Latuda (Lurasidone) is a new atypical antipsychotic drug that is approved for the treatment of depressive episodes in bipolar disorder (type 1) as well as schizophrenia. It is considered a relatively new drug as it was just approved in 2013 to treat depressive episodes for people with bipolar I disorder. This drug is somewhat unique because it is among very few antipsychotics that are able to treat the depressive side of bipolar disorder.
Although this drug may work well for treating the depression in bipolar I patients, there is not yet substantial evidence proving that it also helps address manic episodes. For this reason, it is sometimes prescribed with lithium as it is known to help control mania. It also has been thought to work well at addressing both the negative symptoms as well as the cognitive symptoms (i.e. memory deficits) among individuals with schizophrenia.
It is thought to help learning and memory as a result of the effect it has on various serotonin receptors. Despite the fact that there is a lot of hype surrounding this new antipsychotic drug, it hasn’t been around long enough for an accurate evaluation; long-term effects are unknown. Most of the studies suggest that Latuda is well-tolerated with minimal side effects compared to other anitpsychotics.
However, just because it is a newer, trendy drug that is touted as having minimal side effects does not mean it is perfect. Many people will still have side effects with this drug and/or find it ineffective at managing their symptoms. A majority of people will try it for awhile, and end up having to face withdrawal symptoms.
Factors that influence Latuda (Lurasidone) withdrawal
As with any antipsychotic drug, there are going to be various factors that play a role in determining withdrawal symptoms. These key factors include: the time span over which you took the drug, your dosage, how quickly you withdrew, as well as other individual factors such as sensitivity to withdrawal.
1. Time Span
How long did you take Latuda? In general, the longer you take an antipsychotic drug, the more difficulty you are likely to have facing withdrawal. When you take an antipsychotic for a long period of time, your body and brain become accustomed to receiving the drug for everyday functioning.
If you take away the substance that you have been supplying your nervous system for an extended period, it is going to have difficulty functioning properly – leading to withdrawal symptoms. Individuals who took Latuda for only a short period of time are likely going to have a much easier time facing withdrawal and readjusting to normal functioning.
2. Dosage (20 mg to 160 mg)
How much Latuda were you taking on a daily basis? Individuals with schizophrenia tend to start at a dose of around 40 mg and then titrate up to a dose that provides symptom relief if the starting dose is inadequate. It can be taken from the starting dose of 40 mg all the way up to a maximum daily amount of 160 mg.
Individuals with bipolar depression typically take anywhere from 20 mg to 120 mg (the daily maximum). It should be noted that titrating upwards from the starting dosage is typically not necessary and doesn’t usually yield any additional benefit. With that said, when a person is taking a higher dose than average, the body can become tolerant to the extra strength of the drug. Withdrawal is thought to be longer-lasting and more severe if you took a higher dose.
3. Cold Turkey vs. Tapering
Despite the fact that many people claim that this drug has minimal discontinuation symptoms doesn’t mean that you should quit cold turkey. It is still relatively new and the jury is still out on how quickly you can come off of this drug. I would recommend conducting a gradual taper just like other antipsychotics.
A tapering protocol that you can use is cutting down by 10 mg every 2 weeks. So if you were on 40 mg, you could drop down to 30 mg after 2 weeks. By dropping at a rate of 10 mg every couple weeks, you are giving your nervous system a chance to gradually adjust to functioning with less of the drug. Tapering is thought to yield significantly less side effects than quitting cold turkey.
4. Individual Factors
It is also important to consider individual factors when coming off an antipsychotic. Some people may not experience many withdrawal symptoms, while others may be plagued with debilitating withdrawal effects for weeks (or months) following their last dose. Certain individuals are naturally more sensitive to withdrawal from drugs than others.
Various factors to consider include: amount of social support, whether you are taking other drugs, whether you are transitioning to another antipsychotic, and your daily habits. People who eat healthy, exercise, and get plenty of sleep may have an easier time recovering from withdrawal symptoms. Additionally people who are taking other drugs or transitioning to another anitpsychotic may not notice nearly as much of a withdrawal.
Latuda Withdrawal Symptoms: List of Possibilities
Below is a list of possible withdrawal symptoms that you may experience when discontinuing Latuda. Understand that you may not experience every symptom listed and that severity of the symptoms can differ based on the individual.
- Anger: Various individuals have reported that they felt pretty grumpy during withdrawal from Latuda. This is an antipsychotic that tends to have somewhat of an antidepressant effect and works on serotonin. When coming off of it, your neurotransmitter levels may be lower than average, making individuals more prone to anger.
- Anxiety: Some people experience pretty severe anxiety when they initially quit this drug. Some withdrawal accounts have stated that anxiety was their worst withdrawal symptom and persisted for a long period (in one case months) after the last dose.
- Body aches: As with most antipsychotics, you may notice that your muscles feel especially achy and/or you may feel weakness as you come off of this drug. Experiencing muscle aches and feeling weak is likely due to your nervous system adjusting to not having the drug for functioning.
- Concentration problems: Some people notice foggy thinking when they discontinue this medication. The concentration difficulties may be due to the fact that people are experiencing an array of physical side effects while coming off of the drug – which can be distracting. Additionally the cognitive benefits that a person experiences while taking the drug will subside during withdrawal.
- Confusion: This drug is thought to improve cognition in some people who take it. When you come off of it, the improved cognition will likely subside. The combination of concentration and memory problems during withdrawal can contribute to a general state of confusion.
- Depersonalization: You may feel unlike your natural self during the withdrawal process. You may feel like a zombie and/or as if your normal self has left your body. This is largely due to changes in neurotransmitters and brain activity as a result of withdrawal. Over time, you should return to feeling like your normal self again.
- Depression: It is very common to feel depressed during withdrawal from Latuda. In part this may be due to the fact that your brain is no longer receiving the same degree of dopamine and serotonin regulation that the drug provided. When you stop taking it, you may feel even more depressed than before you started taking it. It will likely take some time for your brain functioning to adjust.
- Dizziness: One of the most common withdrawal effects from any psychiatric medication is that of dizziness. Do not be surprised if you discontinue this drug and notice that you feel extremely dizzy during the first few weeks following your last dose.
- Fatigue: Some people experience pretty significant fatigue when they stop taking this drug. The fatigue is usually a result of your brain attempting to reestablish normal, sober functioning. The withdrawal can be mentally draining and leave people feeling lethargy.
- Hallucinations: During withdrawal, it is possible to experience symptoms of psychosis. One of the hallmark symptoms of psychosis is that of hallucinations. Although this it is not common to hallucinate during withdrawal, it is possible as your dopamine activity readjusts.
- Headache: Perhaps one of the worst symptoms of Latuda withdrawal is that of headaches. Some individuals have reported severe pressure headaches and/or migraines for weeks following their last dose. Do your best to relax, stay hydrated, and consider over-the-counter headache relief if they are substantial.
- Insomnia: Another withdrawal symptom that people experience is insomnia or the inability to fall asleep at night. This may be severe for the first few weeks of withdrawal, but eventually your sleep cycle should correct itself and this will subside.
- Memory problems: This drug is thought to help improve cognition and deficits that people experience as a result of schizophrenia. When you come off of it, you may notice that your memory isn’t as good as it was while you took the drug. In some cases your memory may be worse than before you took your first dose of the drug. Unless you had major memory deficits before you took the drug, you should experience full recovery in memory functioning.
