Seriously, how do people do it? I’m on 2 antipsychotics for schizophrenia; haldol at 30mg, and caplyta at the singular dosage of 42mg. And yet, with these medications, I still have issue with symptoms and a few days ago I was full on catatonic for a while. I don’t want to go into detail about my positive symptoms, as I fear it may trigger some members, but just know that its not good.
I read on here members that are off meds, and I’ve heard it from my therapist. John Nash was off medication when he won a Nobel Prize. Do they just have stronger minds than some of us? I feel weak if that’s the case. Or is it time and experience? But if it is, why do some older, wiser members still rely on antipsychotic treatment?
It took me 30 years of meds to help get me to the point where I could go off them. I also do CBT and conventional therapy hard and deep. The flip side of my decision is that I have to live with persistent positive symptoms.
The bottom line is that if your doc says don’t go off meds then don’t go off meds. If mine says I’m going back on then I will comply. It’s that simple for me.
I’m having the kind of month where that is a possibility. Stress is off the charts.
I’m on 2 APs and still have persistent positive symptoms daily.
Full psychosis relapse under unexpected stress about a month ago.
Coordinating with my therapist and doctor now about increasing meds.
Don’t know how life is possible without meds for me.
I think people who have gone off medication still suffer, but for better or for worse, their insight level is functional at a high level. This helps them juggle the problems with the illness, for any one not off meds it could be that we havent been able to, for whatever reasons, develop the same strength if insight.
But like everyones saying, it depends on the treatment team too.
There is a wide variety of psychotic disorders. I can be without the antipsychotic. The problem is that after about a year I have a psychotic break and I have to take it again. This is how I am 10 years ago.
You know, that word I keep using? It’s the best non-medication medication you can get. For those on meds, it will probably help you do more with fewer meds.
It depends on the condition you have. Without an antipsychotic I improve my social functionality, I return to my normal weight, and I even go shopping.
But unfortunately I have psychotic breaks, so I have to take medication. The brain is a very complex organ.
I don’t think I have sz but I do have high levels of anxiety for prolonged periods often so I have to take them. I went 10 years without psychosis being on them and relapsed off them
Firstly, you have to understand that schizophrenia is grouped by symptomology and not etiology and pathology. DSM-5 is imperfect since there are no current biomarkers and brain scans, only clincal interviews. Schizophrenia is probably caused by a myriad of different etiologies with a common end biological pathway. This implies that there are probably different personalised treatments. Further, as classification is made on symptomology, DSM-5 is likely grouping together several distinct subdisorders.
Secondly, schizophrenia is a spectrum disorder with more and less severity
Thirdly, treatment response and resilience i.e. I would think that since you can’t visually see the inside of humans, there would be less evolutionary selection pressure on the appearance of our brain. Our brains can also be programmed so there is probably more diversity in human brain structure than the biomechanical structure which already varies a good deal. So your biochemical make up from your genetics and your nature/nurture thought styles and way of perceiving the world ect. There is a massive thing in drug response and tolerance in elite bodybuilding, it is not only your base genetics but the genetics involved in response to treatment. The same analogy applies to the reason why some people are treatment resistant. Social support, living situation, work, finances, therapy, exercise, sleep, diet, stress, family, friends and relationships are all factors in recovery and holistic wellness the list goes on.
I only take 10 mg zyprexa and 10 mg Lexapro. But, I am in my fifties and damn lucky I don’t have tardive. Doctors don’t like giving haldol long term because it is such a powerful drug. It’s what they shoot people in prison up with to sedate them. I am allergic to it, I can’t take it. It pisses me off when I go to the hospital and I tell them I’m allergic to haldol and depakote and they ask, “what does it do?” My muscles contort to the point of breaking my back and who’d believe that?
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