Caplyta and Drowsiness: What Users Say

• Fee...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 6, 2020

For Schizophrenia "This medicine Caplyta has been a lifesaver for my bipolar! I've experienced sleepiness and dry mouth in the beginning, but those have gone away in the 5 weeks I've been on this medicine. My bipolar is completely under control and the severe depression is gone. I feel motivated, happy and able to participate in life. I'm so happy to have found this medicine. I finally feel 'normal'."

• Hap...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• December 13, 2021

For Schizophrenia "I would often complain to my psychiatrist about how many meds I was taking for my schizoaffective bipolar. He'd always assure me that brains and meds are like locks and keys; sometimes you only need one key to open the lock, and other times you need multiple keys at once. I'm a multiple keys type of girl. I've been on a myriad of psych meds, but slowly found out that I needed several at once to keep things steady, but I still felt 'crazy'. I was angry, extremely paranoid, sleepy, hallucinating constantly, and I felt so unsafe in the world, like everyone was out to get me. I read about a new med coming out and begged my psychiatrist to let me take it. 'Okay, we'll see how it works for you,' he said. It was slow at first, or so I thought. I didn't realize the small changes that were happening. I became less angry, less paranoid. I stopped hallucinating. But most of all, I started to feel happy. I never realized life could be so peaceful."

• del...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 2, 2020

For Schizophrenia "I'm on Caplyta for schizoaffective, alongside lithium. It has helped me so much! I was struggling with a lot of intrusive non-realities and visuals, delusions relating to fears and paranoias, disconnection, overwhelming conversations in my head, and severe mood swings, which had been affecting me for years. It has gone a long, long way in helping these issues. My first week was a bit rough but not overwhelming. The first dose left me extremely drowsy, so I decided to take it in the evenings before bed. In the subsequent days, I did feel a bit of dread as it set in. Six days in, I felt like I was able to move it to the mornings and my body was getting used to it. Even before then, it helped me with my symptoms a lot. I really have to take it with food. I've had to eat fuller breakfasts since getting on it, or else the drowsiness comes back, but it's easily preventable. This medication has really changed my life, and I'd encourage anyone trying it to wait a week unless the side effects are too severe."

• PAP...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 23, 2025

For Bipolar Disorder "Really relieved my depression. I was ready to give up and didn’t think I would be able to stay alive much longer. Caplyta changed my life. It is the first antidepressant that worked, and I have tried many. It does make me sedated and sleepy, but the effects only last about two hours. I usually take it before bed, so by morning I am fine. Initially, I had terrible dry mouth, and my nose would plug up, but after about 45 days, those symptoms went away. I hope this medicine is always available. It is very expensive, but fortunately, my insurance covers most of it. I slowly went from 10 to 20 to 40 mgs."

• PAP...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 23, 2025

For Bipolar Disorder "Really relieved my depression. I was ready to give up and didn’t think I would be able to stay alive much longer. Caplyta changed my life. It is the first antidepressant that worked, and I have tried many. It does make me sedated and sleepy, but the effects only last about two hours. I usually take it before bed, so by morning I am fine. Initially, I had terrible dry mouth, and my nose would plug up, but after about 45 days, those symptoms went away. I hope this medicine is always available. It is very expensive, but fortunately, my insurance covers most of it. I slowly went from 10 to 20 to 40 mgs."

• MsB...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 23, 2021

For Schizophrenia "I started on this medication a week ago for bipolar. I was worried after reading all the bad reviews but decided to try it because my doctor always has samples, so it’s free, and I’ve been off all meds for six months and things eventually got bad like they always do. Also, I don’t normally have side effects from medicines except for lithium. First night, very sleepy but surprisingly not as bad as other antipsychotics, and I’ve been on several over the years. Within a few days, I felt the paranoia and delusional thinking subsiding. I’m much more calm feeling. I want to do things again. I also started Wellbutrin XR. I hope things continue to improve over the next several weeks."

• PJ6...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• December 23, 2024

For Bipolar Disorder "I was diagnosed with bipolar 1, PTSD, and OCD in 1994. Generally, I have had mostly long, depressed episodes. Normally, I rapid cycle. I went on Caplyta 8 months ago. At first, it made me dizzy, sleepy, with an extremely dry mouth. I was able to finally sleep through the night. After about 2 weeks, I felt a lot less depressed. Since then, my mood has drastically improved. I haven’t felt flat on this med. My emotions are more real. When I laugh, it’s natural. There’s nothing forced about it. I can genuinely FEEL again. I’ve noticed feeling my old personality before I started having bipolar symptoms, more compassionate and smarter. My thinking became clearer. I was able to verbally communicate better. I have motivation I haven’t had in years. I can shower, clean my house, and help others. My appetite has decreased, so I have lost 55 lbs. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing yet. Anyway, Caplyta has been wonderful for me. I am ME again."

