Invega and Hallucinations: What Users Say

• Mom...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 3, 2018

For Schizophrenia "My son (23-year-old) got the Invega shot. It's the worst thing ever. It's making him cripple, still hearing voices, shuffling when he walks, insomnia. This drug needs to be taken off the market. I am going to write to the FDA. It's very expensive and does nothing to help. Where are our tax money going? Why isn't there a cure? The insurance companies are bloodsuckers. The poor mental health patients cannot get any help. I am so sick and tired of this disease right now, I just want my child back."

• PRO...
• March 11, 2016

For Schizophrenia "These drugs are dangerous. They ruined my life and made my illness much worse. The doctors do not believe me as they think I'm an inferior life form. Symptoms include tooth decay, lack of motivation, extreme weight gain, heart pains, and reduced level of consciousness. They also made me extremely delusional to the point I didn't even believe anymore."

• Lea...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• June 12, 2018

For Schizophrenia "I have been taking Invega prolonged release tablets for 8 years. I was diagnosed with schizophrenia and put on 3 mg, and it took a little while for the delusions to end. I then fell into deep depression. I couldn't stand my head the way it was. This drug blocked all my mind wandering that I loved so much. I was given a 6-week course of ECT and put on 75 mg doxepin antidepressant and Invega upped to 6 mg. When the dose was increased to 6 mg, I had heart palpitations and couldn't sit still in a chair from stiff joints and was constantly falling asleep. My psych blamed Invega, lowered my dose to 3 mg, and increased my doxepin to 150 mg. I was still robotic in thought and movement, but I could lead a productive life. My head did feel very dry, and I was in survival mode, though. I started having 2000 mg fish oil capsules a day, and my thoughts became fluid, and so did my joints and movement. It's not a cure, but I would recommend fish oil capsules to people with psychotic illness taking these meds."

• ano...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 13, 2020

For Schizoaffective Disorder "Put on Invega, and I started hearing voices, which is something that's never happened. Panic attacks, something that's never happened. Always felt cold. Would wake up in the middle of the night as though I've been possessed. Invega contains fluoride, highly recommend finding medication fluoride-free. Not to mention it costs $900/month for the pill and $1900/month for the injection! Was on the pill for 2 weeks, went off cold turkey, and it was hard, could only describe a really bad physical sensation. I'm trying Lurasidone next, seems to have much better reviews for schizoaffectives. Wish everyone the best."

• all...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• September 5, 2016

For Schizoaffective Disorder "This medication is weird. You can be doing really well and be normal, and then all of a sudden you get a manic episode or psychotic episode out of nowhere when you were normal like 2 days ago. It doesn't help you sleep, although it's good because it didn't stop me from waking up in the morning. I was able to go to my morning class as I was waking up at 5:30 am. Although I couldn't concentrate in class, and I never cooked. From what I remember, I was doing better on Risperdal, although I was more out of it and way more paranoid, and it was really scary. But I had good friends and never got manic and never had to go to the hospital for almost 10 years, and also did well in school. I think Invega is too inconsistent and can't take the mood stabilizer I want to."

• Sme...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• June 14, 2022

For Schizoaffective Disorder "Invega has been a long journey for me. I started with the pill and the injection, while I finished my bachelor's degree (Woohoo Sociology!). I used only the injection and continued the injection for quite some years. I had several doctors encourage my thoughts about wanting to detox off the meds and convince me I was safe to do so. This always resulted in a terrible relapse of symptoms of psychosis and schizoaffective disorder. I finally came to the conclusion (hospitalization number lost count) I would not try to escape from my medication, as every time I take it the way I am supposed to, my day goes by fairly smoothly and successfully. I definitely encourage people to experiment with different atypicals prescribed by their doctor or NP to figure out what helps them best. For now, I have found Invega, and it has helped me so much in life. I have been able to find a full-time job with benefits and unlimited PTO! Moved to my dream location near the mountains and go rock climbing."

• Man...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• January 25, 2017

For Schizophrenia "I had been on Haldol before, which I am allergic to, and it caused wasting away disease. Invega was my last option, and it helped fix what Haldol seemed to have ruined and took away a lot of the scary stuff I was dealing with, like seeing people in my room. The only thing is I am still hearing voices, but they are mostly nice. I am on 234 mg a month."

• Ram...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 5, 2021

For Schizoaffective Disorder "Our adopted son was born with prenatal alcohol exposure and has permanent brain damage. He was diagnosed with FAE and various other disorders associated with it. He has suffered from sleep issues, explosive rages, and psychosis. He has been prescribed over 40 different drugs with some disturbing side effects. He just started Invega Sustenna in March, and there was an immediate change in his mood and overall behaviors and is stable. He has now moved up to Trinza and is doing very well."

• Mic...
• April 20, 2017

For Schizoaffective Disorder "After taking 6 mg Invega for 3 years, I asked my physician what was making me gain so much weight. He told me it was the Invega and suggested I stop taking it. So I stopped taking it the next day! That was horrible advice (to quit cold turkey), but I lost 40 pounds in 2 months. I kept the weight off until I developed psychosis/delusional thinking. After about 6 months and a suicide attempt, I am back on it but shots only. Within 2 months I gained the 40 pounds back and gained an additional 40 lbs, making it a total of 80 lbs gained. Time for something else! I am in pain from bad knees and can hardly walk now. Great mood helper but terrible on the body!"

• Thr...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• August 27, 2019

For Schizophrenia "Stuff is great, works very well, actually makes you work on problems in a more sober state. Definitely increased my sex drive. Life is getting better and better with time, the longer I'm on it, the better I get. Works overall for about 98% of the hallucinations. The voices are still ongoing, but they're a lot better now, only sometimes bad, for the most part not."

• Thr...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• August 27, 2019

For Schizophrenia "Stuff is great, works very well, actually makes you work on problems in a more sober state. Definitely increased my sex drive. Life is getting better and better with time, the longer I'm on it, the better I get. Works overall for about 98% of the hallucinations. The voices are still ongoing, but they're a lot better now, only sometimes bad, for the most part not."

• moc...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 17, 2022

For Schizoaffective Disorder "I've only had the two beginning doses of Invega, and it has been awful. My doctor talked me into it since I sometimes miss my pills, so she wanted me to get an injection. I agreed, and now I can't sleep. I have such vivid dreams, like I wake up in another life. So vivid, it seems real. Sometimes I can't decipher reality and my dreams. I'm seeing things often, more than when I was just on a pill medication, and I am going to tell my doctor this week that I refuse to take this again. It made me lose a job, I can't focus. I'm scared all the time. It's just terrible."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• October 18, 2022

For Schizophrenia "Weight gain, sleeping too much, no motivation, bad decisions, not wanting to shower, memory loss, brain damage, delusions."

• Anonymous
• October 27, 2022

For Schizoaffective Disorder "This shot will turn you into a zombie. The only thing it helps with is delusions and paranoia, but you better be ready to be a couch potato with no pleasure, no motivation, and no sex drive."

• Anonymous
• October 27, 2022

For Schizoaffective Disorder "This shot will turn you into a zombie. The only thing it helps with is delusions and paranoia, but you better be ready to be a couch potato with no pleasure, no motivation, and no sex drive."