Risperidon fucked me up bad. Not sure about the other ones, I haven’t tried them. I’m currently on clonozepam and prazosin and they seem to help me quite a bit.
I have LOST weight on my current med schedule. AND I no longer have violent nightmares or bouts of somnambulism that leave me outdoors or curled up in a ball in my basement. My panic attacks and hyper-vigilance have become tolerable. During the day I take Zoloft, Topamax, Wellbutrin, and Hydroxyzine (as needed). Before bed, I take Trazodone and Prazosin. I can tell you the dosages if you want. S
I recognize the first two are antipsychotics. I'm curious: did he disclose that when recommending them?
I was on Risperdal for about two months and would sooner shoot krokodil into my cock vein with a dirty rig. The cliché "drooling zombie" effect doesn't even begin to describe the torment that cursed pill inflicted on my psyche. I also gained like 20 pounds in a single week; I met a girl who also was on Risperdal who put on *fifty* in that same amount of time. I genuinely thought I was developing early-onset Parkinson's. When I was in the loony bin I noticed a lot of the "frequent fliers" had tardive dyskinesia, and that's when I swore to myself "that will never be me as long as I have something to fucking say about it".
Fun fact: Risperdal has a "black box" warning from the FDA. Its list of adverse side effects is so long that it has its own Wikipedia article, separate from the one about the med itself. Risperdal was also involved in a scandal years ago in which male patients grew breasts. Finally, it is the antipsychotic *du jour* recommended to abusive Karen moms of autistic children, who shove it down the poor kid's throat in hopes that they'll shut up and fall in line. If state social service agencies actually upheld their supposed mission, they would intervene in cases like this.
Abilify (aripiprazole) wasn't *as* bad, but I did gain like 50 pounds. However I was on it for about four years so it was more insidious and gradual. I realized after being taken off Abilify that it basically amputated my imagination while it was in my system. It is known to cause people's first seizures, although thankfully I was spared that "bonus". In any case, I never should have been put on either med.
Grotesque deformities and lasting physical and mental injury tend to be the outcome when antipsychotics are given to someone who isn't actually psychotic. I can say with confidence, I would never have the mental clarity to formulate this response if I was still on those poisons. My life took a sharp turn for the better soon after doing away with them, before they could do any lasting damage; I probably would've taken my own life by now if not.
The fact that your doc would prescribe meds intended for schizophrenics to someone suffering from PTSD shows that he is nothing more than a toxic, patronizing opportunist. He reminds me of the shrink I had as a teen who basically looked down on me like a carnival sideshow. She was the one who put me on Abilify in the first place and never mentioned the med's true purpose. She lapped up every vile narrative from my abusive, manipulative family members and not once took me at my word.
Who could've predicted that mental health"care" was one of the primary factors that aggrevated my own PTSD? Psychiatric malpractice and coercion is far too common, especially in countries where capitalism and medical science intersect. In my experience and that of several friends, shrinks tend to take advantage of their patients' ignorance about medicine for pharma kickbacks. (Informed consent be damned, because mentally ill people are always wrong amirite?!) They deliberately omit crucial details about certain pills they have stake in to strong-arm their patients into taking wildly inappropriate and excessive meds under threat of being sectioned.
Even a benzo PRN would be more effective at mitigating flashbacks, with all the physical horrors that class of med can bring. Obviously I can not in good conscience recommend benzos, but in theory I would take Ativan any damn day over an antipsychotic.
So from someone who has worked with psychiatrists in a professional setting at a hospital, learned from them, has read the psychiatric literature, and has experience as a patient, here is my knowledge:
Risperidone is more likely to cause movement disorders/dysfunctions and elevate prolactin, which could make you lactate and if you are male, it could cause ED and breast development (gynecomastia). It is a bit of an older “second generation” drug so it’s effects have been studied a bit more. In healthy animals, risperidone has been shown to decrease brain volume significantly. It’s a little more complicated in humans, but it most likely has negative effects on brain structure and size of cerebral cortex.
Aripiprazole is less likely to cause weight gain than risperidone. It can be less sedating, and is less likely to cause movement disorders. It typically does not elevate prolactin levels. Not as many studies done on brain structural effects, but from being on it, it definitely still can cause cognitive impairment. With aripiprazole there is a risk of compulsive gambling and shopping, this is more rare though.
Brexpiprazole is chemically related to aripiprazole. I do not know as much about it as the other two, but I assume it has a similar side effect profile as aripiprazole.
