Latuda

Recent Latuda News & Information

The FDA warns that Latuda, a drug used to treat major depressive episodes, could lead to a serious condition called hyponatremia which occurs when water and sodium are out of balance in the body.

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Latuda is a common medication used as an antipsychotic to treat the depressive symptoms of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia among teens and adults. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Latuda in 2010. The drug doesn’t have a generic version and therefore, it is only available in its original version. Since Latuda is categorized as an antipsychotic, it means that the drug is a second generation psychotic.

Latuda can be either taken by teens or adults on its own (monotherapy), or by adults alongside mood stabilizing medication such as valproate or lithium (adjunctive therapy). Before you start using Latuda, you should tell your doctor about any medicines that you are currently taking including herbal supplements, vitamins, and over-the-counter medications. Latuda can affect the effectiveness of other drugs just the same way that these other drugs can affect how Latuda works. In addition, you should not start or stop taking other medications while still under treatment with Latuda.

Before embarking on Latuda treatment, it is also advisable that you notify your doctor about any medical conditions that you might have or had in the past. These include heart problems and stroke, high or low blood pressure, high blood sugar or diabetes and whether your family has a history of these ailments, high levels of triglycerides or total cholesterol, high prolactin levels, low white blood cell count, seizures, kidney ailments, and liver problems.

If you are either pregnant or plan to have a baby, you also need to notify your healthcare provider. Likewise, you also need to discuss with your doctor about the risk of Latuda to your infant if you are breastfeeding while under Latuda treatment.

Doctors generally advise against using Latuda during pregnancy unless its benefits outweigh the risks of using it. Babies who are born to mothers under Latuda medication during the last three months of pregnancy are likely to experience some withdrawal symptoms after getting born. Some of the withdrawal symptoms that they are likely to exhibit include aversion towards breastfeeding, breathing problems, and irritability.

Even though it is yet to be proved whether Lurasidone can be passed into breast milk when nursing mothers are put under medication, you need to exercise caution when taking it while still breastfeeding your infant. The kid might be affected and therefore, you should speak to your physician to find out whether it is appropriate to continue breastfeeding.

How Should Latuda Be Used?

Latuda is available in five different dosages. These are the 20 mg, 40 mg, 60 mg, 80 mg, and 120 mg tablets. The 20 mg tablet is round-shaped and has Lurasidone hydrochloride as its active ingredient. The non-medicinal ingredients of Latuda are magnesium, mannitol, pregelatinized starch, hypromellose, polyethylene glycol, titanium dioxide, carnauba wax, magnesium stearate, and croscarmellose sodium.

Likewise, 40 mg, 60 mg, 80 mg, and 120 mg Latuda tablets feature Lurasidone hydrochloride as the active ingredient. The numerical value represents the amount of Lurasidone hydrochloride that is found in each respective Latuda tablet. The composition of the non-medicinal ingredients in each does vary depending on the amount of the active ingredient.

Arguably, one of the most significant things that you need to know about Latuda is that missing doses of the medicine increases the risk of relapse. For the medication to work effectively and achieve the desired results, it should be taken daily as prescribed by your doctor. You have to keep in mind that schizophrenia and bipolar-linked depression require long-term treatment and therefore, you should not stop mediation even when your symptoms dissipate. It is only your healthcare provider who should determine the duration of treatment and doses that are appropriate for you.

When treating schizophrenia using Latuda, doctors recommend 40 mg as the recommended starting dose per day. The dose might be increased depending on your response towards the medication. Generally, most people experience desired results with either 40 mg or 80 mg of the medication daily. The maximum dose that is recommended for adolescents is 80 mg.

When treating depression that is linked to bipolar disorder, doctors recommend a starting dose of 20 mg once a day. This can, however, be increased depending on how you respond towards treatment. More often than less, patients battling depression linked to bipolar disorder experience desired results from taking either 20 mg or 50 mg of Latuda daily.

Latuda should be taken alongside food (not less than 350 calories). For optimal result, the medicine should be swallowed whole with water, and at roughly the same time every day. There are several factors that can affect the dose of Latuda that you need. These include your body weight, the presence of other medical conditions, and other medications that you might be taking.

It is advisable that you take this medication as exactly as it has been prescribed by your healthcare provider. This will go a long way in ensuring that you get maximum results from the medication. In the event that you miss a dose, you should take it as soon as possible before continuing with your regular schedule. Just like it is the case with other medications, avoid taking a double dose if you skipped an earlier dose. Instead, contact your doctor for advice.

Individuals who have allergies towards Latuda or other ingredients used in the medication shouldn’t take it. You should also avoid taking Latuda in case you are taking medications that interact with it including rifampin and ketoconazole.

