I exercise (go running three times a week) and try to eat healthily (eat lots of fruit and veg) but I still seem to lack desire to do things, have noticed blunting (although I think this is partly the Olanzapine/Zyprexa) and anhedonia. Does anyone have any tips?
I was thinking there might be some medications that could help but I am otherwise not doing too badly – I have a work-from-home job and have been stable for about 6 months. Also I tried one when I was in hospital for the first time – I can’t remember the name – but had a bad reaction
interesting, I take NAC as prescribed by my pdoc for anxiety. He didn’t mention it for negative symptoms. Hoping it works for both though! I’ve been on it for probably 2 months
I take olanzapine too. It is really helpful. I just wanted to congratulate you on jogging 3 times a week and working a job, that’s really good! I wish I had less negative symptoms. I used to jog. I used to run 5K races. I miss everything about jogging. I barely move from my chair nowadays.
As far as how to deal with negative symptoms, that’s tough. I used to use a planner and that helped me organize my days more and keep track of my work schedule (when I was able to work). Good luck to you! I am really hoping they find a medication for negative symptoms.
Thanks for the congratulations and good luck to you too! Sorry to hear you are no longer jogging. The way I make myself do it is by always doing it at a set time – I don’t know if that might be helpful for you if you wanted to start again.
A planner is a good idea. I seem to be able to stick to things when they are planned. The problem is if I miss it one time I might do the same thing again
I found L-Theanine and sarcosine through these forums. I know that something changed in me that helps manage my bad thoughts and voices(somewhat). I still get paranoid but I noticed that my mood has greatly increased these past 3 weeks especially from taking sarcosine. I’m able to wake up to an alarm and I wake up as soon I regain consciousness when I wake, instead of rolling over and sleeping another 4 hours.
I read on the pinned post that sarcosine doesn’t work with people on clozapine but it’s worth a shot if you’re on clozapine. I get L-theanine from a seltzer water called “phocus” on Amazon. I also got the sarcosine from Amazon as well but it was expensive(50$ for 100 tablets).
I told my pdoc about taking L-theanine and he said that it’s generally used for anxiety so he knew about it and said I could take it. He didn’t know about sarcosine though, but he approved it as well since it was helping me so much. These supplements, especially sarcosine, have been life changing for me. I highly recommend them for drive, mood and focus…
I never would have found out these supplements without these forums. I just wanted to say thank you to the community for all the inspiration and help you all have been.
Add regular exercise. It helps with things like physical health and weight gain too and you can get started cheaply or at no other cost than your time.