Posted by Lisa P on April 9, 2003, at 23:34:56
In reply to New to Geodon, posted by agencypanic on April 8, 2003, at 18:55:15
Hi. I started on Geodon last March after having a manic episode - in 4 days I went from being on only Lamictal (for a year) to being switched to the max dose of Zyprexa to the max of Geodon - 160mg. I felt like a zombie on the Geodon for several months - probably from going up to such a high dose so fast. And then all of a sudden, I had insomnia -just couldn't get tired enough to sleep, so I became hooked on Ambien which lost effectiveness as I kept increasing the dose.
I had a lot of weight gain on Risperdal - it was the first drug I ever took - 8lb a week for 3 weeks and I stopped taking it. It just made me eat and eat. The Geodon was really nice because it increased my metabolism and I also ate a bit less and was able to lose all of the weight I had gained from mental drugs.
However, within days of starting the Geodon, I had muscle problems where my back tightened up causing me to lean to the side while running. I ran a 13.1 mi 1/2 marathon and that problem occured and I injured my back and couldn't exercise and had to go to physical therapy for 3 months. I finally started running again and was given Amantadine (anti-parkinsons, use for drug side effects) to cover it up - it worked for awhile, but then at the max dose it became useless. And then due to the leaning, my left shoulder was an inch lower than my right and rotated backwards.
I knew it was the Geodon, but of course no one really believed me until I went to three neurologists who all recommended I come off the Geodon. Over 6 weeks I got off of it, onto the Serequel (insomnia went away), and went to phys therapy and now I've been able to start running again, and the leaning has gotten a lot better. The neurologists also said that I probably would never have had those muscle problems had I not been a runner - for some reason it just aggravated those muscle problems. And one of them thought that I had a mild case of tardive dyskenesia which I think has gone away since I stopped the drug. Also, after running my muscles would start tensing up - kind of like muscle spasms which went away eventually after I stopped the drug.
Other than that, Geodon was a great drug. Like with the Serequel, the Geodon didn't effect me in any way - I don't feel any different from taking it - it might as well be a sugar pill which is good, because I don't like it when drugs make me feel different than I normally do. You said that you have paranoia, so I guess the Geodon would need to help on a regular basis. I just have manic episodes - maybe once a year or less (when I'm not on AP's) which take only a couple of days to develop - other than that, I'm alright.
If you have any muscle problems from the Geodon, be careful - someone else said that he had EPS which was controlled by Cogentin - I wasn't so lucky in that the Amantadine didn't work after awhile. I would take the lowest possible effective dose of the Geodon to minimize side effects. I sure hope the Geodon works for you - it's so nice to not have to deal with weight gain - instead, weight loss.
Hope this helps.
Lisa> My pdoc is switching me from Risperdal to Geodon, slowly tapering off the former and hoping that the latter will
> help me to get over my paranoia. I'm starting with 20mg/day for a week and increasing to 60mg/day by week 3.
> I guess that I'm looking for any tips/advice about Geodon. Any feedback at all will be appreciated.
poster:Lisa P
thread:217519
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030407/msgs/218068.html