Long (long) time readers will recall that once-upon-a-time I took the atypical antipsychotic Geodon. I found this to be an unbearably painful and side effect laden psych med. I hated Geodon. I wouldn’t wish Geodon on my worst enemy. I lost touch with reality on Geodon. I passed out at work on Geodon. I got sick constantly on Geodon.
You know, that being said, Geodon works for a lot of people.
I gather my reaction to this antipsychotic was fairly atypical. And if I had known what to eat when taking Geodon that might have helped.
About Geodon
Geodon (generic ziprasidone, also marketed as Zeldox by Pfizer) was the fifth atypical antipsychotic to receive FDA approval, in 2001. Geodon is approved to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder mixed-states and bipolar mania. And, of course, Geodon is prescribed off label in other cases of bipolar disorder or for depression.[1]
Facts about the Atypical Antipsychotic Geodon
Interesting facts about atypical antipsychotic Geodon:
- Has a very short half-life – a mean of 2-5 hours
- Geodon should always be taken with food (see below)
- It slightly increases the QTc interval (heart rhythm)
- Geodon can occasionally cause mania in people with bipolar disorder
It has all the other nasty effects that atypical antipsychotics do like weight gain, diabetes, tardive dyskinesia and the like.
Geodon Must be Taken with Food
One of the nasty problems I had with Geodon is that I found unless I ate exactly the right thing (red meat, I found, but results were variable) I would get really sick after taking the drug. I would feel nauseated, dizzy, crazy and basically so sick I had to go to sleep. And it was really hard to predict exactly when this would happen. It was a bitch.
Food with Geodon Affects Bioavailability
What I didn’t know is what really matters is the number of calories consumed with Geodon.
I had thought taking the Geodon was making me sick but actually it was the withdrawal from Geodon making me sick. Due to the short half-life, if I didn’t get the correct dose of Geodon, I went through withdrawal. (I took it once a day, increasing the problem.)
And as it turns out, if you don’t eat the right food, Geodon isn’t properly absorbed into your bloodstream. This is known as bioavailability. If you take Geodon without food its bioavailability may only be 50%. So 200mg becomes 100mg.
What to Eat with Geodon
While psychiatrists generally tell people to take Geodon with food, I doubt anyone mentions that if you don’t, it is only half as useful.
Luckily, there’s a study.[2] According to The impact of calories and fat content of meals on oral Ziprasidone [Geodon] absorption: a randomized, open-label, crossover trial:
- Maximum Geodon absorption was seen with meals of 1000 calories
- Low-calorie meals of 250 calories had only a 60% – 90% absorption rate, highly variable
- Meals of 500 calories were close to the absorption rate of the 1000 calorie meals
- Meals of 500 – 1000 calories had much less variable Geodon absorption rates
- Fat content of the meal had no bearing on outcome
So, in short, if you’re taking Geodon, you should eat a meal of 500 calories or more when you take your Geodon.[3]
Isn’t That a Lot of Calories?
I’d say so, yes. Seeing as dosage instructions for Geodon are to take Geodon twice daily with food, that’s at least 1000 calories right there. Kind of nutty, but there it is.
Do Doctors Know about Calories, Diet and Geodon?
Honestly, I have no idea. I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t know the magic formula was 500 calorie meals with Geodon. You might want to ask your doctor about it.
More on diet and bipolar disorder over on Breaking Bipolar.
[1] In case you’re curious, Geodon is one of four drugs Pfizer plead guilty to illegally promoting for disorders for which it was not FDA approved.
[2] By the way, you could get around this problem with intramuscular injections. If, you know, that were an option for you.
[3] And by “should” I mean according to the study and after talking to your doctor. Of course.
I am currently taking Geodon 40mg evening and 20 morning. For me it is like the wonder drug. I have never felt to so calm, centered and at peace. I have been manic whether high or raging for the last few months. This is the first time I feel normal. I take Lithium and Lamictim as well. I have noticed a change in sleeping pattern a bit but nothing too dramatic. I eat healthy, exercise and stay away from stimulants completely. My Dr did make it clear that a healthy lifestyle being diet and exercise is essential for my condition. I am a recovering addict as well. I guess it changes from person to person but I now have have beautiful relationships where before there was only wreckage. I almost lost my partner because of my episodes.
