Starting a new medication

[Always Changing]

I have been given Geodon to take for help with bouts of mania, I would like to know if anyone here has taken or is on this medication.
I have read some information on it but would like to hear from some ones personal experience on it.

Thanks

 

[Always Changing]

Re: Starting new med

I had to discontinue that med as it was actually keeping me more wide awake than I had been before starting it. I am now on a diff med and up to tonight was sleeping again and feeling a bit better in myself.

Tonight I am wide awake and not tired (yet!), not sure what to do with myself, other than stay online and try to keep reading until i do eventually get tired.

I am not sure of my mood at the min, not as down as I was during the last couple of weeks, not up like a few weeks before that, but certainly not "normal" either.

:sigh:

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Re: Starting new med

What is the new medication, Drifitng?

 

[Always Changing]

Zyprexa is the new med, I find it doesn'thave that groogy side effect as the other one.
will try and stick with it for while.

 

[Always Changing]

while reading an article on the above drug, zyprexa.. i cam across this word but have no idea what it means..

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Sans Serif]Somnolence.[/FONT]

does it mean too much sleep, being too tired, not enough sleep???

thanks

 

[Trust]

Somnolence - I think in a nutshell it means daytime drowsiness / sleepiness.

Here's a link with more information: Somnolence - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hope that helps!

My mom is on Zyprexa and has good results. She does get a little sleepy in the day but she's older and retired so why not! I know I'd like to be able to indulge in a nap in the afternoon sometimes!

 

[Always Changing]

I do not have sleepiness during the day but do have dizziness and restlessness and find I am hungry during day which I don't like as my weight is going up.. (not good) but I guess If I can stop eating during the day it will help in that regard.

thanks for the link Trust. very informative.

 

[Trust]

I believe it is not uncommon for some people to gain weight while taking Zyprexa. My mom never did though, and she is very small now that she's aged. People can react very differently to the same drugs and where some people experience negative side effects, there will be some lucky ones who will not have any. Time can prove to be a good leveller of side effects too - sometimes once your body adjusts to the drug, the side effects level off or disappear.

I hope you make a good adjustment to the medication as I know it is discouraging to have to keep experimenting with meds until the most effective one is discovered to work just for you! :hug::friends:

 

[forgetmenot]

Hi glad to see you starting on a new medication Ihope it works well for you It will take some time to kick in as I found out with my medication so hang in there okay. Good luck.

 

[stargazer]

I personally did not have a positive experience with Geodon. For some reason, it seemed to make me feel paranoid, which my psychiatrist thought was odd, as it is supposed to diminish such effects. (Then again, I am a person who felt more hyper or manic when taking klonopin, which is supposed to calm you down.)

I had a better experience with Zyprexa, although I also associated it with weight gain, and, in my case, constipation. I think that, in general, I haven't had positive experiences with anti-psychotics. The present combination of depakote and wellbutrin seems to work best for me, when combined with a reasonably proper diet, vitamins, and moderate daily exercise. (Having a nice roof over my head and the capacity to get a sound seven hours of sleep every night helps, too.)

 

[Always Changing]

I honestly do not know where I am at at the min, I feel irritable a lot of the time, angry other times, and down a lot fo the time, yet! I have to be doing stuff all the time, unable to sit still for long, I feel down yet wired!. Right now I am fed up with this. The only time I am not active in some way is when I am in bed, even then my brain is still going strong. Sometimes I wake up convinced I heard someone else in the house, I think it is either my dreams are so life like or else I am hallucinating. For the first few days of this going on I didn't pay too much attention to it, I actually thought I was on the way up! and was kind of watching my behaviour to some degree, Now my behavior is getting to me, it is driving me nuts and at the same time I feel teary at times. I keep telling myself this will pass but it doesn't seem to be.

Maybe writing this here will help in someway, hopefully.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

When do you next see your doctor?

 

[Always Changing]

in 3 weeks, I see the psychiatrist again.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

I would suggest you contact his/her office and let them know you're having problems with the medication. They may move be able to suggest something via telephone, or they may move up the appointment.

As my doctor always says, if I don't hear from you, I'll assume everything is fine.

 

[Always Changing]

Thanks David, I was thinking of doing that if this period hadn't let sometime in the coming week, If I can ask, from your answer you seem to think it is something to do with the med I am on,?? (which I take religiously btw) it hadn't entered my head it could be that.

I read somewhere about dysphoric elation\mania and was wondering if that is what is happening, only I cannot find the article, not even sure if it was here on psychlinks . as usual, my memory fails yet again! I was hoping to find some coping tips on this IF that is where I am at.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

I don't honestly know. It may be an adverse medication effect, or it could be that the medication isn't working for you, or perhaps the dose isn't high enough, or possibly you just need to be on this medication longer. That's why I'm suggesting you call your psychiatrist for guidance.

 

[Always Changing]

I have apt Thurs afternoon to get blood work done and the nurse said she will make enquiries from the doc as regards the possible med related issues, she will let me know when I see her.
I am actually tired today, feel as if I could sleep for a few days, guess it has caught up with me again.

 

[Chain Lightning]

I honestly do not know where I am at at the min, I feel irritable a lot of the time, angry other times, and down a lot of the time, yet! I have to be doing stuff all the time, unable to sit still for long, I feel down yet wired!...

That's almost exactly how I have been feeling for the past 3 weeks...plus sometimes for whatever reason I feel completely euphoric...or really freakin sad but it never lasts more than a few hours. Its undefinable...like on one hand I feel great and energetic yet I feel like crying. And I'm not even on any meds! It really sucks I can't do anything much...accept pace around the house.

 

[Always Changing]

I went over today to see the nurse to get my blood taken and was expecting to to the nurse with whom I had spoken to on the phone, re: my med situation,sleep etc, unfortunately the nurse I was supposed to see was with someone so she was unavailable, another nurse took the blood which is fine, but when she said the other nurse hadn't mentioned anything to her about our conversation on the phone I felt really let down again!, I left thoroughly disappointed and even a bit angry., it was like why did I even bother,
I know it wasn't either nurses fault but I guess I was hoping for too much and got nothing. I spent the afternoon in bed thinking I just give up. I slept for a few hours and have to admit I feel more or less the same now as I did earlier.
So!, for now I will keep taking the med, (why i dunno!) and hope that whatever is happening with me will pass soon.

 

[stargazer]

I've noticed that things like that occur in all kinds of situations, and I just have to take a breath and start my story all over again. It's kind of like giving out all your personal information to an agent over the telephone, only to hear: "Ok - let me direct your call" and then you find yourself giving all the same informaton to somebody else. It's such a commonplace function of bureaucracy, I think the best thing we can do is accept it. I try to go into all such situations with a low expectation - that way I don't get too disappointed. Eventually the situation will straighten itself out so long as you are persistent and don't give up. Then you will have your right medications.

I understand that it must be extremely frustrating, and I don't mean to minimize your trials, but I'm just trying to say that your persistence will be the key factor in solving this problem.