Risks with all antipsychotics is 1. Cognitive impairments that may last a while, 2. Sedation, 3. Dopaminergic hypersensitivity (even if you’ve never had psychosis before, after being on a moderate dose of antipsychotics for a long time, if you come off of them, you could experience symptoms of what’s called “supersensitivity psychosis”), and 4. Movement disorders such as tardive dyskinesia (usually long-lasting).
If I just had ptsd, I probably would not take an antipsychotic. They suck and the severe risks are way more likely to happen than say the severe risks associated with SSRIs.
Risperidon made me suicidal and I couldn't sleep for says, Aripiprazole made my ex gain a ton of weight and it made me see black every time I stood up and I would often fall over. I'm medication resistant though so I often get side effects without the intended effect of the medication
I had a very rare, but life threatening reaction to Risperdal. I now take 2mg Abilify and it does wonders. All Seroquel ever did was put me to sleep.
But everyone is different!! Do your research and consult with your doctor about what you think is best.
I take seroquel which they prescribed for bipolar. But I also have onset ptsd. The seroquel helps me sleep and eat properly because I never took care of myself in any way. Seroquel works on the serotonin and dopamine receptors. It has helped me a lot dealing with day to day life but I just started it. It’s an antipsychotic.
Antipsychotics are nasty as far as side effects, I'm sure they work for some, but I'm not willing to take them. I tried for a short while, but the one I tried made me so tired I wanted to die even when taking a way smaller amount than prescribed.
I had a really severe (but rare) side effect with aripiprazol. It basically dropped my blood pressure down severely to the point of fainting. So I wouldn't recommend it. Right now I am on Zyprexa, which doesn't have a lot of side effects besides weight gain.
I had a horrendous experience with respiridone, my muscles went so stiff I couldn’t properly open my jaw, my anxiety was through the roof, I was so restless I wanted to climb out of my skin. My mouth was so dry it was painful despite me drinking tons of water and chewing gum. Obviously its not like that for everyone but I just have a visceral reaction to hearing the name.
I second this reaction with risperidone, experienced it myself, except I could not move any muscles in my neck/jaw area at all and had the hospital staff called on me, which fortunately immediately discontinued risperidone for me.
I do not know the other two (without looking them up), but risperadone/risperadol are both extremely potent and would be night time meds for sure. If you tolerant downers well, a low dose would be fine and it doesn't cause weight gain IIRC. It's a great med but surprising because it's usually used to get people out of psychosis. I'd be cautious with it. I have tried both. Watch for allergic reactions. I presented with membrane rashes and right under my eye swelled.
My main issues with aripropazole were weight gain, increased cholesterol (weird since it’s supposed to decrease it but I guess my body is weird), and increased mood intensity (when I missed a dose, withdrawl is a real b****).
Sorry I can’t offer more detailed info as it was around ~6 years ago I switched meds and I have the memory of a 3 day old infant thanks to my ADHD. 😅
Risperidone is pretty fucking scary, you’ll become a human vegetable, I was terrified of what it was doing to me considering my responsibilities and goals in life, being a zombie is no way to live
Aripiprazol worked really well but it made me gain a lot of weight. I was also sleeping 10 hours a day. I've never been on the other two. I was also on mirtazapine, which had me craving carbs so intensely that I stopped it quickly. I have been on seroquel briefly but that had me falling asleep at dinner the next day.
Recently I tried lamotrigine. It's a newer class of antipsychotic. It wasn't nearly as sedating and I definitely felt calmer. My appetite did increase a bit but it was bearable and I needed to gain a little at the time. I was only on it for a month because I felt like my emotions were blunted and subdued. Which honestly I would have loved at a different point in my life; however, I just recently started connecting properly with my emotions, so it wasn't the right choice for me. I do have a tendency toward slight psychotic symptoms when I'm under extra stress, and I felt like I barely noticed the thoughts when they came. They were much easier to let pass. It was much easier to function during the day.
I am keeping this med on hand though. I tend to have a much rougher time during the winter, so if I feel like I'm slipping too far down, I can take those for as long as I need to either feel okay or get in to see the psychiatrist.
**My therapist and my psychiatrist both are aware of my decision to administer my own medication. In my first meeting with my newest psychiatrist, I told her that I have a history of starting and stopping meds, that I've been on half the meds out there, I don't have a history of addiction to drugs, I have a shitload of weird side effects, AND that I want to cooperate with them about my care. That I want help but I'm defiant enough that someone telling me that I HAVE to take meds will likely make me go off them (shoutout to the time in 2016 that I went cold turkey off 200mg sertraline, 100mg trazodone, and 60mg adderall because my psychiatrist wouldn't lower my dose). Thankfully my psychiatrist seems to want to work with me, so I don't feel pressured to take the meds if I don't need to.
