Schizoaffective, worried about a med swap.

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Hi! I usually post in the General Autism Discussion forum, but I also have ADHD and Schizoaffective disorder, according to my outpatient psychiatrist. Anyway, I went back to school (college) in January, and the stress caused a psychotic break (I started to hear things again), so I was hospitalized. Whilst inpatient, I was declared treatment resistant (I've been on 10 different antipsychotics) and started on Clozapine. I was discharged a week later, and found out that my outpatient psychiatrist legally isn't allowed to prescribe Clozapine. Neither is my family doctor. You have to be registered with the company that makes it, as you have to have your blood tested weekly and the doctor has to send the results to the drug company for them to review before they'll give you the next week's supply of Clozapine... Neither my family doctor or psychiatrist are registered with the drug company, and therefore cannot prescribe it. So because my psychiatrist couldn't see me that day, and I was going to run out of Clozapine in a day or two, she sent me back to the hospital where I was admitted to the psychiatric ward again. This time I was started on a new antipsychotic, Saphris, which has worked quite well for me for the last few months. I'm able to ignore the voices, which are only there quietly when I am really stressed.

There's only one problem: I've gained at least 10lbs on Saphris. And the last time I gained weight on a med, Seroquel, my psychiatrist took me right off of it, even though it was working. I am afraid she is going to do this again, and really, there aren't a lot of antipsychotic options left for her to go with if she does. I'm afraid she too will agree with the first inpatient doctor and declare me treatment resistant as well, and send me off to a new psychiatrist, as she can't prescribe Clozapine (the last resort med). This makes me nervous, as I hate change, and I've had my psychiatrist since I was 17. I don't want a new one, it will take forever for me to get used to them. They could also disagree about my diagnosis (although I was first diagnosed inpatient when I was 18 by the top doctor at our city's psych hospital, then confirmed by my psychiatrist, who is head of psychiatry for our city, and a psychiatrist who runs the emergency psychiatry services). The other option is for her to just switch me to another antipsychotic that she does have the ability to prescribe, but so many of them haven't worked, I am worried whatever she prescribes next won't either. There's a rare chance that she'll keep me on Saphris, but I doubt it, because I will just continue to gain weight. I can't control my appetite on it. I am screwed no matter what...

Have you tried Latuda yet? I have been on so many anti-psychotics in my life, but now I am on Latuda and it works great! Very very little hallucinations, and only when I am very stressed. As for my diagnosis it depends on the doctor, its either schizoaffective bipolar type or bipolar 1 with psychotic features.

Hi FireBird, no, I haven't tried Latuda yet. As far as antipsychotics go, I've been on Risperdal, Abilify, Seroquel, Nozinan, Thorazine, Geodon, Haldol, Loxapine, Clozapine, and Saphris. My doctor is hesitant to try anything close to Risperdal again because of the prolactin issues. I don't know much about Latuda though, so I don't know if it would be similar to Risperdal. I'm glad you've found some stability! Yeah, my diagnosis varies between Schizoaffective: Bipolar type and Bipolar type 1 with psychotic features. Or even Bipolar type 2. I've had a few doctors diagnose BPD too, but my doctor feels that's wrong.

I haven't had side effects with Latuda. I've tried Haldol before and the side effects were awful. I slept 20 hours a day and was drooling. I've had prolactin problems with Risperdal and Invega. I have had bizarre side effects with a mood stabilizer, Lamictal. Thank you btw. No side effects with Latuda and I have been on it for several months now.

Haldol was my miracle drug, for about a year. Then it stopped working. But my doctor refused to go past 10mg, so that might be why. Clozapine made me drool, Geodon gave me unbearable migraines, and Seroquel made me gain weight. I had hand tremors on Lithium. Besides that I haven't had side effects. My doctor was just worried about possible prolactin issues. I was supposed to start Invega if Clozapine didn't work, as directed by the inpatient doctor. I don't know if my doctor will follow those directions. But if it causes prolactin issues, I hope not.

Switched from Lithium and Risperdal to Lithium and Depakote, going quite crazy, room is a mess.

Wcoltd, why the switch? If I may ask. Odd that you'd switch from a mood stabilizer and an antipsychotic to two mood stabilizers.

Guess my doctor thought I wasn't that crazy, and also man boobs, I think it had to do with the man boobs.

