Invega Sustenna for Schizoaffective Disorder User Reviews (Page 3)

• Loc...
• February 21, 2018

"I have been on 156 mg injections for the past year. Yes, there is weight gain, and it's from over-eating because the drug makes you very hungry even shortly after eating. That was the only bad for me. Otherwise, it gives me a calm, reflective mind, and no symptoms from my illness. I am hoping to get my appetite under control through discipline. If you exercise and eat intelligently, I am sure there would be no weight gain, but do be warned: you will be much more hungry than usual. Overall, it's the best anti-psychotic I've tried, though, and that includes Risperdal, Abilify, and Haloperidol (the worst one by far). Compared to Risperdal, it is just as effective but with fewer side effects. I feel like less of a zombie."

• SKE...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 22, 2022

"I got this in the mental hospital for the first time. Immediately, my mood became much more positive. After about 2 months, I really started to benefit from it. The noises/voices/paranoia disappeared, and I was able to start full-time employment after losing several jobs and applying for disability. I do notice that about a week before I’m due for my monthly injection, I start to get some symptoms again. I also notice that my memory is much worse than it was before, but I’ve been trying to keep my mind active by reading, playing games, and working. I don’t know if I have schizophrenia (I was diagnosed as bipolar at the hospital, but the doctor seriously sucked so bad), but I would guess I do, given the symptoms. Before this medication, I would hear things, see things, and would be extremely paranoid. Now, I’m happy and able to take charge of my life. I will say that I have gained a lot of weight (up to 300 lbs from 265 lbs before the hospital)."

• Cra...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• August 21, 2018

"I have been on Invega 234 injection for over 7 months. I do the injection every 3 weeks. It has helped with the auditory and visual hallucinations but am unsure of the mood effects. Definitely more depressed, and my anxiety has gotten much worse, but after I get the shot, it seems to get better. I have been hospitalized every month with multiple depressive problems after taking this medication and am now convinced that it is possible that this medication could be the cause. I am now going to try to figure out if this medication is worth being on or whether I should stay on it."

• Anonymous
• January 11, 2019

"I've been on this drug since December of 2017, and now it's January 2019, so more than a year. I think it has good and bad effects. It helps me control myself better. I don't blurt out random nonsense anymore like I used to. I don't like the fact that it causes sexual dysfunction and weight gain. I've been taking topiramate for a while now, and I barely eat anything, but my psychiatrist blames my weight gain all on me, even though weight gain clearly is one of the side effects of Invega, as well as other antipsychotics. I noticed I haven't ejaculated as much semen the last few times I came, and I think the Invega is to blame. If it weren't for the sexual dysfunction and weight problems, and also the decreased testosterone due to increased prolactin, I'd say this medicine is not that bad, but because I'm forced to take it, I might as well just suck it up and live with it and accept what I have to live with."

• Sco...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• June 30, 2019

"I'm not sure how I need it, but it's okay. I've been on it for about 1 and a half years. I can't complain. I've been on 234 mg every month for a while, like at least half of a year. It slows down the brain. I guess I would be too hyper without it. Different meds affect people differently. It's totally fine, and I feel okay. I feel peace."

• Mon...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• April 19, 2023

"Since taking Invega Sustenna 150 mg, 4 weekly injections, I have gained 10 kg even though I was eating a raw and plant-based diet. I have a flat affect, anhedonia, weight gain, high prolactin, and amenorrhea. I am also feeling slowed in my thinking and lack the motivation or inspiration to do anything. My psychiatrist refuses to put me back on the 3 mg tablet, which I thrived on without symptoms for over a decade. I researched my illness, and now that I have insight into my illness, I should be allowed to remain stable on a less lobotomizing medication dose for Schizoaffective Disorder."

• Jun...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 2, 2018

"Been a week since the first 250 mg injection of Invega Sustenna. Arm hurt really bad for a few days and was kind of tired and felt like head under water, but as the week went on, that fog lifted and so did the pain. Still have some noise in my head, but can usually tell reality from fiction. Go back this week for 135 mg booster... hopefully no pain this time and no head under water feeling."

• Ano...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• May 22, 2025

"This medicine has completely changed my life. No voices, no paranoia, no delusions, no anger. For all the people saying that this medicine makes them depressed, there's no magic happy shot to get you out of depression. You need God for that part. Side effects include significant weight gain that doesn't respond to diet and exercise. I'd rather be fat and stable than skinny and in prison hearing voices yell at me!"