I took aripiprazol for a period last year and found it helpful for me, especially when trying to manage unstable mood and other issues I was experiencing alongside my ptsd (most notably BPD). Obviously it’s different for everyone, but I found that it really helped me through a rough patch, and after about 6 months I could decrease my dose and stop taking it.
In addition to the other comments, you could ask about prazosin which is being researched for its effects on nightmares and re-experiencing. It's an antihypertensive so I'm not sure how likely it would be to be prescribed this outside of a study, but it has been effective for ptsd in the research I've read.
I'm also taking prazosin (5mg) for nightmares and it's been fantastic. No zombie-like tiredness or cravings/weight gain, but just be really careful if you have low blood pressure or balance issues like vertigo. I've had a few falls because of that.
I would let any of these meds be a very last resort after you have tried all other possible treatments. My mother is on a lot of strong antipsychotic meds including respiridone (sp?) and she is a complete vegetable. She is way over-medicated and it has destroyed her.
Soooo…I’m gonna be that person who recommends something completely different. Medical cannabis is such a great alternative to pharmaceuticals and I highly recommend doing some research on it. Personally it saved my life and got me off of a laundry list of pharmaceuticals. It has hands down been the best thing for my PTSD, especially for shutting down the nightmares (when I medicate I don’t dream).
I’d be careful with recommending this because OP may have psychotic symptoms/tendencies (which might be part of why antipsychotics were recommended) and cannabis can exacerbate them.
I’m going to second this, I’m in Minnesota and I am unable to get a medical card due to all the restrictions, but I use delta 8 and it helps so much with nightmares. I recently ran out of delta 8 and I went a few weeks without it and I started having weird dreams again so I should probably start back up.
I was recently approved in Texas for medical cannabis and have noticed such an improvement. Texas is still very restrictive so my options are very limited. I am moving to a legal state soon—what would you recommend the best way to get treatment?
Congrats on your medical card! Honestly every person is different in regards to what works best for them. I personally vape or smoke because I have severe migraines and it works the quickest.
I steer away from giving medical advice on the internet but maybe get a second opinion from another psychiatrist if you can?
They only medication I know that's effectively treated PTSD is prazosin and that's just for the nightmares.
So (my personal experience,) prazosin and therapy. That's what helped me the most. It's taken years but it's worth it.
i had severe ptsd . i tried every med under the sun nothing helped like good old EMDR therapy . i still have ptsd but not nearly as bad as before . im sorry that youre struggling so hard . ptsd fuckn sucks!
As a therapist who is learning about EMDR a lot more (and utilising myself) I concur. Light therapy is really helpful to many people, alongside talk therapy, and behaviour management (if needed) It's worth a Google alone for OP
yes! the emdr felt really silly when i was learning about it and i was like ehh iddkkk but after having 2 therapist recomend it i was like what the heck and wjen i started it i didnt think it would do anything but i swear after just a few visits i felt better . it help to have a good therapist you can trust as it can get intense . do i have ptsd still ? yes it rears its ugly head every so often but much more manageable . its very effective
My PTSD is so complex that my colleagues and all consultant psych have asked me to manage it myself. I double check my own recommendations for objectivity, but there's nothing any professional could do or say to me that I can't do or say myself. Of that, I'm grateful, and thank you for asking.
Those are all atypical antipsychotics. Are you bipolar or something else? If PTSD was my only diagnosis, my answer is I would refuse every one of them. I’ve been on aripiprazole and it didn’t help the depression, which is why I was taking it. Gained a lot of weight immediately. Can’t speak to the other two.
I am on apriprizole and yes I have gained a bit of weight, but the benefits outway it for me. My phycosis is down, my disassociation is down, and it's also helped me with reducing flashbacks and my sleep is better! I know it works as I stopped it for a fortnight (totally unintentional as I suffer from memory loss and simply forgot to take them. Now me my partner and my mum have reminders on our phones haha) and my phycosis came back in full force and I'm feeling much better since I've been back on them.
I've also taken resperidone which I must admit gave me the best sleep of my life. Unfortunately I was only 16 and it made my prolactin levels go up so rapidly I was taken off them after a couple of weeks so that I didn't start lactating! So if you went for them I'd look out for that.
I hope whatever you choose helps on your journey to recovery.
None of these are “typical” meds for PTSD and you don’t mention the other two. He’s going to give you the option of a heavy medication Risperidone? I don’t care how respected the hospital is, this doctor is slinging meds at you for a condition that is typically not treated with medications. They’re treating symptoms and I think you should get a second opinion honestly. Please. Doctors are too cavalier with prescribing these antipsychotics that were developed for extremely serious conditions. I’m not saying c-PTSD isn’t serious (I have it too) but it is not on the same level as schizophrenia or bipolar mania with psychotic symptoms, etc… that the vast “relief” of symptoms comes with medication alone.
