Posted by Athene on October 5, 2014, at 15:39:45
In reply to Lurasidone » Athene, posted by ed_uk2010 on October 5, 2014, at 15:01:40
> Glad you stopped. How were the side effects when you were on ziprasidone (Geodon) 20mg?
It seemed a little activating. I had to take it at lunch, not dinner, just so I didn't have sleep problems. In general I also felt less focused, but that could have been the poor sleep.
20 mg wasn't an option, anyways, because my psychiatrist said 40 mg was the minimum dose I could end up on. I'm not interested in polypharmacy. I'm considered "stable". The idea was to switch from Seroquel to Ziprasidone to lose weight, not for any other reason.
I haven't taken Ziprasidone since Friday, and I am feeling much calmer. Going to just have to look into Metformin, I guess.
I'm not interested in drugs that activate me. Personally I believe my problems are trauma- and attachment-related, as I have had tremendous healing from body-based trauma therapy (similar to Somatic Experiencing) over the past year, a real, deep emotional healing I have never before experienced in the MH system. But the official diagnosis is "bipolar", with Seroquel being something to keep me from getting into that place they label "manic", at the cost of feeling lethargic, apathetic and mentally slow. I just wanted something that would be like Seroquel but without the weight gain.
I'm not "psychotic" or "manic" very often, either. It's been every few years, lately, as I have become more resilient. If I could get through the withdrawals and trauma release, I could live on no meds for years at a time, I believe. This trauma therapy has been the only thing that has ever helped me (various meds and CBT never did), but I only started it after my last hospitalization (summer 2013), so I won't know if over the long term it will facilitate enough healing for me to wean off the drugs.
I think it's clear that I'm just going to have to put up with Seroquel... for now at least. Compared to some people with the same label as me, I'm on a pretty low dosage (under 300 mg) and have been for years, and those around me seem to think I can manage to get down to 200 mg. After that we'll see. Last time (before I started therapy), all hell broke loose (panic/terror/rage/depersonalization/insomnia/temperature dysregulation) a little under 100 mg, even though I was stepping down in 12.5 mg increments.
Athene
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Seroquel: 262.5 mg
Ativan: 1 mg
poster:Athene
thread:1071828
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20140914/msgs/1071886.html