How to reduce negative symptoms of schizophrenia?

Nothing seems to be working on my negative symptoms: lack of motivation, lack of concentration, excessive sleepiness etc.

I’m worrying about this because it’s making me feel suicidal. I can’t live a proper normal life.

I’m on Aripiprazole 15 mg twice daily, Quetiapine 200 mg bed time and Lamotrigine 200 mg twice daily.

Any suggestions?

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you should hang tough.
We are not here to have fun.
You should try to improve, make the most of your life, I have lots of tips if you want.
But the point is that we have to live our lives, we do not choose our situation,
of course it is better to be Steve Grand, but what to do you have MI(and me)
It means hanging tough going through difficult periods poor functioning.
I understand why people get suicidal, not all have the right character,
it is a difficult situation forced on you.

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A good psychotherapist may help you.

Being resilient is important and maybe you can identify your dreams, because they give you fuel to live your life. Dreams give you fuel to improve as well. You won’t let a disease beat you and your dreams.

Stay strong.

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Does it mean that sadly the best thing that one can do is try to cope with it?

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wow those are pretty ;high doses!!!

Have you tried sarcosine?

I take sarcosine / omega 3,6,9 / megnezium / abilify / wellbutrin

I have a hard time wanting to get out bed in the morning, and also lack motivation some days with poor concentration all the time. The best thing I know how to do though is just get up and do what I have to do. Once I’m up out of bed I don’t lay back down, unless I feel extremely tired, otherwise I wouldn’t get back out of bed. I may do something simple like practice my writing despite my uncreative moods…you never know when you can turn something bad into something good.

Sometimes I just need to get the idea on paper then worry about the idea being full fleshed out or “believable…”. I just remind myself no one has to read it unless I give it to someone to read.

If I’m not feeling like writing I go online and play games, or watch shows that don’t have to deep of a plot line to them (like sitcoms, or even cartoons. Or go on You-tube and watch some 10-15 minute videos. I don’t know if you like writing or not, but have you ever considered Journaling? You don’t have to come up with ideas for stories or anything, just write about what you’re going through, write about the news, write about dreams, or anything that comes to mind. It really does help if you have a way to vent your feelings…and I believe journalling is a little more affordable than going to a therapist.

Finally you may want to speak with your doctor. I’m not a doctor nor a pharmacists so my knowledge on medications isn’t that great but you may be over medicated or simply on the wrong medication period. I would def. talk to the doctor who’s prescribing your meds and tell them how you feel while one it. Make sure you can go into detail on how often these symptoms kick in.

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When I felt those negative symptoms the most, the problem was actually physical. I had become constipated and instead of solving the problem, I chose to ignore it. You might say “I lost my ass”. Anyway, it made me physically very sluggish and showing all the negative symptoms of mental illness. Hope this helps. Give you’re butt a good rubdown. It may have grown cold.

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I can’t mistake negative symptoms for sleepiness and lethargy. My morning med just started sedating me during the day. I have felt real negative symptoms and they are much more serious than day time sedation. Like for example, you find it impossible to feel pleasure regardless of whether or not you are sleepy. I don’t suffer from negative symptoms, I suffer from daytime sedation from brexpiprazole. Nothing more, nothing less. If you have negative symptoms you can tell, they are EXTREMELY limiting.

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Sadly? It’s the most important thing you’ll do. Unfortunately there is no magic pill. At beginning you’ll feel like trash, but our brain needs new experiences in order to be what it was before the collapse. It takes time, but it happens.

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to get out of bed in the morning i drink two cups of coffee then i take my meds and two pills called focus factor. i haven’t noticed a difference yet but you never know until you try. i did try sarcosine and it did help but my partner wanted to try something else.

I just thought of something, what time do you take your meds? I take mine at night before, that way I can sleep off most of the negative side-affects of the drug. Yes I still have negative symptoms of Schizo-affective disorder to deal with but the constant sleepiness has died down considerably. I also don’t feel as shaky or jittery or anything else, because like I said I sleep most of that off

A stimulant might be of value at treating your negative symptoms. The risk of harm from is small if you’re carefuly monitored/evaluated by your doctor ( for signs of psychosis). If you can get an Rx for a stimulant, consider one. Also, I don’t know your situation and can’t make a professional judgement, but your concurrent use of Seroquel and Abilify seems like overkill. It may be reasonable to discontinue the Seroquel, at the discretion of your physician (and your freedom of choice).

I am not familiar with any of your meds. But both Latuda and Wellbutrin help me with negatives. Wellbutrin is an antidepressant often prescribed for smoking cessation also. Latuda is an add on antipsychotic as I also take Geodon.

I had bad negatives before I started taking antipsychotics so I think it is inherent in my illness and not a side effect but who really knows.

I hope you find something that works for you. :grin:

I like Vraylar. I take 3 mg and it helps with negative symptoms.

I take a ton of sups meds and therapy which all helps.

Try taking ur Meds at night time so u sleep through the sedation.

Sorry, are you talking about my doses? No, I’ve never tried sarcosine, I don’t really know what it’s for

I used to write a diary about my feelings, I still have it, it’s not finished yet.

I take 100 mg of Lamotrigine and 15 mg of Aripiprazole in the morning, then I take Aripiprazole 15 mg at 5:00 pm, then I take 200 mg of Queatiapine at 7:00 - 8:00 pm and finally I take 100 mg of Lamotrigine before bed.

I’m taking a lot of medicine, I can’t take them all at night time, it would probably kill me, well at least I think so