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Mental Health Coming off Invega Sustenna (paliperidone)

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It's been a bad year

And I'm in court tomorrow for growing my own medicine

I'm going not guilty

Gets better at the four month stage, after ten weeks I could watch a movie

Mouth still numb, could be early stage T.D
 
Hey guys ,

I took a prolactin blood test and my levels are very high , so going to see about that , and I also learned you can do blood or urine tests for dopamine and serotonin , I cant figure how this is possible as I have been told that it is impossible to measure dopamine or serotonin unless you stick something in your brain , which they dont do in most countries , but lo and behold the blood test lab tells me its possible and it says so on the internet as well , will consult my doctor about this , let me know what you think

Still feel shitty tho and its been 9 months now
 
Ho-Chi-Minh said:
Yes. They did in my experience. Very little restlessness now.
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thats good to hear... where you taking injections or the pill form? do you feel like you are back to normal before you took the medication? are you able to get intoxicated when using alcohol or any other substance?
 
Bobfcc said:
Hi , you seem to know what youre talking about and I see you have posted a lot , well I am having the same effects as Narshe along with complete depletion of libido and extreme weight gain , I took my last shot of 100 mg in April , April 8th 2014 , it is Now December 2014 , what a year , before April I had been taking the shot for 8 months ,since September 2013 , actually September was oral liquid risperdone , then about two months of Risperdal shots , and then they transitioned me to Xeplion or Invega Sustenna , I am now suffering from obesity whereas I was in peak athletic form before this , thyroid problems , tachycardia , severe depression , anhedonia , and non existent libido , with very rare production of siemen in extremely small quantity . According to the info out there saying it takes 300 days for plasma clearance from system , which is ten months , I am up to 8 or 9 months now and still dont feel any better , maybe it has to clear out and then it will take my brain some time to readjust , do you know how long that will take ? A rough estimate would be good , I will keep you guys posted after two months and then after 4 months as to my progress , but Id like to speak about with you as much as possible , is it still 300 days if I took the shots for 8 months ? Is it stuck in my fat that I have put on ? does it get out of there slower ? You say that Invega and RIsperdone are potent dopamine and serotonin antagonists , once the medicine wears off will they start flowing normally or extra hard ? Or will they be flowing at all ? I would really appreciate any advice as I am at a critical juncture and would hate to lose it as I am in the midst of work , exams in a foreign country all with extreme depression and lethargia I can hardly take it and feel like ending it , but I have been strong so far so Id like to see how it pans out , please if anyone can answer any of the questions asked it woul be greatly appreciated
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It sounds like Risperidone does not really agree with you. I found it to be the harshest in terms of side effects when it came to the atypicals and i found Chlorpromazine aka good ol Thorazine/Largactil to be more tolerable and cause much less of that zombie effect. Quetiapine and Olanzapine are more sedating then Risperidone by miles but Risperidone causes that zombie effect on me after i take more then 2mg's a day. That and the fact that i was scared of the long term side effects plus the fact that it is unpredictable in treating bipolar in my opinion.. Hence why i stopped taking it :\

I have no idea as to how long it would take your brain to return to it's previous state after receiving long acting injections of Risperidone or Invega but i found that even though i was taking the pills for the better part of a year once i tapered off them i was okay. I guess it would depend on the dose and also how long you where taking it for. 8 months isnt that long of time for a anti-psychotic and i took 2-4mg's orally depending on how manic i was for a good year almost. Quitting Risperidone cold turkey is a horror show i learned that much if you have been on it awile. It seems like your almost on a bad psychedelic and you get really panicky. Out of all the anti-psychotics i have been on that's been the worst to quit. The rest just caused some nausea and insomnia which could be helped with a anti-histamine like diphenhydramine or Promethazine as that is caused by anti-cholinergic rebound so a anti-histamine with strong anti-cholinergic properties helps alot.

I wish i could be of more help but i have never been on the long acting injections and it varies alot on how long it takes people to feel "normal" again after taking anti-psychotics
 
Symbolicone09 said:
thats good to hear... where you taking injections or the pill form? do you feel like you are back to normal before you took the medication? are you able to get intoxicated when using alcohol or any other substance?
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injections. but I switched to abilify. It also gave restlessness which was initially barely bearable, but it decreased after a month or two on cogentin/artane. I am as "normal" as I'm going to get. I am able to, but I would recommend not doing that if you're prescribed this medication.
 
Well, I started tapering down to 1.5 mg from 3 mg yesterday morning, and this very night I cannot sleep. I tried 15 mg of melatonin, but that's just making me dizzy. I feel my heart beating like I'm fixing to give a speech in front of an audience. I don't know how I'm going to get off this drug if I can't even taper down. I guess I could try an antihistamine like Paranoid Android suggested. The only thing that worked before was 10 mg vallium, but I don't want to get dependent on that. 8( What's strange is that I was able to taper off before, but had to get back on them b/c I got paranoia again. Idk, thank y'all for the help and support. I really needed it.
 
