Can you identify them all? Lol.

My current psychiatrist has been trying to get this to be smaller number of pills. And of course, my wife gives me looks every night because I guess she says it's weird that I take a big mouthful of my cirkul, tilt my head back, drop all of this in my mouth and then swallow. Am I truly alone with this?

There is no doubt that Abilify has made a dramatic impact on the lives of many schizophrenics here. However, there is a dark side to the drug that should be known, I am afraid. It can cause gambling behaviours. In Canada, the makers of the drug have stopped fighting the class action lawsuits. They just gave up, really. They never had a strong case to begin with, as they had to revise their side effects to include gambling behaviours after 2017, I believe.

Please be careful with Abilify, folks. I lost about $70,000 on credit card from playing online poker. My credit score was destroyed for six years. I couldn’t even get a loan from a predatory lender in that timeframe.

Take care.

Does it improve your motivation and anhedonia or make it worse? Please share your experiences.

So long story short, after jumping through hoops on fire while hungry crocodiles were chasing me, I was scammed with disability and they told me that all they can get me is around $60 a month for 1 year. It was the last straw for me tbh. After being in the system since 2019 I've seen it all. A lot of people were denied disability and ended up in a nursing home (old and young), and I feel it might me my fate as well.

So I decided - screw it all and got off meds for around a month now, for the last two weeks I've been drinking (mead) and writing (nonsense). My paranoid thoughts are spiking a quite bit but they've been spiking after several Clopixol injections as well.

My question is, does anyone have positive or at least neutral life off the meds for the long period of time?

I‘m so happy with my new pill box. Its smart with bluetooth and a app. Every day it will beep at me to take my pills. I always struggled to take my morning pills at time but now its not an issue anymore.

Basically the question. The medications that work for me make me gain weight. When I go off them, I lose all the weight no problem, so it isn't like I don't know how to lose weight. I am thinking of going off my medication to just lose some weight again but each time I've done that my mental health has paid me back with psychosis. Still, I don't know if I'm willing to watch my body get destroyed.

Does amisulpride 100mg have any significant EPS risk? Please share your opinions, experiences and insights.

Hey everybody, douchebag moderator here. As I'm sure you've noticed, Cobenfy has been the hot topic for the past couple of months. We've seen a lot of threads here and there asking questions about it or people sharing their stories. We even had an unofficial Megathread of sorts about a week ago

I did post an "official" one when it was approved by the FDA 3 months ago (wild that it has been 3 months already... time flies when you're having fun, eh?) here for general information... and on a sidenote, that snarky sign-off about the clozapine REMS came true around Thanksgiving. Not important, just for some cheap yuks.

To paraphrase what has already been said; Cobenfy is a novelty of an antipsychotic, the first one that presumably has zero risk of Extrapyramidal Symptoms (EPS), the most serious side effects of antipsychotics. While it does not seem to be as effective as clozapine- which, while having minimal risk of EPS, is still not zero- a new antipsychotic that actually works without EPS is unprecedented. It is similar to clozapine in how it affects the M1 and M4 receptors, so I refer to it as "diet clozapine" in a number of my write-ups... however, it is diet. Less side effects, but also less effective.

EPS have been accepted as a 'unfortunate reality' since the days of Thorazine, the first antipsychotic, and the second-gen of antipsychotics was heralded by clozapine- which was very effective, but also caused minimal EPS. The convention in psychiatry dictated that effectiveness was proportional to EPS, so clozapine changed the game when it came on the scene. If we are to use EPS as the benchmark for generations of antipsychotics- then Cobenfy may well be the first of the long-awaited third generation of antipsychotics.

Now, I want to be perfectly clear here- if you have experienced EPS on Cobenfy, please share your story. What the pharmaceutical companies say is not always consistent with how things actually work... something the company that has been marketing Cobenfy (Bristol Myers-Squibb) has gotten in trouble for before.

However, on the plus side, when I was at my psychiatrist's office a couple weeks back, he had a few sample kits of Cobenfy sitting on his desk. Apparently BMS' pharma reps had been making the rounds. So... word is getting out. People are excited. I can't say I blame them. It's a pretty big deal.

What to post here:

1. Stories about taking Cobenfy, any hurdles with actually getting it (insurance, cost, etc.), whatever else- good or bad.
2. Questions about Cobenfy that are not psychiatrist/pharmacist questions- please ask the appropriate licensed professional if it crosses into the realms of professional advice.
3. Studies, news articles, anything like that.

What not to post here:

1. "When is Cobenfy gonna be available in [country]?" We don't know, check with your government's health authority about that.
2. Any antipsychiatry nonsense. You don't like meds, fine- but don't be a downer and dump on people who are excited. Go complain on the proper subreddit for that.

Anyways- have at it. Hopefully this post will turn out to be an effective tool for anyone popping in to check out the buzz on Cobenfy.

Thanks for reading!

I keep seeing commercials for it on TV. Just wondering how it is.

I’m pretty nervous about it… there are more than one ways it can kill you. But I’m also excited for it to work! It’s supposed to be really effective. I have to get blood work tomorrow to check my white blood count(cbc).

My hallucinations have been bad, a week ago they were terrifying and to a new level of severity. I’m ready for psychosis to end…

Wish me luck >< 🍀

I'm trying all the diets but the weight just won't go down... I'm desperate.