I’m currently taking this med but I do not feel right. I feel like I’m losing myself not being able to tell if the moment I am is real or not. I also have been feeling ill since I have started to take the med. Should I keep taking then med or stop and see what happens? I also would fall asleep at random moments in school and would sleep the day away when I took it.
I have a love hate with it. I took it after risapridal which made me gain tons of weight. Like going from a size 38 pant to a size 46 (really hurt my self imagine). And geodon caused me to lose some weight and worked some what. Not as well as I should have accepted. (But I was also still very resistant to admitting when I was having mania or depression/mixed episodes which I’m much more pron to then straight depression). Ultimately it made me feel very I’ll any dosage change, and I wound up in hospital in a psychotic mixed episode on it). I take Latuda now (was switch in hospital), which I was informed how many calories I should eat. (Have learned the hard way not to take it when cooking and dinner should be done soon. Long story short took longer to cook then predicted, ate to late and no more then ten minutes later was at the porcelain god. Not fun). The Latuda has not caused weight gain. But I struggle to lose any weight. I try to make peace that I’ll likely never be as thin as I was (pre-disgnoses) but it sure stings when old confident me selfies from like 14 years ago pop up as memories on Facebook. Or the comments from other gay firends that I’d be so “cute” if I lost weight.
You have to give ziprasadone time to do it’s job.
I take it at night because it can put me to sleep and that’s only needed at night.
After taking it for years it no longer has that side effect however
That’s interesting. I’m on Geodon currently and have been for the past 7 years. I guess I never knew why you had to eat with it. I’ve never had any issues not eating with it but I guess I’m just lucky. I do have to take it before bed though, because it knocks me out about 2 hours after taking it.
Are you saying that by using interamuscular injections, the need for 500+ calories can be avoided? Would a Psyc even make this and option available to patients.
Thank you so much for the information Natasha. My doctor said I needed to eat at least 350 to 500 good calories twice a day. But it’s really hard too eat that many calories in one sitting for me. She said a half a chicken salad sandwich would be okay, but that’s not enough calories… no wonder I feel out of sorts, and having more episodes. I will try to eat correctly from here on out. And a hard way only get $120 a month for food. Thank you again
Hi I have been taking Geodon (Ziprastadone, I don’t know the correct spelling) since around maybe 2001 or 2002. I have this med down to a science. I eat a homemade cheeseburger and a FULL glass of skim milk with my Geodon at 12:30 p.m. and then I drink a small chug of milk at 1:15 p.m. and then finally another cheeseburger and glass of skim milk at 1:45 p.m. If you eat the second cheeseburger and glass of milk any earlier than 1:45 p.m. it will not work and you will be sick for the next 12 hours. Then you must repeat the process at 12:30 a.m. You also cannot drink any water after taking geodon until you wake up. You can take one swig of water here or there but I try not to. One thing that has worked for me is not eating or drinking anything from 9:30 until 12:30. Geodon is a trial and error drug and I have schooled my doctor on what works.
The person that said it is a 7 hour drug is incorrect. Geodon is indeed a 11.5 hour drug. But if taken right will work for the full 12 hours. The reason that person said it is a 7 hour drug is because that person was on another medication with Geodon, and you cannot take any other drug with Geodon because it will shorten the life of Geodon by 5 hours.
You also cannot exersize very much on Geodon. For some reason when I try my teeth hurt and I get sick until I do not exersize for a period of 3 days. You also cannot lose weight on Geodon because you will get very stressed out and sick for a long time.
I have found that sometimes I cannot sleep well for weeks and sometimes I stay awake until 4 or 5 a.m. and that I can if necessary take benadryl as a temporary one or two time solution. My doctor told me once that they didn’t want me to take benadryl more than one time in a row. I have found that if I take my geodon perfect as in the timing schedule above that I wrote, that I can usually sleep pretty well. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can take the second cheeseburger and glass of milk at 1:30 instead of 1:45. It will not work and you will screw up your sleeping schedule.
