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Mental Health Coming Off Vraylar (cariprazine), Rexulti (brexpiprazole), or Abilify (aripiprazole)

DeathIndustrial88 said:
I took vraylar for a few days in October. Immediately ceased use once I felt like I lost my ability to drive due to messed up coordination, dizziness and an all around detached from reality feeling.
I also started having spasms/twitching in my right lower eye lid. I have continued to have these twitches daily ever since and we are now in March. Although the frequency of them has slowed down a bit, I still have it and wonder if it will ever go away.

Anyone else have any eye/twitching related problems from this pharma poison?
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Actually your side effects of Vraylar must be gone by now. I don't know, the eye twichting could be extreme nervousness and anxiety.
 
DeathIndustrial88 said:
I took vraylar for a few days in October. Immediately ceased use once I felt like I lost my ability to drive due to messed up coordination, dizziness and an all around detached from reality feeling.
I also started having spasms/twitching in my right lower eye lid. I have continued to have these twitches daily ever since and we are now in March. Although the frequency of them has slowed down a bit, I still have it and wonder if it will ever go away.

Anyone else have any eye/twitching related problems from this pharma poison?
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Not to my knowledge. But I've been off it for more than two years, so maybe...?

* * *

Today marks a major turning point in my recovery. I slowly became aware that my energy is more manageable to move. It seems to flow freely now (not to say without much resistance). There's still a bit of resistance, but what I mean is that I don't have to focus as much on guiding the subtle energy to where it needs to go. I noticed smoking a tiny bit of weed helped. Initially, getting high felt fucking atrocious. But it breaks down slow in the system (about 3 weeks) so with it still in my system I can manage my energy better.

Also drinking caffeine isn't as egregious anymore to my system. I'm able to manage almost a full cup of coffee without anxiety or restlessness.

I estimate recovery may take a bit longer than expected and at least it's more manageable than before.

There's also this taste in my mouth. It kind of reminds me of when I was sick with Strep Throat and the aftertaste when healing from the illness on antibiotics and stuff.
 
Today was my second Day of eating.
Today i woke up, with huge depression. My parents visited me, otherwise i would not go out today.
I am going to fast for the whole next week, so i can look shredded and to get rid of the rest of that toxic drug, located in my fat cells.
Hopefully by the 15 of March i hope, that all this spooky experience of Vraylar will end. But i am not betting on it, as i don't want to get disappointed by my own high expectations. But is it doable? I am able to feel dopamine pretty much again. Not as much as i normal do though, to be honest. I see improvements every week. I don't know.
I got interested in my old hobbies. Anhedonia is pretty much gone. Anyways, i very hope that i still can make it until 15 of March.
 
Master Green said:
Actually your side effects of Vraylar must be gone by now. I don't know, the eye twichting could be extreme nervousness and anxiety.
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Drugs can and do cause long term side effects. Even after you cease use. Check out tardive dysknesia for example.
Although you're not wrong that I live with extreme nervousness and anxiety,. although I had that anxiety before trying the drug too.

And I've never heard of anxiety causing an eye lid to spasm for going on 4 months (daily). I'm not always actively nervous either when it happens, so I don't know if it's just that.


Here's some lovely side effects from taking this crap...
www.mayoclinic.org

Cariprazine (oral route)

www.mayoclinic.org www.mayoclinic.org

  • Blurred vision.
  • dizziness.
  • drooling.
  • inability to move the eyes.
  • inability to sit still.
  • increased blinking or spasms of the eyelid.
  • loss of balance control.
  • muscle trembling, jerking, or stiffness.
  • need to keep moving
  • nervousness
  • pounding in the ears
  • restlessness
  • shuffling walk
  • slow or fast heartbeat
  • sticking out of the tongue
  • stiffness of the limbs
  • trouble with breathing, speaking, or swallowing
  • twisting movements of the body
  • uncontrolled movements, especially of the face, neck, arms, or legs
  • unusual facial expressions

    HMMMM.... Wonder what else would have happened to my eyes had I kept taking it.
    And the loss of balance control sounds oddly familiar to me losing my ability to drive when I took it (although I am able to drive again now).
    And this page was last updated on Feb 1st 2022. Which means they're only now finding out about the things this shit causes.
    I hope my doctor got a lovely bonus for it.
 
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DeathIndustrial88 said:
HMMMM.... Wonder what else would have happened to my eyes had I kept taking it.
And the loss of balance control sounds oddly familiar to me losing my ability to drive when I took it (although I am able to drive again now).
And this page was last updated on Feb 1st 2022. Which means they're only now finding out about the things this shit causes.
I hope my doctor got a lovely bonus for it.
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Amen. I've suffered from a number of those. I occasionally wake up with blurred vision in one eye (most notably my left). It seems to be getting better.
 