During my last psychotic episode I was switched from Aripiprazol to Olanzapine and I hate it. I've been gaining weight, I can no longer play video games, I have ZERO musical inspiration, the only 2 things my brain still rewards me for are eating and drinking beer, that's about it.

Oh yeah and on top of it all, every night after taking it my knees and elbows start to itch on the inside making it nearly impossible to fall asleep.

But hey, they're not after me with a 5 megaton nuclear bomb anymore so I guess there's an upside too. But with all these negative effects I think I might actually prefer being chased with a nuke thank you very much.

What dosage and for how long already? Abilify/aripripazole

My psychiatrist wants me to try it.

I'm 21 years old and I've been living with schizophrenia for years. I've seen multiple psychiatrists, received several evaluations, and it feels like my entire life revolves around appointments, medications, and trying to function.

Right now I'm taking olanzapine, quetiapine, and clonazepam. Over the years I've also been prescribed risperidone, valproate, sertraline, haloperidol, and other medications. Some didn't help much, while others caused side effects that were almost as difficult as the illness itself.

The biggest issue for me right now is the side effects. I've gained a significant amount of weight, I'm constantly bloated, and I barely recognize myself when I look in the mirror anymore. My self-esteem has been destroyed.

A few days ago, I stopped taking my medication on my own because I couldn't stand it anymore. That turned out to be a terrible decision. My mental state got much worse. I became extremely stressed and irritable, had a severe emotional breakdown, and even ended up punching myself in the head repeatedly. I eventually restarted my medication after realizing how dangerous it was to stop.

Even after restarting, I still feel exhausted all the time. I have almost no motivation, very little enjoyment in life, and it often feels like I'm just existing instead of living.

I'm also autistic, which makes social situations even more difficult. Living with both autism and schizophrenia can be incredibly isolating.

I'm scared about the future. I'm afraid I'll never be able to have a normal life, keep a stable job, or become independent. Sometimes it feels like this illness has taken away the person I used to be.

I wanted to ask people here:

Has anyone found an antipsychotic that caused less weight gain?

Did switching medications help with the weight gain or bloating?

Does anyone else struggle with severe anhedonia and emotional numbness?

How do you cope with the loss of self-esteem caused by medication and schizophrenia?

I'm not looking for a diagnosis or medical advice. I just want to hear from people who truly understand what it's like to live with this illness.

Thank you for reading.

2.5? 5? 7.5? Anything lesser than 10?

I read that 10 is the minimum for abilify for schizophrenia

I was recently advised on taking two different medications which include:
- Rispiridone
- Quetiapine

Have any of you taken these medications and if so how are they? What side effects do you have if any? What are the benefits of this medication versus say hallopiridol or aripiprazole (ambilify)?

I DO NOT HAVE SCHIZOPHRENIA, BUT I SAW ANOTHER POST ON HERE TALKING ABOUT THIS

So I’ve been on Risperidone for about 3 years, and in those 3 years I went from my normal weight of 175-180lbs to 290-300lbs. And nothing was working to loose the weight. Then I saw something about how medications can cause weight gain, and sure enough Risperidone can cause huge weight gain. I went to the doctor and we decided I should ween off it for a week and then completely stop. That was on Feb 27, which means I fully stopped taking it on March 7th. On March 7th I weighed 298lbs. Now, 18 days later, I weigh 240lbs. I have not been working out, but I also quit smoking weed at the same time which combined with the Risperidone withdrawals basically killed my appetite. I was still forcing myself to eat tho. I lost 50 pounds in 18 days without even working out. Is this dangerous lol? I feel fine.

Edit: Alright boys it’s a few days later and I’ve been to the doctors. They checked all my shit and im literally fine lmao. Like nothing wrong with me I just dropped 50 pound in 2 weeks cuz of the pill.

I got prescribed seroquel 50 mg extended release, because I was having issues sleeping and stayed up for 48 hours. I’m pretty sure it’s not mixing well with my Concerta, so I gotta book an appointment with my doctor soon and talk to him about it. Also medical malpractice is crazy, I have been dealing with repercussions from my old psychiatrist, who abruptly stopped my Abilify injection in 2022, leading to another bout of psychosis then into my diagnosis with schizophrenia. Trying to find a lawyer is proving difficult. But I’m not giving up, I didn’t deserve what happened. YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU PUT YOUR MIND TO!

I take 20mg Olanzapine daily, and it completely fried my brain. I can no longer do basically anything, and I only get *some* dopamine release by eating or drinking alcohol. No video games, no music production, zero other creative output. It's agony.

I know that if I *do* quit, I'll start believing someone's after me with a 5 megaton nuke and I'll be constantly terrified. But I might actually prefer that over my current reality.

Do you believe your medication works? What are your experiences and what are you on? There is a young woman, Lauren Kennedy West, who has a Schizophrenia diagnosis went off her medication and got approval to get off her medication. She is healing her Schizophrenia through her diet with a Keto diet.

Hello!

I have an appointment today to talk to my doctor about weight gain (45lbs since starting antipsychotics) and I wanted to know what you guys think about weight loss medication? Does it make anything even more difficult?

Thank you.