Latuda’s Potential Interaction Issues with Other Drugs

Apart from rifampin and ketoconazole, there are other medicines that interact with Latuda in mild, moderate, and major ways. This highlights the significance of notifying your health provider about other medications that you are taking before you embark on Latuda treatment. Some of these medications include antidepressants, carbamazepine, antihistamines, clarithromycin, erythromycin, diltiazem, indinavir, anxiety medication, blood pressure medication, rifabutin, and sedatives.

An interaction between Latuda and any of the aforementioned medicines among others doesn’t necessarily mean that you should stop taking both of them altogether. Instead, you should speak to your healthcare provider so find ways through which the drug interactions can be managed without harming you in any way. If Latuda has been prescribed to you yet you take alcohol and coffee in significant quantities, you should also inform your doctor because caffeine and nicotine can also have some interaction issues with Latuda.

Possible Side Effects of Latuda

Lurasidone is the active ingredient contained in Latuda and can lead to various side effects when taking the medication. This active ingredient typically works by altering the normal functioning of neurotransmitters. Latuda may cause some negative side effects alongside the needed effect.

The most common side effects of Latuda include a decrease or absence of body movement, difficulties in swallowing food, hyperactivity which causes the inability to stay still, drooling, incremental and ratchet-like muscle movement, reduced balance control, muscle discomfort, shakiness in arms, feet, hands, and legs, shuffling walk, slow reflexes, slurred speech, trembling or shaking of feet or hands, and uncontrolled movements of the neck, back, and face.

The less common side effects of Latuda medication include arm, jaw, or back pain, blurred vision, burning sensation while urinating, chest discomfort and pain, chills, cold sweats, confusion, dizziness, irregular or fast-pounding heartbeats, faintness and dizziness when rising up from a sitting or lying position, high fever, incessant headaches, lockjaw, reduced bladder control, seizures, skin paleness, and pounding in the ears.

Other less common Latuda side effects include muscle spasms especially in the back and neck, sticking out of the tongue, profuse sweating, changes in rhythm and pattern of speech, difficulty when breathing or opening the mouth, extreme tiredness, diminished sexual ability, missed or late menstrual period, temporary blindness, and mild temporary one-side paralysis.

Rare side effects that have been reported after taking Latuda include black tarry stools, bloody urine, breast swelling and pain, coughs, dark-colored urine, decreased amount of urine and frequency of urination, fever, increased thirst, large and hive-like swellings on the lips, face, eyelids, throat, and tongue, nausea, sore throat, lower back pain, vomiting, swollen glands, and weight gain.

It is recommended that you avoid drinking alcohol while under Latuda medication. Besides this, you should avoid driving operating machinery when you embark on medication. Instead, wait to see whether the medication affects your ability to drive or operate machinery. Drinking grapefruit juice or eating the fruit itself while under Latuda medication should also be avoided since it affects the amount of Latuda in your blood.

Apart from its common and rare side effects, Latuda has some metabolic, gastrointestinal, nervous system, psychiatric, hematologic, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, dermatologic, genitourinary, renal, hepatic, respiratory, and immunologic side effects.

Does Latuda Have Any Long-Term Side Effects?

Cost of the aforementioned side effects of Latuda do not require any medical attention. The side effects will likely dissipate and go away altogether as your body gets used to the medicine. Nevertheless, your healthcare provider can still recommend ways of either preventing or reducing some of the side effects of Latuda. Taking into account issues such as proper dosage and regular swallowing times can go a long way in preventing or minimizing some of these side effects.

Your healthcare provider should monitor the side effects of Latuda to monitor their progression into potential long-term side effects. The long-term side effects of Latuda medication include tardive dyskinesia, (TD), increased risk of cardiovascular illnesses, high cholesterol, diabetes, and weight gain.

What are the Risks of Prolonged Latuda Medication?

With continued use, Latuda may lead to tardive dyskinesia (TD). Nevertheless, Latuda has a lower risk of causing TD in the long run compared to other antipsychotics such as Haldol. TD is characterized by symptoms such as sucking, grimacing, smacking of lips, and other uncontrolled movements. When you notice these symptoms, you should notify your healthcare provider immediately so that action can be taken as soon as possible.

Any Latuda side effects should correspond with the effectiveness of the medication. This highlights why it is important to notify your doctor about how you are feeling in the first few weeks of embarking on the medication. Depending on the dosage prescribed and the severity of your symptoms, the changes that you will see may take a few days or several weeks.

Generally, it takes two to three months for you to fully benefit from Latuda treatment. This medication doesn’t have a habit-forming potential as it is the case with other medicines used to treat mental disorders. Nevertheless, you shouldn’t stop using the drug before consulting your doctor. Discontinuation can lead to withdrawal symptoms.