NopainNogain said:
Well, I started tapering down to 1.5 mg from 3 mg yesterday morning, and this very night I cannot sleep. I tried 15 mg of melatonin, but that's just making me dizzy. I feel my heart beating like I'm fixing to give a speech in front of an audience. I don't know how I'm going to get off this drug if I can't even taper down. I guess I could try an antihistamine like Paranoid Android suggested. The only thing that worked before was 10 mg vallium, but I don't want to get dependent on that. 8( What's strange is that I was able to taper off before, but had to get back on them b/c I got paranoia again. Idk, thank y'all for the help and support. I really needed it.
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If you start getting a return of symptoms stop the taper and consult your doctor. Risperidone has one of the worst reputations from the atypicals for causing rebound symptoms upon wd. A anti-histamine with anti-cholinergic properties may help in your taper but Risperidone causes most of it's rebound symptoms i am guessing because of it's rather potent Dopamine and Serotonin antagonism. But it does have some anti-histamine properties although not much hence the lack of sedation. Trying them would be worth a shot plus one like Dimenhydrinate (Dramamine, Gravol) helps dizziness anyway.
 
paranoid android said:
If you start getting a return of symptoms stop the taper and consult your doctor. Risperidone has one of the worst reputations from the atypicals for causing rebound symptoms upon wd. A anti-histamine with anti-cholinergic properties may help in your taper but Risperidone causes most of it's rebound symptoms i am guessing because of it's rather potent Dopamine and Serotonin antagonism. But it does have some anti-histamine properties although not much hence the lack of sedation. Trying them would be worth a shot plus one like Dimenhydrinate (Dramamine, Gravol) helps dizziness anyway.
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Ok, I was able to sleep last night. Here's the process so far:

Wednesday - 3 mg @ 6:30 am
Thursday - 1.5 mg @ 6:30 am
Thursday night - No sleep
Friday - 1.5 mg @ 3:30 am
25 mg unisom (doxylamine succinate) (sleep aid) @ 2:30 pm
1.5 mg @ 5:00 pm
Friday night - Slept from 7:45 pm - 7:10 am

The sleep aid didn't seem to make me tired, but only dizzy and disoriented. The last invega of 1.5 mg is what made me sleep, I felt.

Saturday - 1.5 mg @ 1:00 pm

What I'm thinking is that you have to taper down on lower dosages at lower time intervals. i.e. 3 mg every 24 hrs. Taper down to 1.5 mg every 15 hrs., then 1.5 mg every 16 hrs, then 1.5 mg every 17 hrs, and so forth until you reach 1.5 mg every 24 hrs.... It's still unpredictable though. I tried to contact my pdoc, but the receptionist referred me to a nurse that was less than helpful. She said, "If you want to get off your meds then you can stop taking them." I told her that I can't do that with the withdrawals. I just need to sleep. I told her about the sleep aid, and she said if I wanted to get some sleep then a sleep aid might be helpful. Instead I felt like I was the one having to make the decisions on how to taper off. She said, "You're the one leading the charge. We'll follow whatever you decide." I asked if she knew anybody that was able to successfully get off invega. She said yes. I asked how long they were on it. She said, "I can't give out that information sir." I wasn't even asking about somebody specifically, but just general information. 8) Basically, that tells me that they don't know what they're doing, and are just trying to avoid questions. Really just made me more worried. But, like I said, it might be just having to take the lower dosages with less time in between and gradually get stable on it at 24 hrs. I hope. I'm trying to avoid having to take sleep aids. I was able to ween off before, so I believe I can do it again.
 
Hi guys ,

So after 8 months of 100 mg shots , I had my final one on april 8th 2014 , it is now end december so Im approaching the 9 month mark , I still feel miserable , have no libido , and am morbidly obese because of the drug , not to mention very depressed and lethargic with no energy , which is to say something as I was the epitomy of health before they forced this drug on me , can anyone please tell me it gets better , I have high prolactin so Im hoping treating that will bring my libido back and my testosterone which is also very low , anyone , please give me some hope , I dont mean to whine hear , but you guys are the only ones I can talk to about this stuff as you share my experience somewhat , thanks
 
Bobfcc said:
Hi guys ,

So after 8 months of 100 mg shots , I had my final one on april 8th 2014 , it is now end december so Im approaching the 9 month mark , I still feel miserable , have no libido , and am morbidly obese because of the drug , not to mention very depressed and lethargic with no energy , which is to say something as I was the epitomy of health before they forced this drug on me , can anyone please tell me it gets better , I have high prolactin so Im hoping treating that will bring my libido back and my testosterone which is also very low , anyone , please give me some hope , I dont mean to whine hear , but you guys are the only ones I can talk to about this stuff as you share my experience somewhat , thanks
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sorry to hear that Bob.. i only took the shot for 3 months and have been off it since october25th im feeling like im a little bit better as i dont have severe anhedonia like i use to... though i still feel numb to everything and everything feels dull to an extent.. i just purchased some 5htp(for serotonin and l tyrosine (for dopamine) and hoping that will help out my situation. im going to get a prolactin blood test as soon as my insurance comes in too see if i am having that issue as well... my last blood test said my testosterone levels where normal however but i know somethings gotta be up...... do you take any other medication? where you using marijuana while on the medication? i was and i think that had something to do with it as well....
 