If you do not fall asleep after taking geodon you will be very tired until 12 hours goes by and you will go in and out of tiredness until the 12 hours is up.
So after I eat my cheeseburger and drink my glass of skim milk at 12:30 I don’t feel good at all. I also have diabetes so the bread and milk make me feel bad. I also cannot drink water until I wake up either. And water really makes me feel great. Around 5 p.m. / a.m. I can drink as much water as I want and the more I chug the better I feel.
I was looking to this forum for something healthier to eat and drink with my Geodon, but as far as I read there isn’t anything else I can eat. When you eat good food it changes the biotics of your body (good and bad ones) and I don’t want to feel bad anymore. A cheeseburger and milk is about almost as healthy as it gets when it comes to diabetes. Until I figure out something healthier to eat, this is what works and what has worked for me for years.
Don’t try to fool yourself into thinking you can take other drugs with Geodon. You can’t. And I can’t.
I take 40mg in the morn and 80mg at night this works well for me the only side effects I have is feeling drowsy in the morning and feeling the need to clench my jaw and it’s kind of changed my personality I’m more sociable and out and about whereas before when I was on nothing I was antisocial and very withdrawn. I exercise a lot and this drug does not stop me from losing weight I have almost reached my goal weight and I’m very happy. I asked my doctor about the short life and he reckons it lasts the whole day and to never take info off the Internet as there’s a lot of bullshit on here and I agree. Please talk to your doctor first if you have questions I wouldn’t take advice from the Internet your doc knows best
My doctor does know about taking the geodon with at least 500 calories In order for it to be effective. My problem was depression/ bipolar and insomnia so he advised me to take it at night with at least 500 calories in order for it to work/ Make me sleep. Seems to be working along with the 100 mg of doxepin and Valium every night, by the way I take a high dose of geodon 240 mg every night. It does make me sleep, but I feel groovy the next day, my family has noticed that I’m not social anymore and I’m worried about weight gain. I was on lithium and gained quite a bit but have recently come off of it and have gradually lost around 64 pounds. So I’m infused about what to do. I do need to sleep.
Brianna, I think my post above can help you sleep. It will explain Geodon’s time schedule and I hope it helps you.
Elimination of ziprasidone or Geodon is mainly through the liver with a half-life of about 7 hours within the proposed clinical dose range.
Most psychs and pharmacists have always advised me to eat 400-500 calories for maximum absorption of the medication. Especially Fanapt and Risperdal.
Just a FYI. IF your doc’s have not advised you to do this, perhaps you should look for a second option.
you should all be talking to DOCTORS.. your doctor and not a board of general people who dont know how or why a drug is acting a certain way.
Mine put me on it and I weight 322 pounds and I am scared to death
this article is using old information. the medication is now only suppose to be given at night and a single dose. also, it is recommended to take it with your meal, but you dont HAVE to.
Hi Jason,
That is incorrect. Every patient information leaflet instructs that this medication be taken with food and I see no reason why the calorie count would have changed as the above information was based on a study.
http://reference.medscape.com/drug/geodon-ziprasidone-342985#91
I may not understand the specific chemistry of the medication but I do understand what is needed to metabolize certain medications, particularly based on studies.
One thing I do agree with, though, is that if there are any questions about this or any other medication, the patient should always discuss it with his or her doctor.
– Natasha Tracy
Interesting and informative as always. I have been on Geodon before and have actually been considering talking to my doctor about it again. I was told by my doctor to eat a high calorie meal with each dose so I never had any issues with that, although I was not explained WHY I needed such a large meal. I did have to come off of the medication because for me if I didn’t have enough sleep every night, and by enough I mean 10 hours or more, I was a wreck the next day. On nights I did get an excessive amount of sleep I felt wonderful the next day. But at that time I had to be at work at 7am and it was nearly impossible to insure that much sleep every night so we decided against it. I am now unemployed due to my illness and desperate for relief so I am considering Geodon again since now I can have as much sleep as I need. At this point though I’m willing to try just about anything…
I have a question I take alot of psych meds I take haldol its a drug that’s been on the market for 30 years along with phraphanizine and trileptal. Do you think I can take geodone to add to take or get off one of them.
