Master Green
Bluelighter
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- Sep 22, 2020
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See, bro.
I don't want to judge anyone here.
But what i can say is from my own experience.
And for me personally, the best healing method is fasting. It makes me happy.
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Mental Health Coming Off Vraylar (cariprazine), Rexulti (brexpiprazole), or Abilify (aripiprazole)
- Thread starter No. 13 Baby
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I don't want to judge anyone here.
But what i can say is from my own experience.
And for me personally, the best healing method is fasting. It makes me happy.
Yeah for sure, each to their own. It's great to hear you get such good results from fasting.
Master Green
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2020
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- 184
Every day, the phases where i am feeling completely normal again are getting longer. From now on, it is just a matter of time.
I think that thought is pretty much superfluous. Reality is far from ideal, but I'll be happier on the meds than off them, and that's what matters to me. So, I'm good.
Master Green
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2020
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- 184
Good that you are good.
But why do you think my thought is superfluous? I mean, my reality is not far from ideal. Meds basically do nothing but fighting symptoms, rather than curing anything.
So why would i support that? And, to see people relying on meds, because they have been told that things,can not be fixed otherwise, that is just sad.
I'll be much happier in the end this way. No need to send extra energy in what I see as a losing battle in my case. I continue to be more productive by playing it safe this way. Eastern medicine for example may be very beneficial and healing, but there exists no comprehensive services for that where I am. It doesn't matter to me if the pill fixes me or gives me a Band-Aid because the effect is the same to me. Past that and I'm just wasting my efforts. That's me.
Jerry Atrick
Bluelight Crew
Yet exactly what you are doing is judging people here. You can only speak from your own experience, which is subjective based on your condition and the meds you tried.
Everyone here is different and not only do we all have different psychiatric conditions but we also react differently to the medications.
So I will repeat what has already been said, which is to please stop passing judgment on other people. What worked for you, fasting, may not work for everyone else. And what didn't work for you, medication, may be a literal life saver for others on this forum and IRL.
Unless you are a trained Medical Doctor, you also have no ability to say what meds can or cannot fix nor can you say what is a cure rather than merely suppression of symptoms. And even if you were correct on that, I would rather suppress my symptoms than fast. Because fuck-a-bunch-a being hungry all the time. lol. But hey, fasting works for you so that is fantastic, more power to ya
Master Green
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2020
- Messages
- 184
Alright.Yet exactly what you are doing is judging people here. You can only speak from your own experience, which is subjective based on your condition and the meds you tried.
Everyone here is different and not only do we all have different psychiatric conditions but we also react differently to the medications.
So I will repeat what has already been said, which is to please stop passing judgment on other people. What worked for you, fasting, may not work for everyone else. And what didn't work for you, medication, may be a literal life saver for others on this forum and IRL.
Unless you are a trained Medical Doctor, you also have no ability to say what meds can or cannot fix nor can you say what is a cure rather than merely suppression of symptoms. And even if you were correct on that, I would rather suppress my symptoms than fast. Because fuck-a-bunch-a being hungry all the time. lol. But hey, fasting works for you so that is fantastic, more power to ya
The hunger goes away within 3 days by the way
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Master Green
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2020
- Messages
- 184
So i was calculating many weeks ago, if SJW can actually increase the metabolism of Vraylar and unfortunately i did not work for me.
I read a ton of articles in the internet about CYP 3A4, and in the end nothing worked. I am not sure why. I only can guess, it is those fucking long Half Life drugs, that get re-absorbed and re-absorbed over and over again, until they finally leave the body by either urine or faeces.
I tried, smoking and STW to induce (increase the speed of elimination) and avoided black tea and grape seed juice which inhibit (slow down the progress of the elimination) and i don't regret it. But i hoped that i could speed things up a little, even by starting smoking (which is absolutely stupidity) and that did not happen
.
However, i am on day 94 and officially and i have 11 days left, until the full range of 5 Half-Lifes, which is 105 days.
I still hope, that i can make it in "normal" time though.
I have the feeling, that it will take just about that time until i feel normal 24h a day again.
I am more sensitive and more outgoing than i was in the 3 months before.
It is, that i want to connect with people again and be social. I don't take SJW anymore at this time. And i quit smoking after 2 weeks of smoking. And i am still not taking any ihibitors, why would i?!
I think, whenever i feel like be outgoing, i have reached just about the end of a recovery from a drug. Because it was like this when i came off the Invega Sustena poison.