What are Some of Latuda’s Black Box Warnings?

Among the black box warnings of Latuda is that it significantly increases mortality among elderly patients who have dementia-related psychosis. Just like it is the case with first generation antipsychotics, second generation antipsychotics such as Latuda can increase the risk of mortality in elderly patients who are suffering from dementia-related psychosis.

Even though there is a high rate of mortality among elder patients who use Latuda, most of the deaths result from the cardiovascular side effects of the medication such as cardiac arrests, and infections. The FDA’s black box warning on Latuda’s packaging indicates that antipsychotics shouldn’t be used to treat dementia-related psychosis.

Latuda is used to treat schizophrenia and depression that is associated with bipolar disorder. These conditions are among psychiatric disorders that are associated with an increased risk of suicide. Latuda can lead to suicidal thoughts or actions in both children and adults who are under medication.

Patients who have major depressive disorder can either experience the worsening of their condition and the emergence of suicidal ideation and behavior. This may be coupled with behavioral changes regardless of whether they are under Latuda medication or not. The risk of suicide may continue until the occurrence of a significant remission.

If your family member is under Latuda medication, you should watch out for the emergence of symptoms related to anxiety, irritability, insomnia, aggressiveness, and restlessness. Should these symptoms emerge, notify the patient’s prescriber or a healthcare professional so that he/she can be put on a suicide watch.

If your depression or schizophrenia is being treated using Latuda, it is advisable that you notify your healthcare provider in the event that your symptoms worsen or there are unusual changes in your behavior. If you start having suicidal thoughts, during the first couple of months after treatment commences, you should also notify your doctor.

Other Warnings and Precautions When Under Latuda Medication

In as much as most of the side effects of Latuda are not severe, the occurrence of some should be a source of worry. You should seek immediate medical attention if you notice changes in urine output or the color of your urine. Confusion, severe fatigue, fast or irregular heartbeats, and profuse sweating are also some of the side effects of Latuda which require clinical attention.

Latuda increases the risk of blood clots more so in the lower leg. For this reason, you should talk to your doctor in case you have risk factors that typically lead to blood clots including recent surgery, family history, and immobility due to long distance travel. If you experience blood clot-related symptoms such as swelling and sharp pain in the leg, contact your healthcare provider immediately.

Just like most antipsychotic medications, Latuda can disrupt your ability to regulate body temperature. If you exercise vigorously or get exposed to extreme temperatures, you are at a higher risk of having body temperature regulation problems when under Latuda medication. If you are taking anticholinergic medicines such as oxybutynin and benztropine, you are also at a high risk of suffering temperature regulation malfunction. Therefore, you should seek medical attention if you suddenly feel hot but are unable to cool down.

When taking Latuda, avoid getting too cold, dehydrated, or becoming overheated. Keep your hydration levels high by drinking plenty of fluids since Latuda can lead to excess overheating and dehydration. In addition, you may also experience a significant dip in blood pressure while under Latuda medication. This is what leads to dizziness when rising from a lying or sitting position.

You should avoid taking Latuda or any other medication that have Lurasidone as the active ingredient if you have a history of irregular heart rhythms including QT prolongation, low magnesium or potassium levels. If you have suffered from either of these conditions or you are at risk of suffering from them, notify your physician since the effectiveness and dosage of Latuda will be affected.

If you have a history of reduced kidney function and other kidney ailments, you should discuss it with your doctor so that he/she determines how Latuda will affect the medical condition. Besides this, he/she will determine how your medical condition will affect the effectiveness of the medication and dosing. Likewise, notify your physician if you have any liver-related disease or reduced liver function. Such ailments can lead to the buildup of Latuda in your body thus compounding the side effects of the medication.

Antipsychotic medications such as Latuda have been associated with the risk of developing neuroleptic malignant syndrome. This condition is characterized by increased sweating coupled with sensations of warmth, behavioral and emotional changes, muscle stiffness, and irregular heartbeat. Should you experience any of these symptoms while under Latuda medication, contact your physician immediately for further review and action.

The FDA doesn’t approve the use of Latuda to treat dementia among older adults. Likewise, it is illegal to use the medicine to treat depression and schizophrenia among children who are aged below 18 years. In case of an overdose, should seek immediate medical attention by calling 911. For any non-medical emergencies that pertain to Latuda medication, contact your regional or local poison control center via 1-800-222-1222.

Finding Help for a Latuda Lawsuit Near Me

If you intend to file a prescription medication litigation related to Latuda, you need an attorney who will help you get the desired settlement. For expert help when embroiled in such a lawsuit, contact Consumer Alert Now via (800) 511-0747. The company serves clients throughout the U.S. and can connect you with a trusted legal partner.