I’ve been trying to make sense of things for many years.
Nope. Longest I ever went without any symptoms was for a few months when I was on Risperidone. 5 years without any symptoms seems impossible to me.
I haven’t had a major episode in 2 years though.
It’s been nine years since my last psychotic break, but I have had minor psychotic symptoms since then, though nothing I can’t battle through. So maybe I’m not a good example of what you’re describing.
No. For me that would be like winning one of those 150 million dollar lottos.
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I don’t think I’ve heard voices since summer '97. And I don’t think I really get delusions anymore, except about being at the center of it all, which I used to have to fight tooth and nail, somewhat!
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I’ve gone 6 seconds now actually.
Oops so much for that cuz I think the aliens are back to get me now.
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In a word - no.
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I will be two years free in April. So I am doing well.
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yeah I did pretty good for a 10 year stretch when the kids were little and I was single and just focused on them and working. Then I moved to a big house with a big yard and all the stress of the upkeep on the yard, the full time work, taking care of a child with mental health issues and all the other parenting responsibilities coupled with an assault and the loss of a good friend drove me right over the edge. Haven’t been right ever since.
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No. I don’t have delusions. I do see things and have muddled thinking. I used to be extremely lucid. I kinda miss that.
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Went to the Hospital twice last year.
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I had 2 psychosis’ when I first got sick. My last psychosis was in 1997. I haven’t heard voices in over 10 years. I’m 40 years old now and I’ve been on 10 mgs of Zyprexa since 1997. I’m not cured the illness is still there. I still get visual hallucinations and I have very bad nerves. I tremble a lot.
I’ve come a long way. When I was in the hospital in 1997 the doctors told my mom I might have to be institutionalized for life. They said there was very little chance I would recover. I’ve come a long way and I worked hard to get where I’m at. A psychosis would be a major set back. I don’t think I could handle it. If I couldn’t get my medication I’d jump off a bridge before going through another psychosis.
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I dont even think it should be catergorized as sz if that were the case.
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My heart is with you, life is hard and you sound strong,
for me it started from a very big and painful crisis in life 11 years ago, and has not passed since
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Basically I am trying to determine if what I have is schizoaffective. I was initially told it was schizophrenia and I read a lot about it and many self help articles. But I never derived any help from those. When I told my pdoc it was a denial symptom of sz. When I finally was listened to it became schizoaffective.
Ola ish
I know what your going through I’ve been there. If you’re able to type on these board you’re better off then I was when I became ill. When I was sick I wouldn’t have been able to. I was so far gone.
I learned from the first relapse I had when I quit taking my medication. I ended up in a psychosis a second time and my doctor told me every time I quit taking my meds it will be harder to recover. My second psychosis was very difficult to get under control. The schizo effects(hallucinations delusions) lasted years. It wasn’t until 3 years after my last psychosis my illness started to let up. My mom also forced me to get a job with my step dad. He looked out for me at work. It put me into social situations. My mind was so scattered at the time I had to relearn how to communicate with people. It was horrible at first I didn’t talk to people and I was having major hallucinations. In the end it was probably the best therapy being around people and communicating. My mind started to correct itself.
Best advice I can give is do not quit taking your medication. If you don’t like your medication ask your doctor to switch. Medication sucks I’ve tried a lot of different meds over the years but only one I can tolerate.
I made the decision many years ago that if I was going to take meds for the rest of my life it had to be on my terms. Thankfully I found a doctor that lets me have a say in what I think is best. He doesn’t force any treatment ideas on me.
My medication didn’t fix everything over night. It was a very slow process that took years.
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I don’t mess with meds without consent or advise from pdoc
Well thats half the battle a lot of people with schiz don’t realize they need to comply with treatment. Give it time maybe your symptoms will let up. Maybe you’ll come across another med that works better.
Do you get out much in social situations? If not you could always find a local group therapy.
My meds worked perfectly fine with psychosis. I’ve not had one in 7 years. But I quit the antipsychotic and ended up with mania or depression I think.
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I sometimes question the need for me to be put on a major tranquilizer in the first place. I wasn’t psychotic at the time. I was out of control, but I wasn’t psychotic. Now that I am on major tranquilizers I do get psychotic when I get off them. I’ve become dependent on them.
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