How long do the withdrawals last

[rees24]

My sister has been taking geodon for 6 months now. She is wanting to come off of the drug because it is not working any more. The drug has made her vision worse and her heart is not acting right. She is scared to stay on it. I have done some research and have found nothing good about this drug. She has all side effects. She is on day 1 with NO geodon. How long will the side effects last and what are all of the withdrawal symptoms

[kgill78]

listen to the other posts about checking w/ the dr and all...I was on it for about 2 months, I didn't have any withdrawals when I stopped it...geodon did serve its purpose at the time and I didn't need it any more and am fine without it now, that may not be the case though with her...I think it took about a week or so before I felt it was all out of my system too
Take care!

[Amyjo101]

My daughter weaned off it in like two or three weeks but she still had withdrawal, that lasted about 2 or 3 weeks. The doctor that put her on it had mistaken a visual disturbance from being upset as psychosis. When we were actually able to get in to see a psychiatrist she felt that the medication just wasn't necessary and she had been suffering from passing out that she had never done before, due to sudden drops in blood pressure.

You sister really should contact her doctor, this medication comes in increments of 20 mg up to 80mg  she should taper off not just go cold turkey.

[Bear13]

I too was on Geodon, thankfully for only two weeks, and had the WORST experience with the drug.  I ended up stopping cold turkey, I know, I know, not a good idea, but the side effects were so bad that I was terrified to take another dose.  It took over a week before I felt somewhat normal again, and that only after being on the drug for two weeks.  From the people I've discussed this drug with, 3 out of oh say 5, said it was the worst medication they were ever on.  One of the things that eased my anxiety about the drug was klonopin.... took 1mg as needed, and was very quickly off that as well... there is hope, but she needs to make sure that she keeps her doctors in the loop about the feelings that she is having... they can be serious.

[monkeyc]

Ok this worries me - she is on day one without it.

Did her doctor tell her how to wean off the drug?  Has she spoken to her doctor about the side effects?  Has she spoken to her doctor about what is going to replace this drug?

Geodon is an anti psychotic and it has the normal anti psychotic risk factors such as NMS and Tardive Dykenisia and it may also be dangerous in people with other factors - one of the BIG warnings about this is IMMEDIATELY contact your doctor if you get heart palpitations and or flutters - it is actually IN the box on the information sheet you should have recieved and its a big warning.

Again what does the doctor say about this?

You cannot just come off a drug you need to have something to replace it with in particular when an Anti Psychotic is involved - Geodon needs to be tapered regardless of what the websites say and there are risk factors of TD and other problems with abrupt cessation.

Not to put too fine a point on it, sorry to be so pedantic.  What does her doctor say?