I gotta to tell you clozapine is @#$% drug

I was put on clozapine 6 weeks ago and Im finding it hard. It leaves you feeling weak. Im currently on 400mg a day. That is supposed to be a therapeutic dose bu8t what I gotta tell you is I feel no less disturbed by my illness and voices. My voices have become even more insistent on this drug, they have become more aggressive.

Is it that I am ignoring the truth of my illness or is clozapine a super drug. Will clozapine cure me or will spirituaility

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I too was on drugs like clozapine and others, I found them to be very disabling and I changed to latuda as soon as I could get the VA to issue it because I’m a disabled vet. However, if you do join a church congregation and meet people maybe that would help too. I hope things get better for you Karl. Which is, in fact-my best friends name!

clozapine has me feeling weak, not weak as in the need to sleep,… but weak, as if I was a man with a terminal illness. I do not recommend the drug.

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I gained so much weight on that medication and it wasn’t fun with all the side effects…I totally agree with you maybe switch that out buddy!

I had no faith in meds until I got the right combination. Unfortunately this took years of trying different meds and suffering the side effects. I urge you to contact your pdoc and see if they can help. I like you got worse on clozapine - it can do wonders for some but not for all. Take care.

I think Clozapine’s success rate is 40-60% which means for 40-60% it won’t work…

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Are these new guidelines going to be enforced?

Is there something about this thread that I’m missing?

It worked well enough for me in terms of positive symptoms. I had the same problems with listlessness and fatigue that never went away. The problem is that I belong to the small subset that develops agranulocytosis – it wiped out my immune system and I nearly died from pneumonia. That last bit was my fault as I was pretty skivvy about showing up for blood tests when scheduled. DO NOT SKIP BLOOD TESTS when taking clozapine. Ever.

Sorry to hear of your difficulties. Recommend giving the drug another month or two as these things are never as fast as we like. If you are still not getting any relief of positive syptoms, make sure you let your doctor know.

10-96

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The title? Just wondering if these new policies are going to be enforced, enforced selectively, or ignored.

Ahem. I modified the title so as to remove the cuss word, while trying to retain the original sentiment. (Which I agree with since this drug and I have a torrid past.)

I am easing into the moderator side of things. Hopefully this satisfies everyone? (Of course, if it upsets everyone that’s also a good sign I’m doing things right!)

:smile:

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it was terrible for me, especially side effect wise and was ineffective to boot, though i know it works well for others.

if your voices are becoming more aggressive and especially if you find it more difficult to set things aside and feel more compelled to comply or are having a harder time, i would suggest you speak with your prescribing physician. see how long before maximum efficacy (six weeks isn’t a small amount of time to have already invested, in my opinion) and you need to switch/add something, because 400 isn’t on the lower end of dosing so i think it’s likely time to have that conversation about “at what point should other options be considered.”

sorry to hear you’re suffering with this and hope you find something that works for you soon. take care.

try cognitive behavioral therapy. its effective against both the positive as well as the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. its a new substitute for meds.

No it isn’t, that’s ridiculous.

have you tried it?. how would you said that if you didnt?. try https://copingtutor.com/

Yes, I’ve tried CBT a number of times. It is not a substitute for medication.

You didn’t even read the Coping Tutor website, it clearly states that it is not a replacement for existing treatment.

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I’ve used both for years. I’ve found that CBT in addition to meds leads to the most stability for me. When I tried CBT without meds, I invariably had a bit delusion creep in, leading me to think I was functioning better than I was. It turns out that I can be acting a right prat and still think I’m doing fabulously. :frowning:

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Some articles may be a little misleading since not everyone reads whole articles. @muhammed I think what some are trying to point out is that it is considered an add-on treatment not a substitute for other forms of treatment like medications and therapy.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has been a proven add-on treatment for psychosis and schizophrenia for many years. In fact, CBT is recognized as an effective intervention for schizophrenia in clinical guidelines developed in the United States and in Europe. In spite of the evidence and absence of side effects, few therapists are trained in this schizophrenia help approach so its availability has been extremely limited.