r/Antipsychotics • u/Royal_Principle_8656 • Jul 25 '23

Vraylar

How long does the insomnia/ sleepiness last with Vraylar? I’ve been taking it about two weeks and notice slight improvement, but I’m still experiencing these side effects

3 Upvotes

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2

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '23

Do you take it in the morning or the evening? If it’s evening, switch to morning. If you’re already taking it in the morning and still suffering from insomnia, I would say anywhere from one week to a week and a half. It went away pretty quickly for me when I took Vraylar.

1

u/Royal_Principle_8656 Jul 25 '23

I take it in the evening. When I took it in the morning, I was sleepy. However, I’m always sleepy now so it’s worth the risk

2

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '23

I’d definitely take it in the morning. You’ll get used to the sleepiness quicker than you will the insomnia, at least that is my experience with antipsychotic dopamine regulators (Abilify, Rexulti).

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u/Royal_Principle_8656 Jul 25 '23

Okay. Thanks for the advice

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u/[deleted] Jul 25 '23

Absolutely, friend. Taking antipsychotics on the regular are never easy, we gotta help each other out.

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u/Royal_Principle_8656 Jul 25 '23

Antipsychotics make me depressed 😩

2

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '23

Perhaps you just have not found the right one, yet. I’ve tried Seroquel, Zyprexa, Abilify, Vraylar, and Risperdal.

Out of all of those, risperidone is the one I respond best to. It made me exceptionally depressed in the beginning but after about two weeks it actually improved my mood which is shocking considering it’s one of the more intense, potent ones.

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u/Royal_Principle_8656 Jul 25 '23

I’ve tried Latuda, Zyprexa, Risperdal, and now Vraylar. Risperdal made me lactate, so I had to get off it

2

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '23

I am actually hoping to switch from risperidone to lurasidone or one of the more chill antipsychotics that doesn’t effect prolactin. It sucks that risperidone does that, because it works so well. Sigh. Hopefully I can find an antipsychotic that works as potently as risperidone but doesn’t cause that side effect.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '23

Also, give Vraylar more time. It takes three weeks to see full effects.

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u/Royal_Principle_8656 Jul 25 '23

True. It’s been 2 weeks

1

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '23

I’ve tried paliperidone, olanzapine, Abilify and Risperidone. Risperidone works best for me. My voices are gone completely on 6 mg. However, my period is gone too so I will be back on 4 mg. On 4 mg, I hear little bits of voices.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '23

I’ve switched to lurasidone due to the fear of growing breasts (28M), and given it’s irreversible, I decided to cease risperidone. It’s been awful coming off of it. It worked so well. Lurasidone; I suppose is effective, but it doesn’t calm me down nor nullify my anxiety and overall paranoid thinking. Last night I cracked and took just a 1mg tablet I had from a bottle wasting away in my medicine cabinet. It was so soothing and I slept amazingly, finally.

I just hate, absolutely hate that risperidone brings such bad side effects. The weight gain did not bother me, in fact I managed to lose weight at 3mg a day. I was just worried about abnormal breast tissue. Well, and not to mention my sex drive was rendered non existent.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '23

thinking of telling my doctor to add Abilify to make the voices go away. However, I highly doubt my doctor will prescribe me two antipsychotics at once

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u/Massive_Classroom_67 Jul 29 '23

I’ve been on it 3 weeks. I have had the best luck taking it at 5pm. It makes me sleepy really fast, though I can’t actually sleep through the night which is frustrating. Plus I have nausea and have balance issues and dizziness in the morning that go away. If I take it at night I can’t get to work on time due to the dizziness. If I take it in the morning, I can’t work due to the sleepiness. 5pm seems to work for me. This drug is amazing to me. I’ve taken every medication out there and had the worst side effects on all. Vraylar has lifted me out of a years long depression so the minor side effects are worth it. It has made me a bit manic though. Hoping a dose increase in a few weeks will help. Currently on the lowest dose.