How can I help my sister

Hi, I’m new the the forum and I’m in desperate help. I don’t know what to do or say anymore to my sister she’s older than me and she suffers from schizophrenia. She takes her meds but lately she has become depressed to the point she stopped going to work and hasn’t been wanting to leave the house. I feel hopeless because I wish i could make her feel better and make all this go away. She had been doing fine till she worked some overnight at work and she stopped her meds cuz they make her sleepy so that threw her off and we got her back on them but it seems like they just don’t help her at all. We go through sleepless night along with her and she stops eating and she’s paranoid with all noises and sounds around us. What can I do?

If she’s on meds I assume she has a psych doctor? Please let her psych doctor know that the meds are no longer working and that she’s suffering from paranoia and depression. They might want to consider changing meds.

I’ve been told that when one goes off meds, one does not get back to the previous level when returning to them. That’s rather depressing news and I’m not sure it’s always true but let it be a warning to you for the future.

Yes I have made an appointment for tomorrow for her. I hope we can find the meds that will get her back on track.

When she decided to work over night my parents and myself told her it would only back track her progress but she didn’t listen she went ahead and did them and in the end she couldn’t complete all those overnight she called out the last few nights.

Maybe ask your sister whether she would let you go to appointment with her and get her to sign a form so you can communicate with her doctor. That way, you will be able to find out how to help her feel better.

Always, even with HIPPA laws, you can call or write the doctor and tell them you are not requesting information from them, but that you would like to provide them with some information about your sister because you are extremely concerned for her. I don’t talk to my family member’s providers when family member is not present, but if a person is very symptomatic and distressed, I would.

Similar thing happened to me. I was so desperate to get a job and make money for myself, I quit taking the Zyprexa I was on because it made me so tired and gave me bad memory/focus. Then I went crazy and lost the job, anyway. So my advice is to try to understand that she may have been doing what she thought was the best decision, and now she will have to learn the hard way that mental illness puts serious limits on what we can do at times. Be there for her when it doesn’t work out because I know what I experienced was just a crushing sense of hopelessness and defeat.

When we first started to take her to her doctor he asked if she’d be willing to let me be present with her in her appointments. Thankfully she did and I will be excusing myself from work for her appointment tomorrow because I need to tell him everything that has been going on and see what I can do or say to help her.

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Yes I know she will have to make this a learning experience and I back her up 100% I love her so much I’ll always be there for her. We work at the same place (retail store) and they’re being considerate with her and her situation at this moment so hopefully once we find new meds or get a routine going she can maybe go back. If that’s what she wants too.