Hey i used to read u back in the day.had to quit for awhile. i took geodon and it was by far the worst drug i have ever taken. it made moving sucha herculean effort that i lost my job and i couldnt drive myself home. i was constantly drowsy but never able to sleep. it also sort of paralyzed my neck at an odd angle and it was physically impossible to straighten out. that was the scariest drug ive been on.
Hi Diana,
Truth be told, it was the scariest drug I’ve ever been on too. I don’t generally mention my experiences on a drug-by-drug basis because I don’t want people to generalize my experience as I’m just one person, but yes, it was a freaking nightmare in pretty much every way.
– Natasha Tracy
I’m so glad you wrote this. I ended up in the ER on an IV because of Geodon due to vomiting. I wanted to throw in the drug Latuda as also needing calories to help with getting sick.
Hi CimmerianInk,
Sorry to hear you were in the ER over it – that sucks. Thanks for the mention on Latuda – that one is newer and I don’t know as much about it.
– Natasha Tracy
LK,
Thank-you so much so this important reminder. I’ll try to wrap it into a post.
Thanks.
– Natasha Tracy
Hi! I’m back after having the EMT’s over for a look. Turns out that Delsum (aka dextromethorphan) Is one of those OTC’s you should NOT take so forget what I said about being a rebel. I am paying for it dearly. DO NOT TAKE THIS MED BECAUSE IT INTERACTS BIG TIME W/ GEODON, and oh, if you also take Cymbalta you can expect BIG interactions. Look it up. I went out to the Mayo Clinic Site, NIMH.gov, the pharmaceutical companies’ made for the common person as well as the hard core Physicians’ prescribing information. One big problem is that in the city I live in there is a big movement toward “concierge” treatment (look it up – you’ll be shocked – you not only have to pay your monthly insurance premiums but also come up with say, $2K to have the privilege of being able to contact your doctor after hours. Further, and I digress kind of, I am on disability (why you ask? Many trips to the psych hosp. I didn’t even have to wait for a long sorry hoops to jump through that most people complain about. Further, if you have any relatives or you are on Medicare you will notice doctors are leaving Medicare FAR behind in drovess because the government lowered the payments to doctors (not sure exactly how much but 25% was suggested!). I have checked out literally ALL the psychiatrists in this city and NONE except a state funded mental health Treatment facility that accommodates the homeless. Don’t mean to be a snob, but even the psychiatrist I saw was crazy! I left after that one appointment never to return.Medicare and Medicaid are NOT accepted! That’s legislation for you! Unless you have Blue Cross/Blue Shield you are pretty much hosed. I was used to St. Louis where Washington Medical School and is a top medical in the country and has a teaching hospital just down the way in the city. There are only 10 hospitals here v. 30 or so in STL! There is a lot of competition for beds! Anyways, I you all have a nice day and ignore my last post, PLEASE. Moral of the story, don’t take any OTC’s no matter how harmless you think they are before checking with your doctor. Have a nice day!!
I am currently taking Geodon and it’s the best medicine I have ever taken. I’m happy and I have no side effects whatsoever. What is all this insanity about cheeseburgers if you eat cheeseburgers, you are definitely going to gain weight, I don’t care what Med you are taking. My doctor told me to eat with my medicine but not 500 cal and no way am I eating 500 calories when I only eat 1000 calories a day. The medicine still works better than anything. Plus it’s not making me gain weight, what are y’all talking about? It’s helping me Lose weight.
I’m not experiencing any withdrawal or whatever from lack of absorbtion. My mind is more clear than ever, I’m focused, I don’t have insomnia, I’m motivated, I get things accomplished.
That whole cheeseburger routine is the most bizarre thing I’ve ever read. I would weigh a ton. I take my full dose with dinner or a protein shake, so it will make me sleep. But I’m not hungry all day long and I just stay hydrated. Again, no side effects. I have been losing weight. Everyone has noticed a difference in my clarity & focus. I no longer procrastinate.
To the person who said you can’t work out on Geodon, I do every day. My workouts are better and more intense than on previous meds because I’m no longer a zombie.
Oh and best of all…on Geodon… I’m HAPPY…I have a good life and I appreciate it now.