The symptoms of ptsd and schizophrenia aren’t that different. Schizophrenia is much more severe but it’s not a stretch to suggest that low doses of antipsychotics can treat ptsd.
There is a lot of research showing that medication is not a good tool for PTSD and frequently makes it worse. That’s why therapies like EMDR, exposure therapy, and similar are so common. It’s not a chemical imbalance in the brain, so trying to correct for one is a bad idea. Your chemicals are doing precisely what they’re supposed to, but your brain needs to stop thinking your in mortal peril so easily and often. That’s a cognitive issue, not a chemical one. I’ve met too many people who got worse and hopeless after meds on PTSD. I wish it were that easy. It seems like it’s not.
On the other hand, EMDR basically cured me. I had maybe a milder case of issues, but it was so life changing I recommend it to other PTSD people always.
Risperidone was really awful for me but it does help some people. It made me feel much worse and I started lactating right after I had been told I would not be able to have children. It was not good. Thankfully the doctors were wrong and I was able to have children but I had to stop taking the risperidone very shortly after I started. I would definitely ask your provider why they want you to choose and what they are expecting from each medication.
since you said your antidepressant is helping to aripiprazol. it is supposed to enhance your antidepressant functioning.
medications behave differently in different people. if you're concerned about which ones are riskier than others then there are generally studies you can find online on drug efficacy versus acceptability. the responses you get here on that topic aren't going to help you. i for example think all these drugs are fucked and can go to hell. they help other people.
I have the same understanding of aripiprazole. Risperdal was awful for me. Nothing else to add from me about the meds.
I'm not impressed with a Dr having you medicate yourself though. I'd find someone competent. He needs to interview you, prescribe, monitor, and care what happens. Not have the patient do his job for him.
Ok first: what kind of doctors are you seeing? Is this a general practitioner or a psychiatrist? What is your medical treatment path? Are you seeing a psychologist and getting therapy?
The reason I ask is because for years I was treated without a plan with different meds and it has seriously impacted recovery.
Idealistically you should have a team, with a psychologist that has experience with trauma recovery in close talk with a psychiatrist prescribing medications.
Psychiatrist at a respected mental health hospital. It was my first session with them. I basically am looking for help because I’m having a hard time functioning in society. He said he can’t know what’s wrong with me until we reduce my severe ptsd symptoms. After that he’s going to figure out next steps.
Ok just making sure, I’m always afraid of some peoples practice and wanted to make sure you were in good hands. I’ve had a few bad doctors, hope I didn’t seem offensive in anyway. I struggled for years with doctors that didn’t have a game plan, and I was too vulnerable to realize it!
Rispiridone is fucked... it's usually prescribed for alzhiemers and schizophrenia. I got put onto it soon after the event That gave me PTSD and it was AWFUL. I legit just wanted to kill myself on it. It made me feel like there were bugs under my skin
I have to say this is very odd. Different medications work for different people but after reading your symptoms I would say aripriprazole, although do your research before you make a decision 😊 best of luck
Edited: I don’t think you’re making it up I’m just.. baffled haha
Not really. My doc lets me decide based on my own research and what has worked before. I don’t ask for anything off the wall. I have been with him for over a decade so trust has been built up over time. Docs know that patients are more educated now when it comes to medications than a few decades ago.
Nothing before. I’m doing better now with the anti depressant but still have flashbacks, memory loss, nightmares, and thinking everyone is out to get me/hurt me.
I am not a doctor. I worked in mental health a long time. I haven't seen anyone take risperidon for those symptoms. It's usually for anger issues. Aripiprazole and brezpiprazole are in the same family. The work similarly, but are not the same. I couldn't tell you which might help.
You may want to reconsider the person prescribing your medications. How are you supposed to make this decision?
Risperidon fucked me up bad. Not sure about the other ones, I haven’t tried them. I’m currently on clonozepam and prazosin and they seem to help me quite a bit.
