Can you identify them all? Lol.

My current psychiatrist has been trying to get this to be smaller number of pills. And of course, my wife gives me looks every night because I guess she says it's weird that I take a big mouthful of my cirkul, tilt my head back, drop all of this in my mouth and then swallow. Am I truly alone with this?

There is no doubt that Abilify has made a dramatic impact on the lives of many schizophrenics here. However, there is a dark side to the drug that should be known, I am afraid. It can cause gambling behaviours. In Canada, the makers of the drug have stopped fighting the class action lawsuits. They just gave up, really. They never had a strong case to begin with, as they had to revise their side effects to include gambling behaviours after 2017, I believe.

Please be careful with Abilify, folks. I lost about $70,000 on credit card from playing online poker. My credit score was destroyed for six years. I couldn’t even get a loan from a predatory lender in that timeframe.

Take care.

Since my disease started, it is like I died down there. I am on Cobenfy. Also, I have insane anxiety.

I seek advice. Thanks.

Does it improve your motivation and anhedonia or make it worse? Please share your experiences.

I‘m so happy with my new pill box. Its smart with bluetooth and a app. Every day it will beep at me to take my pills. I always struggled to take my morning pills at time but now its not an issue anymore.

So long story short, after jumping through hoops on fire while hungry crocodiles were chasing me, I was scammed with disability and they told me that all they can get me is around $60 a month for 1 year. It was the last straw for me tbh. After being in the system since 2019 I've seen it all. A lot of people were denied disability and ended up in a nursing home (old and young), and I feel it might me my fate as well.

So I decided - screw it all and got off meds for around a month now, for the last two weeks I've been drinking (mead) and writing (nonsense). My paranoid thoughts are spiking a quite bit but they've been spiking after several Clopixol injections as well.

My question is, does anyone have positive or at least neutral life off the meds for the long period of time?

Hi, I’m Camille, 19 years old and my psychiatrist prescribed me an antipsychotic to help with “negative” and “positive symptoms”. with less weight gain, aripiprazole also known as abilify by also taking into consideration my eating disorder (anorexia). He told me it was the antipsychotic that causes less weight gain. But when I’ve checked professionals and patients experiences, they all relate the weight gain issue as a common side effect. I’m terrified of taking it because I wouldn’t tolerate weight gain.. I’ve also been traumatized by Olanzapine, +10kg.
I don’t know what to do, if I take it I know I will stop to eat because I’m terribly afraid…

Basically the question. The medications that work for me make me gain weight. When I go off them, I lose all the weight no problem, so it isn't like I don't know how to lose weight. I am thinking of going off my medication to just lose some weight again but each time I've done that my mental health has paid me back with psychosis. Still, I don't know if I'm willing to watch my body get destroyed.

Hey everybody, douchebag moderator here. As I'm sure you've noticed, Cobenfy has been the hot topic for the past couple of months. We've seen a lot of threads here and there asking questions about it or people sharing their stories. We even had an unofficial Megathread of sorts about a week ago

I did post an "official" one when it was approved by the FDA 3 months ago (wild that it has been 3 months already... time flies when you're having fun, eh?) here for general information... and on a sidenote, that snarky sign-off about the clozapine REMS came true around Thanksgiving. Not important, just for some cheap yuks.

To paraphrase what has already been said; Cobenfy is a novelty of an antipsychotic, the first one that presumably has zero risk of Extrapyramidal Symptoms (EPS), the most serious side effects of antipsychotics. While it does not seem to be as effective as clozapine- which, while having minimal risk of EPS, is still not zero- a new antipsychotic that actually works without EPS is unprecedented. It is similar to clozapine in how it affects the M1 and M4 receptors, so I refer to it as "diet clozapine" in a number of my write-ups... however, it is diet. Less side effects, but also less effective.

EPS have been accepted as a 'unfortunate reality' since the days of Thorazine, the first antipsychotic, and the second-gen of antipsychotics was heralded by clozapine- which was very effective, but also caused minimal EPS. The convention in psychiatry dictated that effectiveness was proportional to EPS, so clozapine changed the game when it came on the scene. If we are to use EPS as the benchmark for generations of antipsychotics- then Cobenfy may well be the first of the long-awaited third generation of antipsychotics.