• Cha...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• December 30, 2023

"This medication has been the best medication I have ever been on. It has completely changed my life. I am now capable of holding a job, maintaining my marriage and being a better mother. I've been on this medication now for 7 1/2 years. I'm on 156 mg, and yes, they've had to adjust it from time to time, going up and down in the milligrams, but all in all, like I said, this medication has completely changed my life."

• Hel...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• June 23, 2024

"I have taken Invega Sustenna for the past 7 years. It makes me feel like myself. Also, it helps me to focus and brings clarity of brain. I have not gained weight on it. Invega takes away all my symptoms of schizoaffective disorder. The only thing is it gives me agoraphobia and anxiety as side effects. Agoraphobia is pretty disabling."

• The...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 31, 2019

"I have schizoaffective disorder, and I was put on Invega because lithium causes kidney disease. It helps me sleep and to be able to function. The only side effect is it causes sexual dysfunction, which is a common side effect."

• Tur...
• June 6, 2020

"I've been on the Invega Sustenna for going on 7 years now, and I have to say that a lot of what I'm seeing in the feedback is all similar to different experiences I've had with schizophrenia while on the medication. Yes, the side effects are terrible, you cycle from being overly manic to super lethargic (I held down a job for 3 years as a line cook on a 256 mg dose). Your appetite is uncontrollable at times, and exercise is overly strenuous and difficult (I tried a regiment of weight lifting and killer ten-mile runs daily to keep the weight off, your body can't shed breast tissue when you're a male). Since the circumstance of me taking this medication is mandatory in all aspects of my life for somebody in a similar situation to me 8 years ago (I'll spare the details), I would recommend this medication for bipolar or schizophrenia."

• Ang...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• September 6, 2021

"I have been taking Invega (117) for 3 years after a serious mental breakdown and being court committed to the psych ward against my will. I am diagnosed with bipolar and schizoaffective disorder. I was hallucinating, talking to myself and to my hallucinations, manic, angry, and delusional. This drug has really helped me. Although I gained a lot of weight and lost my sex drive, all of my hallucinations and delusions have completely stopped! I feel like it has improved my life. I actually do not mind the side effects and am grateful that I can now live a calm and peaceful life."

• Kev...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• March 29, 2023

"I got this shot in my 3rd inpatient hospitalization. I was covered by Medicaid, so there weren’t any issues. I was getting injections monthly, and I started doing way better with my schizoaffective bipolar disorder. Without medications, I have a verge behavioral emergency practically weekly. When I was on it, I could feel it in my steps and my balance, I felt so much better. The frantic thoughts racing through my head leveled out, and the main reason I see the doctor is regarding sleep insomnia. I started getting the shot, and my balance felt well enough to get to sleep. When I would eat, I wouldn’t panic. Some of these reviews are not true, the only bad part now is my new insurance doesn’t cover it, and it’s $3000."

• Pop...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• November 15, 2024

"Invega Sustenna has been good for me. I took it for eight years. It helps with positive symptoms, and since I am bipolar, my negatives are a bit less, however, I still have negative symptoms on Invega Sustenna. At first, I didn’t get my periods on it, but with time that came back… one thing that stops me from being normal on this medication is agoraphobia. Agoraphobia stops me from socializing and also going out of the house. I am housebound."

• Joe...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 8, 2018

"Total failure. No sex drive and impotent, no emotions, no thoughts. Complete zombie, don't let them inject you with this poison."

• Rui...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 29, 2018

"I had five shots of this. I have no more interest in anything, no emotions, no motivation, no sex drive, no more sperm, and now I have huge man boobs."

• Boa...
• July 10, 2019

"It's a horrible drug that makes you have no thoughts in your head at all. I used to have a lot of passion for learning, and now all of that is gone with this drug."

• Sea...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 6, 2019

"Invega Sustenna is a terrible drug, especially the shot. Do not take for schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Will make it worse. Bad side effects too."

• Ano...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 19, 2020

"The injectable form of this drug will steal your soul, your mind, and your spirit. This is a terrible drug."

• Ari...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• April 14, 2016

"I was on this medicine for a little over a year, and I gained almost 100 pounds. I slept all the time, and my emotions felt numb."

• Rea...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• May 3, 2018

"I hated this injection."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 9, 2022

"This drug definitely helps with paranoia and delusions. However, it causes memory loss, weight gain, and emotional numbing. I have gained 12 pounds in 3 weeks."

• Gol...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• April 5, 2018

"Gained 65 lbs in about two years, but it stops the poltergeist."

• Ano...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 25, 2023

"Made me feel like a zombie, made me fat. Voices and episodes were still frequent enough."