Discussion how long did your side effects last? (medication)

[Life_and_Death]

ok so i have been on 3 medications. (btw this isnt a question about a specific medication this is an in general question)
-rispredone, after about a month it made me go insane
-olanzapine, made me sleep for 15-20hrs
-brexpiprazole, gave me a really bad gas bubble (that i fixed with ginger ale) and a massive headache. i stayed curled up in a ball in pain for hours

i told my doctor all of this and he said that side effects happen and that ill have to wait them out and sooner or later they will stop. first of all was i wrong to stop all medication right there? i mean i understand having to wait for the side effects to pass but if its messing up your day that bad.....anyway the main question im asking is, how long did it take for your side effects to pass before it could get to a manageable level?

also if it doesnt impose too much just saying "oh it lasted a month or 2" isnt very helpful so if you can im hopeful for answers like "i was on/am on _____ and the side effects passed after_____." or maybe " i was on_____ for ____ and ______ side effect never went away" its just without all the information its difficult to piece everything together but if you dont want to share your medication or something for whatever reason thats totally cool too. i mean a little information is better then none.

 

[Visperidia]

I've not been prescribed any of those medications, unless I'm confusing the generic and brand names.

I was on cipralex (for about 4 years, didn't do shit except cause side effects for me, but the majority of them ended after 3ish months, sleeping more and weight gain lasted the whole time. I would not recommend going off your meds cold-turkey, I'd suggest weaning off of it. I went off my cipralex suddenly and had vivid nightmares and brain zaps every single night for about 3 months)

I've been on clonazepam and ativan (I find these can be very effective, but very addictive, I never had any side effects, but withdrawals were shit.)

I was on the max dose of sertraline and wellbutrin recently, they helped me the most and I didn't noice any side effects personally. Going off of them wasn't difficult.

Also, birth control can have a shitty effect on mood, so I eventually stopped that as well

Forgot to add, I'm on rexulti now, but haven't been on it long enough to know.

I guess in conclusion lol, depending on the medication the side effects can last months but I wouldn't expect past 3 months. When two medications are combined (sertraline which acts on serotonin? And wellbutrin acts on dopamine and that other one I can't remember the name of) the side effects can cancel each other out. At least thats what my psychiatrist said. Hope that kind of helped!

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, I would personally suggest discussing any medication you're thinking of with your doctor.

 

[Life_and_Death]

I've not been prescribed any of those medications, unless I'm confusing the generic and brand names.

I was on cipralex (for about 4 years, didn't do shit except cause side effects for me, but the majority of them ended after 3ish months, sleeping more and weight gain lasted the whole time. I would not recommend going off your meds cold-turkey, I'd suggest weaning off of it. I went off my cipralex suddenly and had vivid nightmares and brain zaps every single night for about 3 months)

I've been on clonazepam and ativan (I find these can be very effective, but very addictive, I never had any side effects, but withdrawals were shit.)

I was on the max dose of sertraline and wellbutrin recently, they helped me the most and I didn't noice any side effects personally. Going off of them wasn't difficult.

Also, birth control can have a shitty effect on mood, so I eventually stopped that as well

Forgot to add, I'm on rexulti now, but haven't been on it long enough to know.

I guess in conclusion lol, depending on the medication the side effects can last months but I wouldn't expect past 3 months. When two medications are combined (sertraline which acts on serotonin? And wellbutrin acts on dopamine and that other one I can't remember the name of) the side effects can cancel each other out. At least thats what my psychiatrist said. Hope that kind of helped!

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, I would personally suggest discussing any medication you're thinking of with your doctor.

the last 2 i could just go off of without a problem as i had only taken them 1-2 days. and when i went off the rispredone although he wasnt the one that prescribed it i called my family doctor and he said its cool.

it did help thank you :) and i am talking to a doctor about it however his entire attitude is "what do you want to do" so this is it. im doing it. if he wont give me an answer ill find it myself lol. thank you for caring about me though

 

[mathieu]

I have taken olanzEpine and brexpriprazole (still on it) and also paliperidone which is basically the same as risperidone.

I haven't noticed any sides from brex, which is why I'm still on it. On paliperidone I had prolactimia which caused impotence. It didn't go away until I stopped the med. it's not the type of effect that goes away. On olanzEpine I just had terribly increased appetite and weight gain. It didn't abate until stopping the med, too. Some side effects do go away with time some don't and if it is very distressing you can't be expected to ride it out IMO.

I hope you find a med that works for you and is tolerable.

 

[Life_and_Death]

I have taken olanzEpine and brexpriprazole (still on it) and also paliperidone which is basically the same as risperidone.

I haven't noticed any sides from brex, which is why I'm still on it. On paliperidone I had prolactimia which caused impotence. It didn't go away until I stopped the med. it's not the type of effect that goes away. On olanzEpine I just had terribly increased appetite and weight gain. It didn't abate until stopping the med, too. Some side effects do go away with time some don't and if it is very distressing you can't be expected to ride it out IMO.