- Mood swings: This is a drug that affects dopamine, serotonin, and adrenergic receptors in the brain. During withdrawal a person may experience abnormal functioning from the receptors affected by the drug – which could be the culprit for mood swings. One minute you may feel hopeful for the future, the next minute completely hopeless and depressed. Just know that mood swings should eventually stabilize (assuming you are non-bipolar).
- Nausea: Another fairly common symptom that people experience is that of nausea. If this becomes severe enough it may lead to vomiting. This can be reduced by conducting a gradual taper off of the drug. Quitting cold turkey is thought to lead to more significant nausea.
- Psychosis: Researchers have found that withdrawal from antipsychotics can cause psychosis. In other words, even if you don’t have schizophrenia, but were on an antipsychotic medication like Latuda, you could end up experiencing temporary psychosis. Additionally people who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia may be experiencing a relapse in symptoms.
- Racing thoughts: Some people have reported experiencing changes in thought patterns upon withdrawal. You may notice that you experience more racing thoughts (not to be confused with mania) and/or unpleasant, intrusive thoughts.
- Restlessness: You may feel a general sense of restlessness or inability to sit still. Restlessness is often a symptom that occurs when serotonin and dopamine levels are altered. As time passes, you should eventually feel more naturally calm.
- Sleep changes: Your sleep pattern may become temporarily altered during withdrawal. Many people report that while they are on Latuda they notice a trend of tiredness and others have difficulty getting restful sleep. When you come off of the drug, your natural sleep cycle may require some time to reset itself.
- Suicidal thinking: Since this medication tends to provide somewhat of an antidepressant effect, coming off of it may lead a person to feel depressed and suicidal. If you feel suicidal, understand that it may be in part due to withdrawal. Seek help from a therapist if you are unable to cope with this feeling.
- Sweating: You may experience heavy sweats throughout the day and/or wake up with night sweats. Sweating is a common symptom of withdrawal and in part is due to your nervous system adjusting itself and can serve as a natural detoxification response.
- Tremors: Antipsychotic withdrawal can lead a person to shake uncontrollably or have “tremors.” You may notice that you shake uncontrollably in the hand region and/or throughout the body.
- Vision changes: You may notice changes in your vision when you come off this drug. The changes are unlikely to be permanent, but you may experience temporary blurs or alterations. These will eventually return to normal with enough time off of the drug.
- Weight loss: In general, Latuda is considered an antipsychotic that doesn’t tend to lead to drastic weight gain. Some people experience significant increases in appetite (and craving for carbohydrates) when they are on Latuda. When they stop taking it, their appetite returns to normal and they lose the weight that they gained. Don’t expect immediate weight loss, but just know that you will eventually lose the weight that you packed on.
Latuda Withdrawal Duration: How long does it last?
There is no exact timeline that can be followed when withdrawing from Latuda. The severity of symptoms that you experience as well as the duration for which they persist will be based entirely on individual circumstances. The drug itself has a half life of 18 hours, meaning it will be entirely cleared from your body within an estimated 126 hours (less than 6 days). However, just because the drug is cleared from the body within a couple of days doesn’t mean that withdrawal is immediately over.
Most withdrawal symptoms start after the drug has been fully cleared from the body. Common reported symptoms from antipsychotic withdrawal include: headaches, dizziness, low energy, and changes in mood. Some people may not notice many withdrawal symptoms from Latuda, while others may have difficult, protracted withdrawals that last for weeks, or in more extreme cases, months.
Although withdrawal symptoms may last for an extended period of time, do your best to engage in healthy habits. Getting proper rest, eating healthy, socializing, and getting light exercise can go a long way towards repairing the nervous system. If you have gone through withdrawal from Latuda, feel free to share your experience in the comments section below, you may really help another person going through the same journey.
Unfortunately this is a relatively brand new drug and there isn’t much literature surrounding its discontinuation and withdrawal symptoms, so any additional insight that can be provided from those who have been on this drug is appreciated.
I’m on day 4 cold turkey off 40mg. I’m feeling nausea and some muscle pain in the back between my shoulders and up my neck. I’ve also gone from 300mg Effexor to 150mg at the same time so I’m having the springiness up my spine when I walk.
I decided to go with the theory that my depression might be due to low T so am taking Patriot Health Ultimate Male to increase my testosterone at the same time. Psychologically I feel great and the suicidal thoughts are mostly gone. Energy levels are good and I’m not just sitting around waiting for bedtime.
I’ve gone two days without a nap or anti-anxiety meds. These are hard drugs and I have a lot of experience with hard drugs, so I’m used to a lot of the symptoms as they accompany a lot of drug trips. I don’t do hard drugs anymore and hopefully will be off this hard stuff soon.
After I normalize I’ll cut the Effexor down to zero and see how I feel. I just want my zest for life to return. I hope higher testosterone with diet and exercise will help my mood. I’m also giving up my high stress career to do something more fulfilling. I’ll keep updating as I go and I wish you all the best.
I’ve been on latuda along with doxepin for well over 2 years. I was diagnosed with bipolar & schizophrenia in 2014 and started off with abilify. I was 19 & am 23 now. I went from 115lbs to well over 200lbs. I haven’t weighed myself in almost a year because I’m terrified to see the results.
It helps me sleep but it makes me sleep for majority of the day. It makes me angry & bitter all the time… horrible road rage, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, restlessness. The list goes on. I’ve been debating stopping cold turkey for about 6 months now. I look like a whale, I cry almost every day, I curse anyone in sign out, I don’t have the same bubbly personality I used to have.
I can barely concentrate in school, I eat all day & in my sleep as well. My doctor is a huge dick and always tries to make me feel bad wanting to stop. My mom would kill me if I stopped, but no one else really understands. I wouldn’t wish this medicine on my worst enemy. I’m crying as I read some of these comments, because I know I’ll never have the courage to stop.
It seems the only way to stop, I would have to quit school for a semester to deal with the withdrawal symptoms. Luckily I don’t work. It’s almost 4am & I’m still wide awake. (I literally won’t sleep without my meds). Good luck everyone on your journey.
Brandi, my heart goes out to you. I know the pain and confusion and weight gain with these drugs. Consider finding a mental health place that also prescribes. They will spend time with you to sort out the meds and side effects. They usually have a sliding pay scale to help patients afford the visits. You are too young to give up. Life can be better with someone to help you through this.
Thanks Linda! I actually talked to someone in charge at my doctors office & she gave me a new psychiatrist!!! I told her how the meds make me feel, and luckily, when my meds first started… she was my first therapist!
She thinks I need to have a different doctor listen to my concerns with the meds & help me get on new meds that can help with my weight. I’m on day 6 of being off of latuda and my side effects aren’t horrible besides migraines every morning & every night.
I want to cry reading what you wrote, I wouldn’t wish these drugs on my worst enemy either. I am 45 now and do what I please but when I was in my 20s I remember the doctors and my family putting so much pressure on me and I would tell them the meds are making me feel worse and they wouldn’t listen they just thought it was the answer, I feel for you, if you have to take time off school it’s ok to prioritize your health, I am mother to a 12 year old kid and am getting my masters degree, you have your whole life to go to school and choose your path, your health and well-being are all that matters, I’m sorry you don’t have support for that, you have too much pressure for all you are going through. The weight gain is terrible, I used to be a rock climber, I know how horrible it feels to wake up every morning in a blimp body that you don’t even recognize. Write back if you want my email fir support.
Back again. Had tapered from 20mg over two months to zero last night. This morning, I woke up with the predictable nausea. After eating, I was really, really nauseous. So, as per usual, no food for the rest of the day. Broke down and took a Zofran – a nasty side effect from that is constipation.
