Since using risperidone and aripriprazole my receptors feel like they are different almost like the chemicals have changed forever I feel very mellow and empty at times.
My question is can APs reduce dopamine to the point it will never come back or be like before?
I notice I have jerky legs a lot since the meds im not on APs now but the effect continues also does the sex ones.
I was not on APs for that long is it a sign that there was a lack of chemicals within my brain? Am I low a low quality genetic build? I suspect my fathers side of family may have a chinese/eastern blood line
When I was on the meds I could not functiom at all it felt to powerful for me it was really odd and quite scary at times
So my question is does the receptor and chemicals change for good?
I’m going to say no, the changes are not permanent. If the meds permanently reduced dopamine levels, you wouldn’t need to be on them your whole life. Once the chemical changes got established you’d be essentially “cured”, assuming the dopamine theory of sz is correct.
However I do know that things such as TD, caused by chronically low amounts of dopamine in certain areas of the brain, is a permanent condition, that won’t go away even if going off meds. This could be because the lack of dopamine possibly damages the movement portion of the brain though, rather than the dopamine amount being permanently reduced there. So in that way, effects could be considered permanent. Not entirely sure though.
That said antipsychotics can still be a dangerous med. On a book I’m reading with an entire lengthy section on sz it talks about how they have been shown to cause serious health issues long term if you’re on a higher dose, and many end up being killed by the medication that was supposed to help them. I figured “oh but these must be older meds doing this” nope, a lot of the deaths I read about happened from clozapine. Very sad.
Have heard of an opposite situation. The blocking of dopamine receptors by the meds can result in increased numbers of receptors. When the meds are removed there is a spike in activity of the dopamine system giving a rebound psychosis. Could be rubbish though.
I have also been told I am highly sensitive to medication. In my case though it also means I benefit from meds at low doses, so that’s nice at least. But I also experience side effects almost right away, and intensely. It can be really rough.
I feel your troubles and I to find it very hard to suffer from such bad luck and illness.
I benefit from low dose but sadly I was on 4mg risperidone for months! And 30mg remeron to go with it was quite intense then aripriprazole was thrown into mix
I know that risperidone worked well at 2mg and lower it had only 1 bad effect gential shrinking and sedation it was to much discomfort for me and my legs were very restless to doctors dont understand my condition and now will only prescribe mirtazapine.
The meds I take seem to do the opposite for me. Does not reduce serotonin/dopamine but increases. For a few months I was only on Seroquel (procrastinated to address the online glitch in requesting refills for the Zoloft). The Seroquel is the main med I need. However, once I started back on the Zoloft/Seroquel combination, after about 24 hours, I woke up and I could eventually almost physically feel neurotransmitters being restored/replaced, as if the rush immediately made up for the serotonin imbalance over that span of 3 months or so.
I don’t get that same “rush” now back on this daily AD/AP routine, but I definitely still feel neurotransmitters being replenished daily to replace/restore neurotransmitters that get “burned out” throughout each day.
If you felt like you had a lack of these brain chemicals, the meds should have increased the dopamine. So, I don’t know, maybe you don’t have that problem like it is in my case.
“Have heard of an opposite situation. The blocking of dopamine receptors by the meds can result in increased numbers of receptors. When the meds are removed there is a spike in activity of the dopamine system giving a rebound psychosis. Could be rubbish though.”
Yeah, I read something similar to this.
I also read that the brain compensates for this blocking and produces even more dopamine, which is why meds can stop working for some, or worse, not work at all.
There are so many theories, it’s hard to know what is the truth…