I guess I am "that crazy", being on a mood stabilizer and antipsychotic =\

Anyway, yes, Risperdal can cause that. I missed my time of the month the whole time I was on it. What's your diagnosis, if I can ask? If you don't feel comfortable telling me, that's ok

The doctors don't know, One says Paranoid Schizophrenia Cardwell in Woodstock, gave me that diagnosis,
When I was hospitalized they changed the diagnosis to Schizoaffective Bipolar 1

then Linda, my prescriber thought I just had a case of Bipolar 1 with psychotic features,
my new doctor wants to go to the Schizoaffective diagnosis.

I have bipolar 1. I've tried Risperdal, Abilify, Seroquel, and Saphris. Seroquel works for me, but I haven't gained weight on it. You could try zyprexa, which is also an atypical antipsychotic, although unfortunately it also seems to induce weight gain.

What time of day do you take the medication? For example, I take seroquel instant release just before I go to bed. This way, the effects are strongest at bedtime (and the drowsiness side effect makes me pass out and thus unable to binge eat), plus they die down faster. When I was on slow release seroquel i was a bit zombie like all day and did have hunger cravings. Another thing that we did which worked is put me on a very low dose of amphetamine drug first thing in the morning (ritalin LA, 10mg, slow release), which counteracts the drowsiness (and possibly the hunger cravings too). You can fiddle around with the meds to help reduce the side effects.

You said that you tried Lithium, but have you tried Sodium Valproate (mood stabilizer)? Lithium didn't work for me either (well it worked briefly then stopped working) but I've been on sodium valproate for the last 2 years.

Actually I am going to change my medication to taking a single .45 JHP its a single dose you take orally don't have to worry about ever taking medication again.

If you're suicidal please talk to a family member, friend, or psych about it!! Taking medication is not so bad, it just takes time to get it right. It took me almost 2 years to get my medication right but things are so much better now.

Colt, my diagnoses have been similar to yours, then. I've never been diagnosed with Schizophrenia, but I have been diagnosed with Bipolar with psychotic features, and Schizoaffective: Bipolar type. The last one is my current diagnosis.

Please don't hurt yourself. If you feel unsafe, call a helpline, a family member, a doctor, or a therapist. Someone. Anyone, really. I'm here if you need to talk. Just drop me a PM if you need to talk about anything.

Hello. I've been diagnosed with aspergers w/ schizoaffective and adhd too. There seem to be a few people here with that combo.
I have never taken the older antipsychotics, I think they don't usually prescribe those often anymore.
I have however taken several of the newer atypical antipsychotics. Currently I am on zyprexa and it has worked the best for me. While it is one of the better ones, it is one of the worst ones for gaining weight. I took abilify before which was similar, and is sussposedly not as bad for weight gain, but I started getting tardive dyskinesia symptoms from it and had to stop.
I also take lithium and Cymbalta for the bipolar symptoms and Provigil for adhd and hypersomnia.
The newer drugs are not sussposed to be as sedating but they cause weight gain instead. Overall I have heard they are healthier though.
If you have any questions feel free to ask, I have been dealing with the psychiactric system for a long time and one thing Ive learned is you need to be in charge of your own treatment because most people working for the mental health system are incompetent. Good luck.

Noticed a number of mentions of Risperidone (Risperidol).

I've just come off this after 10 days (had been upped to 2mg a day after 1 week) because it caused a major anxiety attack. I spent last Saturday night in Casualty with a heart rate 150+ and the docs had no idea what was causing it. Finally, after 3 days of suffering this attack I've finally been given some tranquilisers and will remain on them for ~4 weeks to stop the rolling attacks.

It's been hell and I feel horribly strung out by it. The Consultant believes it was a reaction with Promazine.

Risperidone, in my experience is extremely powerful and definitely not for everyone. If offered, proceed with caution. Also caused me major dehydration which needed a "fluid challenge".

Overall it caused my autonomic system to take over (numbness of extremities, swift and drastic drops in blood pressure, extremely high heart rates). The worst reponse to medication I have ever had and I've been on Lithium, Thioridazine and a whole bunch of other stuff. The psychs have decided to back off entirely from anti-psychotics and stick with psychology/modern ADs (assuming I can tolerate anything in the near future).

EDIT: Sorry diagnosed AS, GAD - was used to try and treat my increasingly problematic agitation.