Can antipsychotics make paranoia worse, not better?

Question

My doctor put me on invega and it seems as if my paranoia has only gotten worse, not better. She upped my dosage last week and it still hasn't gotten any better. Worse if anything. Is it possible the invega is doing it?

Answer 1

Any drug meant to do one thing can potentially do the opposite, ranging from antidepressants to antipsychotics to muscle relaxants/anti-anxiety meds. Hell, my younger brother became terribly drowsy after taking stimulants, which were supposed to do the exact opposite. So the answer is yes, definitely.



It's best you relay this information to your doctor, because upping the dosage clearly hasn't helped. Another antipsychotic, like Risperdal or Seroquel (stay the hell away from Zyprexa) might be a better choice to try.

Answer 2

I wonder why your doc put you on invega, an expensive brand name medication, when risperdal is generic, and your liver converts risperdal into invega anyhow? Invega is what is called the first active metabolite of risperdal, but the drug company did the work in the lab, instead of your liver doing a perfectly fine job of doing this. Invega is a ripoff!! Perhaps you cannot afford generic risperdal, and the doc has invega samples, and in that case, invega makes sense. Otherwise, it has no significant difference from risperdal.



I never got good results from psychiatric medications.



If you are also agitated, perhaps you are getting akathisia, a very common side effect. because I did not visibly fidget, the docs missed the akathisia diagnosis, and I suffered for YEARS with horrible internal agitation that made me want to literally claw my face off or cut my chest open with a knife. They just labeled me borderline on top of bipolar, but it was a med side effect! I am still angry about this - for years they labeled me borderline and it was their damned pills doing this to me.



otherwise, you can keep trying. I have a lot of paranoia (according to the MMPI personality test) because of sexual abuse and I just keep using my cognitive behavioral therapy strategies, because meds don't work for me, but if you have schizophrenia, maybe that won't work.

Answer 3

I used to work with people with serious issues.

Basically, the doctors just guinea pigged them with various meds until they found something that worked.

I can be a very rough ride until the right recipe is found.

The worst part was when new doctors came on the scene and started the process all over again.

Try to find a doctor without the God complex.

Answer 4

i have never taken that particular drug but it is possible that it can make things worse. tell your doctor. there is a slight chance that you are just really nervous about the medication though.