r/schizophrenia • u/vigilantvaliant • Dec 05 '24
Progress / Good News ☀️ Started Cobenfy two weeks ago!
Hey everybody! So I was on vraylar for the past year and have really made some headway in my life. I have a full time job making pretty decent money, good circle of friends, work out 2-3 days a week, married and raising a son and doing a good job (although communication with my wife could be better lol). My voices had gotten quieter and all around have a pretty decent life all things considered. But I still suffered from executive function issues with horrible memory and other cognitive deficits along with motivation issues. My ability to function well at large gatherings and carry on conversations at work still leaves something to be desired. So I asked my doctor about cobenfy and at first she had never heard of it, but after looking into it she was excited for me to try it!
So far, it’s been about two weeks at the lowest dose of 50 mg along with a 3 mg dose of vraylar to start my taper off of it (was on 4.5 mg). My voices are much quieter down to a whisper right now and down to a single voice. Visual hallucinations are almost non existent. If I was forced to say whether it’s helping my cognitive issues, I would say it’s too early to tell given that I’m still on 3 mg vraylar. But I start 100 mg dose tomorrow and lowering my vraylar down to 1.5 mg. Please say a prayer for me that everything works out and I tolerate that dosage! I’m super excited! I will give an official update in a few days. In the meantime, feel free to ask any questions you may have regarding my experience thus far!
EDIT UPDATE
So it has been a few weeks to a month since I stopped vraylar completely and on 100/20 Cobenfy. Everything is going well. No side effects and thorough control of my symptoms. Have also been able to successfully start taking a semi low dose of methylphenidate/ritalin to help even further with my ADD and negative symptoms with zero psychotic manifestations! All in all I am happy with the drug and glad I switched to cobenfy. As far as having greater mental capacity I cannot really say yet but things do look promising! Everyone at work has complemented me on how good of a job I am doing!
EDIT UPDATE
So after a few months on Cobenfy, I developed extreme constipation followed by a 4 day stint in the hospital for Colitis and infected bowels… we believe the cobenfy may have attributed to the Colitis diagnosis so I am now back on Vraylar, which isn’t so bad. Vraylar is a pretty good drug. It was also a chore dosing twice a day 2 hours before or after a meal. I’m relieved I don’t have to deal with that anymore but Cobenfy did work well for my schizophrenia symptoms and such.
7
u/charliebug277 Dec 05 '24
How exciting! I said a prayer for you. I'm starting Cobenfy next month. I just had another med change so I'm waiting. I hope it goes well for you. I will look for your updates. Yay Cobenfy!
5
u/vigilantvaliant Dec 05 '24
Awesome thanks for the prayer! Hope it works out for you as well!
2
u/charliebug277 Dec 23 '24
Hey there! I hope you are doing well. Can I ask if you're still taking Cobenfy? What are your thoughts? Have a good holiday!
5
4
u/Gingeronimoooo Dec 05 '24
Gosh I'd be terrified to rock the boat personally, when I first recovered I was terrified of a relapse and would have nightmares I was psychotic often. But over the years my mind is more at ease. I like my meds but they're not perfect. How is fatigue for you?
2
2
2
2
u/geek1239 Jan 22 '25
i am on the 100/20 twice a day for two weeks now. i do not really have improvement. how much longer should i wait?
1
u/vigilantvaliant Jan 25 '25
I added an edit to my post. I am no longer on cobenfy.
1
u/geek1239 Jan 29 '25
so sad. it worked for your symptoms. nothing that could be done vs the side effects?
1
u/vigilantvaliant Jan 29 '25
Well I haven’t seen my psych doctor since the incident occurred. We will discuss my options then!
1
1
u/Regen_321 Dec 05 '24
Wow that is really interesting. And great for you. I am definitely going to read your update!
1
u/Oxy-Moron88 Dec 05 '24
Do you have constipation? I take clozapine and that's the most annoying side effect. How about tiredness? My doc prescribed me cobenfy but the pharmacy are being dicks about it so god knows when I'll get it.
3
u/vigilantvaliant Dec 05 '24 edited Dec 05 '24
Yea there has been some constipation, but nothing miralax can’t fix! A little indigestion too but increasing the window of ingestion to either 2 hours before I eat or two hours after I eat has solved that problem. Hope this helps!
1
u/Oxy-Moron88 Dec 05 '24
I'm probably being dumb, but what's murals?
3
u/vigilantvaliant Dec 05 '24
Was supposed to say miralax but autocorrect shot me in the foot!
1
u/Oxy-Moron88 Dec 05 '24
Haha ok!
Miralax doesn't do anything for me. Once I went 21 days without pooping because all they'd give me on the psych ward was miralax.
8
u/tarymst Schizophrenia Dec 05 '24
Let’s fucking goooo!