Many of us take the newer (atypical) antipsychotics. They include abilify, risperdal, zyprexa, seroquel and geodon. They are all in the same family of drugs, but each is unique and different.
The pharmaceutical companies that manufacture these drugs (all of them) currently have various product liability lawsuits against them concerning the atypicals.
I've done a bit of research on Abilify - it's a med I put in my body every day and I am concerned about its safety. Here are my findings:
1. Risk of Diabetes and Hypoglycemia: Lawers and their clients have lawsuits in various states around the country regarding serious problems people have encountered from taking abilify.
NOTE: My doctor and I have discussed these risks. He orders tests periodically for diabetes and I am monitored for hypoglycemia.
2. Dementia in Elderly Patients: Several elderly patients have had complications causing stroke and/or death. Lawsuits have ensued.
3. Prescribing Abilify to Children: Doctors have gone off-label and prescribed abilify to children when it was not intended for them. There are many pending class action lawsuits out there.
Based on this info, I will continue to take abilify in spite of the risks. All meds have side effects. For two years, I took Zyprexa, which has it's own history of problems. Because I worried all the time while taking it, my pdoc and I decided to give abilify a try.
If we feel comfortable with the med we are taking, I believe we have better success with it. I have few concerns now about taking abilify, and certainly no regrets.
There are many alarmists out there and we can get caught up in the frenzy. It's always good to know the facts before jumping to any unnecessary conclusions.
Judy
It's nice to hear your sensible approach. I guess our best bet is just to try them out (unfortunately it IS all trial & error, since we're all different) & see which one works best for us. At least we find out within days, not 4-6 wks like with the anti-deps.
At the same time, it is important to be aware and educated about the side effects & address these with your doctor should they become a concern. I get upset when I hear of doctors that just gloss over the side effects, even though some can be quite debillitating. I'm lucky my pdoc has a very good dietician on staff who helped me lose the 30 lbs I immediately gained when I was put on Zyprexa. The sexual side effects of the SSRI's are my biggest nemisis these days, and I'm so glad that I have lamictal to help me more & more in this department, so I don't have to take such a large dose of my Prozac anymore. It also helped when I went off the birth ctrl pill, which interferes with lamictal, and can cause depression in itself. So doing the research is paying off...
It's a fine balance of managing the illness & the side effects that can sometimes be as debillitating as the illness. But again, we are all different, and it's worth exploring which med(s) will work for you in the long run.
On an aside, with regards to the atypicals, I read that most of them augment SSRI's (common knowledge, I guess), but apparently Geodon is one that does not do this, which appeals to me because in the past, with other drugs, that would send me too high... so Geodon is the one I will be trying next - and it seems to have the lowest side effect profile, all around. But I won't hold my breath, because I remember when Wellbutrin was revered to be God's gift to depression & it screwed me up the worst...
just a note, the folks iv talked to who have on going suites against the maker of abilify, their complaints where much like mine, non are witch related to what abilify claims for side effects, headaches, diahrea, ears ringing, very low tolerance to many foods, feeling very strange, just feeling like crap all over, very confused. it just screwes up brain chemistry. you should dig deeper. or dont beleive every thing you read, if its not good for childer something terribly is wrong, plus their admiting fault. Many people have become successsful at going after them, your choice.
Their are other pstings on this site of people who couldnt stand how it made them feel either. good luck
Kody...thank you for sharing your opinion. It's good that we are able to have intelligent discussions regarding the meds that affect all of us in so many different ways. Good luck with geodon.
Thanks, Sharon...I always read your posts with interest. Medications can be a difficult and frustrating issue for all of us. It's also got to be frustrating as well for our pdocs. Like you said, it's all trial and error until we find the right combo of meds that give us reasonably good health.