I always eventually relapse without my meds. Also, I have a good quality of life because of them: I’m married, have a family, am working, have hobbies I love, and am a valued part of my community. Why would I want to screw that up over some side-effects that are quite manageable?
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people will say There are alternatives to meds
but I really don’t think so.
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I’m used to meds. I’ve had some serious psychosis/anxiety/paranoia. It is worse than being on meds. But I sometimes think/hope I could do without meds and just quit cigarettes and energy drinks but I’m weak. My mind is strong and broke me many times.
I cannot work on meds. I’m unmotivated. I think having a job, money, and losing weight would help me in a lot of areas.
It’s probably not worth trying.
I went from anti med to pro med within the last year. things are looking up for me. not getting in trouble, not struggling with delusions and voices, and sober. maybe im getting accustomed to my meds now that it has been 21 months. the anhedonia is gone. I can lose weight when I try to. I even like my nurse lisa who shoots me up. she’s nice and dependable. technically im court ordered to take them but that doesn’t seem necessary anymore. I want to take them now.
the only problem is sexually there causing me to quick shoot when I masturbate. I didn’t do that before. I guess i’m just going to take a break from sex as it’s unsatisfying with these meds. I don’t have a girlfriend anyways
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Being stable enough to post here fluently pretty much requires a degree of stability that only antipsychotics can offer a schizophrenic.
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I was off aps, and ended up with two hospital stays. I lost November. I came out of the hospital December 7th, and it was a shock that it was winter. I am back on aps and a mood stabilizer.
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I used to be one of those anti psychiatry people. I thought the doctor’s were after me (which I later realized was another symptom). Nothing worked and the meds made me feel like hell. Then my doc got my on Haldol. I’m grateful it has worked at a low dose with minimal side effects keeping me out of psychosis.
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Don’t give up hope… You can at least try to lose weight first if you can’t get a job. Exercise can really help your mood a lot
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I was anti meds for a while.
In Sweden I was on medication that is illegal here and that made me worse.
I heard voices on them etc
The medication makes me better.
Just recently my medication was increased and I immediately noticed improvement.
When I was hospitalised last time I had been sick for a long time …isolated,strange beliefs ,etc
I just think that the medication really helps us and I am thankful for our medications and the improvement that keeps coming.
I was almost ready to take myself to hospital when I went off olanzapine .
I had my bag packed but then I took a olanzapine and sleeping 
tablet and overnight became so much better.
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I’ve gone through stages of denial and i had stopped taking medication in the past. It wasn’t very long before i ended up psychotic and going into hospital again. I don’t want to end up in hospital again, or put my family through the stress of me being unwell, so i take my medication. Also, i genuinely feel so much better on my medication. It is the best i’ve felt in years.
I think, from 19-23 I was hospitalized many times. I noticed a theme, stay on my meds, stay out of hospital. Go off meds, go back to hospital. It really was foolproof. And that’s how I adopted my pro med beliefs. Well, I was lucky to find that abilify works and has minimal side affects. And other meds helps me too. It’s a good agreement. I pay $9 a month, I weigh a little more and my sex drive goes down in exchange for my sanity and happiness
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I can only speak for myself, but every time I tried that it was a disaster.
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you gotta also think We’re the lucky ones
how many on the streets, or in denial
never get help? I can name names from Facebook,
but won’t. All I can do is be an example.
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As for the original question, there are some of us on here (very few) who have stopped taking them due to side effects.
Relapse? Yes, to some extent. I’m still mentally ill and will be so for the rest of my life. But I have insight, and I have learned coping skills from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and just from experience. It is not like the first time I started hearing voices and having delusional thoughts. I recognize the symptoms and take corrective measures. A lot of it boils down to knowing when, where, and with whom to NOT tell them what they simply can’t handle. It is knowing that if you say (or do) the wrong things to the wrong people, you might end up being committed to a psych ward. You learn what to say and what not to say to avoid that sort of situation.
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I think its the people that lack insight into their condition that refuse / complain about medication. But for most of us its a bloody lifesaver. Most Szs i believe go thru a phase where they refuse to take it - or end up reading hokum crap on the internet thinking they can do better. But most end up accepting the fact they gotta be on APs, those that are anti-psychiatry meds, on the internet that you read are just plain bloody dangerous.
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Why on earth was my last post hidden?? IM Pro Meds!!
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Sorry man. System auto-flagged you for using a keyword. I fixed it.
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lol ok - thanks x
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I’ve tried getting off meds, disaster every time. Even believed the ■■■■ about it being a spiritual awakening, how the hell can a complete brain malfunction be that. If I had just taken my meds in the first place I think I would have been in a better place now.
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