But what is the alternative? Fasting? Ok. Probably almost very limited food for three days. Peeps, best diet is no dairy, no high fiber, semi-liquid BRAT diet. I’m very, very fortunate nausea is the only symptom now. Never had headaches. Some anger, no depression.
I’d like to have a serious talk with my old psychiatrist that misdiagnosed me with bipolar in the first place. In my fantasy, he’d take this horrid drug for a year and then go cold turkey. Welcome to our world. Hang in there folks, get off this awful med no matter what.
Can someone please tell me how long do withdrawal symptoms last? I was on 40 mg, down to 20 mg, having been taking Latuda for 6 months. Off it now for 2 weeks. Feeling depressed, insomnia, racing thoughts. Please someone offer any advice on how long this will last. Thank you so much!
If you read all the comments, you will find a tendency of many withdrawal symptoms if Latuda is tapered from 20 mg to zero. From what I’ve read below, the best way is to go from 20mg down to 15mg, then 10mg to 5mg to zero. I can’t tell you how long it lasts because I just went from 60mg to 40mg.
See all the comments below for more information. It would be appreciated if someone who is now weaned from it completely would answer your question. I will be looking for that reply… Take care.
Thank you for your reply Elsie. I’ve been off Latuda for 3 weeks today, feeling a little depressed and my jaw clenching hasn’t gone away. Just wondering how long withdrawal symptoms will last. By far a horrible drug.
Update: Successfully off Latuda for 4 weeks. Doctor told me all withdrawal symptoms are gone. Very happy to be off this drug. Feeling stable on lithium, but will begin tapering off in 2 weeks by 150 mg. Finally feeling a little more back in control of my life.
I just went off Latuda. It has been a week. I have all this energy like I can’t sit still and I recently can’t sleep at all. I’m now taking Vraylar. I have schizophrenia.
I went cold turkey off the Latuda and had been on it for over a year. Side effects included weight gain (going from a size 2 to a size 16) and tiredness. I would go to bed at 5 PM sometimes because I couldn’t stay up.
Update. I went down to 5 mg last night. Woke up this morning with terrible nausea. Muscled on and went to a July 4th cookout. After eating a small fruit salad and half a hot dog, I got violently ill. This is the WORST nausea yet. Oh, and I’m still as dizzy as I was when I went from 20mg to 15. That has never stopped in the two months.
Raw ginger root really helps. I ran to the grocery store, got some, skinned a big piece with my buck knife in the car and chewed it up. (My new doc gave me Ondansetron for nausea but that gives me terrible constipation so why substitute one problem for another?) An hour later the nausea is only barely manageable.
I’m going on vacation in two weeks. The nausea typically begins to subside after 8 days so I should be ok. Sure, as long as I eat tiny, itty bitty meals. Great. But I WILL get off this.
Latuda should be a black box drug. This withdrawal is wretched. The only upside is I’m losing weight but people are beginning to ask me why I’ve been loosing so fast. Can’t say my former idiot doc misdiagnosed me and put me on a bad drug. I guess the next two days will be only mass quantities of water and Gatorade – as per the last two tapers.
Guess I can’t complain. Bad nausea and slight dizziness has been the only problem. No migraines or anxiety. If there is ever a class action suit against Sunovian, sign me up! Bad, bad, BAD drug!
Please tell me how many weeks you stayed on 20mg, 15mg, 10mg before going down to 5mg. I’m in the process of withdrawing from Latuda because of extrapyramidal symptoms and side effects. 6 months on 60mg and 6 days ago I lowered to 40mg as per the pharmacist. Thank you for posting.
Thanks everybody who posted all these comments. I’ve been so totally lost and depressed about my ability to get through these HORRIBLE withdrawal side effects from Latuda. I was on it only two and a half weeks, and doc discontinued cold turkey.
It’s been terrifying, because I didn’t know people went through these horrible phases – the depression, the fogginess, the *unsteadiness*!!!!, confusion, sleep disturbances, anxiety…all so horrible. And this drug was invented for what? – I thought to CLEAR UP these problems, not MAGNIFY them.
I’m at home, by myself, trying to get through this withdrawal phase, and with NO idea what symptoms to expect. I just accidentally came upon this site and have been reading everyone’s comments. Thank you, all, my little angels! I don’t feel as scared anymore. I can deal with the process if I can be assured there is an end in sight from this damn stuff!
I am SO SICK of being prescribed meds of which barely anything is known for long term use. I seriously decided today that I will be taking the absolute bare bones necessary for me, in regard to psych meds. That means, for me, just the 40 mg of Viibryd in the morning, and .5 mg klonopin at night… and, my goal is to get rid of the klonopin over time, too.
It’s wonderful to have meds for our really rough patches while living with bipolar… it’s just my opinion that, as we get over the downward phases of bipolar, it’s better to maintain on the minimum necessary levels of only the absolutely necessary meds. Personally, I think my doc keeping me on: antidepressant, mood stabilizer, tranquilizer, and then his adding whatever “extra tweaking med” is TOO MUCH.
Add the big guns when necessary during down spiraling, but then cut back when stabilized again! My goal: antidepressant ONLY. Klonopin still just at night – .5 mg. But eventually, I want to get off the klonopin permanently! Damn powerful and addictive drug!
I have been taking 20mg of Latuda for three months and I have had significant weight gain. I don’t feel comfortable in my own skin anymore and I am ashamed of the way I look.
I haven’t changed my diet at all. I want to stop, but the withdrawal symptoms scare me. I do take medication for depression and anxiety – do you think this will help with the withdrawal?
Misdiagnosed with bipolar and told to stop Latuda. I’m tapering instead. Was on 20mg for two years. Went from 20 to 15 for ten days and have been on ten for several days. The nausea is unbelievable and now am increasingly dizzy. Had a consult with my pharmacist who said when you cut meds by hand, you change the way it’s released.
But what is the alternative to cutting? Am waiting for a call back from a pharmacist hoping to get a guide. Maybe they will suggest 20mg every other day for a while and then every three etc. Anyone know? But here’s some advice about nausea that may help some of you.
I have it completely under control. I mince about half of a teaspoon of ginger root, stick it on the back of my tongue and chase it down with a glass of water. The nausea is gone in minutes and I only have to do it twice a day.
Anyone have a home remedy for dizziness? The last thing I want to do is put yet another pharmaceutical product down my throat. Latuda is an AWFUL drug to get off. Wish I had never taken it.
After being on 80 mg Latuda for 2 years I decided to quit cold turkey because the neurologist told me that I had Parkinson’s disease. Apparently one of the worst side effects of Latuda is Parkinson’s symptoms. Within 5 days all of my tremors disappeared, but I had horrible headaches that I ended up in the ER for.
Was given a shot of morphine. I still have mild to moderate headaches and this is going on 7 weeks off of Latuda. I also have anxiety and hoping these withdrawals will be ending soon. Going on Latuda was the worst decision in my life.
I have been on Latuda for almost 3 years now. My sex drive is gone and I am ALWAYS hungry and craving only the worst foods. I have gained significant weight and the number on the scale keeps climbing so I’m letting Latuda go. I am starting to taper off this week and I am terrified.
I went through withdrawal symptoms from Cymbalta for MONTHS and it sounds like Latuda might actually be worse. I’m on a low dose (thankfully), 20mg, but I get anxiety and road rage when I just skip it for one day… I might be on here posting for support in the coming weeks. Good luck to all!
I’ve been taking Latuda since December 11, 2017 for depression at 20mg. It did make the depression go away, but replaced it with anxiety, dry mouth, clenching my jaw, muscle stiffness and lack of focus. I asked my doctor to quit and she told me I could quit anytime as my dose was low.
