☼ Jgarza7: withdrawals from Invega Sustenna

[Jgarza7]

Can someone please help me?

[ChessieCat]

HI Jgarza and welcome to SA,

 

We need to know some details about your situation before we can offer any suggestions so please tell us more about what you need help with.

 

 

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This is your own introductions topic where your can ask questions about your own situation and journal your progress.

[Altostrata]

Welcome, jgarza.

 

We need to know what drugs you're taking now and for how long. The injections of Invega Sustenna wear off over time. What dosage did you get, and when?

[Jgarza7]

I was given the 234 and 156 invega shots. The 234 was the first the loading dose of 156. My last injection was December 10 2018. I’m suffering the withdrawals of this stupid drug. I’m a disabled veteran that has ptsd and my psychiatrist recommended to try this drug out. That was the biggest mistake of my life. I can’t feel happiness and life doesn’t seem right. So I’m looking for others who have gotten off this drug to help me. When can I be myself again? How long does this frig stay in the body?  

[Altostrata]

What are you experiencing as withdrawal symptoms?

 

Emotional anesthesia is a side effect of the drugs, you might say that's how they "work." This should very, very gradually wear off. As it wears off, your symptom pattern will change. Be patient, this can be very frustrating.

 

For information about how the drug wears off, see Tips for tapering off Invega (paliperidone)
 

Quote

 

Invega Sustenna is intended to last at "therapeutic" strength for a month, then you would get another injection to keep up the potency. Its half-life is very long -- 25 to 49 days. This means that at 25-49 days, it has worn off to half-strength in your body. It would take about 125-343 days for it to completely leave your body.

 

The blood level and side effects will be highest shortly after the injection, then wear off somewhat. Given the very long half-life, if you have gotten a single application of Invega Sustenna (often two injections close together), you must let your body gradually metabolize it to go off it.

 

 

[Jgarza7]

The withdrawals I’m suffering from is insomnia and anhedonia.

[Jgarza7]

I’m just looking for ways to get this out of my system quicker because it’s like I’m living in hell 

[cantbe]

Hey, Jgarza7 just want to say you're not alone in this because I'm suffering the same from a single 400mg Abilify injection. I'm 5 months off and I still have the effects from the antipsychotic. Insomnia (I had perfect sleep before and I can't nap now), anhedonia (lack of care & love for things, no motivation, no interest, no ambition) and sexual dysfunction. How would you describe your insomnia? How many hours and how does it compare before you had the injection?

[Jgarza7]

On 3/17/2019 at 4:01 PM, Jgarza7 said:

Can someone please help me?

You and I are going through the same withdrawals my friend. Idk how much longer I can go like this. I’m not myself anymore. I want this to end all ready. I’m getting about 3 hours of sleep. I have no interest or motivation to do anything. I’m not my creative self anymore. I heard it may take a year or 2 for me to feel myself again 

[Jgarza7]

@cantbe is there anyway we can help each other out? Maybe you and I can motivate each other everyday or something. I just feel alone everyday. 

[cantbe]

Hey Jgarza7. I don't really know how to cope. I'm barely hanging there. Something about little sleep makes me miserable and in the morning I feel like I don't know what to do with myself. I know mainly the lack of interest and motivation make you like you have nothing to look forward to. They say only time can heal us. I really hope for the best or a miracle for the both of us. Sometimes I reread some of the success stories from antipsychotics here helps my mind somehow.

[Jgarza7]

@cantbe  I didn’t get any sleep and it morning. I don’t know what to do. What about you? 

[Jgarza7]

@cantbe PM me at so we can talk one on one more privately. We can help each other. 

 

Edited May 25, 2019 by ChessieCat
removed email address and changed to PM

[cantbe]

I only get to sleep 2-3 hrs every night. We can just send private messages here on this site. 

[Jgarza7]

@cantbe I didn’t get any sleep today bro. Idk how long I can keep going like this. I regret getting that injection. That’s all I think about. 

[Jgarza7]

@cantbe I just feel alone bro. Luckily I got my wife Helping me cope. But it’s hard for her to understand what I’m going through you know.

[Carmie]

On 3/29/2019 at 11:53 AM, Jgarza7 said:

@cantbe I didn’t get any sleep today bro. Idk how long I can keep going like this. I regret getting that injection. That’s all I think about. 

 

Hi Jgarza, 

 

I’m sorry you have insomnia. Do you go to bed and get up at the same time each day. Do you stop looking at screens a couple of hours before you go to bed (TV, mobile phone, tablet etc) ? 

 

Sending hugs🤗

[Jgarza7]

@Carmie I lay down with my wife between the hours of 8 to 10pm. Then I just lay there. Have you recovered from Invega Sustenna? 

[Carmie]

Hi again Jgarza, 

 

No I’ve never had Invega Sustenna, but I’ve been on and off a myriad of medications which all started off because of chronic pain. I’m only on Seroquel now, I’ve managed to taper down from 300mg to 7.5mg. I’ve got many more years of tapering to go. 

 

You took your last shot in December I see, it’s only been a few months since then. In the time frame of withdrawals that’s not a long time, it can take quite a while for our brains to stabilise from the medications we have been given. You will eventually heal, it just takes time. 

 

The reason I mentioned going to bed and getting up at the same time is that it can help with your circadium rhythm, which in turn can help sleep. I had a week of insomnia recently so I made myself get up at 6am every morning and I stopped looking at screens a couple of hours before bed and I’ve been able to sleep okay again. I’m not sure if it will work for you, but it’s worth a try. 