• Loz...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 26, 2022

For Bipolar Disorder "I have bipolar 2 and started this for depression. I took the first dose of Caplyta last night, about 24 hours ago now. It was terrible. About 45 minutes in, I felt my feet burning, and then the burning crept to my torso and back. It was burning so badly that I started looking for blisters! I could not rest as my skin was so inflamed. I was also freezing. I had a comforter and a blanket over me, and it’s 74 degrees in my house. By morning, I was so groggy and dizzy. The burning finally eased up by mid-morning, but even now I can still feel a bit of a burn on my arms and hands. I tell you this is a dangerous drug. I will not take another dose, and like someone else said on here, the experience has made me nervous to try other meds."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 17, 2022

For Bipolar Disorder "I started Caplyta because I was sick of the weight gain, flat affect, and sedation that I was getting from other antipsychotics. The first two weeks were physically rough. I was waking up after 5 hours of sleep every night, I was incontinent of stool 3x, and I was incredibly nauseous with no appetite to the point where I'd go 5 days without eating. Then, after 2-2.5 weeks, something changed. All the side effects went away, and I was finally able to focus on how it made me feel mentally. It has changed my life. My family says I have a completely different personality - one that is engaged in life, confident, calm, social beyond belief, and genuinely happy. I have had no psychosis, and I feel like Caplyta pulled me out of a depression that I had just unconsciously accepted as my 'normal.' I'm very happy I found this drug and will continue to use it. FYI."

• Okl...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 16, 2022

For Bipolar Disorder "I find Caplyta to be ineffective. I’ve become very drowsy and have a massively increased appetite. For the prescribed purpose, I see no effects. Feels like I’m taking a placebo. This drug is also massively expensive."

• Lib...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 13, 2021

For Schizophrenia "I was put on this for my psychotic disorder. It was very easy to go on this med. The only side effect was sedation. I take it at night, so it helps me sleep, but I don't feel drowsy in the morning. There is only one dose, so you don't have to figure out the right dosage to treat the condition. That made it much easier to go on. Great med."

• myb...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 27, 2022

For Bipolar Disorder "I was put on Caplyta after Invega Sustenna made me gain around 60 lbs. The first two weeks, Caplyta made me so sedated I had to start taking it at night, but after I switched to that, it worked well. On Caplyta, I was finally able to start losing weight, and I would say it’s weight neutral. Unfortunately, I think I will have to stop taking it because I am having problems controlling my bladder. It isn’t a lot, but enough to notice. At first, this symptom went away after a month and a half, but it has come back, and I don’t feel like being 29 and incontinent is worth it, so I will be looking for something else."

• Jul...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 23, 2023

For Bipolar Disorder "I started Caplyta about 3 months ago. My regular medicines weren’t working too well, and I was finding myself constantly in tears and feeling unworthy. I had many manic episodes and caused my family a lot of pain by my constant need to shop and my mood changes. I spoke to the doctor about how I was suffering. After having been on dozens of medications for over two decades, my doctor told me about Caplyta. I figured why not give it a go considering my current mood and condition weren’t being helped. After about 6 weeks on the 42 mg starting and therapeutic dose, I started to feel good. I wasn’t perfect, but I noticed I was smiling more and crying less, and my shopping had let up. Eight weeks in, I’m almost back to my teenage self pre-diagnosis. I’m almost never sad anymore. I’m not dwelling on things. I can think straight. I’m not unnecessarily shopping anymore, and my relationship with my husband and kids is finally good. I have not noticed any side effects except for being drowsy."

• ish...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 10, 2023

For Bipolar Disorder "I've had an overall pleasant experience with Caplyta 42 mg. I took my first dose on a Friday night and quickly became very drowsy and went to bed early. I woke up the next morning with a horrible headache, but it stopped after a few days. I've been on Caplyta for 5 weeks now, and it still makes me slightly drowsy, which is fine. It helps me sleep, my depression has greatly lifted, and I'm able to get more things done instead of being in a cycle of being too overwhelmed to get anything done. Much to my husband's satisfaction, my libido seems to be coming back a bit after a 2-year dry spell. If you can push through a rough headache for a few days, I think it's worth it. It does give me a dry mouth, but after getting some water and brushing my teeth in the morning, it subsides."

