Posted by Chloe on July 22, 2001, at 8:12:35
In reply to Re: Help! GEODON, hypomania? » Chloe, posted by medlib on July 21, 2001, at 20:53:59
Medlib,
Thanks so much for your post. I am very anxious this morning, since my last dose was 5 pm last night. Once a day dosing seems really silly to me. But more than 20 mgs at this point seems too heavy a dose for me, I am petite. I too think this drug may be the "one", but then I run into feelings and effects I don't understand. Your post has helped alot.But could you elaborate why you stopped it? What do you mean "all hell broke loose?" What happened to make you stop? And it must have been bad if you traded it for "panic" type feelings during withdrawal for 10 days!
My pdoc said quit my 1.5 mgs of Celexa. But now I am thinking that was not such a good idea. I could be having anxiety from lack of that, too.
This is a very difficult med trial for me, and I am quite scared. I hate feeling anxious and energized. Though I am less pressured, thank gawd. I wish I could call my pdoc, but it's not an emergency, and it's a blasted Sunday.
BTW, If I am just licking up the powder, which seems to get absorbed through my tongue!, why must it be with a meal? I don't think the powder even reaches my stomach! And is a snack, like some crackers ok? I like to take some before bed.
Thank you so much for your reply and well wishes. I am sorry this med did not work out for you.
Chloe (on the brink!)PS, leave it to good ol' Pfizer to put this in a capsule form so dividing the dose is a PAIN!
>
> The Geodon lit from Pfizer states that the mean terminal half life is approx. 7 hours and that it takes 2-3 days to reach a "steady state." I had what was probably a brief hypomanic reaction ("flight of ideas", rapid speech) for 2 days about a week into my trial.
>
> It *does* seem to have the potential for significant "wearing off" or withdrawal side effects. Much to my dismay, I had to discontinue Geodon after developing extrapyramidal symptoms on Day 17--very weird, in fact, unheard of. Although I was only taking one 20mg. capsule, when I stopped the drug I began having *severe* panic attacks ("false suffocation syndrome") every 12 hours for about l0 days. (I'd never experienced anything resembling anxiety, much less panic.) Needless to say, this, too, was a completely idiosyncratic response; undoubtedly, no one else in the universe will ever react to Geodon this way. Before all hell broke loose, I thought Geodon was finally "it" for me--the closest I've ever come (or probably ever will come) to normal.
>
> Geodon, like most antipsychotics, is a "dirty" drug--that is, it acts on many different neurotransmitters. So, teasing out exactly what action is responsible for which effect probably is an exercise in futility--especially when individual responses to the *same* substance are so varied.
>
> If you would like to continue on Geodon, I have a suggestion: open the capsule, divide the powder into 2 portions and take half with breakfast, the other half with dinner. Geodon is poorly soluble in water. Also, it is 60% more bioavailable when taken with meals.
>
> Good luck and well wishes---medlib
poster:Chloe
thread:71234
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010720/msgs/71319.html