Bobfcc said:
Hi guys ,

So after 8 months of 100 mg shots , I had my final one on april 8th 2014 , it is now end december so Im approaching the 9 month mark , I still feel miserable , have no libido , and am morbidly obese because of the drug , not to mention very depressed and lethargic with no energy , which is to say something as I was the epitomy of health before they forced this drug on me , can anyone please tell me it gets better , I have high prolactin so Im hoping treating that will bring my libido back and my testosterone which is also very low , anyone , please give me some hope , I dont mean to whine hear , but you guys are the only ones I can talk to about this stuff as you share my experience somewhat , thanks
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You're not whining. Just telling the truth about how u feel. I'm sure if u were feeling great u would gladly tell everybody. I'm glad I can talk to y'all as well. I'm really struggling with this SEVERE insomnia. I've been trying to mix dosages of 1.5 mg at different times and it has seriously caused me trouble. I just got back on 3 mg/night last night and just took one at 6:20 pm. I drank some sleepy tea, but so far I still feel anxious. I actually went to work today with my last sleep friday night. I got through it surprisingly, but thank God...and my coworker that I'm able to take this week off for Christmas. I'm trying to fight this insomnia and go to sleep naturally instead of resorting to a sleep aid. I wish I could just go to sleep all the time again like when I was stable on 3 mg/night invega. I'm thinking I'll have a better idea of my situation after 5 days from the last time I took the two 1.5 mg back to back @ 4:30 am and 6:30 am respectively on Sunday. The 5 days will be the plasma clearance when the mixture of dosages will be completely out my system, which will be Friday. Pray for me y'all and I'll pray for y'all to be able to feel emotions again and to find a solution to y'alls serotonin and dopamine levels. God bless.
 
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Symbolicone09 said:
sorry to hear that Bob.. i only took the shot for 3 months and have been off it since october25th im feeling like im a little bit better as i dont have severe anhedonia like i use to... though i still feel numb to everything and everything feels dull to an extent.. i just purchased some 5htp(for serotonin and l tyrosine (for dopamine) and hoping that will help out my situation. im going to get a prolactin blood test as soon as my insurance comes in too see if i am having that issue as well... my last blood test said my testosterone levels where normal however but i know somethings gotta be up...... do you take any other medication? where you using marijuana while on the medication? i was and i think that had something to do with it as well....
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I think yur right about that marijuana Symbol. It seriously messes me up now if I try it. I think it's the main culprit behind my schizoaffective...getting paranoid.
 
NopainNogain said:
I think yur right about that marijuana Symbol. It seriously messes me up now if I try it. I think it's the main culprit behind my schizoaffective...getting paranoid.
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interesting for me it had some benefits like being able to feel joy and what not but somethings where also different the last time i used marijuana... it was definitively not the same high i was getting before i took any medication.. i really wish we could hear from narshe about this.

anyway today i feel a little bit better then what i felt yesturday... its almost like i got a spark of energy from somewhere.... maybe this 5htp is helping..... things still feel dull and i dont have my normal emotions but i feel like i can manage through that today alot easier then i could yesturday.....
 
Symbolicone09 said:
interesting for me it had some benefits like being able to feel joy and what not but somethings where also different the last time i used marijuana... it was definitively not the same high i was getting before i took any medication.. i really wish we could hear from narshe about this.

anyway today i feel a little bit better then what i felt yesturday... its almost like i got a spark of energy from somewhere.... maybe this 5htp is helping..... things still feel dull and i dont have my normal emotions but i feel like i can manage through that today alot easier then i could yesturday.....
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That's good about getting a spark of optimism. Means you're capable of, at least, gaining some of your oldself back. I had to take 25 mg unisom at 9:10 pm last night to get some sleep. I was pretty drowsy throughout the day today. Maybe I took too much. I'm going to try to see if I can just go to sleep normally tonight, and if I can't I might half the 25 mg unisom.... But I just got some sleep to be able to go see my newly birthed nephew today. My 3 yo niece was with me and my mom so my sister could give birth. I think God made the timing of it just right for me to be able to handle it. Anyway, keep in touch guys.
 
Narshe81 your inbox is full again i hope this reaches you in time i havent been able to do alot of the things you write of lately, but recently i have started the full recovery. please understand that any chemical made by science for medical reasons is a drug and takes time going doing and coming. i took the 6mg pill 2 pills twice a day for 3 months and then the shot once a month for 33 months at either 156mg or 165mg. it has taken me over a year and a half and am not fully recovered but i know for certainty that it will happen because i am very close to full recovery right now. please contact me at [email protected] if you wish. i will tell you anything and listen to anything and help anyway i can. the most important thing is not that you are suffering now but what will you do when it does end...?
 
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