I wish everyone a good recovery
I read a ton of articles in the internet about CYP 3A4, and in the end nothing worked. I am not sure why. I only can guess, it is those fucking long Half Life drugs, that get re-absorbed and re-absorbed over and over again, until they finally leave the body by either urine or faeces.
I tried, smoking and STW to induce (increase the speed of elimination) and avoided black tea and grape seed juice which inhibit (slow down the progress of the elimination) and i don't regret it. But i hoped that i could speed things up a little, even by starting smoking (which is absolutely stupidity) and that did not happen
.However, i am on day 94 and officially and i have 11 days left, until the full range of 5 Half-Lifes, which is 105 days.
I still hope, that i can make it in "normal" time though.
I have the feeling, that it will take just about that time until i feel normal 24h a day again.
I am more sensitive and more outgoing than i was in the 3 months before.
It is, that i want to connect with people again and be social. I don't take SJW anymore at this time. And i quit smoking after 2 weeks of smoking. And i am still not taking any ihibitors, why would i?!
I think, whenever i feel like be outgoing, i have reached just about the end of a recovery from a drug. Because it was like this when i came off the Invega Sustena poison.
I wish everyone a good recovery
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Master Green
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2020
- Messages
- 184
At this point everything feels real.
The cloudiness or the bubble of Vraylar is gone and i feel everything normal again. I feel excited again. I feel bored again. I feel sad again. And happy. I get angry.
Just normal.
I am happy, that i am able to be happy, when i see a pretty girl.
Haven't been like this for years.
When i know i am going to have a stressful day, i start fasting immediately.
I learn about, just how judgemental i have been to myself and to others. It is crazy. I am making so much progress as a person right now, it is unbelievable.
I was reflecting the (toxic) people around me, without thinking much about it.
It's true, your environment influences your mindset. I moved to another city and i feel so much better here. People are less boring and judgmental here for sure.
The cloudiness or the bubble of Vraylar is gone and i feel everything normal again. I feel excited again. I feel bored again. I feel sad again. And happy. I get angry.
Just normal.
I am happy, that i am able to be happy, when i see a pretty girl.
Haven't been like this for years.When i know i am going to have a stressful day, i start fasting immediately.
I learn about, just how judgemental i have been to myself and to others. It is crazy. I am making so much progress as a person right now, it is unbelievable.
I was reflecting the (toxic) people around me, without thinking much about it.
It's true, your environment influences your mindset. I moved to another city and i feel so much better here. People are less boring and judgmental here for sure.
iridescentblack
Bluelighter
I'm currently stationed between wedges of waves and windows, both of which, which are occurring one after the other, back to back and so on. Waves of anymore than 12 hours lately has been rather unusual to see.
I'm not about to describe what's currently going on besides that due to gaslighting attempts by so-called Master Green
I'm not about to describe what's currently going on besides that due to gaslighting attempts by so-called Master Green
iridescentblack
Bluelighter
I was speaking specifically to you, though
If Master Green bothers you to the point where it is inhibiting you from posting, you can always put them on your "ignore" list. After all, this should be a safe space for you to share.
(Absolutely nothing personal Master Green, I just want everyone to feel comfortable here).
I think that a lot gets lost via miscommunication when we communicate just via text. Maturity is something we should all strive for, though. That and acceptance of the opinions of others--so judgement, well, it goes both ways. This isn't the place for passive aggression. I'm not calling out anyone, though I might if I get in a bad mood. Thanks for all fighting the good fight!
iridescentblack
Bluelighter
Coming off long-acting antipsychotics, for whatever reason, I eventually reach a point where psychosomatic pains creep up. In the case of coming off Invega Sustenna, it started with a strange sensation on my fingertip. Vraylar is no exception; at first it was just a very uncomfortable sensation like a razor blade at the tip of my finger pressing in. For several months now, at least 18 hours a day is spent "fending off" razor blade-like sensations. I am unable to get help from doctors seeing as they've all said the same thing: "It's psychosomatic"
SlowVeil
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2022
- Messages
- 53
Hello, I would like some support and advice regarding vraylar and the akathisia that I am going through right now. This thread and bluelight came across my search so I think it's worth a try to register and seek help.