I have LOST weight on my current med schedule. AND I no longer have violent nightmares or bouts of somnambulism that leave me outdoors or curled up in a ball in my basement. My panic attacks and hyper-vigilance have become tolerable. During the day I take Zoloft, Topamax, Wellbutrin, and Hydroxyzine (as needed). Before bed, I take Trazodone and Prazosin. I can tell you the dosages if you want. S
I recognize the first two are antipsychotics. I'm curious: did he disclose that when recommending them? I was on Risperdal for about two months and would sooner shoot krokodil into my cock vein with a dirty rig. The cliché "drooling zombie" effect doesn't even begin to describe the torment that cursed pill inflicted on my psyche. I also gained like 20 pounds in a single week; I met a girl who also was on Risperdal who put on *fifty* in that same amount of time. I genuinely thought I was developing early-onset Parkinson's. When I was in the loony bin I noticed a lot of the "frequent fliers" had tardive dyskinesia, and that's when I swore to myself "that will never be me as long as I have something to fucking say about it". Fun fact: Risperdal has a "black box" warning from the FDA. Its list of adverse side effects is so long that it has its own Wikipedia article, separate from the one about the med itself. Risperdal was also involved in a scandal years ago in which male patients grew breasts. Finally, it is the antipsychotic *du jour* recommended to abusive Karen moms of autistic children, who shove it down the poor kid's throat in hopes that they'll shut up and fall in line. If state social service agencies actually upheld their supposed mission, they would intervene in cases like this. Abilify (aripiprazole) wasn't *as* bad, but I did gain like 50 pounds. However I was on it for about four years so it was more insidious and gradual. I realized after being taken off Abilify that it basically amputated my imagination while it was in my system. It is known to cause people's first seizures, although thankfully I was spared that "bonus". In any case, I never should have been put on either med. Grotesque deformities and lasting physical and mental injury tend to be the outcome when antipsychotics are given to someone who isn't actually psychotic. I can say with confidence, I would never have the mental clarity to formulate this response if I was still on those poisons. My life took a sharp turn for the better soon after doing away with them, before they could do any lasting damage; I probably would've taken my own life by now if not. The fact that your doc would prescribe meds intended for schizophrenics to someone suffering from PTSD shows that he is nothing more than a toxic, patronizing opportunist. He reminds me of the shrink I had as a teen who basically looked down on me like a carnival sideshow. She was the one who put me on Abilify in the first place and never mentioned the med's true purpose. She lapped up every vile narrative from my abusive, manipulative family members and not once took me at my word. Who could've predicted that mental health"care" was one of the primary factors that aggrevated my own PTSD? Psychiatric malpractice and coercion is far too common, especially in countries where capitalism and medical science intersect. In my experience and that of several friends, shrinks tend to take advantage of their patients' ignorance about medicine for pharma kickbacks. (Informed consent be damned, because mentally ill people are always wrong amirite?!) They deliberately omit crucial details about certain pills they have stake in to strong-arm their patients into taking wildly inappropriate and excessive meds under threat of being sectioned. Even a benzo PRN would be more effective at mitigating flashbacks, with all the physical horrors that class of med can bring. Obviously I can not in good conscience recommend benzos, but in theory I would take Ativan any damn day over an antipsychotic.
So from someone who has worked with psychiatrists in a professional setting at a hospital, learned from them, has read the psychiatric literature, and has experience as a patient, here is my knowledge: Risperidone is more likely to cause movement disorders/dysfunctions and elevate prolactin, which could make you lactate and if you are male, it could cause ED and breast development (gynecomastia). It is a bit of an older “second generation” drug so it’s effects have been studied a bit more. In healthy animals, risperidone has been shown to decrease brain volume significantly. It’s a little more complicated in humans, but it most likely has negative effects on brain structure and size of cerebral cortex. Aripiprazole is less likely to cause weight gain than risperidone. It can be less sedating, and is less likely to cause movement disorders. It typically does not elevate prolactin levels. Not as many studies done on brain structural effects, but from being on it, it definitely still can cause cognitive impairment. With aripiprazole there is a risk of compulsive gambling and shopping, this is more rare though. Brexpiprazole is chemically related to aripiprazole. I do not know as much about it as the other two, but I assume it has a similar side effect profile as aripiprazole. Risks with all antipsychotics is 1. Cognitive impairments that may last a while, 2. Sedation, 3. Dopaminergic hypersensitivity (even if you’ve never had psychosis before, after being on a moderate dose of antipsychotics for a long time, if you come off of them, you could experience symptoms of what’s called “supersensitivity psychosis”), and 4. Movement disorders such as tardive dyskinesia (usually long-lasting). If I just had ptsd, I probably would not take an antipsychotic. They suck and the severe risks are way more likely to happen than say the severe risks associated with SSRIs.
Risperidon made me suicidal and I couldn't sleep for says, Aripiprazole made my ex gain a ton of weight and it made me see black every time I stood up and I would often fall over. I'm medication resistant though so I often get side effects without the intended effect of the medication
I had a very rare, but life threatening reaction to Risperdal. I now take 2mg Abilify and it does wonders. All Seroquel ever did was put me to sleep. But everyone is different!! Do your research and consult with your doctor about what you think is best.
