Generic Name: Latuda for Schizophrenia (lurasidone)
Latuda for Schizophrenia Reviews
"I was insane, psychotic - atypical psychotic, talking to myself, feeling incredibly awful in so many ways and getting anxiety from losing my mind. Latuda has given me sanity. I can't rate it more highly. It has completely gotten rid of the psychosis and cleared my mind, it is unbelievable. It hasn't caused weight gain like other antipsychotics, it hasn't caused sleepiness like other antipsychotics, and altogether I have no side effects. Lifesaver."
"Latuda is the best thing that has ever happened to me. The only thing I can complain about is the price and the zero appetite it gives me. It does cause severe drowsiness about 2 hours after taking it from me, but when I wake up I am refreshed and full of energy. Which is something I have never experienced. Being schizophrenic since I was 7, how I feel today is a Godsend. Thanks to Latuda, I am finally starting to form a life."
"I have been taking Latuda for about two years now, and I must say that it really works well for stopping the voices in my head. I also do not get depressed anymore like I did without the Latuda, and my bipolar disorder is a lot less hectic. I recommend this medication to anyone who might be suffering from bipolar disorder, depression, or schizophrenia. Latuda really works."
"2 weeks ago I had a severe psychotic break despite both Abilify and Geodon. To avoid hospitalization, my doctor and I usually add Zyprexa, but I wanted to avoid the rapid weight gain, though it is otherwise a miracle drug. This time we tried Latuda. Within about 5 days my thoughts were much clearer, my energy higher, mood brighter. Overall Latuda seemed the medication I had been looking for: Zyprexa without side effects: no weight gain and no extreme sedation (in fact the opposite): I sleep fine at night. I do at times take a little Ativan, at night but not always. And I wake in the morning eager to rise and meet whatever the day brings. In short, I haven't felt better and more hopeful than this is a very long while."
"Latuda is the best mood stabilizer there is. At least for me. It certainly does not act like a stimulant towards depression and nor does it act like an SSRI. The medication is awesome because it feels more like a mood stabilizer than saying it's an antipsychotic even though it is. Latuda helps everything. And the side effects are minimal. I would recommend this medicine to anyone who has depression, paranoia, and bipolar disorder."
"I was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia about 20 years ago. Being a 19-year-old girl and being forced to take medicines like Zyprexa, Risperdal, Clopixol, and sometimes two at once. The side effects were horrendous. Took away my sex drive completely, at the worst, I put on over 40 kg in 3 months. I lactated for many years, and my periods stopped. My whole world stopped, how could I ever have had a boyfriend or get married while piling on so much weight, eating and sleeping with no sex drive and leaking boobs? Antipsych meds, especially back then, were horrendous in terms of side effects. I started Latuda roughly 7 years ago, so at the age of about 31, and finally, I have my sex drive back. Although I don't believe it will ever be the same, at least I am back in working order there. My boobs no longer leak, I've lost some weight, and I can feel again. Downfall: I can lose my patience quickly and overreact. I balance that with a low-dose antidepressant as an add-on."
"One day at work I felt an explosion in my head. After that, I thought that undercover cops were watching me, following me. Couldn't sleep at all. Eventually, I had a psychotic break. Checked into a Psycho ward, got released, and was prescribed Zyprexa. After gaining about 50 pounds and feeling like a zombie, I tried Latuda. Within a couple of weeks, I started to feel better. I had much more energy, was sleeping a normal 6-8 hours, waking up refreshed and ready to take on the day. My confidence was back, and I was able to go out in public. After a few months with an active lifestyle, all the weight I had gained on Zyprexa fell off. I felt normal again. Great. Side Effects: memory loss, dry mouth. Dose: 20 mg at night."
