@angeleahpalladino93
My son, who is 45 and has bipolar I disorder, has been taking Vraylar for a little over a year. He was diagnosed at the age of 14, and has taken many different meds, and different dosages of those meds, over the years. My son 's case of bipolar sometimes includes schizoaffective features.
Vraylar is an anti-psychotic. My son took Zyprexa (olanzapine) for many years, often at high doses. He currently also takes high doses of Seroquel, to help him get to sleep and stay asleep. With Vraylar, Seroquel, and Zyprexa, he was taking 3 different anti-psychotics (plus some other meds). It was decided to have him stop taking the Zyprexa, so now he takes Vraylar and Seroquel. He was able to take lithium carbonate for 27 years, and it was a good mood stabilizer for him. He had to stop taking lithium in January of 2022, because he was showing signs of kidney damage. Since them, his illness has become more difficult to manage. Do you take aa mood stabilizer?
I cannot tell you how long it will take for the Vraylar to start to "work" for you. Every patient is different, and metabolism varies among patients. What are the symptoms that you hope to be able to manage with Vraylar? What other meds do you take? You should probably ask your provider (psychiatrist, hopefully) how long he/she thinks it will take for you to notice improvement in your symptoms from taking Vraylar. If you are not getting the kind of improvement you had been hoping for, maybe you should discuss the dosage with your psychiatrist.
Connie

@angeleahpalladino93 I’m so sorry. I applaud you for reaching out for answers. Our 31 yr old son has had Bipolar 1 for 10 years and has to switch medications from time to time if they stop working. I believe Vraylar didn’t work for him and his doctor said it wasn’t strong enough for him. If you still have symptoms I would think your psychiatrist needs to try something else. There are many antipsychotics used for BD. My son did well on Invega for years, and you just take a shot once a month. He takes Haldol now, along with Lithium. I’m hoping that he can at least decrease the Lithium because it’s hard on liver and it causes him to shake so badly. Hang in there. Keep us posted on how it goes. There are a lot of us affected by this disorder.