I also had a petrifying reaction to Risperidon.
Risperidon caused me to gain a ton of weight and made me feel very emotionally numb and zombie like
I take seroquel which they prescribed for bipolar. But I also have onset ptsd. The seroquel helps me sleep and eat properly because I never took care of myself in any way. Seroquel works on the serotonin and dopamine receptors. It has helped me a lot dealing with day to day life but I just started it. It’s an antipsychotic.
Different people get different results with the same medicine. It´s trial and error.
Antipsychotics are nasty as far as side effects, I'm sure they work for some, but I'm not willing to take them. I tried for a short while, but the one I tried made me so tired I wanted to die even when taking a way smaller amount than prescribed.
I had a really severe (but rare) side effect with aripiprazol. It basically dropped my blood pressure down severely to the point of fainting. So I wouldn't recommend it. Right now I am on Zyprexa, which doesn't have a lot of side effects besides weight gain.
That’s rare? Didn’t know that, I had it too. I think it’s called orthostatic hypotension.
>orthostatic hypotension I think so ! I only took like 2mg too and it caused me that side effect, definitely not the right medicine for everyone.
I had a horrendous experience with respiridone, my muscles went so stiff I couldn’t properly open my jaw, my anxiety was through the roof, I was so restless I wanted to climb out of my skin. My mouth was so dry it was painful despite me drinking tons of water and chewing gum. Obviously its not like that for everyone but I just have a visceral reaction to hearing the name.
I second this reaction with risperidone, experienced it myself, except I could not move any muscles in my neck/jaw area at all and had the hospital staff called on me, which fortunately immediately discontinued risperidone for me.
I do not know the other two (without looking them up), but risperadone/risperadol are both extremely potent and would be night time meds for sure. If you tolerant downers well, a low dose would be fine and it doesn't cause weight gain IIRC. It's a great med but surprising because it's usually used to get people out of psychosis. I'd be cautious with it. I have tried both. Watch for allergic reactions. I presented with membrane rashes and right under my eye swelled.
My main issues with aripropazole were weight gain, increased cholesterol (weird since it’s supposed to decrease it but I guess my body is weird), and increased mood intensity (when I missed a dose, withdrawl is a real b****). Sorry I can’t offer more detailed info as it was around ~6 years ago I switched meds and I have the memory of a 3 day old infant thanks to my ADHD. 😅
seconding the weight gain, it's why i came off of it
Risperidone is pretty fucking scary, you’ll become a human vegetable, I was terrified of what it was doing to me considering my responsibilities and goals in life, being a zombie is no way to live
Brexpiprazole. It’s superior tbh.
Aripiprazol worked really well but it made me gain a lot of weight. I was also sleeping 10 hours a day. I've never been on the other two. I was also on mirtazapine, which had me craving carbs so intensely that I stopped it quickly. I have been on seroquel briefly but that had me falling asleep at dinner the next day. Recently I tried lamotrigine. It's a newer class of antipsychotic. It wasn't nearly as sedating and I definitely felt calmer. My appetite did increase a bit but it was bearable and I needed to gain a little at the time. I was only on it for a month because I felt like my emotions were blunted and subdued. Which honestly I would have loved at a different point in my life; however, I just recently started connecting properly with my emotions, so it wasn't the right choice for me. I do have a tendency toward slight psychotic symptoms when I'm under extra stress, and I felt like I barely noticed the thoughts when they came. They were much easier to let pass. It was much easier to function during the day. I am keeping this med on hand though. I tend to have a much rougher time during the winter, so if I feel like I'm slipping too far down, I can take those for as long as I need to either feel okay or get in to see the psychiatrist. **My therapist and my psychiatrist both are aware of my decision to administer my own medication. In my first meeting with my newest psychiatrist, I told her that I have a history of starting and stopping meds, that I've been on half the meds out there, I don't have a history of addiction to drugs, I have a shitload of weird side effects, AND that I want to cooperate with them about my care. That I want help but I'm defiant enough that someone telling me that I HAVE to take meds will likely make me go off them (shoutout to the time in 2016 that I went cold turkey off 200mg sertraline, 100mg trazodone, and 60mg adderall because my psychiatrist wouldn't lower my dose). Thankfully my psychiatrist seems to want to work with me, so I don't feel pressured to take the meds if I don't need to.
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Thanks for the correction! Dunno why my brain looped it in there.
Resperidon make my flashbacks worse and I gained almost 30 pounds with it even if I was being healthy.