The whole progress of my situation so far:
I was put on vraylar 1.5mg on 2/11/2022 and akathisia started around 2/14. I felt an intense need to move and I walked around constantly. I felt my body's muscles were trying to pull my skeleton out of my body. The psychiatric nurse practitioner(NP) who put me on vraylar gave me mirtazapine 7.5mg on 2/25, and asked me to continue vraylar, so I tried them for 3 days but mirtazapine did not help with the akathisia. NP told me to stop both of them so I stopped on 2/28. I felt there are bugs crawling under my skin 24/7. I couldn't even sit down and watch videos or read books, but rapidly texting people or playing video games can somehow distract me from such torture. After stopping, akathisia remains, and random involuntary muscle jumps/jerks/twitches started to develop as well. There was no random muscle twitches when I was on vraylar or mirtazapine. I messaged NP about these situations, NP told me to wait a few days for vraylar to clean out, but it did not subside within a week. When I held objects in my hands I could feel my arm and wrist shaking.
On 3/7 NP called and told me to go to ER for help. The psychiatrist at ER believed I have akathisia and gave me lorazepam and propranolol to help but they just made me sleepy and did not help with "bugs crawling" feeling nor the random involuntary muscle jumps. The psychiatrist at ER discharged me with a prescription of lorazepam 0.5mg(take 2 tabs every 8 hours as needed) and told me to come back if akathisia persisted after 1 week. After discharge, I met with NP on 3/6 and she asked me to continue taking that lorazepam and added clonidine 0.1 mg (1 tab twice a day). They were not helping at all other than making me extremely sleepy, so I stopped them after 5 days. I felt my entire body was shaking under my skin.
I went back to ER on 3/16 and they hospitalized me because I was suicidal. The in-patient psychiatrist also believed I have akathisia and tried clonidine, benztropine, lorazepam, propranolol but none of them seemed to be helping at all. On 3/17 the inner shaking seemed to alleviate on its own but random involuntary muscle twitches were still present, then the same day at night the inner shaking was back in full force. I got discharged on 3/23 with benztropine 1mg (1 tab by mouth twice daily) and propranolol 10mg(1 tab by mouth as needed 3 times daily), and the akathisia went so severe that I could only sleep 2 hours at night. On 3/24 the inner shaking seemed to alleviate again but like the situation on 3/17, random involuntary muscle twitches were still present and it came back in full force on 3/25 night. The NP closed my account on their patient portal and sent me a last message saying she doesn't feel it is appropriate to treat me anymore on 3/26.
My friend sent me to another ER again on 3/28 because she was very concerned with how painful I felt from the akathisia. The psychiatrist at ER also believed I have akathisia but it's tardive akathisia, he told me if I don't want any medication the best is to just wait for it to go away. the propranolol and benztropine did not help with akathisia at all, so I stopped propranolol and started taking only 1 tab of benztropine. I asked if I can get an out-patient at the hospital and he told me I have to wait months to get a primary care in the hospital first, then wait months to get primary care to refer me to a psychiatrist since covid makes everything back-logged. In the afternoon of 3/29, the inner shaking alleviated again and it came back at 3/30 night. random muscle twitches and hand shaking remained.
Luckily I was able to connect with another psychiatrist (seems like every psychiatrist is only doing telehealth now) and meet him on 4/6. However, he told me telehealth cannot treat situations like akathisia and that I should seek help from a neurologist. However, he helped me taper off benztropine. Seen a neurologist on 4/21 but after physical examinations, he told me he can't really help me because this is a medication complication and I should see a psychiatrist for it.
Right now I am experiencing a weird "window": starting 4/18 I feel the inner shaking reduced to a new minimum in core area but I still have strong "bugs crawling under skin" feelings in my limbs; random muscle twitches and hand shaking persist.
My past experience with antipsychotics:
I had strong restlessness triggered by abilify and lamictal but the restlessness went away when I stopped them under the help of a psychiatrist( he no longer helps me because I moved away), and nasal blockage triggered by Quetiapine in 2018. In early 2019 I felt quetiapine is doing BS to my body so I tapered it off on my own. No withdrawal symptoms. From 2019 to 2021 I was managing well without any medication, but in Jan 2022 I felt I am losing concentration and several extremely stressful events happened that made me suicidal, so I sought help from my school and my school referred the NP that prescribed vraylar to me.
