Reviewer: Professional with Geodon, 45-54 Female on Treatment for 5 to less than 10 years (Patient)

Comment:
Geodon is a great, stabilizing medication, if you are a professional and want to be productive. Although, it is not a quick solution. You have to be patient and give it a long time to work. It does have side effects. This review tells how I worked around them. I was on Geodon for my mixed, rapid-cycling bipolar disorder for over seven years. In combination with Zoloft, it did a wonderful job ... Show Full Comment

Comment:
Geodon is a great, stabilizing medication, if you are a professional and want to be productive. Although, it is not a quick solution. You have to be patient and give it a long time to work. It does have side effects. This review tells how I worked around them. I was on Geodon for my mixed, rapid-cycling bipolar disorder for over seven years. In combination with Zoloft, it did a wonderful job of containing my up and down cycling. I also have ADD and, with the Geodon, I was finally able to succeed at finishing my dissertation and continuing as a university professor. It gave me back my life. Since my body requires more medicine dosage than normal, I was on a mega dose. I had to take a separate medicine to control the twitches, but that worked. I am not married, but could imagine there would be much less sex drive. Geodon stays in your system for a long time. You have to be patient with it at first, because it takes sometimes over a month to have it built up in your system. On the other side, it is not as touchy, if you delay a dose. It does not make you manic right away. And tappering off or stopping will cause delayed mania later. It does have the effect of making people super drowsy, when taken once per day. I had to space my four pills: 1 with breakfast, 1 with lunch, 2 with supper. With the last dose, I had to take it with supper because then I would be really tired and ready for bed about 4-5 hrs later. With the weight gain, I tried four other medicines for my mania before I went on Geodon over the time it took me from the first med to Geodon, I gained 20lbs, but stayed at that weight for the next 7 years. Pharmacological, the only things I had to adjust were taking a cold med that was for people with high blood pressure and being careful to eat a meal when taking it in large doses or with another stomach-bleeding medicine, like Ibuprofen. I took it successfully for over seven years, until I went through the neurochemical changes of menopause.
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Reviewer: S.Leonard, 13-18 Female (Patient)

Comment:
I've been on this med for a little over a year. I'm very satisfied with it. It puts me to sleep at night, it keeps me calm during the day. At first I did feel sleepy but about after a week I felt fine.

Comment:
I've been on this med for a little over a year. I'm very satisfied with it. It puts me to sleep at night, it keeps me calm during the day. At first I did feel sleepy but about after a week I felt fine.
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Reviewer: Renee, 35-44 Female on Treatment for 1 to 6 months (Patient)

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Reviewer: cofe42, 55-64 Female on Treatment for less than 1 month (Patient)

Comment:
highs and low moods

Comment:
highs and low moods
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Reviewer: steele, 45-54 Female on Treatment for less than 1 month (Patient)

Comment:
This is the absolute worst medication I have ever been prescribed. I have every side effect in the book and I've only been on it for two weeks. Gained five pounds in two weeks! Stopped taking it and went back to the Abilify (which I initially stopped because, over time, it was causing gradual weight gain.) Actually, I took two Abilify when I stopped the Geodon. Felt less ANGRY, but still have ... Show Full Comment

Comment:
This is the absolute worst medication I have ever been prescribed. I have every side effect in the book and I've only been on it for two weeks. Gained five pounds in two weeks! Stopped taking it and went back to the Abilify (which I initially stopped because, over time, it was causing gradual weight gain.) Actually, I took two Abilify when I stopped the Geodon. Felt less ANGRY, but still haven't slept in two days and I CANNOT get rid of this constant headache. When I was on it, the fatigue at work actually caused me to fall asleep on my break and miss a meeting (I'm a TEACHER!) Not good. Started taking it at night instead. Had the worst indigestion I've ever had. Like my solar plexus area was on fire to the point that I almost threw up. Belching, pressure, constipation, crying, DRY MOUTH, peeing every 20 minutes, rash and hives. THIS STUFF SHOULD NOT BE ON THE MARKET. It is absolute poison. Abilify was the greatest thing ever for me, other than the weight gain. Got to figure out how to overcome that- hopefully with more exercise and less food, because I'm going back to it. Hope I get some sleep soon. How long are these withdrawal symptoms going to last after only two weeks on the meds I wonder?
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