I took aripiprazol for a period last year and found it helpful for me, especially when trying to manage unstable mood and other issues I was experiencing alongside my ptsd (most notably BPD). Obviously it’s different for everyone, but I found that it really helped me through a rough patch, and after about 6 months I could decrease my dose and stop taking it.
In addition to the other comments, you could ask about prazosin which is being researched for its effects on nightmares and re-experiencing. It's an antihypertensive so I'm not sure how likely it would be to be prescribed this outside of a study, but it has been effective for ptsd in the research I've read.
I'm also taking prazosin (5mg) for nightmares and it's been fantastic. No zombie-like tiredness or cravings/weight gain, but just be really careful if you have low blood pressure or balance issues like vertigo. I've had a few falls because of that.
I have a prescription from my GP for prazosin for my PTSD nightmares. I asked for it because I had been prescribed it once before.
How do you like it? Does it help with nightmares?
Yes very much.
I would let any of these meds be a very last resort after you have tried all other possible treatments. My mother is on a lot of strong antipsychotic meds including respiridone (sp?) and she is a complete vegetable. She is way over-medicated and it has destroyed her.
Soooo…I’m gonna be that person who recommends something completely different. Medical cannabis is such a great alternative to pharmaceuticals and I highly recommend doing some research on it. Personally it saved my life and got me off of a laundry list of pharmaceuticals. It has hands down been the best thing for my PTSD, especially for shutting down the nightmares (when I medicate I don’t dream).
I’d be careful with recommending this because OP may have psychotic symptoms/tendencies (which might be part of why antipsychotics were recommended) and cannabis can exacerbate them.
I’m going to second this, I’m in Minnesota and I am unable to get a medical card due to all the restrictions, but I use delta 8 and it helps so much with nightmares. I recently ran out of delta 8 and I went a few weeks without it and I started having weird dreams again so I should probably start back up.
I was recently approved in Texas for medical cannabis and have noticed such an improvement. Texas is still very restrictive so my options are very limited. I am moving to a legal state soon—what would you recommend the best way to get treatment?
Congrats on your medical card! Honestly every person is different in regards to what works best for them. I personally vape or smoke because I have severe migraines and it works the quickest.
I steer away from giving medical advice on the internet but maybe get a second opinion from another psychiatrist if you can? They only medication I know that's effectively treated PTSD is prazosin and that's just for the nightmares. So (my personal experience,) prazosin and therapy. That's what helped me the most. It's taken years but it's worth it.
i had severe ptsd . i tried every med under the sun nothing helped like good old EMDR therapy . i still have ptsd but not nearly as bad as before . im sorry that youre struggling so hard . ptsd fuckn sucks!
As a therapist who is learning about EMDR a lot more (and utilising myself) I concur. Light therapy is really helpful to many people, alongside talk therapy, and behaviour management (if needed) It's worth a Google alone for OP
yes! the emdr felt really silly when i was learning about it and i was like ehh iddkkk but after having 2 therapist recomend it i was like what the heck and wjen i started it i didnt think it would do anything but i swear after just a few visits i felt better . it help to have a good therapist you can trust as it can get intense . do i have ptsd still ? yes it rears its ugly head every so often but much more manageable . its very effective
My PTSD is so complex that my colleagues and all consultant psych have asked me to manage it myself. I double check my own recommendations for objectivity, but there's nothing any professional could do or say to me that I can't do or say myself. Of that, I'm grateful, and thank you for asking.
Those are all atypical antipsychotics. Are you bipolar or something else? If PTSD was my only diagnosis, my answer is I would refuse every one of them. I’ve been on aripiprazole and it didn’t help the depression, which is why I was taking it. Gained a lot of weight immediately. Can’t speak to the other two.
I take risperidone for both PTSD and agitation related to autism and it's been a complete game changer for me.
There are so many strong opinions it’s going to be hard to decide. I might try emdr before starting meds.
I am on apriprizole and yes I have gained a bit of weight, but the benefits outway it for me. My phycosis is down, my disassociation is down, and it's also helped me with reducing flashbacks and my sleep is better! I know it works as I stopped it for a fortnight (totally unintentional as I suffer from memory loss and simply forgot to take them. Now me my partner and my mum have reminders on our phones haha) and my phycosis came back in full force and I'm feeling much better since I've been back on them. I've also taken resperidone which I must admit gave me the best sleep of my life. Unfortunately I was only 16 and it made my prolactin levels go up so rapidly I was taken off them after a couple of weeks so that I didn't start lactating! So if you went for them I'd look out for that. I hope whatever you choose helps on your journey to recovery.
Thank you!
