faces social fallout and personal difficulty and reflects. After medication I was still unstable it wasn’t until I literally sat in my bed in my own room alone and thought deeply about everything that I realized I was paranoid and unwell. No doctor helped me with that. In fact the doctors made me more stubborn and more resistant in general. I observed this same stubbornness and bitterness in others as well. You can’t force the truth. It doesn’t work that way.