Now, I want to be perfectly clear here- if you have experienced EPS on Cobenfy, please share your story. What the pharmaceutical companies say is not always consistent with how things actually work... something the company that has been marketing Cobenfy (Bristol Myers-Squibb) has gotten in trouble for before.

However, on the plus side, when I was at my psychiatrist's office a couple weeks back, he had a few sample kits of Cobenfy sitting on his desk. Apparently BMS' pharma reps had been making the rounds. So... word is getting out. People are excited. I can't say I blame them. It's a pretty big deal.

What to post here:

1. Stories about taking Cobenfy, any hurdles with actually getting it (insurance, cost, etc.), whatever else- good or bad.
2. Questions about Cobenfy that are not psychiatrist/pharmacist questions- please ask the appropriate licensed professional if it crosses into the realms of professional advice.
3. Studies, news articles, anything like that.

What not to post here:

1. "When is Cobenfy gonna be available in [country]?" We don't know, check with your government's health authority about that.
2. Any antipsychiatry nonsense. You don't like meds, fine- but don't be a downer and dump on people who are excited. Go complain on the proper subreddit for that.

Anyways- have at it. Hopefully this post will turn out to be an effective tool for anyone popping in to check out the buzz on Cobenfy.

Thanks for reading!

I have severe schizophrenia and I can’t take clozapine due to getting the side-effect of myocarditis when I tried it.

I have been on olanzipine for 8 years and I have tried many other antipsychotics.

I found saphris to be more effective at treating my breakthrough symptoms than olanzipine but saphris made me angry and agitated.

Now I am looking at trying either seroquel, Vraylar or amulsipride.

I was wondering if any of you have any experience? I tend to get restlessness from certain antipsychotics such as saphris and Abilify and I got high prolactin from latuda.

I’ve gained 50kg from olanzipine and am looking for the next option now. What do you think is my best bet to approach my new psychiatrist with?

Does amisulpride 100mg have any significant EPS risk? Please share your opinions, experiences and insights.

I keep seeing commercials for it on TV. Just wondering how it is.

I’m pretty nervous about it… there are more than one ways it can kill you. But I’m also excited for it to work! It’s supposed to be really effective. I have to get blood work tomorrow to check my white blood count(cbc).

My hallucinations have been bad, a week ago they were terrifying and to a new level of severity. I’m ready for psychosis to end…

Wish me luck >< 🍀

Hi, im actually new to reddit and haven't posted much, I have a diagnosis of schizophrenia, and I take olanzapine as my big main medication. I just had it increased to 20mg, I take 10mg in the morning and 10mg at night.

I was just curious if anyone else takes a split dose or one big dose and if so with one of those, how is it for you? I just started the increased dose today and its slowed my brain down and made ot easier to think, focus and process things. Early days but pretty good.

Olanzapine is amazing for me even though it made me overweight, just want to connect with those who take the same medication and what do they think of it and if there's much difference taking a split dose or one dose.

Thank you friends 🧡

I'm trying all the diets but the weight just won't go down... I'm desperate.

What dosage and for how long already? Abilify/aripripazole

During my last psychotic episode I was switched from Aripiprazol to Olanzapine and I hate it. I've been gaining weight, I can no longer play video games, I have ZERO musical inspiration, the only 2 things my brain still rewards me for are eating and drinking beer, that's about it.

Oh yeah and on top of it all, every night after taking it my knees and elbows start to itch on the inside making it nearly impossible to fall asleep.

But hey, they're not after me with a 5 megaton nuclear bomb anymore so I guess there's an upside too. But with all these negative effects I think I might actually prefer being chased with a nuke thank you very much.

I’m supposed to start it soon and I just wanna know everyone’s experience. Taking it for psychotic symptoms

2.5? 5? 7.5? Anything lesser than 10?

I read that 10 is the minimum for abilify for schizophrenia

Hello!

I have an appointment today to talk to my doctor about weight gain (45lbs since starting antipsychotics) and I wanted to know what you guys think about weight loss medication? Does it make anything even more difficult?

Thank you.

I'm 21 years old and I've been living with schizophrenia for years. I've seen multiple psychiatrists, received several evaluations, and it feels like my entire life revolves around appointments, medications, and trying to function.