I searched that vraylar has 21-days half-life and it usually takes 5 half-lives to get a medication completely out of the body, but I am also extremely scared that this would be permanent, my brain is forever damaged and I would never heal. I am also scared that from now on all other medications that didn't give me trouble in the past would trigger akathisia in the future, such as anesthesia. Nothing seems to make my akathisia worse but nothing is helping me either. I want to know if anyone has recovered from akathisia and withdrawal symptoms induced by vraylar, and I really appreciate if anyone can share their experiences.
The whole progress of my situation so far:
I was put on vraylar 1.5mg on 2/11/2022 and akathisia started around 2/14. I felt an intense need to move and I walked around constantly. I felt my body's muscles were trying to pull my skeleton out of my body. The psychiatric nurse practitioner(NP) who put me on vraylar gave me mirtazapine 7.5mg on 2/25, and asked me to continue vraylar, so I tried them for 3 days but mirtazapine did not help with the akathisia. NP told me to stop both of them so I stopped on 2/28. I felt there are bugs crawling under my skin 24/7. I couldn't even sit down and watch videos or read books, but rapidly texting people or playing video games can somehow distract me from such torture. After stopping, akathisia remains, and random involuntary muscle jumps/jerks/twitches started to develop as well. There was no random muscle twitches when I was on vraylar or mirtazapine. I messaged NP about these situations, NP told me to wait a few days for vraylar to clean out, but it did not subside within a week. When I held objects in my hands I could feel my arm and wrist shaking.
On 3/7 NP called and told me to go to ER for help. The psychiatrist at ER believed I have akathisia and gave me lorazepam and propranolol to help but they just made me sleepy and did not help with "bugs crawling" feeling nor the random involuntary muscle jumps. The psychiatrist at ER discharged me with a prescription of lorazepam 0.5mg(take 2 tabs every 8 hours as needed) and told me to come back if akathisia persisted after 1 week. After discharge, I met with NP on 3/6 and she asked me to continue taking that lorazepam and added clonidine 0.1 mg (1 tab twice a day). They were not helping at all other than making me extremely sleepy, so I stopped them after 5 days. I felt my entire body was shaking under my skin.
I went back to ER on 3/16 and they hospitalized me because I was suicidal. The in-patient psychiatrist also believed I have akathisia and tried clonidine, benztropine, lorazepam, propranolol but none of them seemed to be helping at all. On 3/17 the inner shaking seemed to alleviate on its own but random involuntary muscle twitches were still present, then the same day at night the inner shaking was back in full force. I got discharged on 3/23 with benztropine 1mg (1 tab by mouth twice daily) and propranolol 10mg(1 tab by mouth as needed 3 times daily), and the akathisia went so severe that I could only sleep 2 hours at night. On 3/24 the inner shaking seemed to alleviate again but like the situation on 3/17, random involuntary muscle twitches were still present and it came back in full force on 3/25 night. The NP closed my account on their patient portal and sent me a last message saying she doesn't feel it is appropriate to treat me anymore on 3/26.
My friend sent me to another ER again on 3/28 because she was very concerned with how painful I felt from the akathisia. The psychiatrist at ER also believed I have akathisia but it's tardive akathisia, he told me if I don't want any medication the best is to just wait for it to go away. the propranolol and benztropine did not help with akathisia at all, so I stopped propranolol and started taking only 1 tab of benztropine. I asked if I can get an out-patient at the hospital and he told me I have to wait months to get a primary care in the hospital first, then wait months to get primary care to refer me to a psychiatrist since covid makes everything back-logged. In the afternoon of 3/29, the inner shaking alleviated again and it came back at 3/30 night. random muscle twitches and hand shaking remained.
Luckily I was able to connect with another psychiatrist (seems like every psychiatrist is only doing telehealth now) and meet him on 4/6. However, he told me telehealth cannot treat situations like akathisia and that I should seek help from a neurologist. However, he helped me taper off benztropine. Seen a neurologist on 4/21 but after physical examinations, he told me he can't really help me because this is a medication complication and I should see a psychiatrist for it.
Right now I am experiencing a weird "window": starting 4/18 I feel the inner shaking reduced to a new minimum in core area but I still have strong "bugs crawling under skin" feelings in my limbs; random muscle twitches and hand shaking persist.
My past experience with antipsychotics:
I had strong restlessness triggered by abilify and lamictal but the restlessness went away when I stopped them under the help of a psychiatrist( he no longer helps me because I moved away), and nasal blockage triggered by Quetiapine in 2018. In early 2019 I felt quetiapine is doing BS to my body so I tapered it off on my own. No withdrawal symptoms. From 2019 to 2021 I was managing well without any medication, but in Jan 2022 I felt I am losing concentration and several extremely stressful events happened that made me suicidal, so I sought help from my school and my school referred the NP that prescribed vraylar to me.
