Do Antipsychotics Help or Harm Psychotic Symptoms?

I’ve seen AP’s do a lot of damage. There was this girl named Becky (name changed) who worked at a pizza delivery store where I worked. She was a little overweight, but she was cocky and confident. I thought she would be a success in life. I don’t know what she did, but she got sent to the mental hospital where they put her on antipsychotics. She became huge, and it seemed like she lost all her confidence. She had this little, almost demented, smile on her face that said she had lost all belief in herself. There had to be a better way to treat her.

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I have negative symptoms from having schizophrenia. I have them whether or not I take my APs, but at least I’m not bat ■■■■ crazy and raving about alien colonization when I’m on my meds.

Pixel.

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I am on Trileptal (Oxcarbazepine). This is an anti-seizure drug affecting glutamate or GABA, my doctor forgot which it was the last time I talked with him. I’ve looked into this drug. All I can find is speculation. It affects me by drugging and sedating me. It has no side effects as far as I can tell. It affects a lower plateau of the brain than that affected by AP’s. It works throughout this “lower plateau”, providing me with the opportunity to act when it kicks in. I take it instead of AP’s during the day. I take two AP’s at bedtime. I take 600mgs. My doctor put me on this (as an experiment I suppose), because he noticed some anxiety in me (when I was talking with him, I suppose). I had to ask him about why he put me on this drug to get the right information from him. I think this is a glutamate antagonist.

For psychiatric patrients, Trileptal is generally used as a “mood stabilizer,” especially in those who have reactive anger problems. I was on it for a while in 2003. You can see some info on it – and over 300 personal experiences with it – at…

Also useful:

All three of the Big Three anticonvulsants (the others are Tegretol and Lamictal) used as anti-manics inhibit glutamine release at the top of the brain stem. And all anti-convulsants in general inhibit the sodium channels in the same region. So doing in combination could be expected to reduce impulsivity to act upon perceived threats and resulting fight-or-flight system triggers. Anti-Ps do the same thing, but via a different neurotransmitter chain.

I can recall when Tegretol (a close cousin to Trileptal) was quite regularly given to recovering alcoholic PTSD patients who became rageful during during extended withdrawal.

Thank you notmoses

Thanks for looking around and posting to my post.It was helpful. I’ll do the same for you as soon as I get my act together.