"Excellent medicine in my experience. I've been taking it for about 6 months. I'm now working and going to school full-time. Anxiety has improved significantly, almost to pre-illness levels. I feel great cognitively (creative, zero psychotic symptoms, memory seems pretty sharp). Although I've never really gained weight on Risperidone for 2 years, I was relatively weight-neutral. I've actually lost 5-10 lbs. since taking Latuda, pretty much without trying. The one minor annoyance would have to be that it requires 350 calories for full absorption, and it puts me to sleep about an hour after taking it. I end up eating a small meal/snack before bed every night (yogurt, nuts, etc.)."
"I have been taking this medication for almost a month. I had a good experience at 40mg and opted to try the higher dosage of 80mg. It has been nothing short of amazing. I have been on every AAP except for Clozapine with mediocre to average results, even in combinations. I do take the 80mg of Latuda with 300mg of Seroquel XR, but the Latuda has made a huge difference cognitively."
"I remember going into a deep depression where I didn't want to live anymore. Being from an African background, it was hard to explain this to my family as they don't believe in things like depression. This made things a bit worse for me. I would have panic attacks at work and suffer from racing, suicidal thoughts. One day I had a psychotic episode and ended up being sectioned for a month. I refused medication at first because of all the horrible stories. However, I gave in. I started on 20 mg, then it was upped to 74 mg. This was the greatest decision of my life. I have never felt so happy and grateful for my life. I can laugh again without faking my emotions, I can eat again, I can sleep again. This is a miracle drug!!!!"
"I have been taking Latuda for a little over a week. So far, my experience with this medicine has been a positive one. I started out on 40mg, but a few days later, I was switched to 80mg. So far, the only side effects I've had are an extremely dry mouth and a loss of appetite. I am also taking Lithium and Artane. I will post more after I've been on Latuda for a little while longer."
"At the max dose, Latuda works for me when nothing else did. It's been a literal lifesaver. I take it at night with food. I've woken up sweating one time. It does make me restless during the day, so I pace a lot, but because of that, I'm really productive at work. I happily manage the couple of side effects I experience to live free of psychosis."
"I took Latuda for three years until I figured out it was causing my anxiety attacks the whole time. It caused uncontrollable movements of my face, jaw, tongue, and hands. I also had restlessness, an uncontrollable urge to get up and walk around, self-isolation and fear of others, high blood pressure, heart rate, breathing, extreme sweating, trouble sleeping, blurred vision, weight gain, and racing thoughts. It was torture. I will take the chance of relapsing in order to determine if I will remain normal without meds. In these three years I never had any symptoms and I don't think it would be intelligent to immediately assume it was because the meds had been working the whole time. I now believe antipsychotics are not the end all solution to mental illness and more attentive and accurate evaluations of patients need to be conducted to get people off these horrible drugs as soon as possible."
"Taken for three months. Only slightly stopped paranoid thoughts. Within weeks caused severe akathisia “restlessness or need to move" which really means having to move 24/7 while knees and feet hurt, terror anxiety, inability for any stimulation, tremors, insane insomnia like an hour -3 a night, nausea and diarrhea. These symptoms didn’t stop until months after stopping med. Insomnia and outside and inside tremors after meds took over a year. When I go to an online support group for those with akathisia who took Latuda they all have the same issues. I’ve heard multiple times from doctors that this drug doesn’t work for schizophrenia. I often wonder where these positive reviews come from."
"This is the end of the second month on Latuda and I like it because there aren't any side effects. I sleep less than I did on the many other medicines I have tried. I'm finally losing weight (with the other medicines I'd gained 40 lbs). Overall I have more energy with this medicine and it seems to be very effective. I take a 40mg dosage."
"I have schizoaffective disorder and Latuda gave me back my life back (along with an outpatient program and on other medications). I felt like me again. I went back to work at a part time job, because I'm not in psychosis or depressed all the time. I have my own apartment. I drive and own my own car. Pretty soon I'm going to try going off disability by working full time. It hasn't done everything, I still have delusions sometimes. I still had nasty side effects at first like akathisia and sleepiness. I get depression at times, mostly just not wanting to leave the bed."
