Am I treatment resistant?

I take 15mg risperidone and 60mg haldol but I still have voices and paranoia.

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Thats what i feel … not so sure go for clozapine…!!! Just saying…!!

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It could be that you’re not on the right medications; I used to be on 120mg Latuda and 12mg Trilafon, and I was still so paranoid that I was hospitalized.
Now I’m almost symptom free, and I take less meds (300mg Clozaril and 80mg Latuda).
Maybe you need a change?

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Be patient it take time weeks and even months to see the effect :slight_smile::slight_smile:

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Maybe? If you have tried 2 different antipsychotics and they are not helping much, it is time to ask your doctor that question. There is Clozaril/clozapine if you are.

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I have tried 3 more aps plus these two.

It’s definitely something to address with your doctor then.

It could be you are not on a large enough dose or that you are not taking it consistently. Difficulty absorbing the medication in your gut is the least common cause.

yeah that sounds like treatment resistant, maybe time to give clozapine a try?

I’m in the same boat as you @Om_Sadasiva.

My voices are down to a minimum but my paranoia stays the same.

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Some of the drugs that I took sacred the sh-t out of me in the long run. These particular drugs shut down certain parts of my conscious self, and they also shut down any memory of that part of my self. it was not until I was taken off that drug due to side effects that I became aware that a good chunk of myself had been turned completely Off.

In no way did the doctor inform me that a good percentage of my true self was to be shut down at all.

A part of yourself being turned off ?? That is bloody nasty !

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Clozapine is considered the “gold standard” treatment for sz, and works for 90% of people who try it even if no other med has worked for them previously. The main reason why it’s not used first is because it causes so many side effects :frowning: but if you are really struggling under your symptoms and need them gone it may be worth it plus everyone is different so you could be fine on it.

However, generally if clozapine doesn’t work, the person is considered treatment resistant. That’s when many providers move to use combinations of diff APs. If you’re already at that point then I’d say yes you’d be considered treatment resistant & should begin looking for supplemental (not replacement to standard medication!!) treatments that could help out and give the extra boost you need.

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You might be a non-responder to APs, in whict case clozapine might work for you, that is what happened to me. Clozapine has helped me alot and has kept me out of the hospital.

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How long were you on the meds? Have you ever been on them, and then you came off of them, and then returned to them? How long have you been sz since before you were diagnosed?

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@Om_Sadasiva You didn’t specify what you were taking before Risperidone and Haldol. If these are your first drugs then no need to panic. There are 15 anti psychotics to try. Usually your doctor can tell if you are treatment resistant or not. I myself tried 10 anti psychotics before Lurasidone started working for me, and we never considered Clozapine. This drug though effective should not be used in haste as it has severe side effects.

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Wondered if you tried clozapine, it is sort of known for working when other ap’s don’t.

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The text book says that Clozapine is to be used when the patient is unresponsive or intolerant of conventional anti psychotics. Unresponsive means which ever drug he tries, he is not showing any response. ie not even a single symptom is subsided. In my case I did show partial response to some drugs, but not full response. The present drug combination of Lurasidone and Aripiprazole is very promising because it is successful in curbing many of the symptoms and keeping me stable. I think we will use this combination for the rest of the treatment. And for the other part of the definition. Intolerant means which ever drug he tries, it will not suit him and he gets side effects, compelling the Doctor to withdraw the drug. As You can see I am clearly not intolerant.

These are the situations when a good doctor tries Clozapine. Seeing Clozapine as a sure fix solution and using it in haste is not good for the patient.

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When i had my first breakdown I tried four different meds before I found one that worked for me. When I relapsed years later it didn’t take long to find one that worked. Sometimes it’s a trial and error thing.

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