Geodon Side Effects

[cowgirlnerd]

I am considering (yes, I know, I have to speak with my doctor but he doesn't seem concerned) tapering off of Geodon.  I seem to feel dizzy, confused, sedated, have blurred vision, have anxiety attacks, just overall crummy.  I think it's the Geodon that I went on a few months ago after Abilify didn't work so well.  

Is anyone having any issues with taking Geodon?  Such as side effects or positive effects.  Also, if you have tapered off, how long did the withdrawals (and what were they) from tapering?

Thanks

[cowgirlnerd]

Well, it was severe side effects from Geodon - stopping it slowly and then off within a week.

We'll see........

[paranoid_cataclysm]

People who know me seem to pick up on when I'm off but generally mistake what's going on for something else.

DBT is dialectical behavioral therapy and they teach you things like how to be more logical and handle your emotions better and to be more assertive and so on.  It teaches you things like good and bad are from the perspective of the person and that they are a short handed way of saying you like or dislike the consequences of something and so on.  It teaches a lot of stuff basically.  Some of it is taken from eastern philosophies.

It's OK if you have more messages.

[cowgirlnerd]

Those are all real good points.  I might try to take him with me on my next visit.  I guess it's a good thing he picks up on my episodes even though I try to hide them.  At least he cares, huh!

Tell me more about this DBT.  What is it?

I swear, I will leave you alone after this!  LOL!  I am just intrigued by what you are telling me and relieved to hear some advice from someone who knows what I am going through.

[paranoid_cataclysm]

Well the half-life means half of it has left your system but then when the next half-life comes, half of that half is gone from your system and so on.  It is generally accepted that it takes seven half-lifes for a medicine to get entirely out of your system.  Perhaps you would benefit from DBT, they teach you how to not ruminate thoughts in your head and to let thoughts come and go without affecting you and such.  I used to be angry a lot but now I just let it go a lot of the time or don't get angry but it doesn't make me immune to anger either and I still have times when anger fills me and I can't let it go.

I hear a lot of people with depression end up hiding it from other people.  Don't know their reasons but I think for some of them it's the same as it is for you.  I can be very cynical because of the way I was brought up but I generally don't hide it from people because sometimes my outlook on life can be funny.

Maybe if you brought your husband with you to tell your doctor he noticed you aren't doing too well that maybe your doctor will listen to you that you don't feel very well.

I think a lot of us wish we didn't have our illnesses.  DBT also teaches radical acceptance where you just accept things about reality that you can't change.  Perhaps you could look into DBT, it was originally designed for people with borderline personality disorder but then they discovered it works for even people without mental illness.

[cowgirlnerd]

That's good to know about the half life of Geodon.  Since I take my major dose at night and not in the day, virtually, I am without it during the day!  It does help calm me down at night and helps me sleep, but it's after I have been wired all day long.  I tell you, it's just incredibly difficult to make it through the day sometimes.  I am exhausted all of the time.  My mind won't quit racing and I "what if" myself to pieces.  I don't seem to be capable of having a day with no worries/anxiety.  I try to focus on something else and it works for awhile.  I even count in my head to keep bad thoughts out of my mind, and it works for a short term - then they are back.  

I took my dosage (40mg) last night before I went to bed and I feel somewhat better this morning, but I know it won't last.  Dont think I am a negative person, most people get to see the smiling (all be it fake) face and "you can do it" attitude everyday - but deep down, I am really suffering.  I just hate for people to know that.

The recent depressed episode I have had (in the past several days), I haven't been able to cover it up and my husband has picked up on it.  He worries and that makes me feel guilty - then anxiety...yada yada...

I just wish I didn't have this at all.  I know that's childish, but it's so frustrating!  My therapist tells me all of the time to accept it and learn to deal with my issues...easier said than done.  

[paranoid_cataclysm]

It's no problem, glad I can help you out if I can.  Maybe you can try another medication perhaps?  There might be another that doesn't cause this cloudiness which you describe.  Try focusing on the present and observing things around you and letting the thoughts just enter and leave your head without affecting you.  They say that's having a "teflon mind" in DBT.  Screwing with perhaps did increase your symptoms, Geodon has a half life of like 7 hours for example so it's mostly out of your system before even a day is over.  I started experiencing withdrawal from it anyway immediately after I started missing the dose because my doctor at the time wasn't qualified to prescribe psych meds and was giving me samples and they ran out.  You need to be honest with your doctor about how bad your illness is at least or else they'll never have you at a therapeutic medication regimen.