"This medication did not work well for me. I keep hearing voices while I go to sleep. It seems like the medication only works for 3 or 4 hours. Then, it stops working. I am also having a problem with my center of balance with this medication. I keep having mini-vertigos. I saw the other ratings, and I was tempted, but this medication just did not work out for me."
"Latuda does it's job as described. I never felt icky when I started it, like some meds do to you. I really stayed on an even keel while taking it, but when I started gaining weight, I was a little concerned. But 2 months and 40lbs later, I was surprised and disappointed. No, my eating habits didn't change, my exercise routine was still the same and I Still kept gaining weight. In the end, I gained 60+lbs. I told my doc I couldn't keep taking Latuda, I couldn't afford to buy a bunch of new clothes! It took about 6 months, but all the weight I had gained, gone. Again, no change in eating or exercise routines. All I can say is beware."
"I was experiencing auditory hallucinations (voices), extreme paranoia and anxiety to the point where I couldn't leave the house, and bipolar depression. I never tried any medications before because I'd had bad experiences witnessing other people who had taken medication for bipolar depression and schizophrenia. I couldn't take it anymore and began taking Latuda 20 mgs, and it's a miracle drug. No more voices, depression, paranoia, anxiety, or fatigue immediately. I take it with dinner around 6:00 PM every day, and it makes me tired, but I get up full of energy at 5:00 AM every morning now (I used to be so tired I couldn't get up and get ready in the morning). Now I have energy and focus all day. My mood is even - calm and positive. I'm extremely focused and active now. I haven't experienced any side effects other than the tiredness in the evening after I take it. I haven't experienced any increased appetite or weight gain. My only concern is I'll be crushed if this stops working someday."
"On Latuda prescribed for schizophrenia and so far I’ve seen clearness, an improvement in my thoughts. It's like putting on a pair of glasses in my head. Better take with food. I feel better than I did on abilify"
"Latuda is my favorite antipsychotic. It helped me piece my mind together when I was a disorganized mess. It's not too sedating and doesn’t make me eat endless amounts. I'll be on this drug for a while."
"I am soooo happy that I gave in and tried this drug. I feel so much better, I even cleaned the house!!! I was so sick with racing thoughts snd cognitive issues, I am 51, and trying to hold a job. Latuda has kept me out of hospital. Best to take at night as there is a drowsy phase after dosing before the "straight ahead" as I call it phase, which is actually functioning well at job, chores, life..."
"I had a seizure out of the blue in 2018 and started experiencing Schizoaffective Disorder, so I was put on Olanzapine for about 4 years, but too many side effects including weight gain and a weakened immune system because I found out it may mess with your white blood cells! My doctor suggested Latuda because she said it doesn't cause weight gain, so I switched to generic. My pharmacist switched it to the much cheaper Lurasidone that's the same thing only without the brand name. I am not experiencing as many side effects, and I am actually happier and feel more like myself, but I do feel a bit tired and don't want to do too much. The only other thing I noticed was I did drool a couple of times at first, and my urine was a bit darker in the morning. The joys of being on an antipsychotic! I am more active and alert than I was on Olanzapine, however! I am losing weight slowly, and my breast size is getting back to normal too. I will never take Olanzapine again! 9/10 for Lurasidone (Latuda)!"
"In my opinion only, this medication has marginal efficiency in treating the positive and some negative symptoms of my psychosis. This medication helped me think better and organize my thoughts more clearly, along with significantly reducing most of my delusions. However, from my personal experience, I do not feel that this medication is very effective in treating depression or depression-related issues such as crying and getting angry easily. Otherwise, this medication also has some positive effects in treating bipolar symptoms."
"My daughter takes 40 mg of the Latuda. You should always take it with your dinner no later than five or you will be tired in the morning. This was told to me by her doctor. She has been on this medicine for about 7 months. She sleeps well at night."
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