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Not sure how to make this post shorter, considering how much time has passed and how many different meds I’ve been on. I first got referred to a psychiatrist at the age of 14, for Clinical Depression. At the age of 15 I spent most of my days at an Eating Disorder Clinic, after being diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa. Switched from antidepressant to antidepressant, mood stabiliser to mood stabiliser and never seemed to find the right fit, thought I was maybe just overly sensitive to negative side effects. At the age of 19 I got diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and “suspected” Bipolar II because I experienced hypomania when having SSRI withdrawals, and again when I was on a high dose of Venlafaxine. I also got put on a Benzodiazepine for Anxiety, and got dependant on it for years, whenever I tried to stop taking it I’d get physically ill and have panic attacks all day. Eventually I tapered it off, although not as slowly as I should have, and got off them. At 21, I got diagnosed with C-PTSD. I am now 22 and have recently changed psychiatrists, since the one I had would put me on a cocktail of meds. I’ve been prescribed Wellbutrin (bupropion), 150mg at first, and Latuda (lurasidone), 20mg. After a week, they upped my Bupropion to 300mg. I’ve experienced many unpleasant side effects, such as dizziness, headaches, increased heart rate, inability to sleep for more than 2-3h etc., since starting these medications. Two days ago, just a few days after increasing my Bupropion dosage to 450mg, I had a seizure. I had never experienced that before. After reading about it, I found out that people with history of Anorexia or Bulimia should not take Bupropion since it does lower your seizure threshold. My psychiatrist was aware of my history and prescribed it to me anyway. I am extremely scared that it will happen again, especially if I’m alone. I don’t think I should be taking these things. Most of my issues come from trauma, and I believe the best way to overcome them is to discuss better coping mechanisms in therapy (I currently do DBT with an amazing professional). I really don’t think these meds are any good for me, but since I’ve been taking them for so long, I’m scared I may have damaged my brain and reached the point of no return. I have now lowered my Bupropion dosage back to 300mg, as advised by my psychiatrist. Does anyone have similar experiences, or tips on what I could do next?

I developed paranoia in 2014-15 related to negative experiences at work. I was put on risperidone. It made me very sedated. For a long time, I did not realize the sedation was because of the drug. Then I discontinued the drug, and had a psychotic episode in 2016. The psychotic episode involved delusions and no other symptoms (other than negative symptoms due to the distraction and destabilization of delusions). During the psychotic episode, I lost my job and then was hospitalized. I was put on Latuda, but myself discontinued the treatment. There was something like remission, at least in functionality, although the delusions were never challenged and never resolved. My career got back on track in 2017, although my marriage was scarred by the first episode. The delusions came back in the Spring of 2020 after I had COVID19. I was put on Olanzapine and Fluoxetine. Because of sedation, I went off the drugs about two weeks after starting. I had severe insomnia, which magnified the delusions. This was my second episode. I was hospitalized again. I took Olanzapine (15mg) and the insomnia resolved. I was also prescribed Lithium. Later, I would realize that severe insomnia is the result of Olanzapine withdrawal for me. I retained my job but my wife divorced me, taking away our five year old son, in the summer of 2020. I am a professor, and I taught for a semester in the Fall of 2020. During the Fall of 2020, the delusions resolved through conversation with my sister. I feel that I have insight and that delusions are a mental process from which I now am largely protected, and which is not truly addressed through medication. I withdrew from Lithium during the Fall of 2020, and tried to withdraw from Olanzapine -- but could not without severe insomnia returning. I went on disability in the winter of 2021 and with the help of a psychiatrist and Ativan, cross-titrated from Olanzapine to Latuda between late December 2020 and early April 2021. Over the course of that time, the insomnia got better but far from resolved. Slowly, I came off the Ativan between December and early April. In late April 2021, I attempted to withdraw from Latuda (40mg). Latuda was causing cognitive side effects, which are my primary concern as they interfere with my line of work, as well as sexual dysfunction. Although I had no trouble withdrawing from Latuda in 2016, I had severe insomnia when I tried to withdraw in 2021. I believe that Olanzapine withdrawal has had long term adverse consequences for my sleep regulation. My psychiatrist was against the discontinuation of Latuda and when I told him about my discontinuation and the severe insomnia, he advised me to go up to Latuda 60mg. I have gone up to Latuda 40mg and the insomnia is slowly resolving, again, with support from nightly Ativan at decreasing doses to increase sleep. The discontinuation and resumption of Latuda has been a painful learning experience. I had been off Latuda for about three weeks before the insomnia became severe and was off Latuda for a total of about a month. During the first three weeks of discontinuation, I felt sharper and my sexual dysfunction was resolved. However, after the insomnia started, I could not deal with the 2-3 hours of sleep per night. It made me irritable, depressed, and cognitively deficient. So I had to go back on Latuda. At first, when I restarted Latuda this Spring, I had bad sideeffects (restlessness, nausea) but they resolved (they may also have been due to the higher doses of Ativan I was taking then rather than the Latuda). I am now waiting to come off of Ativan, and then for sleep to stabilize. I do not expect sleep to be great as it was before I started the Olanzapine adventures. But I need it to stabilize before I will try to slowly reduce my dosage of Latuda. I plan on titrating down as follows: 40mg->30mg->20mg->15mg->10mg->5mg->5mg w/o food to reduce its metabolism->0mg. I would take 2-3 months between each step, or however long it took for sleep to stabilize. I am also wary of titrating down while teaching (as opposed to during breaks). Potentially I may not be able to come off the Latuda (in 2016, it was significantly sedating but now, while taking it, I have insomnia that I believe is largely an after-effect of Olanzapine discontinuation). In late July, my disability period ends and I have to return to work. This will be stressful, although, I am doing my best to prepare for teaching this fall. The pending divorce is also stressful, and I feel a great loss because my son had brought so much joy into my life. My parents and sister are supportive, but they are on the West Coast and I live on the East Coast. I am lucky in many ways, including in that my sister is a doctor and we have become increasingly close through this difficult experience. I spend a lot of time reading psychiatric studies and ruminating on the future. That is how I came across ****** Framer's article, "What I have learnt from helping thousands of people taper off antidepressants and other psychotropic medications". Although I had come across your website before, ultimately, it was this article that led me to express my gratitude for your work and reach out to see if you may help. I am currently on Latuda 40mg and Ativan 0.5mg, with expectations that the Ativan will soon be discontinued.