Big mistake, I quit cold turkey and within a few days I was really bad. Insomnia, sick to my stomach, thoughts of suicide, uncontrollable sadness. I was so overwhelmed I went back on the drug. After reading all the reviews I’m so scared.
I don’t know what to do and how to get off this drug. I regret taking it and doctors are too quick to push these kind of drugs. I’m so frustrated and disappointed. I’m now worse than I was before I started taking this drug!
I was on Latuda 20 mg for 3 months, stopped cold turkey and went into crisis. Went back on the drug, increased dose to 40 mg. Was feeling horrible, filled with anxiety and depression. Finally I decided to take Lithium so I can get off Latuda with the crazy withdrawal symptoms.
So far I’m off Latuda 9 days and counting. I just hope I don’t deal with any withdrawal symptoms. Does anyone know how long I should wait before I’m in the clear being off Latuda? Your feedback would be greatly appreciated. Latuda is the worst drug. Regret ever taking it.
I’m so sorry that everyone has had such bad withdrawal symptoms from latuda. My psychiatrist had me on 60mgs of latuda and I started feeling odd and weird while taking it.
So I decided to quit cold turkey. I never had any withdrawal symptoms. I’m wondering if it’s because I also take seroquel, topamax, lamictal and klonopin. Has anyone had experienced anything like that?
I took microdoses of Latuda (5mg) for something like 3 months, it was helping a lot for 2 of these months but on the 3rd the positive effects stopped completely so I tried to up the dose to 10mg. I’m someone EXTREMELY weak to side effects (I can make the list of common side effects after a few days of taking a medication most of the time without even looking at the label to give you an idea, even got some extremely rare ones with less than 1% chance to happen and it isn’t psychosomatic. Stupid DNA.)
So when I got to 10 mg I started getting major issues like weakness in limbs, major muscular pain, blurred vision, bronchitis-like symptoms, loss of coordination and confusion, also took a few tens of pounds in these 3 months. I stopped cold turkey (from my very low dosage). Stoped in mid January, now at the last days of March and still in withdrawal.
I experience constant muscle pains and my nerves go nuts when I make sudden movements turning me into a sobbing ball of pain. I really feel like my muscles are too small for my skeleton since. I also went from nearly asexual to a ball of nervous undirected libido (looks like an anxiety related side effect) and to top it I seem to have developed a small chronic respiratory system infection, coughing salty phlegm since I started the medication, culminating in fever recently.
The last part might be only due to a weakened immune system but I read some comments of other people having that problem with Latuda as well, so it might be directly related, I am unsure. Anyway, if you are prone to side effect take this medication only as a last resort, I tried them all and this is by far the worst in term of withdrawal symptoms. Morphine for me was way easier to get off of than Latuda by FAR.
I just came across this website as I lost my bottle of Latuda coming back from vacation. I’m not doubting your experience with Latuda it does seem suspect with all those ailments and that being the only contributing factor. It does ring true.
My dose is 120mg and after having to wait for a new script I only had a headache and nausea. So IDK.
I’ve been on Latuda for about 2 years now. Quit cold turkey a week or so ago because I kept vomiting up my medication and I was tired of it going to waste. That was a bad idea. Last night I woke up and started screaming because I thought I saw a strange man at the foot of my bed, holding a pillow about to suffocate me.
My screaming woke up my whole family and probably the neighbors as well, my stepdad turned on the light and the thing seemed to just float away. It was hard to deal with the fact that whatever I had just seen wasn’t real.
I should probably add that my dose was 20 mg for the first few months and then 40 mg for the rest of the time. I quit cold turkey from a 40 mg dose.
Update: It’s been a little over a month now and I still have scary hallucinations every once in a while despite not having them before taking Latuda. At this rate, I’m worried that one night someone will ACTUALLY be trying to kill me and no one will come to help because they’ll think I’m hallucinating again.
I couldn’t even get out of my car the other night because I thought I saw someone stalking me. When I heard a scratch down the back of the car, I panicked and drove a few blocks away and called my mom begging her for help.
She sent my stepdad out to escort me to the front door when I drove home, and he was noticeably irritated. What bothers me is that there actually WAS a long vertical scratch on the back of the car, and I took a picture of it, but they still didn’t believe me.
Hi Mikayla, how are you doing? Have you had any improvement in your symptoms? I too am having the some type of hallucinations coupled with straight up paranoia! Mine are coupled with a strange feeling in my body. Like a wooziness? For lack of a better word. Not from coming off them however.
I’m into my second week @ 20mg. (I have a highly damaged but compensated liver so the meds usually has higher concentration because it’s not being cleared out.) It is so weird when it happens. Like, I repeat to myself over and over it isn’t real (but at the same time thinking what if it is real?).
Are the meds somehow accessing a part of the brain that’s able to see them (entities?)? I feel like it is maybe placebo-ish-ing my depression slightly and no help on the paranoia. I keep telling myself it’s just my way of adjusting to the meds and it will pass but now reading your post I’m not so sure.
Is it causing brain damage in anyway? I know some antipsychotics are in a way basically a medication-induced frontal lobotomy. Curious how you are doing hun? I know it’s been a few months. Hope all is well with you. :)
I’ve been on Latuda for about three months. Took 40mg, went up to 60, couldn’t handle the nausea, went back down to 40 and then went to 20mg for three weeks before stopping. The nausea was hit or miss. I didn’t like how numb this made me feel compared to all the medications I’ve been taking prior.
My libido/ sex drive was dead which made me feel irritable. I felt like I was losing my personality. THAT being said, this drug worked well for my depression. It just amped up my anxiety really bad. I’m about two weeks off Latuda and I’m having mild depression, extreme bouts of anger and tiredness.
I wanted to share my experience for others going through this. I was on 80mg of Latuda for 6 weeks. My doctor didn’t properly taper me off the drug and after a week of stopping the medicine I started to experience withdrawal symptoms. Insomnia, tremors, anxiety, flu like symptoms and nausea.
After 4 days of not sleeping I went to the ER. They gave me Valium and it did nothing for my symptoms. I was eventually admitted to the hospital. With the help of treatment the withdrawal subsided after 2 weeks.
It’s been a month now and most of the symptoms are gone except I’m still having trouble sleeping. This was a nightmare I missed a lot of work and had to go on FML. To those going thru this I hope that you recover quickly and don’t experience this. Good luck.
Ugh. I’m on day 6 of a taper (10 MG down to 5) of this stuff and it’s miserable. I was on 10 MG for 2.5 years, but once again my insurance company won’t cover it. This has happened to me twice now, so I just can’t deal with the drama and expense of this drug.
It worked fine for me, but I was using it for an off-label use to combat non-bipolar depression along with Lexapro. So, with my doctor’s consent, I’m trying to wean myself off.
It has an 18 hour half life, so I thought that by day six I’d be over the worst, but it seems that the wild ride is just beginning. What a drag to have shackled myself to this strong drug. I’m nauseated, clammy, my skin tingles, my head is killing me and I have no energy.
Appetite ranges from ravenous to non-existent. It wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have a mortgage to pay and a job to perform in. You can’t exactly tell your co-workers that you’re temporarily insane because you’re coming off of an anti-psychotic drug.
And this is just the taper! WTF is going to happen when I go cold? Ridiculous.
Well… I thought I’d provide an update. It seems that day 6 is the worst day for me, for whatever reason. Because right after I posted my post above, the symptoms seemed to decrease markedly on day 7 onward. Since then, I’ve been reducing gradually, but fairly aggressively.