Master Green said:
www.mayoclinic.org

Eye twitching Causes

Most people experience eye twitching now and then, but it's not always harmless. Find out when these spasms might mean something more serious.
www.mayoclinic.org www.mayoclinic.org
And anxiety is a form of Stress so here you go.
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Yes, I have had the random eye twitches in the past, but they only hung around for a day or two. 4 months is something I've never dealt with and heard of.
Could be anxiety though for all I know. Maybe anxiety from feeling something so inhumanely scary (this drug). lol eye twitching wasn't all I dealt with after taking this either.

Either way, people be careful before you agree to take something! Most of the time a doctor has absolutely no idea how it's going to affect that person. And if something happens to you, then you're just shit out of luck and have to live with it.
 
My energy is finally flowing in the right direction! (the energy I'm referring to is that of energy that moves up the spine and then drops down from the frontal lobe, to the gut and circulates back up again)
While my infection was still pretty bad, my energy was going the opposite direction.

My tongue is almost completely clear. I had doubts that the infection was actually going away, but this is good.

My energy continues to rise, but still occasionally getting light headed from standing suddenly and still feel shocks when I get out of my car.

Ear ringing is gone. Ears are almost clear.
 
iridescentblack said:
Amen. I've suffered from a number of those. I occasionally wake up with blurred vision in one eye (most notably my left). It seems to be getting better.
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That's awful to hear.

I assumed at first that it was just a random spasm, as I've had them in the past, but they only ever lasted a day or two at most.
My gut instinct tells me this 4+ month daily eye lid spasm is most likely from this drug. Especially since eye spasms appear to be a common 'side-effect'.

It's actually slowed down in frequency, where before it was all day every day spasms. Now it's about 1-2 random spasms a day. So I am getting better as well.

Considering this drug's metabolites hang around for up to 21 days, it's not totally impossible that this drug could cause side effects months out after stopping. Which is pretty scary. I've never seen or heard of many drugs with a 21 day half life. At least not anything I've taken.
 
DeathIndustrial88 said:
That's awful to hear.

I assumed at first that it was just a random spasm, as I've had them in the past, but they only ever lasted a day or two at most.
My gut instinct tells me this 4+ month daily eye lid spasm is most likely from this drug. Especially since eye spasms appear to be a common 'side-effect'.

It's actually slowed down in frequency, where before it was all day every day spasms. Now it's about 1-2 random spasms a day. So I am getting better as well.

Considering this drug's metabolites hang around for up to 21 days, it's not totally impossible that this drug could cause side effects months out after stopping. Which is pretty scary. I've never seen or heard of many drugs with a 21 day half life. At least not anything I've taken.
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Especially a capsule.

Over two years off it, and I still have side effects. But I also had an infection that made my system not so prone to eliminating waste and such. Probably won't take as long for others.

Yeah, I took Wellbutrin at some point in a hospital and still have sleep problems because of it. Almost convinced that wellbutrin permanently fucks up serotonin and dopamine levels.
 
Today i got hit by a wave, ooooh boy. That wave was so hard, i could't feel anything. My brain is frozen and has this weird pressure feeling. It is weird.
 
The wave is still there. Since yesterday. I am able to feel very boozed when smoking Cigarettes. My libido is also a bit more than in the last 2 weeks.
Anyway i think it is still a way to go
 
I'm in a wave too. 'Musta been wrong about the medication being out of my system. I can't meditate when I'm in these waves.

Fortunately the span of time these waves last has been growing shorter and shorter. I'll probably see the end of it soon.
 
Today i spoke to my psychiatrist. Of course i didn't tell him that i have discontinued Vraylar, and acted as if everything was fine. I can't even be honest with the psychiatrist. What a messy world. Anyway u i had to act, so he can write me a certificate, that i am "psychologically" able to drive. In other words, i only do it to get my drivers license back. I had lost it, because of paranoid schizophrenia and a suicidal attempt i would say. I don't know. I started cutting me arm...
Anyway, i felt pretty mixed today. I sometimes don't know anymore who i am. All i can do to make myself good is fasting. When i start eating, i loose my mind. Like, i become dopamine addictive. Like, eating eating eating... and i start to smoke. I don't have the demand to smoke at all when i fast. Fasting is like a miracle.
 
Ketamania said:
How coincidental!

I cold turkey'd Vraylar last month actually! Now, you definitely shouldn't do what I did and CT antipsychotics, they are VERY powerful psychoactive agents. I only did it because my doctor quit taking Medicaid and I literally ran out of my script.

