Saphris - New Drug Approved for Bipolar I Disorder
Sunday August 16, 2009
This past Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Saphris (asenapine) for the treatment of bipolar I disorder and schizophrenia. Saphris is a new atypical antipsychotic. It is expected to be available to patients later this year as a fast dissolving tablet.
The most common side effects reported by patients in clinical trials using Saphris to treat bipolar disorder were drowsiness, dizziness, movement disorders such as walking issues or tremors, and weight increase. The reported side effects are comparable to those seen with other atypical antipsychotics such as risperidone and olanzapine.
This means there will soon be one more drug in the arsenal to treat bipolar disorder. If you’ve tried the current medications without success or found the side effects intolerable, perhaps Saphris will be the drug that works for you. If you have difficulty swallowing pills, the quick-dissolve formulation of this antipsychotic may be of interest. However, while this specific medication is new, it is similar to other antipsychotics so if are stable and satisfied with your current medications, you probably don’t want to mess with a good thing just to try something new. Talk with your doctor about your options. ~ Kimberly
The most common side effects reported by patients in clinical trials using Saphris to treat bipolar disorder were drowsiness, dizziness, movement disorders such as walking issues or tremors, and weight increase. The reported side effects are comparable to those seen with other atypical antipsychotics such as risperidone and olanzapine.
This means there will soon be one more drug in the arsenal to treat bipolar disorder. If you’ve tried the current medications without success or found the side effects intolerable, perhaps Saphris will be the drug that works for you. If you have difficulty swallowing pills, the quick-dissolve formulation of this antipsychotic may be of interest. However, while this specific medication is new, it is similar to other antipsychotics so if are stable and satisfied with your current medications, you probably don’t want to mess with a good thing just to try something new. Talk with your doctor about your options. ~ Kimberly
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Comments
The world needs another atypical antipsychotic like it needs a hole in the head. Actually, a hole might work better. Give us a Lithium without long-term health impacts. Hell, give us ANYTHNG without long-term health impacts. Medicine should be moving away from atypical antipsychotics and doing completely different research. Figure out how Lamotrigine works and you’re on the way to a true breakthrough.
I couldn’t agree more! And WHEN, TELL ME WHEN, LET ME SAY THAT AGAIN, TELL ME WHEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are drug companies going to quit releasing drugs that cause the added side effect of INCREASED WEIGHT! I got sick reading about this release. It seems to offer little, if anything, over the current poison arsenal of atypical antipsychotics already available.
Ditto! I hate atypicals and won’t chance taking them anymore. I even got tardive dyskensia from Geodon, which the Dr. said would not happen with that drug. I think atypicals are risky. I wish they would come up with some decent mood stabilizers for a change. I can’t deal with the body temperature issues on antipsychotics either. When you live in a hot climate, you don’t need your drug to add to that! And the weight gain on some meds–doctors always say to eat a healthy diet, but when your appetite is soaring, that is very hard to do. Ok, I’ve vented! Pshew……Oh, one more thing, doctors always say you’ll talk about taking the weight off after they stabilize your mood, but truthfully, the only one who will have to do that is the patient! I gained 70 pounds on one med. Happily, I’ve dropped 55 of it after stopping that med.