After going down to 5MG (quarter of a pill), for about two weeks, I decided to start taking the quarter pill on an empty stomach, because theoretically this would reduce my body’s uptake of the drug, in effect reducing down from a quarter to something less.
I did this for a week and noticed some cessation symptoms, but it wasn’t bad. After this I quit. I’m now on day 4 of no Latuda and, while I definitely feel I’m going through an adjustment, it’s not as bad as it was when I was reducing from 10 to 5 MG.
I still have a couple more days until the dreaded day 6, but am cautiously optimistic.
Ok…here’s my two week update. Once again, on day 6 I felt a minor anxiety spike but then it rapidly diminished. It’s been pretty easy, actually. Much easier than Zyprexa which I was on only for a short time, but was hell to clear out of my system. Oddly, even though I took the Latuda to assist in sleeping, I seem to have had little trouble with insomnia when decreasing and quitting. I’m glad I’m done.
Thank you so much for sharing, Steven. I plan to start taper of in June. I now feel less anxious and more optimistic. The information you’ve provided is much appreciated.
Thank you, you just gave me some hope. I passed day 6 with no issues, but I still have my reservations. Do you have any update being off Latuda completely?
I have been on Latuda for three years at 40mg. It was a great help with bipolar depression and I feel it helped be alcohol free during its use. I’m an alcoholic. The last year I developed terrible side effects. Extreme anxiety, Felt like I needed to leave my body at any cost. Lost my love for life and was numb.
Isn’t from 120lbs to 170. I was so itchy. I tried to stop 6 months but the withdrawal was worse than those I have felt from alcohol. The effects lasted for two weeks before I gave up. I’m now quitting for the second time. I cut my pill in half for5 days and now have been off Latuda for a week. The withdrawal started as soon as I reduced my dose to 20mg.
For the past four days I have been extremely nauseous with vomiting. I have had a horrible headache that feels like sinus pressure and it’s difficult for me to relieve the pain with aspirin her medication. My itching is worse than ever before and I am dizzy and have very low blood pressure.
Yesterday I slept the whole day I was so tired I could not even think about getting up out of bed. I am surprised I have the energy to write this post. This time I’m not going to quit… I’m determined to stay off Latuda.
Even though I am terribly sick at my stomach, I have noticed since quitting Latuda that food tastes better and I am feeling emotions I have not felt for a long time. I think Latuda is an evil drug and I wish I had never taken it. Good luck to anybody out there who is on it. Hang in there.
Andy, I quit 100mg of Latuda, 1200 mg of Lithium, 10 mg of Lexapro, 10 mg of Propranolol 2X a day, and Risperidone (injection/shot/consta) of 37.5 mg every 2 weeks because I had gained over 100 lbs than what I used to weigh before psychiatric medication–255lbs at 5’8.25. I am a male, 27 yrs old.
I quit last April 2017. Withdrawals were horrible. I experienced nausea, severe headaches, trembling, heart palpitations, cold sweats, exhaustion -literally, waking up, eating, falling asleep, waking up, eating, falling asleep… only sent out to buy groceries, and maintained my hygiene.
My worst withdrawals lasted about 7 weeks. Last night was the worst night. I almost went back on medications b/c I could not stand it. I did not. When I woke up, something felt different. And I went from 255 to around 225 by just eating and falling asleep.
I then used the south beach diet–something my urologist had recommended since mid 2014, and am now down to around 160 lbs, my spine has decompressed and I am now 5’10 and 7/8. Waist size went from 40 t0 30. I still experience difficulty maintaining focus. from time to time, but things are much better now because I am able to analyze my situation and my vision has improved so I can read books again.
There is a “way” through the difficult situation. Please do not give up on your spouse. I wish you both the best.
Thank you for the hope. I’ve been on Latuda for 10 years and am wondering if I’ll ever be able to function without it because the withdrawals are so awful. It gave me extrapyramidal side effects and now I am off and I am socially phobic and avoid my friends and am in constant muscle pain headaches nausea, flat, my sense of humor is gone and I can’t concentrate in school. Three months like this. If it doesn’t go away my life is ruined by it.
My wife has been taking 20mg for approximately a year and a half. It has done wonders for her. Due to a change in our insurance status she was forced to stop taking it because it is expensive. Her Dr started tapering her off 3 months ago. She got down to a quarter of a pill, and yes we were cutting them. She started experiencing equilibrium problems, concentration problems and extreme nausea with some vomiting.
Her Dr told her to just stop taking it. She did, and OMG! The nausea and vomiting are out of control. Its only been 5 days since she stopped. She has been at the ER twice in 2 days because the vomiting and nausea are so bad. Can’t eat, can’t drink anything. I have never in my life seen someone so sick before. People be careful, this is a powerful drug with horrible withdrawal symptoms.
I only took Latuda for a little over a month. I was taking it for clinical/treatment resistant depression. My psychiatrist gave me samples, but not enough to last until my next appointment. I didn’t notice until I was almost out. My insurance company rejected the request for a prescription, so I went cold turkey.
I have been having withdrawals for over a week & have never felt so horrible in my life, & I’m 51! Nausea, dizziness, worsening depression, bouts of anger. It really was starting to work after only 3 weeks, but if this is what coming off Latuda feels like, I never want to take it again.
Took Latuda for about a week and a half. Started noticing extreme nausea, restlessness, and anxiety within a week, after going from 20mg dose to 40mg dose. Decided to stop taking it, as I literally couldn’t keep down enough food to take it with.
Haven’t taken it in 3 days now. Still feeling all 3 symptoms, but slowly to lesser extents. Went to urgent care and got Zofran for nausea, which helps a little. Hoping to feel better in a few days.
Been on Latuda 40mg for more than a year. A psychiatric nurse practitioner thought the med is expensive and I should be taken off. She had me titrate down 20mg for 3 days. I ended up with headaches, shakes, a feeling of motion sickness, vomiting, and allover body aches. I suggest a much lower dose. I have 120mg I cut down so it’s hard. Whoever said you can’t cut the pills is wrong. I’ve been cutting mine to save money the whole time.
I have been taking Latuda for 6 weeks and have decided to quite cold turkey. I am 26 years old and have been depressed most of my adult life, without any formal diagnosis until a little over a month ago. I was diagnosed with bipolar depression, which I was told just a few days ago by another doctor I am not bipolar.
This may be important regarding what I experienced while taking Latuda. I was a part of an intensive inpatient program for those with severe depression. It was amazing in helping me deal with my depression, and I highly recommend anyone suffering from severe depression admit themselves to such a program.
I was feeling much better after the first week, before being prescribed to Latuda. They started me at 20mg, and for the first week of taking it I didn’t notice much of a difference. There was a strange uneasy tiredness that came within roughly an hour after taking it, otherwise I felt normal. They decided to up my dosage up to 40mg.
I started noticing a higher level of concentration, along with a few other side effects. I felt emotionally numb, and had a more difficult time connecting with new people. I also started feeling something I’ve scarcely ever experienced: anxiety. My entire life I’ve been socially outgoing, but Latuda made me feel like an introvert.
Emotionally I still felt a bit depressed, but I thought it was because Latuda needed more time to build up in my system. I had been taking Latuda exclusively at night before bed, so I didn’t have the chance to experience the side effects for the first few hours of taking the drug. My doctor told me it may make me feel sleepy, but I started to notice more worrying side effects. It felt like I was having more trouble breathing, mostly with my breath being shorter.
The anxiety started to get worse, and if I was still awake after an hour of taking Latuda, menial tasks felt difficult to carry out. It was strange for me, because as I stated earlier, I have never been an anxious person. After being on Latuda for 5 weeks, I felt that the negative side effects might be subsiding, and that Latuda might have finally built up in my system.
