Anyone on here treating their schizophrenia without meds?

Quick question… Are you diagnosed with SZ or a similar psychotic disorder? This looks like something that belongs on the Family side.

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I literally just took my first pill to treat my psychosis. I spent a few years barely holding onto reality, nearly a year completely out of touch (while making some extremely poor decisions that managed to not land me in jail or dead) and then a couple of moments where everything was clear. I managed to get back ahold of reality, saw a few pdocs for a couple of years, but paranoia meant I kept my actual bad symptoms from them (they just wanted to put me on medication that made me more susceptible to the mind control, or so I thought) while getting minimal help. That situation ended abruptly, but I met a person who was able to help me keep a handle on things. It’s mentally and physically exhausting to rationalize around paranoia, use others reactions to know what is real and distrust everything you believe constantly just so you don’t suddenly realize you’d had a delusion for a long period of time.

I don’t know how well the meds will work, but I finally went to get some help because if it’s my crazy, it’ll help. And if it’s not, they can have their win, I’m just exhausted fighting.

So, my view, if meds help even a tiny bit 1 day a year, it’s work that moment of respite

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its been 2 days without meds, will see how long I can go. It’s funny to see my pupils dilate back to normal size, the meds make them smaller

Good luck. What meds were you on and what dosage? If you don’t mind me asking

Thanks!. I was on invega 9mg, although originally I was on the lowest dose 3mg and doing fine but it contains lactose and was giving me stomach aches. So I bumped up to 6mg - that’s the only reason. And then recently I had intense stomach pain and drove myself to the hospital, somehow that got misinterpreted that I was mentally unwell and a public health team suggested I take 9mg. Welp, now I thought ■■■■ it, I want to try my best to recover without a crutch. Funnily the symptoms I feel when coming off are not even related to schizophrenia, I guess they may be termed negative symptoms. Feeling faint, weak and low immune system =\ Thanks for the encouragement :slight_smile:

I went 2 years without meds. Then I became psychotic and ended up back in hospital. I’ve pretty much been on meds ever since.

You’re always going to find people who are off meds at a given point in time whenever you ask. But these people just either go psychotic or go back on meds eventually.

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I’ve learned the hard way I can’t make it without med’s. Maybe if they had never put me on med’s in the first place I wouldn’t be so dependent on them now, but experience has taught me I have to stay on my med’s. I live at an assisted living center for the mentally ill, so I’ve observed a lot of schizophrenics. From what I’ve seen, sz’s who are stricken enough to have to come to an assisted living center cannot make it without med’s. They inevitably mess up when they try.

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I was just answering the question from @Mouseymoo
How does a discussion of treating sz without meds belong on the family side?

My brother has had sz for 37 years.
Brief History:
1979 First prodromal phase - started OCD, stress related issues, social withdrawal, anxiety.
1986 First psychotic episode after a deep 6 month depression. Hallucinations and having thoughts implanted in his head, but not audibly hearing voices.
1987 Admitted to a mental hospital and formally diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic. Later determined he also had a Serotonin mood disorder causing the depression and OCD. Also having memory problems. Clearly showing positive, negative, and cognitive sz symptoms.
1987-2016 tried the following APs: Haldol, Stelazine, Triptafen, Risperdal, Abilify, Clozaril, Navane, and presently on Zyprexa, Seroquel, and Latuda.
1993 CBT successfully eliminated significant psychological problems affecting his sz.
2012 Status: On Navane and Seroquel for years, but unable to work or go to school, and barely able to function. Then Navane quit working completely. I did my best to analyze his receptor malfunctions and found three drugs left that might work: Clozaril, Zyprexa, and Latuda. Clozaril worked better than other meds but didn’t remove all sz symptoms. It increased white blood cell count so he had to drop it. Zyprexa helped but at 30mg max it wasn’t enough.
May 2013 Status: Latuda started helping but he maxed out at 90mg. It wasn’t enough, and going over 90mg made him worse (toxic).

At this point I helped him as much as possible with available APs.

He started crashing badly(sz symptoms hitting hard) and was going to quickly end up back in the mental hospital if I didn’t do something. So we tried going on vitamins to see if it would buy us some time. We’ve both been significantly shocked with how much the vitamins are helping.
I’ll post a report on his status if and when I successfully balance him on vitamins and if it removes all his sz symptoms.

No, I’m not making a claim of an sz cure or pushing vitamins on anyone. No, I’m not doing anything like Hoffer or any of the follow-on studies have done with vitamins on sz patients.

There is a chance that if you can get by without antipsychotics that you really don’t have sz at all. Diagnoses change and different docs may give different diagnoses for the same person.

So if vitamins work for you great, you probably don’t have sz. Be happy and live a long life.

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Hey man! I hope things are going well. :slight_smile:
I think all pixel was asserting is that you are referring to your brother and not yourself and that, as such, this implies that you fit in the category of “family”.

I’m just clarifying the words and their meaning. I’d be a hypocrite to go beyond that.

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Hey there!
Oh. Okay. Well I’m definitely referring to my brother. I don’t have sz or any other psychotic disorder.
Hope that clarifies things.

The Diagnosed area is intended for peer support amongst those who have SZ/A or a similar disorder. Family members coming to our forum to lecture us about meds and supplements is a turn-off to those this forum is intended to support.

Please limit your posts to the Family side of the community in the future.

Pixel.
Volunteer moderator.

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Did the psychosis came all of a sudden or did it came slowly?

Did you use drugs?

Could you notice when it was coming?

Have you tried meditation?

Im 4 months off and doing fine.

Did the psychosis came all of a sudden or did it came slowly?

suddenly

Did you use drugs?

no

Could you notice when it was coming?

yes

Have you tried meditation?

yes

@everhopeful Damn… So it came suddenly, without any triggers? Like it developed in hours?

It developed within hours, but I knew what it was so went to hospital. I must have got there just in time as I was really babbling when I arrived.

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i haven’t been on meds for a few years my positive symptoms are relatively mild my DR encouraged me to seek alternatives due to severe paranoia about meds and my adverse reactions to them.
I was sent to websites like hearingvoices and I have regular CBT.

Here are the guidelines for the Diagnosed forums:

Here are the guidelines for the Family forums:

Where do you – someone who is the caregiver of a schizophrenic and not a schizophrenia sufferer yourself – think you fit better?

Oh, and? If I need medical advice pertaining to meds and supplements I have doctors I can see.

I very much apologize. I’m not sure how I missed that in the guidelines.
I certainly didn’t mean to lecture anyone on anything, and no one suggested anything I said was a turn-off.
I had no intention of giving any medical advice, but those on the forum have taught me a lot!
You’ve got a good group of people here. I hope the best for all of you and this support/discussion area.
I’ll be more careful next time I read guidelines.
I am very sorry for posting to the wrong area.

I’ve tried. If i stay too long off my medz i feel strange and unstable.