Afraid my meds are damaging my brain?

I’m worried that my abilify is damaging my brain. I read that some doctors call antipsychotics a chemical labotomy.

What should I do? Any info to help me out?

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What’s a little brain damage in today’s society?
You could lose half your brain and still be smarter than what’s running the country.

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There’s a chain of thought about losing more grey matter to psychotic episodes than antipsychotics.

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I didnt have sz till i started taking Ellington and quit cold turkey yup…

Actually antipsychotics are protecting your brain from damage. Psychosis causes brain damage and it has been shown over time there is a lot of deterioration in brains of people with sz who were not medicated.

The “chemical lobotomy” saying is related to Thorazine, the very first AP not prescribed anymore because it was basically just a tranquilizer.

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It is still prescribed actually. I took it for a while. Chlorpromazine.

But thank you so much for the information.

I feel like I had a point where I felt I had lost intelligence. As I recovered I regained that intelligence or so it feels. You may not have found the correct combination and the trauma of an episode and having schizophrenia Is something you have to accept and move on. The oh no I have sz attitude can be a self full filling kinda thing. Also time on your meds I think your brain adapts to your meds and the side effects lesson possibly giving your intelligence back.

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Who knows?

15 required who’s from whoville

I fear this…what if they are lying, hiding info about brain damage from aps…i felt much more mentally sharp when i was “psychotic” and “manic” but then again i couldnt perform academically and now i can make as high as A’s again although not as high as before college…college is what set off my most extreme psychotic episode that got me hospitalized, in part…but it all seems a quagmire, a doubleedged sword, a conumdrum, and maybe a snare

Not possible. A physical labotamy is quick and easy… Why would they waste the doctors time giving you a chemical labotamy you may or may not take.

As my pdoc says" you have no other options and no we don’t know what the meds will do overtime. But it’s better than the alternative."

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Some of them talk blah blah blah, take your ap without any fear,

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It’s not as though they’re intent on giving you a lobotomy. It’s just a side effect.

hey,

Periods of psychosis and depression are most likely causing brain damage. It’s commonly reported your losing a few IQ points with each episode.

Modern atypical antipsychotics most likely form new neural links within your brain…they are wonderful for most to keep positive symptoms in control…

You gain some you lose some but that is the game. Yeah you cop some side effects and some negatives…but the negatives are another story! It’s a slow process but it’s worthwhile keeping on the meds. If your having problems let your treatment team know…there is strategies to deal with most stuff if you’ve a good psydoc!

A friend in the struggle,

rogueone.

@catchme there are definitely claims that APs are bad for you.
And even according to “official theory” they help mostly with positive symptoms, but not with cognitive and
negative ones.
Further, they cause negative physical side effects like cardiac side effects,weight gain and even diabetes in some people.
Many people need them to improve positive symptoms like hallucinations and delusions and to prevent psychosis.
However, some people manage to do well off antipsychotics.

I think that you need to ask yourself 4 main questions:

  1. How bad are your positive symptoms, in particular delusions and hallucinations and do
    antipsychotics help them?
  2. Do you feel/have experience that there is a high risk for you to become psychotic if you go off meds?
  3. Do you experience serious side effects from antipsychotics?
  4. Is your functioning better or worse off Antipsychotics compared to on them?

Based on these 4 questions, you need to ask yourself how well your antipsychotic works and how much you need it.
Before considering going off meds you may also consider changing meds or adjusting dosage.

Maybe you could try another med. I felt like Haldol gave me a chemical lobotomy, but now I am on Geodon and Seroquel, and I feel fine.

Hey,

Fifty years ago we lived in mental instituions. It wasn’t pretty. The first antispsychotics were brutal.

Yeah positives are great for most folks under the new antipsychotics but saying they are bad for you is just false!

It’s a cruel world but they work over placebo. Negatives are another problem and they’ll need another solution!

Don’t listen to rubbish saying they are bad for you…they are better than anything else and may form new neural links…

A friend in the struggle,

Rogueone.

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The meds are actually protecting your brain from the damage psychosis can bring on.
With the newer AP’s you have to keep your eye on any metabolic or cardiac changes that may arise.
Seeing your family doctor regularly can minimize any risks involved.

Man I’m on haldol and I personally am struggling at work now I’m a salesman and everyone is telling me how monotone I’ve become

Ask your doctor about Geodon and Seroquel. They work for me without turning me into a zombie, like Haldol did. Haldol is flat bad for me. If they ever try to put me on Haldol again they will have to catch me first.

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