Now, what you described is what happened to me, except I had some help because I had some of my other scripts left over. I still continue to take clonazepam (kpins) daily (0.5mg in the morning, 1mg at night), xanax as needed (not often at all), lamictal (200mg AM, 150mg PM), topamax (100mg AM and 100mg PM), and adderall (20mg AM, 20mg noon). I believe what helped a bit with the side effects were the benzodiazepines (clonazepam and xanax), HOWEVER, they did not hold them at bay completely.

The akathisia was the worst for me. It's so embarrassing when I can't stop shaking or jerking a certain part of my body and people ask if I'm alright. I've started to take gabapentin to help with that, I haven't found evidence online that it helps with akathisia, but it has certainly helped me. I believe because gabapentin is used to treat nerve pain and muscle cramps, it must somehow help with akathisia too (because akathisia is also related to the nerves). I just happen to have a lot of gabapentin from past scripts of doctors who prescribed it to me for anxiety (which it was absolute trash for personally).

PLEASE NOTE: DO NOT TAKE EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS OF BENZOS AND GABAPENTIN TOGETHER (they are safe in clinical prescribed doses, but not large recreational doses)

In addition, antipsychotic withdraw caused psychosis for me. Please note that this can happen. It's actually gotten so bad that I'm going to quit Medicaid and pay out of pocket for my old doctor again. None of the doctors who take Medicaid will prescribe me my benzos and adderall, which I use as prescribed, not recreationally anymore.

Now, at about a month and a week I started to feel a bit better. Upon some research, it says antipsychotic withdrawal should end around the six week mark. (https://www.karger.com/Article/Fulltext/506868).

So, I think that your symptoms could be something possibly unrelated? Vraylar is loooong gone and out of your system by now if it has been two years. The half life of vraylar is 21 days, which is a long time, but two years is definitely enough time for it to clear. And to do some math, if half life is the time it takes for half of the drug to be eliminated from your body, then it takes 42 days for vraylar to be completely gone from your system. Therefore, 42/7(days)=6 weeks! There's the six week mark the article was mentioning.

I would definitely suggest seeing a GP and talking about your symptoms. You should definitely express your opinion, but in my opinion I do not believe Vraylar could be affecting you for two years after cessation. Do you take any other medications that could be causing side effects? Are you using any drugs recreationally that could be affecting you? A mix of the two? There are so many other factors.

Love <3
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It takes more than two half lives to get a drug out of your system it’s more like 6 half lives. Every half life the amount remaining is halved(the original amount is not halved every half life)

Say the half life was one day and the dose you took was 100 mg. After one day, youd be at 50 mg remaining, after two days 25mg, after three days 12.5 mg, after four days 6.25 mg after 5 days 3.125 mg, after 6 days 1.56 mg. So if the half life is 21 days as you say that would take around 126 days to he almost completely gone, not 42 days.
 
Not to mention the drug is accumulated after taking multiple capsules over the course of the prescribing. 30-45 days worth of vraylar intake means anywhere from 1.5-6 mg of vraylar per day. As that adds up, it makes an accurate half life rather difficult to calculate. My estimates showed 420 days approximated.
 
My energy is up

Can handle caffeine better. Not getting shocked when I get out of my car. But I still have to meditate mostly on one side in order to maintain my energy.

All in all I know I can do this. Signs of improvement are too many to dismiss.
 
QTpi said:
youre kidding me

i am on vraylar.

i am shocked, but mostly drunk and bumping beats, will read this thread tomorrow
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I know that you already know this but please please be careful mixing antipsychotics and booze dude. Just reminding you cos I care about ya.

RDP89 said:
It takes more than two half lives to get a drug out of your system it’s more like 6 half lives. Every half life the amount remaining is halved(the original amount is not halved every half life)

Say the half life was one day and the dose you took was 100 mg. After one day, youd be at 50 mg remaining, after two days 25mg, after three days 12.5 mg, after four days 6.25 mg after 5 days 3.125 mg, after 6 days 1.56 mg. So if the half life is 21 days as you say that would take around 126 days to he almost completely gone, not 42 days.
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I actually didn't know that, thanks dude.
 
iridescentblack said:
Not to mention the drug is accumulated after taking multiple capsules over the course of the prescribing. 30-45 days worth of vraylar intake means anywhere from 1.5-6 mg of vraylar per day. As that adds up, it makes an accurate half life rather difficult to calculate. My estimates showed 420 days approximated.
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Yes, that’s a very good point. With long half life compounds taken daily there can be a lot of accumulation.
 
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