[cowgirlnerd]

I appreciate your continuing to talk to me about this.  I am sitting here knowing that I am not stable completely, but still wanting to stop the Geodon.  I keep telling myself that the cloudiness I feel isn't worth it.  I know that it is.  

I know what you mean about being afraid of myself not medicated.  I take Lamictal and it's been a life saver (literally) for me.  I am just not feeling right though.  I have rambling thoughts in my head about all of the bad things I did before I got stable.  Just incredible guilt and anxiety over things back then.  

Also, I know it's not the time to change my meds and me screwing with them like I did yesterday is probably increasing my symptoms.  It's such a vicious cycle.  

I'm always afraid to really say how bad I am because I don't want anyone to know.  So that in it's self masks my illness as being better than I might actually be.  

[cowgirlnerd]

I hope it all works out for you.  Personally, I had a hard time with Abilify.  It just didn't seem to help me at all.  

I fear that I am in that zone that I think I am doing well with my disorder and start wanting to reduce meds and then it gets worse again.  I really feel like I would be better without the Geodon, though.  I take Lamictal and was doing pretty well with it when I started having panic attacks and depression - then the Abilify started.  That didn't work well, so he put me on Geodon.    

Now, I have a pretty good support system, not like before my diagnosis, so I think I will be ok.  I just am afraid that going off of it will be worse than on it, but it can't be much worse!  

I get really frustrated at my pdoc.  He just nods and says, well, it seems like you are doing well (no matter what I tell him!), and you should just stay on what you are now.  I think I could stand in his office and scream and he would say the same thing!  He told me last time that he was glad I could smile....really?  I don't think he listens to me that much anymore.  He's a good doctor, but after he got me stable, he just doesn't listen to me wanting to feel NORMAL (whatever that is!).

[paranoid_cataclysm]

Hmm... that makes me wonder because they had me taking the whole dose all at once, once a day and I was taking the (160mg) highest recommended daily dose and they were telling me this was a small dose.  I'm not taking it anymore because I experienced chest pains of a kind I'd never experienced before taking it like someone was trying to pull my heart in two separate directions.  My psychiatrist withdrew me from it immediately and entirely and I did not have time to prepare for this but I didn't experience withdrawal this time, thank god if he's out there listening to our posts on here.  I am taking abilify and cogentin right now instead.

[cowgirlnerd]

Thank you for responding.  I had been taking (2) 20mg (40mg) before bedtime, and in the afternoon I started really feeling that detached, confused, anxiety thing.  I took only one last night and took one this morning to see if I could keep from having the time without it.  The thing that ***** is when I break them up to keep a steady stream in my system, it makes me SO sleepy!  I have been a zombie today.  

The reason I took both (even though it was supposed to be twice a day), was because of the sleepiness during the day.  That was a suggestion from the Psych Nurse, but the Pdoc told me I shouldn't have done that.

I just feel right now that I have worse symptoms that dealing with my mania.  I have seen a lot of people using it to treat depression - mine was to reduce my mania.  Who know, huh?  

Are you still taking it?

[paranoid_cataclysm]

I experienced all of this at one point or another from Geodon.  However it worked pretty decent for me on my psychotic symptoms while my negative symptoms not so much.  It also sort of made me like a zombie however.  I don't know how long withdrawals will last because when I had to go through cold turkey withdrawal I was able to take it again before the withdrawals ended.  The second time I didn't experience withdrawals but had more rebound psychiatric symptoms.  Coincidentally I switch from Geodon to Abilify basically (after a brief try of risperdal) and it works not as good on my psychotic symptoms but better on the negative ones.  Geodon also sometimes made me feel stoned and/or drunk and sometimes it made me feel heavy all over and it was extremely difficult to move but this was only around the time it kicked in and I took it around time to go to bed.

My withdrawals were like a flu of a caliber I had never experienced before.  My pre-existing tremors (which went away entirely while taking it) got much worse than before I took it and I experienced an annoying headache.  My dreams were very surreal and left me feeling extremely disturbed when I woke up.  I also had rebound psychiatric symptoms as I touched base on above, especially after it was entirely out of my system the second time I was going to have to go through cold turkey withdrawal yet again.