My son was put on Geodon for mood stabilizer and it seems to be working really well. He became violent and irritable on ADHD stimulant medications and Strattera and has been taken off those medications. Since then we have combined Geodon with Provigil and an anti depressant and he seems to be doing much better. Has anyone has sucess with Geodon and have you expierence side effects? The side effects scare me, but my childs physician tells me not to worry.
gretchen38647.384837963According to The Bipolar Child (my bible since my 10-year-old daughter was recently dx with a non-specific mood disorder than may in fact turn out to be BP), Geodon is the newest atypical antipsychotic on the market (same class as Risperdal, Zyprexa and Seroquel). The med has a mild SSRI-like activity that can induce an odd kind of over-arousal (seen mostly at lower doses and not higher doses). Some kids have anxiety and manic-like reactions to the drug. The most common side effects are sleepiness and nausea, orthostatic hypotension and rash.
Good luck to all who are dealing with BP-like symptoms. Stability can be achieved! (My daughter is doing very well on Depakote.)
Shakespeare,
Thank you for your insights. I have a 5 year old son who was just prescribed Geodon today after having little or negative effects from just about everything else. (Ritalin LA, Adderall, Concerta, Abilify, Risperdal, Ritalin) He's dx'd as being bipolar "with a side order of adhd". Nothing has worked thus far. He's been rx'd the lowest dosage, 20 mgs, to be taken twice a day, so long as it doesn't make him drowsy. He got his first dosage tonight, and I'm to try to evaluate how drowsy and/or groggy he appears in the morning before giving him the second dose. I'd appreciate anything else you could tell me about this med. I've done some research on it, so I know what it's supposed to be treating, and I do know that they've only just recently started to test it as a treatment for bipolar, and that it's a relatively "new" med, only being approved by the FDA in 2001 I beleive.
Thanks tons...
pjcofer127
I took Geodon for a period of a few months and couldn't tolerate the side effects. Risperdal is a much cleaner drug for me. Geodon has the advantage of not causing the weight gain that some of the other atypicals do. Here's the key... Geodon has a short half life (6-8 hours) which is why it is recommended to be taken twice daily. However, when I took it twice a day it made me too tired to function. When I tried to take it just at bedtime, I got horrible anxiety about 5:00 the next evening as all those little serotonin and dopamine receptors opened back up. My pupils would dilate, I would shake, and I felt like I was losing my mind. It took a close reading of the PDR PI sheet to realize that there is a withdrawel syndrome associated with ziprasidone. I am not the only person who had that problem with once daily dosing. It is probably effective taken once a day if someone can tolerate it, but many people can not. If he is taking it twice daily, and is not having too many side effects from doing so, he will probably be fine. Geodon tends to be a "love it or hate it" drug with very few people falling inbetween. If it works for someone, it is a miracle drug. If it doesn't, it is awful. It is very individualized.BTW, two other advantages of Geodon over other available atypicals... it is a moderate inhibitor of serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake, similar to marketed antidepressants, which makes it likely that it will have a more pronounced antidepressant effect. It is aloso an agonist an serotonin 5HT1 receptors, similar to the anxiolitic buspirone, so it tends to have potent anti-anxiety effects that are independent of it's antipsychotic effects. No other marketed atypical posseses those attributes. Again, if a person tolerates it well, it offers advantages over other drugs.Wow, the potential side effects sound scary, but it looks like it was older people that experienced them. If the meds are working, trust your doctor. If not, seek a second opinion. Best wishes.I've never heard of Geodon, but I'll look into it.
My curiosity is piqued regarding the Provigil. I take it also, but have heard of very few others that do. What is the symptom being treated for with this?
Which anti-D, and how is the mix administered on a daily basis? Provigil in the morning? Anti-D at night? Geodon?
Thanks,
D