I had gotten through a very difficult week of school while working full time, so I thought I would be less prone to the side effect of anxiety. I was going in to work the night shift at my job, which starts at 7pm, so I took Latuda a few hours prior at 4pm (I had been taking Latuda at 8-9pm daily). My reasoning was the negative side effects couldn’t be debilitating to the point where I couldn’t do my job, and because I had such a successful week at school, I would be less prone to anxiety.
As I was getting ready to leave me house, I began to feel uneasy. On my way to work, I started to feel dizzy and a shortness of breath…I really didn’t want to be driving. When I got to the parking garage where I work, I was feeling progressively worse. I felt weak, and afraid to get out of my car.
It felt like a forced march from the parking garage to the building where I work, and I was trying to just concentrate on breathing normally. My chest began to feel tight, and I could feel my face turning red. When I arrived at my unit, I realized that I was incapable of doing my job. I was dizzy, had developed a bad headache, I was out of energy, I felt like I wasn’t getting enough oxygen, my chest was tight, and I couldn’t focus.
I also had and incredibly uneasy feeling, and I just wanted to curl up in the fetal position. At this point, I felt the same suicidal thoughts that plagued me me in the past creeping back. I was so unconformable and anxious and had just arrived at work, and it was getting worse. I was having a full-blown panic attack. My colleagues could tell that something was wrong.
I told them how I felt in what words I could at the time, and that I was unable to drive. They offered to take me to the ER, and I obliged. I spent the night there, and if it wasn’t for the trazodone they gave me, I probably wouldn’t have slept that night. The panic attack lasted for roughly 5 hours, and as the debilitating anxiety subsided I started feeling restless.
That episode has turned me completely off of Latuda. It was a real eye-opener. Feeling suicidal while on Latuda after 6 weeks of taking it was the nail in the coffin for me, set aside the panic attack. I am now fully motivated to seek alternative methods of tackling my depression and living a healthier lifestyle. I plan on joining a Yoga studio, and start eating a healthier diet.
I’m not sure how the withdrawal is going to go for me, but so far after 2 days of not taking Latuda, I feel more lackadaisical than usual. I might check back in a few weeks with an update on my withdrawal.
I’m BP2 and the pdoc suggested I use this as my depresssive episodes were getting worse. 51 years old white male. I’ve tried a number of these things and they generally always end up awfully. I’ve only continued long term with Benzos due to high anxiety.
This expensive “touted” designer/wonder drug caught my attention and I needed to get the depression down… so I started off on lower dose 20mg. for the first few days – no side effects and I thought, maybe this will help. I did also notice that my depression was much gone along with ideation thoughts. But… I was feeling increasingly “revved” up – which was provoking more anxiety.
Couldn’t fall asleep couldn’t stay asleep and anxiety went through the roof, increasingly by days 4,5,6. I still stick with it as pdoc said must do. By days 7 and 8 when I finally quit it, I was a complete wreck of anxiety bag of nerves. It was devastating and I thought this cure is far worse than depressive episodes.
Within 48 hours of quitting it, I started to get the full-blown issue of the tongue stuck in the back of the mouth issue that many have complained about here. It was around my epiglottis, and it was very frightening. It provoked the most scared thoughts in me, that this has taken a turn for the very worst.
Not knowing what to do, I researched this intensely and found out that it was a common form of tardiness dyskinesia associated with UP 75% of users of this drug!! I was furious and scared and riddled with anxiety. Felt like I was in a permanent state of choking with the tongue dyskinesia issue. It was so frightening. My BP went wacky due to my anxiety as well.
I read that this evil effect could be countered with Ativan/Lorazepam, which I demanded from my GP and he agreed. That largely worked. I’ve not been so scared in a long time.
This drug has a Dark Side people. Please be very careful with it even on low doses over 2 weeks. It’s downright dangerous IMO. Don’t be tricked by the early days of use. It’s what comes later, that is truly disturbing. Best of luck.
I’m bipolar 2 and I have been on Latuda for a month and a half at 60 mg. I gained ten pounds in that course of time and I decided to quit cold turkey. It’s been a week since I quit and I sleep a lot, I am depressed and mildly suicidal. With some headaches.
It’s not too bad for me since I feel more like myself and anyways I started out with depression so I’m trying to be more mindful. It is affecting my relationships since I tend to isolate myself but I’m going through a tough time of my life so I don’t care I’m just going to take it easy.
I was on Latuda for three months at 40 mg, tapered down to 20 mg for two days, then quit cold turkey after that. I figured that the withdrawals could not be any worse than actually being on this horrid drug. While on it, I didn’t care about anything…
I couldn’t laugh, I couldn’t cry, and had terrible bouts of anxiety that would wake me up at 4 in the morning unable to go back to sleep. Also, time stands still while you are on Latuda and it is a struggle to think about anything other than when bedtime is coming… not that it matters because of the insomnia anyway.
I have been off Latuda for 6 days now and the anxiety is still there, my sleep cycle is all screwed up, and I’m still feeling pretty flat. I wonder if I will ever feel like myself again. I wonder how long it will take for the anxiety to go away. Thinking of all of you who are going through hell with this drug and I pray we all get better.
I took Latuda for 7 months at 40 mg. It made me feel pretty good, but I was having a very hard time getting my insurance to cover it. With Obamacare on the chopping block, I decided to take myself off of it under doctor’s supervision. I tapered from 3/4 to 1/2 to nothing.
I felt really good for the first few days. Now is day 5 and I feel so miserable. It doesn’t help that my grandmother just died last night and I have some other uncertainties in my life. But, without Latuda, everything seems so amplified. I feel super depressed and unhappy with everything and everyone.
I can’t sleep through the night. Things that should make me happy made me sad. I am reading that things are about to get worse. I hope not. But, at least I am empowered and not waiting around until Trump takes me off of it by cutting Medicaid for individuals. I know things will eventually get better. For now, though, this sucks.
Beanie. My experience was not far different from yours. See my own note below. This thing has a very dark side to it… Scott
Beanie I too have been on 40mg for about two months and have gained 30 pounds and don’t care about anything. Now I just found out my doctor is out of the country until May 1. I want to go off this but am getting scared just reading this board.
I think I’m going to cut pills in half until he comes back. I don’t like the weight gain nor the feeling of not caring about anything. Thanks to you and everyone else who shared their experiences. What an eye opener!
I’ve been taking 60mg of latuda everyday for the past two years until I had to stop taking it because the doctors office made an error in scheduling. The withdrawal is something out of a horror book. Constant vomiting now for three days, aches, the no sleeping, and being very weak. I’ve have since got my medication back, but I’m still withdrawing at night. This medication has helped me a lot, but if I would have known that you can get withdraws, I know I wouldn’t have started them.
I was having restless leg syndrome. Weight gain around my middle, biting my tongue, severe ringing in my ears so I am stopping Latuda. I am so upset as what I was having may become permanent. I am stoping the awful drug Latuda. I am current taking 20 mil, down from 40, and I feel groggy. I’m hoping the withdrawals don’t get too bad. Wish me luck!
Latuda has turned me into a raging b—-. I can’t control the rage, hostility and anxiety all rolled into one. I was never like this on any other medication. I’ve lost all my friends and my family hates me. I tried to explain about the medication but no one cares. It’s near the holidays and has caused me to feel really depressed, worse than before going on this medication. The doctor is trying to taper me off it, but the damage is done. Horrible headaches, insomnia and did I mention anger?! I used to be timid and anxious now I just don’t care and it has changed my personality.