Failed out of school several times because I would be in bed with depression for 3 weeks at a time every fall. 5 days in hospital -> major depression diagnosis. 5 years later -> bipolar II diagnosis. About 10 years of life lost to undiagnosed illness in total. Took 1-2 mg of risperidone between 2001-2014. Completed university, successful career, stable marriage since 1997. In 2014, switched to lurasidone because of better metabolic profile. I don't actually think the lurasidone is helping a lot. I suffered from sleep apnea for at least 10 years but nobody screened me although there was a Health Canada warning about the connection between SGAs and sleep apnea. My resting heart rate is 90 bpm. Pretty sure I have heart damage from the sleep apnea. My BMI is 27 which is not high enough to expect sleep apnea. I will get zero support from my GP for my plan to taper according to my plan. Very interested in anyone's experience with tapering from lurasidone with a diagnosis of bipolar II. Also interested a recipe for making liquid lurasidone. What to dissolve it in, does it require heating, etc. I made a plan based on pill splitting - the last step looks terrible.

I am 35, the medication I quit was Latuda and I cold turkeyed, attempted to go back on and just went off again. I had been on various medications through my adult life and childhood that I think set me up for the experience. I forgot exactly what I did but I see now that my old post says "I ended up going to 40mg for 2 weeks then 1 week 20." When I look back at the pattern, I would say that things got so bad that when things were improving I thought I was back to "normal" but it's only years later that I realize that things were a smidge slower than I thought. But some things were fast. It's such a bizarre experience. I think that by a year the big things were gone and everything had improved month by month in that year and then more and more my body regulated itself. I have forgotten so much of that period but I would say what helped was hiking, friends (ones you could be completely honest with), researching but also letting go of research and even being on this site (because I got obsessive and sometimes the reaction wasn't good). Facebook distraction. Forcing myself to eat, but changing my eating to a little bit more healthy. Working, I needed to continue to work for the structure. Having the tv on and laying down a lot helped, it helped with the loudness of my mind. Being under stimulated in general, such as having lights off. Forcing myself to do normal things even if I felt like a dead brick, like walking through stores to shop. Individual therapy. Group therapy. Not returning to the psychiatrist (there is a holistic one near me that I considered based on her attitude, more holistic approach, seems anti med a little, I always considered doing that and this gave me hope so see if that is available). Reading success stories of people experiencing hard times in their lives. Kept taking vitamins. MINDFULNESS. MINDFULNESS. MINDFULNESS. You can not think about tomorrow. Yoga and staying in surviving the moment was the best thing for me. I wasn't perfect obviously, but just kept going back to that. One other thing that really helped was eventually acting like it never happened, I know that sounds sh*tty but I stopped coming here and researching and whatever else because I had to get my mind off it. But I remember promising myself to come back in a year to update, which I believe I did. The one regret I have is not going off my birth control when this happened. I didn't want to make things worst but I don't think there could have been a worst and now I am being triggered by attempting to get off birth control. Other than that, I think I made the best decisions I could and I made it out.

I’m actively slowly tapering off nasty cymbalta. I’m currently counting beads, taking 17.7mg / 93 beads. I also take 10mg of latuda. I haven’t had any problems dropping latuda from 20 to 15 or 15 to 10, but I’m wondering if staying on it for another two years before I’m off cymbalta completely is really a good idea. It’s also expensive which is a constant risk if insurance stops covering it. I know it’s a brake to the cymbalta and probably helps ease the cymbalta withdrawal... thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Not bipolar, if that matters - taking this cocktail for mostly situational depression that I’ve made life decisions to alleviate. Really don’t think I need these meds, and think the anxiety is a side effect from the AD. THANKS!

Hey so I got aka from latuda.i was on 20 mg for 2 weeks then 40 for another week and a half.Stopped it because of aka and it's been almost 3 weeks and the aka is killing me not letting up.Please give me hope this will go.I don't understand why it's still here when I stopped the meds 3 weeks ago it isn't in my body anymore and I wasn't on the med long.When will this end I can't see a light at the end of my tunnel.This is like inner restless torture.

Hi all. This is Gemini. I about seven months into Zoloft withdrawal, currently taking a teeny tiny amount of latuda for withdrawal symptoms. I am majorly depressed and confused and would like to know the difference between withdraw al symptoms as opposed to uh underlying condition symptoms. Currently my almost psychotic depression has alleviated but don't know if that's from latuda intervention or a window in recovery. I can no longer work so moving in with family. I've lost everything but getting off Zoloft is worth it!