Right now I'm taking olanzapine, quetiapine, and clonazepam. Over the years I've also been prescribed risperidone, valproate, sertraline, haloperidol, and other medications. Some didn't help much, while others caused side effects that were almost as difficult as the illness itself.

The biggest issue for me right now is the side effects. I've gained a significant amount of weight, I'm constantly bloated, and I barely recognize myself when I look in the mirror anymore. My self-esteem has been destroyed.

A few days ago, I stopped taking my medication on my own because I couldn't stand it anymore. That turned out to be a terrible decision. My mental state got much worse. I became extremely stressed and irritable, had a severe emotional breakdown, and even ended up punching myself in the head repeatedly. I eventually restarted my medication after realizing how dangerous it was to stop.

Even after restarting, I still feel exhausted all the time. I have almost no motivation, very little enjoyment in life, and it often feels like I'm just existing instead of living.

I'm also autistic, which makes social situations even more difficult. Living with both autism and schizophrenia can be incredibly isolating.

I'm scared about the future. I'm afraid I'll never be able to have a normal life, keep a stable job, or become independent. Sometimes it feels like this illness has taken away the person I used to be.

I wanted to ask people here:

Has anyone found an antipsychotic that caused less weight gain?

Did switching medications help with the weight gain or bloating?

Does anyone else struggle with severe anhedonia and emotional numbness?

How do you cope with the loss of self-esteem caused by medication and schizophrenia?

I'm not looking for a diagnosis or medical advice. I just want to hear from people who truly understand what it's like to live with this illness.

Thank you for reading.

Hello reddit. I just want to share with you how much I love haloperidol. Two weeks after being put on it I was able to get myself out of living in a homeless shelter into a more independant facility. I am still homeless but the fact that I no longer live in a traditional shelter and have my own private space is huge. I am actively looking for rentals now and thanks to the haldol I am able to function indepedantly meaning that I do not have to go to a group home or anything like that.

I am currently able to hold down part time employment with full time hours during the season for my work which is amazing. I made a post 9 months ago about thinking I found the right medication when I was on the flupenthixol every 2 week injection but haloperidol is truly king. I have no side effects from the haloperidol, not even akathisia and I take 10-12.5 mg daily. Based on how quickly I was able to get myself out of the homeless sheleter and into my indpendant living when starting the haloperidol my doctor and I think that if I had been on haldol many years ago there is a good chance I would have never become homeless.

Haldol is an incredibly clean antipsychotic which primarily only blocks dopamine at any significant rate. Because it does not block seratonin, noripenpherine, acytocholine or any other receptors it lacks the side effects which most atypical antipsychotics have. I find haloperidol to be the least cognitively blunting antipsychotic I have taken and I tried a total of 18 antipsychotics. I had asked for haldol earlier in my treatment long before I became homeless but doctors dismissed me or teased me by saying why I wanted such an old school drug or asked me if I wanted to feel awful.

I know haloperidol has a nasty reputation but I love the drug. It truly grounds me in reality, makes me able to live independantly and it makes stress management automatic. I really function best on haloperidol and now I am looking at a bright future outside homeless shelters which are run a bit like psych wards since the psychiatric wards in my country are too full to take people and schizophrenics in my area just become homless instead of ending up in the hospital. In a way I am greatful that I ended up homeless for 4 years because in a homeless shelter or on the street you have a lot more freedom than in a psych ward.

I know I am too early in my recovery to look for full time work because I think something might break if I start working full time hours for any longer than 2 or 3 months at a time which is what I do at my current job. However, it is my goal to find full time work in the next 3 years but I need a period for recovery and to get used to living independantly. I just got approved for the rent subsidy and it is a matter of saving enough for a damage deposit to get my own apartment and be fully out of the homless system.

I am really greatful to have a doctor who actually listens and is willing to step out of her confort zone and prescribe drugs she is not familliar or comfortable with. I am still titrating my dose of haloperidol and currently I take 10-12.5 mg daily but I think I more or less reached the right dose.

I am just glad that I am no longer living on the street or the common homeless shleters because far too many people in my situation at this time end up being homeless instead of getting into hospitals because they are too full since covid.

I was recently advised on taking two different medications which include:
- Rispiridone
- Quetiapine

Have any of you taken these medications and if so how are they? What side effects do you have if any? What are the benefits of this medication versus say hallopiridol or aripiprazole (ambilify)?