• Anonymous
• January 14, 2023

For Schizophrenia "I've been taking Caplyta for about two months, and I have improved so much. Other medications I've tried just made me gain weight, and they were just sedatives that did nothing but make me sleep and eat. I would go back to the doctor and complain and then just get another one to make me sleep and eat. But Caplyta is different, it actually gets rid of the hallucinations instead of sedating and numbing my head."

• hlj...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 2, 2025

For Bipolar Disorder "Not bad, but I didn't love it either. I was on Caplyta for a few months for bipolar depression. I took it as my only medication for bipolar at first, starting at 21 mg and going up to 42 mg. It did not work at either dose. I was still depressed and suicidal. After a while of that, I started 200 mg of lamotrigine alongside the Caplyta. I had been on lamotrigine previously, and it didn't work well enough on its own either. Together, though, the medications worked. I wasn't in a depressive episode anymore. Things were going well for me. I was very cold on Caplyta for the first week or so. No clue why that happened. I started in early fall, so it could have been worse, but it was still very annoying. My vision was slightly more blurry on it, but it was manageable. What ultimately made me come off the medication was the drowsiness. It was better than the other antipsychotics I had been on, but it was hard to get up in the morning, and that wasn't sustainable for me."

• siw...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 18, 2022

For Bipolar Disorder "It's been about 2 weeks since I started taking Caplyta, and so far, I've only noticed the side effects and not so much of any drastic change in depression. Maybe a little more clear-headed and calm, but it still needs more time to work. The side effects I've noticed seem weird and uncommon compared to other reviews. It definitely puts me to sleep, so I take it at night. I've noticed the palms of my hands are super red, but I'm not hot at all. Also, my acid reflux came back, frequent urination, the occasional headache, and my hair is shedding a lot/falling out :/ (assuming it's the medication). On the bright side, I'm losing a lot of weight, have no changes in libido (thank God), and have no feelings of suicide, which most other meds cause for me. Going to keep taking it as I hear the side effects should be going away soon. * Will be taking vitamins for my hair though."

• Ctr...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 18, 2024

"Caplyta began with a few days of sedation but then became my breakthrough drug. It allowed me to make clearer and more rational decisions, feel less sadness, content, and able to concentrate to complete my tasks. I was less agitated and less anxious as well."

• Gre...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 13, 2022

For Bipolar Disorder "I have been on Caplyta for three months now, and it has been life-changing for me. I switched from Invega, which for me was ineffective and had a huge array of side effects, and the day my psychiatrist made the switch, I felt so much better! It took a couple of weeks for the psychotic symptoms to actually fully stop, but I instantly had my energy back, and I could participate in life. The biggest thing for me was that I had been on various antipsychotics for three years with little success, but Caplyta has hugely improved my quality of life! It has some side effects, I can’t take it with dinner because it makes me very drowsy about an hour after I take it, and I have to go to bed. The first night I took it, I had the sensation of a bad sunburn on my arms and legs, but this for me went away after the initial use. For me, it’s been incredible, but I know it’s not right for everyone."

• Hap...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• January 22, 2023

For Bipolar Disorder "I suffer from depression, possibly unipolar, possibly (what my current psychiatrist thinks) bipolar II. I've been on Caplyta 42 mg for 11 months. The first few weeks, it seemed miraculous. I'd been suicidal due to lack of sleep; suddenly, I was sleeping 7-8 hours a night, and, what's more, in a good mood all day, even in the early mornings and the evenings. There was a bit of grogginess, but it wasn't bad. But gradually over the months, the side effects increased: the grogginess got worse, I seemed cold all the time, and I became easily confused in the evenings. And much of the positive effect on my mood went away; though my grogginess was greater-in fact, it was the worst grogginess I'd experienced in my life-I was sleeping less. Part of the worsening side effects may be a result of my deteriorating kidneys (I'm in stage 3 kidney disease). Now, at 11 months, the grogginess is slightly better, the chills are mostly gone, I'm sleeping 5-6 hours. My mood is usually good if I can wake up."

• Lis...
• October 4, 2022

"I have been on Caplyta for eight months for major depressive disorder. It has worked wonderfully, the only side effect that I have is it makes me very sleepy, so I take it at night. It does help me to sleep. Since March, I have lost 30 pounds. I don’t know if it was going off Vraylar or going on Caplyta, whatever it may be, I am very happy with the results. It has been a good experience for me."

• Yol...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 8, 2024

For Bipolar Disorder "My experience has been good. I am very stable, and I don't have any weight gain or sedation."