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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by mojojar on June 6, 2004, at 12:24:16
Hi,
I had taken Risperdal for 3 years but have been off of it for 3 years now. Granted, the reason for taking it was trouble enough, but I recently have been having trouble with even more lack of emotion , motivation and withdrawal than usual. I was wondering if anyone knew if the long use of antipsychotics can permanently 'deaden' the dopamine receptors especially concerning the natural 'reward' systems.
This only started after about 3 months of using a BiPap machine for my apnea. At first, the apnea treatment felt like it was doing great but now I seem more tired and unrested than before I even knew I had apnea; not to mention the cinemascape of dreams during the night and not all lucid. This seems a paradox since I was have 450+ hypoxia events a night and an O2 of about 60%. I have been thinking of asking the dr. about provigil or something of that nature. I also take paxil and wellbutrin but they seem to do nothing for my fatigue and disinterest. They may as well be tic-tacs....
ty
--Do not sleep like an animal.
--Do the practice which mixes sleep and reality.
Posted by Daniel Woodfield on June 6, 2004, at 12:42:45
In reply to Long term effects of antipsychotics, posted by mojojar on June 6, 2004, at 12:24:16
Paxil can deaden emotions my friend.
Even short term SSRI use downregulates Dopamine in the brain, which as far as i am concerned anyway, does not sort itself out once off the drug.
The wellbutrin was originally thought to act as some counterbalance to this but i feel people got confused with more energy, whether it be the nervous kind, or the get up and go kind, and actually feeling emotion.
Wellbutrin has very weak effect on dopamine but works mostly on norephinephrine, so if it is a Dopamine boost you are looking for then the meds you are on aren't gonna help and with the paxil, more likely hinder.
Im interested as to why you gave up the AP because that is my next line of treatment with Paxil, Efexor, Celexa being totally destructive as opposed to healing in any way.
Posted by mojojar on June 6, 2004, at 16:35:46
In reply to Re: Long term effects of antipsychotics, posted by Daniel Woodfield on June 6, 2004, at 12:42:45
Hi,
I stopped taking the Risperdal on my drs. advice as my 'thinking' stabilized meaning no more thinking things were 'out to get me', no more odd smells, and a whole host of other oddities. I believe it was the risperdal that helped those things and the dr decreased the dose little by litte until I no longer took it. Antipsychotics are typically for those w/ schizophrenia but my diagnoses was schizoaffective and I had fairly early intervention (which is supposed to improve the prognosis). I have had no trouble for the past 3 years w/ those things but I do feel kind of 'dead' on the inside.
The hardest thing about Risperdal for me was the first 2 weeks. I had all the bad side effects but they soon disappeared. In the meantime, they gave me some type of Parkinson medicine to help w/ the side effects. I think it was Cogentin? which helped but also gave me blurry vision until I quit it. I felt no further side effects from Risperdal after a month or so except for a low heat tolerance during summers.
On the SSRI's, I unfortunately swallowed the company line of them being nearly harmless. Something I regret in retrospect especially when or if I try to go without (especially Paxil).
On the dopamine front, I have read that it is intricately involved in the reward/pleasure mechanism of the brain, which in my case is apparently as tired as I am.
ty
Posted by Pluto on June 7, 2004, at 2:26:01
In reply to Re: Long term effects of antipsychotics, posted by Daniel Woodfield on June 6, 2004, at 12:42:45
Do you mean SSRIs are worse than antipsychotics in the long run?
PLS
Posted by mojojar on June 7, 2004, at 4:54:24
In reply to Re: Long term effects of SSRIs Vs Antipsychotics » Daniel Woodfield, posted by Pluto on June 7, 2004, at 2:26:01
>
> Do you mean SSRIs are worse than antipsychotics in the long run?
> PLS
I am not a doctor so I would advise that your do some thorough research. But I have read evidence, from I believe creditable sources, that long term use of SSRI's may cause 'Serotonin Deficiency Syndrom'. Further Paxil is now involved in a class action law suit apparently because it is addictive and they didn't disclose that fact: http://www.baumhedlundlaw.com/media/ssri/paxil/Paxil_Withdrawal_Class%20Action.htmFor Risperdal:
http://adrugrecall.com/risperdal/medication.htmlThis is a good site for keeping up with current medicine news:
http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/SAFETY/2003/safety03.htmIt would appear that largely it is up to the patients to be informed since I assume drug companies only tell drs. the positive side of things.
ty
How do you post links here???
Posted by mojojar on June 7, 2004, at 4:55:59
In reply to Long term effects of antipsychotics, posted by mojojar on June 7, 2004, at 4:54:24
lol, I guess the site takes care of the links.
ty
This is the end of the thread.
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