Does everyone relapse

I’ve been looking on YouTube and found a study / talk by a psychiatrist and his work showed that everybody with schizophrenia relapsed within 3 years of discontinuing aps.

I’ve had two episodes and am feeling relatively normal at the moment and am very functional. I’m on 5mg Olanzapine. My question is if I discontinue aps is it really as high as 97 percent that I will eventually relapse? If so there really is no hope of being medication free and it really is just a matter of making the best of things.

Also I’m considering lowering the dose of Olanzapine to 3.75 or 2.5. Mg to see how I get along?

I’ll let you know in 2 years. I’ve been off APs for about 9 months or so. Maybe 10. No sign of relapse yet.

6 Likes

It took 2 years for me to relapse after stopping meds.

2 Likes

Only took me five months but there was stress involved!

1 Like

Took me 8 months off Aps to fall.

I can’t go off pills even for a day until symptoms get worse.

1 Like

I ended up in hospital after one year off antipsychotics. During my time off the medication I lost all the weight I had put on, my hair stopped falling out and being dry and frizzy.

Forced medication in Hospital and now fat again with hair falling out. I am so tempted to stop but know now is not the time.

2 Likes

It took me five years off meds after my first recovery to relapse but since then I’ve returned to meds and didn’t ever succeed to come off again in the subsequent nine years. Now it takes 3 days to relapse.

1 Like

You were so close to making it… I know one person who had a cannabis induced psychosis and they’re more then ten years free of aps without relapsing.

I personally am going to stay on my antipsychotics. I take an injection every three months of invega trinza 819mg and every day I take 6mg of risperadone, and I’m doing well. I still have symptoms but they are mild now. I don’t see of a day that I won’t be on them…maybe if they come up with something new that is scientifically backed that can take the place of antipsychotics I’ll think about trying that but for now I’m staying the course.

I’ve been off my APs since Spring of 2020. I wanted- no, needed- to see how my TD behaved off meds. Now I’m scared to go back on for fear that my TD will worsen because it’s very debilitating, and I don’t want to make it worse.

I managed off meds 2 years before my first relapse. Then it got progressively shorter the older I got. If I miss meds for one day now I feel messed up. Maybe part of it is I learned the signs I am becoming unwell.

2 Likes

I was on antipsychotics for 10 years. Dr decided I didn’t have sz, so let me go off the antipsychotics. 6 months later I had another psychosis although this time it was antidepressant induced.

Uh I can only seem to last a few days without getting relapse.

Some people get serious relapses where u end up in hospital etc.
Others have more of a residual relapse where it’s more of a minor episode.
I get little episodes but there manageable.

Also people’s tolerances for symptoms is different.
Like if I hear some voices it’s disturbing but not a huge deal if it’s occasionally. Or if I have minor visual hallucination it’s disturbing but not too alarming.

For me if I lose touch with reality from a delusion that’s the bigger problem

4 Likes

Depends on what you consider a “relapse” I would say things get uncomfortable if you become manic and cant stop your thoughts or slow them down.

I would view relapse as a complete loss of insight

1 Like

My second episode happened after reducing antidepressants

1 Like

That’s encouraging to hear!

Have you had many episodes?

That’s pretty much how I consider it as well. Or a loss of control