I searched that vraylar has 21-days half-life and it usually takes 5 half-lives to get a medication completely out of the body, but I am also extremely scared that this would be permanent, my brain is forever damaged and I would never heal. I am also scared that from now on all other medications that didn't give me trouble in the past would trigger akathisia in the future, such as anesthesia. Nothing seems to make my akathisia worse but nothing is helping me either. I want to know if anyone has recovered from akathisia and withdrawal symptoms induced by vraylar, and I really appreciate if anyone can share their experiences.
iridescentblack
Bluelighter
@SlowVeil I had severe restlessness, myself. Would sometimes spend full nights outside walking because sitting or even laying down (especially on caffeine) made me feel like I was going to die.
Also, I experienced voices on this med. Not sure how it relates. I had never heard voices until they put me on this. I think I can feel a huge portion of my brain that is responsible for these audio hallucinations and it feels as if it is disconnected from the other stuff. If I think the phrases, "honestly!", "in a while", or "neph" (a Tibetan term, I think) the immediate follow-up to those phrases is: "I wanna sleep with her," "there are a lot of reasons for this", and "never would I ever, ever..." respectively. Anyway, like I said, not sure how it relates, but looking over your post I found a lot of similarities in what you described about your experience with Vraylar with my own. I wish I could say that it's not permanent and it gets better, but all I can tell you is that some days are better than others and when I don't feel that the medication is "bugging" me as much, I don't hear those follow-up phrases when I think those common phrases I listed prior.
Furthermore, vraylar seems to create what are like bushy alters (refer to Carl Jung's works if you're unsure what an alter is) that are very persistent and remain consistent as long as the drug is in effect. I won't go into details, but I've noticed a number of these alters have gone away with time.
Hey, I almost boiled alive on this med. it's pretty rough.
Also, I experienced voices on this med. Not sure how it relates. I had never heard voices until they put me on this. I think I can feel a huge portion of my brain that is responsible for these audio hallucinations and it feels as if it is disconnected from the other stuff. If I think the phrases, "honestly!", "in a while", or "neph" (a Tibetan term, I think) the immediate follow-up to those phrases is: "I wanna sleep with her," "there are a lot of reasons for this", and "never would I ever, ever..." respectively. Anyway, like I said, not sure how it relates, but looking over your post I found a lot of similarities in what you described about your experience with Vraylar with my own. I wish I could say that it's not permanent and it gets better, but all I can tell you is that some days are better than others and when I don't feel that the medication is "bugging" me as much, I don't hear those follow-up phrases when I think those common phrases I listed prior.
Furthermore, vraylar seems to create what are like bushy alters (refer to Carl Jung's works if you're unsure what an alter is) that are very persistent and remain consistent as long as the drug is in effect. I won't go into details, but I've noticed a number of these alters have gone away with time.
Hey, I almost boiled alive on this med. it's pretty rough.
SlowVeil
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2022
- Messages
- 53
Thank you for sharing your experience.
I had restlessness in the beginning of taking vraylar as well. I had to walk around and do cleaning all day and I could not sit. Then I could tolerate building lego or playing intense video games or any sitting activities that require some muscle movements. Still find it really hard to sit down and watch videos or read books sometimes. Sleeping is very difficult but I still managed to sleep.
Now my akathisia just involves inner shaking(especially body although I have seen people who majorly experience head inner shaking) that would slightly alleviate if I move around, "bugs crawling under skin", full-body random involuntary muscle twitches(however when I am moving around I barely have any twitch), tremors when I keep a pose without any outside support (such as when I sit without any support in back or when I extend my limbs out, although I am relaxing).
I do not know if my right ear ringing is related to this since this started to happen on 4/11.
Mind if you share how long does it take for the akathisia to go away? Right now I am just grasping on the hope that since vraylar has an insanely long half-life it's gonna take at least 2-3 months to clear it out of my body, especially that I am not fit and before being put on vraylar I just exercise 2 times a week.
iridescentblack
Bluelighter
Hard to gauge. I have hemolytic anemia, so it takes me a lot longer to heal from stuff like this than it does for other people.
Restlessness, for me, went away at about 2 years off.
Yeah I can honestly say that the restlessness was the worst part of it for me.