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Important Terms to Know

Since you are going to be speaking with healthcare professionals, it will help to be familiar with some of the terms they may use. The list below contains some of the common terms you should know. Learning what they mean may help you understand more about schizophrenia.

Active listening: A way of listening in which a person shows interest in what another person is saying and shows that they understand their point of view.

Affective flattening: When a person doesn't have an emotional response, or has an inappropriate response, to what's going on around him or her.

Agitated: Feeling restless and anxious.

Alogia: Not talking a lot, and not being able to think clearly. It's when someone has difficulty speaking with others, sometimes just giving short answers.

Atypical antipsychotic: A class of drug developed and first used in the 1990s that can help control the symptoms of schizophrenia.

Avolition: When a person doesn't feel like doing anything at all. A person may sit for long periods of time and show little interest in participating in work or everyday activities, like bathing or getting dressed.

Caregivers: People who take care of a family member or friend.

Catatonic behavior: Not being active in any way at all, as if in a stupor or a trance. May appear as one of the positive symptoms of schizophrenia.

Conventional antipsychotic: This class of drug has been used for over 50 years to help control the symptoms of schizophrenia.

Delusions: Strongly believing in ideas that are false; for example, believing that a light bulb is sending secret messages or that the FBI can read one’s thoughts. May appear as one of the positive symptoms of schizophrenia.

Disorganized behavior: Behaving in a way that seems unpredictable or silly to onlookers. May appear as one of the positive symptoms of schizophrenia.

Disorganized speech: Ongoing, rambling speech that does not make any sense. May appear as one of the positive symptoms of schizophrenia.

Hallucinations: Hearing, seeing, feeling, tasting, or smelling something that other people aren't experiencing. The most common hallucinations are those that affect hearing, such as hearing imaginary voices. A person with schizophrenia may be seen talking to imaginary people. May appear as one of the positive symptoms of schizophrenia.

Healthcare professional: Someone who is trained to treat people with schizophrenia and/or other diseases.

Impulsive: Doing something without thinking about it first.

Long-acting antipsychotic injectable medication: A type of medication that is released slowly and steadily in the body, allowing the medicine to work for weeks at a time. As a result, the medicine does not need to be taken every day.

Motivation: A person’s real reason for doing or saying something.

Negative symptoms: Refers to a lack of behaviors or feelings that are normally present. Negative symptoms include affective flattening, alogia, and avolition.

Oral medication: A type of medication taken by mouth that comes in a variety of forms including tablet, capsule, and liquid forms.

Peer support: A group of other individuals with schizophrenia. Or a group made up of people who care for people with schizophrenia. They meet to socialize and support each other because they know what each other is going through.

Personal hygiene (self-care): Keeping your body clean, like taking showers, combing your hair, and brushing your teeth.

Positive symptoms: Seeing, feeling, hearing, or tasting things that other people aren't experiencing. Also, disorganized speech and behavior.

Psychotic episode: An often sudden appearance of symptoms when a person is not able to tell the difference between what is real and unreal and likely requires care.

Recovery: For a person living with schizophrenia, it's an ongoing, personal process of working to achieve personal goals despite having an illness. Recovery is not a cure for schizophrenia.

Relapse: When the symptoms of schizophrenia come back or get worse after a patient has become stable.

Schizophrenia: A mental illness that can affect a person's ability to think clearly, manage feelings, make decisions, and relate to others. It can last a lifetime, but it is manageable.

Self-care (personal hygiene): Attention to personal grooming, such as brushing or combing hair, bathing, and getting dressed.

Sensory overload: When too much is happening at once around a person, causing them to feel overwhelmed.

Treatment: Medical care for an illness or injury.

INVEGA® SUSTENNA® (paliperidone palmitate) is used for the treatment of schizophrenia.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION FOR INVEGA® SUSTENNA®

INVEGA® SUSTENNA® is not approved for the treatment of dementia-related psychosis in elderly patients. Elderly patients who were given oral antipsychotics like INVEGA® SUSTENNA® in clinical studies for psychosis caused by dementia (memory problems) had a higher risk of death.

Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS) is a rare, but serious side effect that could be fatal and has been reported with INVEGA® SUSTENNA® and similar medicines. Call your doctor right away if you develop symptoms such as a high fever, rigid muscles, shaking, confusion, sweating more than usual, increased heart rate or blood pressure, or muscle pain or weakness. Treatment should be stopped if you are being treated for NMS.

Tardive Dyskinesia (TD) is a rare, but serious and sometimes permanent side effect reported with INVEGA® SUSTENNA® and similar medicines. Call your doctor right away if you start to develop twitching or jerking movements that you cannot control in your face, tongue, or other parts of your body. The risk of developing TD and the chance that it will become permanent is thought to increase with the length of therapy and the total dose received. This condition can also develop after a short period of treatment at low doses, but this is less common. There is no known treatment for TD, but it may go away partially or completely if the medicine is stopped.

One risk of INVEGA® SUSTENNA® is that it may change your heart rhythm. This effect is potentially serious. You should talk to your doctor about any current or past heart problems. Because these problems could mean you're having a heart rhythm abnormality, contact your doctor IMMEDIATELY if you feel faint or feel a change in the way that your heart beats (palpitations).

Atypical antipsychotic drugs have been associated with metabolic changes that can increase cardiovascular/cerebrovascular risks. These changes may include:

  • High blood sugar and diabetes have been reported with INVEGA® SUSTENNA® and similar medicines. If you already have diabetes or have risk factors such as being overweight or a family history of diabetes, blood sugar testing should be done at the beginning and during the treatment. The complications of diabetes can be serious and even life-threatening. Call your doctor if you develop signs of high blood sugar or diabetes, such as being thirsty all the time, having to urinate or "pass urine" more often than usual, or feeling weak or hungry.
  • Changes in cholesterol and triglycerides have been noted in patients taking atypical antipsychotics. Check with your doctor while on treatment.
  • Weight gain has been reported in patients taking atypical antipsychotics. Monitor weight gain while on treatment.

Some people may feel faint, dizzy, or may pass out when they stand up or sit up suddenly. Be careful not to get up too quickly. It may help if you get up slowly and sit on the edge of the bed or chair for a few minutes before you stand up. These symptoms may decrease or go away after your body becomes used to the medicine.

INVEGA® SUSTENNA® and similar medicines have been associated with decreases in the counts of white cells in circulating blood. If you have a history of low white blood cell counts or have unexplained fever or infection, then please contact your doctor right away.

INVEGA® SUSTENNA® and similar medicines can raise the blood levels of a hormone called prolactin, and blood levels of prolactin remain high with continued use. This may result in some side effects including missed menstrual periods, leakage of milk from the breasts, development of breasts in men, or problems with erection.

If you have a prolonged or painful erection lasting more than 4 hours, seek immediate medical help to avoid long-term injury.

Call your doctor right away if you start thinking about suicide or wanting to hurt yourself.

INVEGA® SUSTENNA® can make some people feel dizzy, sleepy, or less alert. Until you know how you are going to respond to INVEGA® SUSTENNA®, be careful driving a car, operating machines, or doing things that require you to be alert.

This medicine may make you more sensitive to heat. You may have trouble cooling off or be more likely to become dehydrated. Be careful when you exercise or spend time doing things that make you warm.

Some medications interact with INVEGA® SUSTENNA®. Please inform your healthcare professional of any medications or supplements that you are taking.

INVEGA® SUSTENNA® should be used cautiously in people with a seizure disorder, who have had seizures in the past, or who have conditions that increase their risk for seizures.

Inform your healthcare professional if you become pregnant or intend to become pregnant during therapy with INVEGA® SUSTENNA®.

Do not drink alcohol while you are taking INVEGA® SUSTENNA®.

In a study of people taking INVEGA® SUSTENNA®, common side effects in the treatment of schizophrenia were reactions at the injection site, sleepiness, dizziness, feeling of inner restlessness, and abnormal muscle movements, including tremor (shaking), shuffling, uncontrolled involuntary movements, and abnormal movements of the eyes.

This is not a complete list of all possible side effects. Ask your doctor or treatment team if you have any questions or want more information.

If you have any questions about INVEGA® SUSTENNA® or your therapy, talk with your doctor.

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Please see the Important Product Information

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