 

It doesn’t matter if you sleep or not while lying in bed, just keep the hours the same. For example go to bed at 9.30pm and get up at 6am. After a while your body might start sleeping better again. It’s worth a try. Also, stay away from those screens a couple of hours before bed. 

 

Take care💚

 

 

[Jgarza7]

@Carmie 

 

Thank you for the advice. I’m very scared of what this injection has done to me. I read a lot of recovery stories from bluelight.org. So I can have hope. I’ve never felt this bad in my life. It’s the lowest I’ve ever felt. My wife cries because she misses the old me and there’s not much I can do to fix it. A lot of people say it’s a waiting game. But I’m scared that this permanently messed up my brain. I guess I’m just weak right now. Everyone says the beginning of the withdrawals are the worst time. Then it gets better.

[Shane88L]

Hi Jgarza,

 

I can attest to the fact that it does get better! The first few months were a living hell for me. I didn't think it would get better. I just wanted it to end.
I'm 226 days into recovery of cold turkey olanzapine, and beginning to feel better. I have a loving wife also, and this ******* drug tested our relationship on so many levels. Your love is there, even if you feel like it has gone and you can't feel anything. The drug masks everything, the withdrawals mask allll of your feelings, and leave anxiety and depression. 
It's really, really hard to get through this crap, but with time, and being kind to yourself, you'll get better!

Shane.

[Jgarza7]

Thank you for your reply @Shane88L

 

Its been 5 months since I was injected with that poison. Was yours an injection or pills? 

[Shane88L]

Mine was pills.

I read other people who got injections and pills and recovered after some years, and I can understand now why it takes so long, personally.

It is a slow process of recovery, and even today I feel quite low and removed from myself/others, but it is getting easier the more time passes.

[Jgarza7]

@Shane88L Thanks for sharing. I don’t know how you get through everyday. 

[Shane88L]

Distraction helps the most, especially during when the withdrawals are the most intense. Being alone, outside among nature... Being alone with yourself I found to be important, as the withdrawals forces you to face your traumatic past more than ever.
 

[Jgarza7]

@Shane88L I wasn’t forced this injection like most people say they were. It was just another day at the VA and I told my psychiatrist I was feeling anxiety because my wedding was coming up. So he recommended an injection that would help my anxiety. And boom all this happened to me. I was so stupid to just agree. This is why it bothers me so much that this happened to me. How do pills and injections cause the same withdrawals? I thought pills were less potent then injections. How long do we stay like this?

[Shane88L]

Your psychiatrist is a dangerous person. Giving an antipsychotic for some anxiety is absolutely horrendous. 

I, too, agreed to take antipsychotic pills when they were recommended to me under the guise of "anxiety reducing" and "far safer" than benzodiazapines. The psychiatrists didn't tell me that they

were antipsychotics either. In hindsight, I would have fared better to be more vigilant and not so trusting of these pill-pushing people. I have learned a lot.
 

Pills, injections... The effects are the same. With injections, it hits harder, essentially, or so I've read. 

We will recover.

[Jgarza7]

@Shane88L I’m almost 5 to 6 months now: I still feel the same. Everyday I get up to nothing and there’s no feeling of purpose to do something. I’m guessing this is what anhedonia is or what everyone experiences. I’m scared that I will never be myself again. I really hope we do recover. Many people say they recover but all of them are different: I just hope I don’t have to wait a year. I don’t want to put my wife through all this.

[Shane88L]

When I think about how I used to be, it fills me with a deep fear... I remember, and there is no feeling, and then I start to panic..
This is just trauma, I believe. Slowly, making new experiences in life that gradually allow us to re-integrate ourselves and start to recover... 
Time is healing...

[Jgarza7]

So this feeling starts going away with time? Do you remember feeling like me? @Shane88L How long were you on the pills? Does it also block dopamine and serotonin receptors?

[Shane88L]

There are days when I feel like that again, but for the most part, things are getting better. I was on the pills for a little over 3 weeks. Olanzapine are the worst. They block something like 15 receptors, or something ridiculous. When I think of this, I seethe with rage. Given these pills for some anxiety and trouble sleeping... A ******* crime!

[Shane88L]

It is a damn crime what has happened to you, and to us all. The GPs and psychiatrists should be convicted for what they have done.

[Jgarza7]

@Shane88L 3 weeks of pills and you’re suffering this bad? Wow! How is this possible? They should be convicted.

[Shane88L]

I was always very medicine sensitive. Some people react in very different ways, whereas other people don't seem affected at all. Our brains and bodies are all so unique.
 

Now, I am finally no longer depending on medicine to try and resolve my issues. I work them out through talking and self-care - exercise, diet etc.

I have lots of anger that hasn't been expressed... A feeling of injustice I guess!


 

[Jgarza7]

@Shane88L It’s hard for me to find hope in my situation because I had an injection. Versus you took pills for 3 weeks. My wife has always told me that I’m a negative person. lol But I’ve been looking for some type of sign that I will not be like this forever. 5 going on 6 months and still no emotions or feelings.

[Shane88L]

Me too, and this negativity is coming from my bad upbringing and recent traumas. From my research, and my talking to other victims of these drugs, a huge factor seems to be our past traumas. I've started to work on healing my traumas, and this seems to be really helping. 
Our negativity is a big hindrance, for definite. But, the negativity is no big deal... It happened due to our past...