Has Anyone Tried Invega (Paliperidone) AKA Long-Acting Risperdal?

[molly]

I started on Risperdal and had beneficial mood stabilizaton but serious muscular trembling and drowsiness side effects three years ago. I switched to Invega two years ago and the muscular side effects completely ceased. I experience some drowsiness. The effects on my bipolar mood disorder of Invega have been tremendous. I also take an antidepressant Citalopram and the combination is the best treatment I have experienced over the four years of pharmaceutical treatment for bipolar disease. The Invega took a few months to really balance out but it was worth it.

[Help]

i took abilify for a month and had a headache and mental confusion and felt heavily sedated i am so scared to even try invega will this drug knock me out? i have children to take care of

[JUDY]

BabyBunny wrote:

Hi. I started taking 3mg of Invega yesterday (the smallest available dose) and I'm wondering if anyone else here takes it?
It's a new medication which is basically a long-acting form of Risperdal. I have never tried regular Risperdal so I have no idea if Invega will be similar.
My Psychiatrist and Myself decided this might be a good med for me as I was having nothing but trouble on Geodon and Trazodone. They totally threw my into a terribly unstable mixed state. Oh gosh was it bad. Luckily I'm now coming through it.
So any info or experiences you may have regarding Invega (Paliperidone) would be greatly appreciated as I'm having a hard time finding anything about this med because it's so new.
Thanks everyone and have a great weekend!:)
Hugs,
Baby Bunny
"Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place."
- Psalm 28:2 (NIV)

I started taking Invega last month 3mg. I have been previously taken Risperdol for a year. I loved the risperadol but moved to another state and they program doesnt have access to it so they switched me to Invega. I havent noticed anything from it yet. No help and no side effects. I went to doc yesterday and he put me up to 6mg has said I can go as high as 12. I do miss taking the risperadol but he insists that the Invega is just as good and I should give it a fair chance but he says if I insist to go back to Risperdol he will give it to me ....the problem is I have insurance and cant afford it. I am on a patient assistant program for the invega so I guess my hands are tied. I have tried things like seroquil, abiligy, triliptal, trimictal and none of them have worked as well as the risperadol so I am hopefull that the invega works as well.

[Mom of ocdbp]

Invega has changed my daughter's life. She is the girl that I remember before her mental illness kicked into high gear! No exaggeration.
But, I can not afford it! My daughter is homeless. She is now living with us, but as an adult, she can not recieve our insurance. Her WA state (government socialized medicine) insurance will not pay for it. We have written to the company, with no luck after 6 weeks....finally found a solution, and this is what we get. So sad.

[debra]

laura wrote:

i am trying to get my son on invega instead of depakote has any one taking depakote before? and is there a differece in how the 2 meds make you feel. My son is 19 yrs.but cant seem to tell you how he feels. If you ask him how are you feeling he always says i dont know? Is that part of being by polar not being able to express your feelings? I am a parent trying to understand my son and how to help him becouse he is unable to express him self. All he can tell me is that he feels angry in his head. He either seems realy sad to me or he will be out of control and he is unable to be reasoned with. I am hoping that if the doc. puts him on the invega it will help him feel better and help him to focuse on his life. Any bodys opiniion will be great.thank you

i was on lithium for a few years and it worked well. but i had another medicinal switch because my body got too used to the lithium so i was switched to depakote of 3- 500 mg doses daily at bedtime and 12 mg of invega daily and i feel just fine. These are high dosage levels and i have bi-polar mania . Since i began these meds i just experienced a few light headaches and joint pain in my knees but im 43. I have been on many varieties of medications for the past 12 years. The combination of these meds make me calm, and confident. Some times it takes many changes over the years to get the right meds, or your body just gets too used to older meds and you have to try new ones, good luck ....

[debra]

Help wrote:

i took abilify for a month and had a headache and mental confusion and felt heavily sedated i am so scared to even try invega will this drug knock me out? i have children to take care of

No the pill Invega will not knock you out. I began invega this past septmember and i feel great and i take the largest dose of 12 mg. For 3 years i was on hadol and risperdol and i lost alot of time with my daughters sleeping and holding a part time job. I also take 1500 mg of depakote at bedtime and i sleep light. So I hope this comment can help you decide, you might want to consider the other meedication side affects of your past and try newer medication like invega. I have bi-polar disorder and I'm a mother of two and i've been on medication for 12 years.

[bonnie]

I have never tried invega, but I had really bad results with respideral and geodon. I am now on a combination of effexor XR, lamictal, topomax and the generic form of xanix. However, I have noticed that something has seamed to have lost some of its effectiveness. I have had my meds. increased several times, but this time I think my doctor may add something else to what I take. Has anyone else had to deal with this process and is it hard to find the right med. to go with what you are taking. My topomaz xr. is already 350. mg. and I can take the xanix-xr up to 4 times a day, and the topomax 3 times a day.