I have been on Latuda for a year. It caused weight gain, impotence, low testosterone, memory loss and tardive dyskinesia. I can’t go on like this. I don’t even know if my diagnosis is real or the symptoms were caused by long term alcohol and marijuana use. I have been tapering off the stuff very slowly since August (4 months) and am down to 20mg.
I started at 80mg. I’ve been cutting up pills with a pill cutter. Now that I’m down to a quarter of a pill, I cannot cut them up further. After a month on the quarter pill, I will take a quarter pill every other day for a month and then every third day the final month.
It’s going good so far. I’m quite lucky that I get this drug for free from the VA, 6 months at a time.
I have been on 80 mg for 6 years with the only side effect being fatigue. I have titrated dwon to 60 mg as of last week and have had no side effects. My goal is to go down to 40mgs and hope the fatigue goes away at that dosage.
Its so nice and rare to find someone who has been on Latuda for any length of time. I have been on for a year now and I am very happy with it. Do you have time to update on how you’re doing?
After 10 years had serious side effects and had to get off it. It is ruining my life.
I was put on Latuda 3 weeks ago. I was taking 120mgs of cymbalta and was functioning very well. I am diagnosed with depression as well as anxiety panic disorder. On Latuda I was nauseous irritable depressed and wanted to die because I felt so spaced out and angry. I stopped taking Latuda 3 days ago my body aches especially my neck and back. Today my fingers hurt. I have trouble sleeping when I was on it and off it. My anxieties have lessened. This drug should be illegal!
Has anyone had weird dreams when stopping Latuda?
I have! They are very vivid and seem to distort my daily reality!
I was on Latuda 10mg for 11 days. It was added to Lamictal (150mg) because of a manic episode that really scared me. Extreme dizziness (whenever I moved my head) was the only real issue I had with Latuda. It got better, but it did not go away. I staggered and almost fell quite a few times, prompting me to decide the benefit of the med wasn’t worth the risk.
Tapering didn’t seem important since I used it such a short time and was taking just half of a pill at the lowest dosage available. Was I wrong! It has been two days since I stopped the 10mg dose and the migraines are horrible. I also have sweats and mood swings. 11 days on only a 10mg dose and this is the withdrawal?!
I don’t want to deal with this. I’m going to take 5mg for a few weeks and then quit. BTW, as much as my headaches are “unbearable,” many of you are dealing with a lot more. This post isn’t meant to put myself at your level of issue. I’m posting to add my voice to the “taper extremely slowly” advice many of you have offered.
If you’re on Latuda and thinking of getting off, don’t bet you will be one of the lucky ones with no withdrawal. Even someone on a tiny dose, like me, can get hit pretty hard.
I am coming off a 60mg dose for two years. I was told to halve my dose for a few days. Big BIG mistake. I felt like I had the worst hangover of my life. Cold sweats. Vomiting. Last night I woke up shaking like I was having a seizure. I haven’t slept since and I can’t calm down. Took a Xanax and am waiting for it to hopefully help. If this is what the next few weeks look like then I am in for one hell of a time.
Feeling fine. Instead of decreasing the dose I went cold turkey. I was almost incomprehensible and my husband nearly called 911 to have me committed. :( But since then I feel like a two year fog has been lifted off me! I never realized how strong this stuff is before I tried to quit. Hang in there!!!! You can feel like yourself again.
Hope you’re doing better!
I have been misdiagnosed as well and I was put on Latuda to taper off Seroquel. I have not had anything but bad symptoms from this whole misdiagnosis. I quit cold turkey after 4 months almost a week ago from 60mg. I wanted to jump out of my skin I was severely depressed and I have been having increased insomnia. And time stands almost still while feeling extremely restless.
I feel much better since quitting but I’m afraid that the symptoms will come back in the form of withdrawal. I still have terrible insomnia but I have been taking melatonin and clonazepam to help. I would like to know if anyone else who has been misdiagnosed has had any similar issues?
I have never been depressed but this experience has been the darkest time of my life. I am just hoping I can get away with going cold turkey since my body and mind rejected it anyways. Any help would be great if you have had similar experiences?
I was misdiagnosed recently. I was locked out of my house one night, walked to my gym which is a 24 hour gym and some guy started following me. I hid behind a building and called the cops. He saw the police and ran into a neighborhood. The cops thought I was homeless and schizophrenic, which neither were true and I was sent for a 72 hour hold.
I was angry, and the staff were hostile. I have bipolar and tried to clarify this, they said that’s not true. Eventually after a week things got sorted out and my doctor is trying to get me off the latuda the hospital put me on. I learned not to rely on cops!
Am in the process of dumping both Latuda and Paxil. On Paxil, I had a six-week titration downward and am still sick with the dreaded Paxil Flu. Latuda, I quit cold turkey, and I have to wonder if some of what I am attributing to Paxil is in fact the Latuda. I have a muscle spasm off and on in my right eye; it started when I started Latuda, and is gradually lessening with each day I am off the drug.
I quit Latuda because I found the restlessness absolutely unbearable, along with the persistent notion that time is standing still. On Latuda, I was tormented by the notion that I could not fill my hours…not a nice combination with restless legs, body, arms. I’m off Latuda now, but the restlessness remains, albeit in smaller doses that I can reason with.
One week of this misery…less than one week, actually…I try to turn my face to the sunshine, but this feels like forever.
Anyone experiencing stomach cramping as a withdrawal issue? My husband was slightly tapered from 80 to 40 to 20. He is very nauseated and has terrible pain in his upper bowel area.
I am currently on Latuda 80 mg and not diagnosed bipolar or schizophrenic. I have been diagnosed with severe depression and BPD. The BPD keeps making my idiot doctors think bipolar, but it takes time to diagnose that. Ever since I’ve been on Latuda I feel detached from my body. My depression and irritability has been off the charts for at least a solid 6 months.
I sleep my days off away because I feel no point in getting out of bed. You could offer me something I’d love and I would find a way to stay in bed. This medication has ruined my life. I have been struggling with depression for 20 years now (since I was 10) and I know that this medication is causing more depression than ever.
However, after reading through these virtual HORROR STORIES of withdrawal and weaning symptoms, I feel like my fight still lays before me. I’m seeing a doctor in 2 weeks and discussing weaning me off a medication that is prescribed for something I don’t even have. I’m terrified the suicidal thoughts will get worse. I’m so scared.
I was on 120mg for a year, gained 40lbs, craved carbs like an SOB. I quit cold turkey because it wasn’t helping my bipolar 1 anymore. It’s been 2 weeks and I have experienced all of the symptoms, especially sweating and severe insomnia (I take 2mg klonopin and 45mg restoril). I have even been taking Benadryl with my sleep meds and at best I get 4 hours of tossing and turning a night. Do not be confused with mania insomnia where you feel good and high without sleep; this is a terrible insomnia with racing thoughts. I hope it goes away soon.
I was only on Lutuda for 3 months and gained 30lbs. I couldn’t stop waiting. My doctor took me off as the weight gain had me in sever depression. She told me she has never heard of people gaining weight. Hopefully my weight I gained goes back. Hoping yours does too. Side effects I just now learned reading others comments.
I told my husband last night I thought I was dying as I didn’t feel right at all. Some of the side effects hit me the last two days. Know I feel better in the sense I am not dying. As for the side effects they are torture. Dizziness, my body aches, sleeplessness, when I eat I feel like my stomach is going to explode.