I’ve just been reading all of your comments. It’s weird because either it’s the Yerba Mate tea I’m drinking (has no caffeine but is a natural stimulant) or the Geodon. I get wired (a little wired). But, as you Bipolars know, wired is cool but not way wired because of the coming down into the depths of Hell! My biggest complaint is waves of hacking cough. Not trying to advertise, but thank God for Delsym! (I’m sure my Dr. is not going to be happy with this, so, as they say, “Don’t try this at home (unless you check w/ your Dr. first”). I’m just a rebel! But I digressI I AM waiting to hear from my Dr. about the diet thing as I write. I went out to the Geodon MFacturer’s site and they said to take it w/ meals. I went out to NIMH.gov and it said the same. You all say the same with varying types of food (esp. protein). I guess a protein shake would do it? I have a mix that gives me 26g of protein (my Almond Milk I use gives me 1g). Would that work? My doctor told me the research (I should have asked for the source, although I really trust him) said that I should be taking Geodon (I take 80mg/day) 2 hours AFTER meals. Have any of you heard about this? By your comments I guess not.Bye for now!
Hi LK,
I recommend citing the specific study I talk about above so he knows where the research is coming from. You can take him the link I provide above. I’m pretty confident the research on taking it _with_ food is right, but if your doctor can look at the study, he can tell you what he thinks of it.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19026256
Hope that helps.
– Natasha
I ate 500 calories this moring and it still made me sleepy, I was also noticing like it made my blood sugar drop so I had to eat more. Is that a side effect or is that normal
Would love to hear a response.
Hi Pat,
I can’t say for sure as it wasn’t in the study but I have a feeling protein content of the meal has something to do with it. I’m only going on my experience, so this might not be the case for all, but I found that meat was the best thing to take the drug with and I think it’s because of the protein. But like I said, it wasn’t in the study so I can’t say too much about it.
You might want to check here for more information on side effects like those having to do with blood sugar: http://www.rxlist.com/geodon-drug.htm
Hope that helps.
– Natasha Tracy
I just got put on geodon twice a day, and my doctor told me to eat a lot when I take it, I found when I eat at least 500 calories when I took geodon that I didnot fell faint anymore, or sleepy, if I forgot to eat and took it anyway I felt like I could pass out, I had to take a long nap, and that I had the shakes, previously I took it at bed time and was only told to take it with food, but my new doctor told me you need to eat a lot of food, I am trying to loose weight but as long as I don’t gain a whole lot I will be fine, I was not eating right in the first place trying to loose weight, I would only eat about 700 calories a day and my family practioner told me that I was not eating enough, I was starving myself. So if I eat 1500 calories a day it is no big deal. Thanks for listening don’t hesitate to contact me, I would love to hear more. And by the way I know what it was like to be on Serqul I slept for 18 hours a day on that stuff, and gained 90 pounds I down 45 lbs now, but so far so good.
Hi Pat,
I know how bad Geodon can feel if you don’t eat correctly with it so I’m glad to hear you’re eating more healthily. Definitely work with your doctor to get your diet straightened out because starving yourself isn’t good for the Geodon or for you.
– Natasha Tracy
Hi, Pat I was so happy to read your comments. I just started Geodon at a small dose and only at night. Last night was only my 4th night and today I felt horrible, groggy spaced out, dizzy/faint and could barely eat without feeling nauseas. Im taking it tonight with about 500 calories in hopes that it will help dramatically with the side effects. I have a question does it matter if you eat before or after taking the med? I am trying to eat before bc I thought that was what I supposed to do. Another question do you neeed to allow yourself a lot of sleeping time like more than 7-8 hrs in order to not feel really groggy in the morning? Oh my so many questons, hope you can help! Thanx
Jess
Hi Jess,
Sorry, I don’t have access to the full study and the abstract just says they took it “with” food so I would take that to mean that they took the medication at the same time as the meal. (Before it probably not that great an idea because you don’t want the medication hitting your bloodstream before the food.)
Taking it with the proper amount of food _should_ reduce side effects for you.
