Latuda

[Zebrawhite]

Has anyone here tried Latuda? I am thinking of switching from Olanzapine to Latuda and was wondering what your experience on it was like? Is it sedating? Does it make you hungry like Olanzapine? I'm 4 months out from my psychotic break and still struggling with reduced bodily sensations. I was told there have been other reports of this happening on olanzapine but it's very rare. It bothers me so I wanted to try something else, I'm just scared the side effects might be worse.

[RachelK_at_APP Moderator]

hello Zebrawhite,

I’m sorry to hear you are still struggling with bodily sensations. Hopefully you have a medical team around you to support you.

I did not take Latunda, I took olanzapine, hopefully somebody on here will be able to discuss how they reacted to it.

But I did find an information leaflet on the drug ‘lurasidone’ (which is the actual drug name for latunda).

choiceandmedication.org/ncm...

Hopefully this will give you some insight into this medication. I know it’s tricky when you think about changing medications.

I took olanzapine when I was diagnosed with pp after the birth of my daughter and then again as a preventative when I had my son. I was struggling with a few side effects of the olanzapine and the perinatal team offered to change my medication. But like you I was worried about the unknown side effects a new drug could have.

Hope this information helps and take care

Rachel

[Survivedwithcolor]

Of all the antipsychotics I took over the years, Latuda was the one I did the best on, by far. My psychiatrist at the time said that she had a lot of patients really like it, and it was definitely a positive change for me. The medication I was on before that, Geodon, made me sleep all the time. Once I got on Latuda, I was much more awake; even better, I felt like my creative personality, which had largely died back to nothing, came back. I felt like writing and drawing and playing the piano again.

As far as weight loss, I didn’t lose weight on Latuda, but I didn’t gain weight either. The only really notable side effect I had from it was a body tremor (I noticed it only at night), especially at higher doses. I met with a neurologist later about it because I was concerned I was getting Parkinson’s. The doctor said it was likely a combination of the long term use of antipsychotics, the chemo drugs I had, and use of antihistamines. Sure enough, when I stopped using antihistamines, the tremors largely stopped.

The only other thing to say about Latuda is that here in the USA it is extremely expensive. That was a bit of a hardship at the beginning of the year before our insurance deductible would kick in. I hope that doesn’t stop you from getting it, because I did find it a good drug and I wished I had had it at the beginning.