I was moved up to 40mg and when I took it had a reaction. I couldn’t sit still, wanted to pull my hair out had abs still having severe anxiety attacks. My doctor stopped it for 48 hours and then took me back to 20mg and then I’ll go to 10 and stop it. I feel crazy and not myself. Feel for patients who deal with this daily. I had to take 2 Benadryl to counteract the reaction for the next 36 hours every 4 hours. It’s not fun feeling like you’re going crazy.
I am supporting someone who has been on Latuda for about 6 months, even though she isn’t bipolar. The doctors continue to amaze me in the depths of their stupidity. She confessed to me she had gone from 60mg to 0mg in over a month or so. She isn’t psychotic, but she’s begun to have psychosis thanks to this and Clonazepam. This drug is very dangerous. If you have an option don’t take Latuda.
Latuda has worked well for me. Trying to find a way to stay on it has been crazy. My insurance won’t cover it and have received price quotes from the lowest (500.00) for 30 days to 2170.00 for 90 days. Who can afford this drug? It’s a shame because Latuda has had such a positive effect on me, I’m Bipolar. What has really helped me is being on clozapine… I’ve been on it for about 15 years, it has saved my life!
I was on 20 mg for three months for anxiety, and it helped a lot. Even at this lowest of doses it was pretty potent – sometime it would knock me out within minutes of taking it. However, after the new year, my insurance company dropped it from their formulary. It would cost me over $1,000/month, so I had to part ways with it.
I titrated down for about a week, by cutting the pills. The withdrawal from this drug is different for me than others. With others, as soon I as started reducing I felt a withdrawal. Not with latuda. I felt almost nothing, which made me eager to taper faster. However, I’ve noticed that the true withdrawal hits when the drug is completely out of your system.
I’m on day 9 and feel very anxious and have not been sleeping well the past few nights. My stomach/abdomen feels very tense and my skin tingles a little bit. Part of me wonders if I went to fast, but now that it’s done, I don’t want to retreat. If this is what it’s like tapering from a low dose and relatively short duration, I don’t think I’d like to taper after being on it for years.
Check the price. The 80 mg costs the same as the 20 mg ($900 a month). So if you get a mg scale ($25 on amazon) and a good pill cutter you can cut your cost quite a bit.
I’m scared now with all the withdrawal I’m having it sucks. I feel like a zombie or in someone else’s body. And that’s from the increasing and me reacting badly to it. I’ve only been on it for 1 month but I am done. I’m tapering off it and won’t go back on it. I can’t function.
I was on Latuda for two years and found it to be wonderful for my bipolar disorder. It helped with depression and anxiety and suicidal thoughts. I had minimal side effects, I believe only weight gain. Now I’m at the point in my life where I am getting off of it and I am going through withdrawals, headache, blurred vision, and nausea.
I did experience a clenching of the jaw and pressed tongue while on it. Trouble sleeping and wild crazy dreams. Looking forward to seeing myself off of it, even though it did help me a lot through hard times and would suggest it to friends.
Hi Colleen, I started Latuda 4 months ago and it’s been a godsend — finally got relief from lifelong bipolar depression. I’ve just found out that my insurance won’t pay for it. So I’m going to have to get off of it. That’s why I came to this site.
Like you, I am in a much better place in my life now, so I’m hoping I’ll be ok. Can you tell me if you were indeed ok without the Latuda? Would appreciate your reply.
Did you come off Latuda and did your jaw clenching stop? Any other withdrawal symptoms? Please advise. I’m on day 13 off Latuda and my anxiety levels are off the charts and my jaw clenching hasn’t gone away.
I took Latuda for three weeks. While I was on it, I experienced low sex drive, sleeping problems, and extreme anxiety. The anxiety was so bad, I quit cold turkey, and am now experiencing extreme nausea for weeks with no end in sight. My life has been completely disrupted by this drug.
My daughter Sami was diagnosed with bi-polar about 2 years ago and put on latuda. They started her on a very low dose of 20mg but increased it very quickly. She was sick to her stomach, lost her appetite, and was sleepy and spaced out that she nearly burned down the house trying to cook when she fell asleep and did not hear the fire alarms going off for over half an hour. She quit taking the drug but later started again because with the bi-polar she could not handle her school work or hold a job.
She had another couple of times of taking it for a couple of months and then quitting until early this fall. In August of 2015 she began taking and has taken it up until around the first of December where she quit cold turkey. She has been despondent and moody and tired and just not herself the last 10 days and then she had was seems to be a complete break.
She has been walking around for the last 2 days not knowing who family members were, her eyes look all glassy and she appears to just not be all there, she ended up wandering around barefoot in the snow ranting and laughing and was taken to the emergency room where they had to restrain her and sedate her and they ran a full range of drug and blood tests but could find nothing in her system and nothing physically wrong with her.
When she awoke from sedation in the hospital yesterday morning she was out of it like she was on drugs and did not recognize people and just seemed to have a general state of confusion, depression, and nervousness. It has been over 48 hours since she first started displaying this crazed behavior and it does not seem to be getting any better. Should she start taking the drug again and will this stop it or should we get something like zoloft to at least lessen the anxiety which is causing her to do crazy things that are endangering her life?
Thankfully, I am actually sleeping BETTER instead of having insomnia. Dizziness and depression are problems though.
Days on this drug are torture. You *never* feel normal…and your waking life turns into waiting until you can just lie down and sleep. Your sexuality disappears…and I’m pretty sure your testosterone takes a huge hit. Discontinued completely due to misdiagnosis, and three months later I’m still off: still can’t feel ‘normal’. Withdrawal from this drug is like living with a perpetual itch in the middle of your back that you can’t scratch: it is, more or less, a constant feeling that you have a craving for something to fix the way you feel…but nothing will fix it.
It lasts for months. These drugs have wiped a year off of my life. Think very carefully before you go down the medication road. There are hormonal situations (like a combination of high cortisol and testosterone–which, ironically, peak in your twenties) and psychological situations (like isolation–which also peaks in your twenties–with meditation and visualization techniques) that can provoke psychosis in normal individuals with normal levels of white matter and normal dopamine molecules (in other words, avoid meditation to relieve stress, esp. when you are male).
And if it is a first time episode, you are in your mid twenties and you have just become financially independent, the above is probably you. Think really carefully…were the decisions and thought patterns things you engaged in voluntarily to relieve stress with dopamine releases…or were they things that happened to you while your life was happy and easy? Before you take the plunge into the medication wasteland, verify that you are actually not normal…because these drugs will put at least 15-20 lbs of belly fat on you that may not come off, and they are hell to be on and hell to get off.
Gosh glad I read everyones experiences, I’ve just been coming of seroquel. Bad stuff, Dr was going to put me on latuda, no way now, sounds too much like seroquel. I’m still trying to survive, headaches. My bones even my teeth ached, diarrhea every 5 min. Shakes, trembles, awake all night… I will sweat and it smells like toxins coming out my pores.
I am slowly getting better, was on 800 mg per night. Tapered off, crap was really bad, my heart was racing, and thought I was gonna die. Couldn’t leave bathroom to go to Dr. Anyone thinking about seroquel do your homework. I’m glad I did mine and read everyone’s posts. Thanks for maybe saving more grief.
Latuda is very sedating and caused anxiety and restlessness. It’s supposed to be a “wonder drug”, but none if the AP meds are – they dull your brain and make you into couch potatoes! Get out there, stretch, breath more oxygen and move your bodies…I know when you’re depressed, seems impossible to do, but make yourselves do it. Better than have to suffer through all these annoying side effects. Take care and count your blessings. -A mom with a son plagued with this horrific illness of the mind!