As for increasing sleep time, that’s individual but I would say that 7-8 hours might not be enough. Possibly you could increase your sleep time in the beginning and then reduce it, if you like, once your body becomes more used to the medication.
Hope that helps.
– Natasha Tracy
i take 80mg twice a day of geodon i have noticed that if i dont eat something with protien in it. it doesnt fully work. I do admit when i dont have it i feel like im withdrawling from heroin which i used to be a big addict. but now that im on the geodon im afraid to go through the misery of getting off of it
It was in January, if I recall correctly. Recently enough for the studies to be out.
Ah, well that makes sense then. Kudos on having a doctor who keeps up with the research.
– Natasha Tracy
Ah, Geodon. My doctor did know the magical 500 calorie trick, but that did me no good. I didn’t know about red meat, but I’m vegetarian, so it wouldn’t have helped much anyway. Geodon knocked me out after I took it somewhere between 15-60 minutes after I took it, but like you I never knew when it would happen. By “knock out” I mean “act like I stumbling drunk” and walk into walls and can’t see straight or do anything other than hopefully find the bed. Then the short half life had me going through withdrawal half the day where I was shaking and had cold sweats and generally felt pretty much as if I’d binged on drugs the night before. It also caused my face to start twitching. We tried different dosages at different times all to no avail. It’s a shame because the drug did work wonders for my bipolar, but we just didn’t get along well in terms of side effects. I felt like I was in a constant state of overdose no matter how much or how little of it I took. I finally told my doctor she could take me off or I’d just stop taking it but either way that pill was not going in my mouth anymore.
Hi Kira,
Yup, that does sound strikingly familiar.
I didn’t think it had helped me but I came across a blog post I wrote when I was on it and apparently it did. I likely don’t remember it because I was asleep or side effect crazed at the time.
(When were you prescribed? Just curious when you doctor knew about the magic 500 calories.)
“I finally told my doctor she could take me off or I’d just stop taking it but either way that pill was not going in my mouth anymore.”
Now there’s a feeling I can identify with.
– Natasha Tracy
I would have never realized this. I am sure a lot of people don’t. This is a huge issue I think within the medical community. They don’t properly educate people about the reactions they will have to the meds. I always had strange reactions to my meds. The last med I was prescribed was Seroquel and I felt like I was living in a fog, my speech slurred and I SLEPT like I was dead. My doc didn’t really explain these things to me and whenever I tried to ask he just brushed my concerns off without explaining to me. So I stopped taking my meds because I thought they weren’t working and my doc didn’t notice or care that I was no longer taking them. That was right at the beginning of my delusional phase.
Hi Maasiyat,
This study wasn’t published until 2009 so who knows what people knew before then.
But yes, I agree, it’s a huge issue.
So often doctor will just say, “yup, let’s try drug X.” And then that’s it. Especially with long-term patients they just seem to skip the whole, “these are the side effect issues,” conversation.
I had the same reaction to Seroquel. Worse, actually. I woke up the day after I took my first dose and thought I was blind. Not because I was blind but because I _couldn’t_open_my_eyes. It’s nutbar.
And what you did, just stop taking the meds, is a pretty natural reaction when something makes you so ill and the doctor doesn’t listen. It’s one of the major problems of these kinds of meds. Doctors think patients are just “noncompliant.” Well, they could actually improve that issue with better communication skills.
But yes, Don’t Stop Taking Meds without medical oversight. But then, I’m guessing you learned that the hard way.
– Natasha Tracy
I take Geodon, no side effects that I can see other than I’m having trouble losing weight (was losing quickly, not I’m staying steady) My doctor told me to take it with 200 calories. Interesting article.
Hi Hannah,
Yes, it’s one of those things, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
But it is interesting that with only 200 calories you aren’t having issues. Might be with your particular food and body, as the study said, it’s variable. It’s something to keep in mind though if you’re finding peeks and valleys in mood or energy.
(I’ve heard quite a few people like you who don’t have nasty side effects on this med. It just so happens I was the opposite.)
It’s really tough to lose weight on antipsychotics but your doctor might have a suggestion about that. (I’m sure you’re aware of the typical blood sugar issues to take into consideration.)
Are you taking Geodon once a day or twice?