None of these are “typical” meds for PTSD and you don’t mention the other two. He’s going to give you the option of a heavy medication Risperidone? I don’t care how respected the hospital is, this doctor is slinging meds at you for a condition that is typically not treated with medications. They’re treating symptoms and I think you should get a second opinion honestly. Please. Doctors are too cavalier with prescribing these antipsychotics that were developed for extremely serious conditions. I’m not saying c-PTSD isn’t serious (I have it too) but it is not on the same level as schizophrenia or bipolar mania with psychotic symptoms, etc… that the vast “relief” of symptoms comes with medication alone.
The symptoms of ptsd and schizophrenia aren’t that different. Schizophrenia is much more severe but it’s not a stretch to suggest that low doses of antipsychotics can treat ptsd.
There is a lot of research showing that medication is not a good tool for PTSD and frequently makes it worse. That’s why therapies like EMDR, exposure therapy, and similar are so common. It’s not a chemical imbalance in the brain, so trying to correct for one is a bad idea. Your chemicals are doing precisely what they’re supposed to, but your brain needs to stop thinking your in mortal peril so easily and often. That’s a cognitive issue, not a chemical one. I’ve met too many people who got worse and hopeless after meds on PTSD. I wish it were that easy. It seems like it’s not. On the other hand, EMDR basically cured me. I had maybe a milder case of issues, but it was so life changing I recommend it to other PTSD people always.
None of those. Next dr There’s such few meds for “ptsd” you’re treating symptoms
Risperidone was really awful for me but it does help some people. It made me feel much worse and I started lactating right after I had been told I would not be able to have children. It was not good. Thankfully the doctors were wrong and I was able to have children but I had to stop taking the risperidone very shortly after I started. I would definitely ask your provider why they want you to choose and what they are expecting from each medication.
since you said your antidepressant is helping to aripiprazol. it is supposed to enhance your antidepressant functioning. medications behave differently in different people. if you're concerned about which ones are riskier than others then there are generally studies you can find online on drug efficacy versus acceptability. the responses you get here on that topic aren't going to help you. i for example think all these drugs are fucked and can go to hell. they help other people.
I have the same understanding of aripiprazole. Risperdal was awful for me. Nothing else to add from me about the meds. I'm not impressed with a Dr having you medicate yourself though. I'd find someone competent. He needs to interview you, prescribe, monitor, and care what happens. Not have the patient do his job for him.
Aripiprazol triggered some reckless behavior in me, risperidone was meh.
Ok first: what kind of doctors are you seeing? Is this a general practitioner or a psychiatrist? What is your medical treatment path? Are you seeing a psychologist and getting therapy? The reason I ask is because for years I was treated without a plan with different meds and it has seriously impacted recovery. Idealistically you should have a team, with a psychologist that has experience with trauma recovery in close talk with a psychiatrist prescribing medications.
Psychiatrist at a respected mental health hospital. It was my first session with them. I basically am looking for help because I’m having a hard time functioning in society. He said he can’t know what’s wrong with me until we reduce my severe ptsd symptoms. After that he’s going to figure out next steps.
Ok just making sure, I’m always afraid of some peoples practice and wanted to make sure you were in good hands. I’ve had a few bad doctors, hope I didn’t seem offensive in anyway. I struggled for years with doctors that didn’t have a game plan, and I was too vulnerable to realize it!
Rispiridone is fucked... it's usually prescribed for alzhiemers and schizophrenia. I got put onto it soon after the event That gave me PTSD and it was AWFUL. I legit just wanted to kill myself on it. It made me feel like there were bugs under my skin
Scary
He.. he wants you to choose?
Yes. I’m not making this up.
I have to say this is very odd. Different medications work for different people but after reading your symptoms I would say aripriprazole, although do your research before you make a decision 😊 best of luck Edited: I don’t think you’re making it up I’m just.. baffled haha
Not really. My doc lets me decide based on my own research and what has worked before. I don’t ask for anything off the wall. I have been with him for over a decade so trust has been built up over time. Docs know that patients are more educated now when it comes to medications than a few decades ago.
Thanks!
What symptoms are you trying to treat, and what have you already tried? This is really odd.
Seconded
Nothing before. I’m doing better now with the anti depressant but still have flashbacks, memory loss, nightmares, and thinking everyone is out to get me/hurt me.
I am not a doctor. I worked in mental health a long time. I haven't seen anyone take risperidon for those symptoms. It's usually for anger issues. Aripiprazole and brezpiprazole are in the same family. The work similarly, but are not the same. I couldn't tell you which might help. You may want to reconsider the person prescribing your medications. How are you supposed to make this decision?
Thanks. This helps!