I hope you find a med that works for you and is tolerable.

i was spelling it from memory. im amazed i got that much of it right lol.

thank you for the input :) also thats how i felt about the whole thing. if it was just a small headache or something id either live with it or find something that could fix it but when its messing up my entire day like that, its a bit much

 

[Deleted member 1465]

So many variables, hard to answer, depends on drugs and metabolism. Side effects can last anywhere between a few weeks and a few months.
However, the long term nasty metabolic changes that will occur from using these medications is cumulative and potentially permanent.

 

[so tired or manic]

I make it clear with my psychiatrists that if I have side effects I'm going to just stop it and they'll find out later. this basically forces them to give a different approach to what medication they're going to give me. they make sure to not give me medication, or at least talk to me about it, that are guaranteed to have bad side effects. and they don't bother with anything that needs to be decreased gradually.

maybe I just got lucky with psychiatrists, but I haven't had much for trouble after being clear about that.

 

[CuddleHug]

I've lost count on how many medicines I've tried. Not as many as some people here, but enough to make me wonder why my body doesn't accept any of them.

Most of the time, I get no effect at all, or just some minor side effects. With anti-depressants, they always had me take them for at least 3 months. I never had any severe side effects from those, though, so I'm sure they'd have let me off them if that was the case. They just required me to wait with no effect because "it can take 3 months before peak effect occurs".

If I recall correctly, the three you mentioned are antipsychotics? Once I had tried most types of anti-depressants, I got to try a bunch of antipsychotics instead and whoa boy, that has been an experience. Well, okay, I've used them as mood-stabilisers. Honestly not sure what the difference is, because many as classed as both.

Anyway, with this type of medicines, the effect seems (to me) to be more immediate. Like, within a couple of weeks, sometimes within days. The pattern I've observed (highly personal) is that I get side-effects for about 2 weeks, then their either subside and I start feeling the positive effects... OR the side-effects get bad enough that I have to stop it.

The only exception to this pattern has been Lithium. It made me go from actively suicidal (was in a psych ward and it was bad enough that I attempted while there, crazy bad idea) to feeling like suicide is something I can keep close at hand, but not act on for the time being. That was almost a year and a half ago now and I still feel the same. I've had some side-effects, like the usual needing a ton of liquid, peeing more often and dry mouth. All those lessened slightly after a few weeks, but I'm not sure if it was my body that adjusted or me getting used to it.

I don't like talking about specific drugs as being bad only because of my own experience, but if I had to recommend you to stay away from one, it would be Seroquel/quetiapine. I know several others who have tried it and we all had the same experience. It makes you into a mindless zombie, devoid of feelings and desire to do anything. The fast-acting type works somewhat if you have trouble sleeping, though, especially if it's due to strong anxiety. You will most likely get a hangover the next day, but once in a while it could work.

I'm currently trying out Abilify/aripiprazole, but haven't felt anything yet. I only started it on Thursday, so it's too soon to say anything. There's another thread here in Recovery about it, where I'll post an update once I have something to add.

Phew, that was a long post xD Sorry about that, hope you don't mind.

Hugs~

 

[Life_and_Death]

There's another thread here in Recovery about it, where I'll post an update once I have something to add.

You mean the thread about abilify that I started? Lol

Don't worry about it being too long :) I got a lot of good information.

The problem is I have hallucinations and whatnot so I think I need the antipsychotic. Trust me I'd rather not need anything, I've been against this idea for YEARS but it's gotten to the point where I have no choice. That's why when I can I advise people to get help as soon as possible. It's not too late but the longer you wait the harder it's going to be. Also you have to try to fight through whatever you're feeling at the time which is a difficult battle all on its own.

 

[CuddleHug]

You mean the thread about abilify that I started? Lol

Omg, you're right, haha, sorry about that xD I'm the worst with names. I noticed I replied to several of your threads in a row as well, my brain just isn't with me. I think I recognise your avatar now, but just because I do doesn't mean I'll remember what you've posted xD

Now that I think about it, I wonder if this brain fog is connected to Abilify somehow? A bit early to tell, but I'll keep it in mind once I update on that other thread.

 

[Life_and_Death]

Omg, you're right, haha, sorry about that xD I'm the worst with names. I noticed I replied to several of your threads in a row as well, my brain just isn't with me. I think I recognise your avatar now, but just because I do doesn't mean I'll remember what you've posted xD

Now that I think about it, I wonder if this brain fog is connected to Abilify somehow? A bit early to tell, but I'll keep it in mind once I update on that other thread.

its cool :) im horrible with names and unless you have a memorable picture or i decided i didnt like you and want to avoid you or we talk often, im probably not going to have any idea who im talking to either lol

 

[ryla2090]

I took olanzapine, and I was constantly sleepy for 2-3 days when I startted taking them(I've stopped taking them now though).

 

[Belit667]

Didn't understand much, sorry. If you want to quit some meds just go cold turkey. 2 days of shivers and anxiety and you're good to go. Tested with Xanax.