And if you feel like sharing, how effective have you found it for mood? Are you bipolar?
(It’s OK not to answer such probing questions. Only share if you feel OK about it.)
– Natasha Tracy
I have bipolar 1, mostly manic or mixed states. If untreated the mania escalates into delusions and/or paranoia and hallucinations (auditory mainly). I take Geodon twice a day, been on it about 2mths so far. I take it with protein as that seems to work best. I drink a protein shake in the mornings after weight training, so take the morning one then. My evening meal is easily 500 calories so no problem there. I have skipped it a few times, mainly because I don’t like feeling how “boring” I am on it. (yes, one of those that likes the hypomania but hates manic episodes) I also think you can get addicted to the drama in your life and feel at a loss when there is none. I like drama free, but at the same time I sometimes think it is boring.
I work with a trainer twice a week at the gym and on my own the other weekdays, noticed NO weight gain at all at first, now I think it is very slowly trying to add, but there isn’t much else I can do about it. I think I’ve maybe gained 2 lbs since on it. But with my work out regime was losing weight before I started it. Finally decided I’m going to have to accept and be happy with where I’m at right now and just continue to work hard to maintain. I’m at a good weight so ok with that.
This was my 7th medication, so was kind of like, if this one doesn’t work, I quit! So grateful it seems to be helping. Still a lot of mood fluctuations, but nothing that keeps me from my job or being able to parent my two kids. One of whom has Aspergers and the other diagnosed two weeks ago with bipolar and started on Abilify.
Hi Hannah,
Thank-you for sharing!
I can understand the “boring” feeling. It’s tough to make a life adjustment, even if it’s a good one. We all crave what we know, and if what we know is drama and stress, even if we don’t like it, some part of us craves it.
Of course there are many ways outside of skipping meds to not be boring. I’m in a very different position than you in life, so my ways of un-boring might not work for you, but I’m sure there are still many you can think of. Try neon-purple hair. Pierce something. Both are pretty darn fun.
Congratulations on such an amazing workout routine. I’m sure your doctor is proud of your example. You’re definitely doing the right thing there and you can probably thank the non-weight-gain on your dedication.
And congratulations on finding something that works for you. I know how hard the med-go-round is. It takes strength to keep going in your situation, but you have. You’re amazing.
I’m sorry about your kids. Hopefully there is a good therapist that can help them and if they learn tools at a young age, they can grow up to be happy and healthy.
(I know Aspergers isn’t the same thing. It’s a little out of my ballpark but I have no doubt it can be worked with.)
Drop by and let us know how you’re doing any time. Again, thanks for sharing, I know someone is reading this right now and finding a lot of hope in your story.
– Natasha Tracy
I do try to find creative, healthy ways of non-boring..lol. I’ve had my hair red, have 5 ear piercings, a nose piercing and spent this past weekend swimming with dolphins at Gulf World. :) I also SCUBA dive and have flown a plane and stuff like that. Maybe I have an adrenaline addiction…hehe.
Hannah,
Ah, a girl after my own heart. I’m not sure there are any studies about mental illness and adrenaline rush, but I’ll give you my incomplete 2 cents:
In depression, several neurotransmittors like serotonin and dopamine tend to be depressed. And, in fact, when you take an antipsychotic, it also depresses these same neurotransmittors.
Adrenaline, though, is a natural way of increasing these levels, at least temporarily.
There is a modern addiction theory that posits that some people become addicted because they are born with fewer of the “feel-good” chemicals. Not enough to be “depressed” but enough to feel sucky all the time. Then, when they feel the pleasure of a drug, it is _so_ much better than their life they want to use it again more than someone’s life that was already pretty good.
I suspect it’s a similar thing with dopamine and serotonin depletion. We feel _so_ much better, we crave more adrenaline or endorphins. (Which isn’t necessarily an addiction, just a desire.)
But that’s more of a pet theory. Perhaps I’ll write an article about it sometime and expand on it.
– Natasha Tracy
Oh, and I’m a piercing fan and have a SCUBA license too. I’m more prone to jumping out of planes than flying them, but similar.
And I’m jealous you were swimming with dolphins :)
– Natasha Tracy