Geodon : any good results ?
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When my sz son was first diagnosed more than 10 years ago that was one of the first drugs he was given, other than maybe contributing to tiredness it never helped to alleviate his delusions or voices. He was on it a couple of months, maybe 3 and then we moved on to a different medicine.
Gave my grandson severe dystonia
I had my son taken off of Clozaril and we are trying Geodon. In his third month on Geodon so still too early to tell. The Clozaril had him laughing for hours on end; I read where it could lead to pancreatitis and it was not the wonder drug promised - at least for him. He’s pretty stable with Geodon and is actually answering the phone - which he never did before and agreeing to small outings. So, to me that’s an improvement. Good luck with your experience …
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Thank you for the response. We are seeing drastic improvement within 2 weeks. Holding conversations, going to a twice weekly college course and he even applied for and got a job interview and job offer. He’s still laughing inappropriately but maybe once a week now and says some inappropriate things - which seem like Tourette’s symptoms more than anything else. But overall huge improvement on 40 mg a day. He is to increase next week to 60 mg a day. He says it is not making him tired or sleep but his eyes look like he is medicated. Watching closely for side effects and will have blood draws and blood pressure etc checked frequently.
That is so good but if you see him getting like paralyzed,dystonia give him some benadryl, thats what the docs gave my grandson in the ER.
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My son did well on Geodon - for a while. And then he didn’t.
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What medications have you found that work?
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So far my son takes 40 mg in the morning and has taken 2 weeks to get up to this dosage. He’s had more good days than bad but still has very poor impulse control and has thrown a glass of milk at me, broken a lamp and a favorite dish. But he’s able to go to classes in college and has a new job. We are nervous every time he walks out of the house. We worry he will day or do something odd and someone will call the police.
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For the past 10 years my son has done really well on Clozapine, he settled on that medication after the doctor tried about 7 or 8 other ones first that did not work very well. Clozapine was the only med to rid my son of the voices and major delusions. It took time but it worked and still does today.
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My son also has shown significant and longlasting improvement on Clozapine. I see glimmers of insight, better socialization and empathy, and an ability to resume some activities he enjoys. He now might go days without mentioning one of his delusions. People who know this illness know how significant that is!
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I am so happy to hear this @Vallpen I really do know the significance! It’s been 10 years and do you know I still to this day see very slight improvements sometimes.
@Pookey52 - we are now on month 2 with Geodon and at 40 mg twice a day. So far, so good I’m relieved to say. We are not seeing any weight gain which is a big deal. When he was on Olanzapine he literally gained 40 lbs overnight. His symptoms appear to be improving we don’t see any hallucinations or odd behavior at this point. His concentration is improving and so is communication.
The Geodon doesn’t make him sleepy either so he is still struggling to sleep without melatonin. I am told the longer he takes it the better his recovery will be. I will try to keep updating this to let you all know how it’s working. I recently read that different antipsychotics work for different prominent symptoms. So if paranoia is a prominent symptom one antipsychotic medicine may not work as well as another. Have any of you read this or have information on it ?
@swillis - My son is now up to three capsules @ 40 mg of Geodon (120mg daily). He is getting out more - actually visited my Mom who he hadn’t seen in over a year and called his Dad to see if he could spend the weekend. After nine years with no vacation, I’m doing high fives! He likes walking up to the neighborhood store but with today’s crime stats, I’m not keen on him doing that…but…he is 39. There are still weird responses and beliefs on occasion but, as with some of the other meds, he is not drugged up. `hoping for continued improvement…
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I was disappointed when Geodon started failing my son, because it seemed to be the AP which let him be the most alert, and he also lost weight when he was on it.
Same here, Vallpen. That was 7 years ago. My son is on his 4th or 5th antipsych med now.
My son has stabilized on Clozapine - I think it is 3 years now. Unfortunately, I think each decompensation had a lasting negative impact. Delusions persist, but he is able to enjoy some things in life again.
My grandson got severe dystonia with it. Gave him benadryl and he was better but dtopped taking geodon