How is to have schizoaffective disorder? What do you feels?
I get angry over my delusions. For instance, I will hear people talk on the radio, and I will think they are talking about me, and I get really angry about. Sometimes I think it alarms other people. They’ll think “What did this guy suddenly get so angry about?”
I feels sooooooo bad some minutes, then soooooo good after a few more minutes.
I luuuuurvs potatoes when they swimming on my plate o gravy, dipping em up wit a tall plate o tasty toast.
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I here voices and I’m filled with anxiety and suicidal thoughts
Right now I don’t feel that much because I’m lucky in that my meds block most of my hallucinations… for now. Sometimes I can still hear them. For me it is what a sz typically goes through with the hallucinations. I don’t know if mine are dark but the closer I get toward psychotic the more violent they get. Also lately I’ve been having more trouble with the insomnia. It seems that every once in a while I get periods of a couple months were I cannot sleep anymore and have to deal with it. I think it may be when I’m manic although I’ve had trouble sleeping when I was in a more depressed state. On risperidone so there are some side-effects from the meds but overall I think it is better than having voices threatening to kill me all day.
it feels great for me the last 6 year i feel on top of the world
My sza is a Roller coaster of mood symptoms ranging from excessive mania to deep depression, many times rapid cycling. Unable to get out of bed for days or weeks at times and other times cant sleep and continue projects in an overly excessive ocd way. Brain doesnt work when or how i want it to. Fighting off paranoia and delusions constantly and trying to keep from falling into deeper psychosis as the moods progress, not knowing who or what to trust or believe. Any stress causes a trigger of psychosis then the voices start, quiet at first almost whispers and gradually gets louder. I have 1 set of voices that is a round table discussion and commentary of what i am doing and why im doing it wrong. Another set of voices that just tear me down telling me how worthless i am. Then there is noise behind it all, sometimes playground type chatter sometimes city ambiant noise type sometimes noise that resembles music in the distance. Unable to communicate, unable to speak at times, sometimes unable to make my thoughts reach my mouth clearly. Memory lapses as i loose time during psychosis. Paranoia gets worse and cant trust anyone especially myself. I know im delusional but i cant tell whats reality and whats a delusion or hallucination. Insomnia as i cant stop thinking, thoughts racing but cant get a handle on them. Im hearing the battery of voices telling me basically that im worthless and everything i do is wrong, i argue back telling my side but they dont listen and get more hostile. At times the more i fight back the worse it gets. More noise and chatter until i cant even make out the words anymore, its so loud. So exhausting so tired but cant sleep or they will come and get me, they want to hurt me, but not sure who they are. Eventually come out of it briefly not remembering what just happened or how much time had passed. Take my pills, prey they help. Let the pills work and Sleep a little. Start the cycle over again.
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For how long do you have schizophrenia? Do you tried different medications?
Been diagnosed for a little over 2 years with schizoaffective bipolar type, but probably should have been dx’d in my late teens. Went a long time just self medicating which worked at times but most likely made it worse over time, exasperating my symptoms. Had a few psychotic breaks which landed me at the pdoc. On meds, pdoc has been constantly changing meds since since first visit trying to find the right mix. I used to have debilitating paranoia and delusions and only mild hallucinations. My invega has seemed to help the paranoia tremendously but i think without the paranoia to focus on during episodes, the auditory hallucinations have gotten worse, which is a relatively new thing i am learning to deal with. Pdoc added a second AP this week to try and manage it and we will see if it helps, seems to just make me a zombie through the day. The Stress and elevated emotions that go with it are my main trigger for psychosis so havent had too much this week so we will have to wait and see how it goes i guess. On antidepressant and mood stabilizer for mood symptoms, and antianxiety to help keep me calm. The negative and cognitive symptoms are the worst to handle on a daily basis, but as long as i take my meds and stay stress free i think the psychosis wont flare up. My delusions are generally mild and manageable but can escalate, and have to be watched and managed daily so as not to trigger. In a state of mania right now, i think, so feeling pretty good overall but have to be careful, and watch for the fall. Still learning how deal and what my triggers are, but i manage mostly with bad days and good. 2 steps forward 1 step back it seems alot of the time. But im learning and getting better every day. Happy to answer any questions so let me know.
I’ve been told the prognosis is better for sza than sz, but worse than bi polar. I’m sza and do really well on meds.
Actually, it’s a better prognosis than bp, it’s estimated that with bp there’s at least 10 episodes a life time, and symptoms don’t really diminish overtime. In sza you can have one episode your entire life, and symptoms diminish over time.
Well I’ve heard differently. Sza is just severely psychotic bi polar. Everything in bi polar is there in sza, plus more psychotic symptoms. I may be wrong but that’s what I heard. Agree that neither of us (or the doctors for that matter) truly have the answers? They still don’t know much about sza.
True. I’ve been obsessing a bit about it.
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Do you know if Geodon can really be prescribed for sza?
Sometimes I think that I have sza but this could be some psychotic symtoms like paranoia or delusions of grandeur that I had in the past.
I am not sure about geodon. I would talk to a pdoc, do you currently see one? Self diagnosis can be damaging. SZA can be very close or almost interchangeable at times to bipolar with psychotic features and other closely related ailments along the same spectrum. All best dx’d by a trained professional.
I have schizophrenia also, for almost 5 years. I have an appointment next month. I think I’ll speak about Clozapine due to the voices that I hear.
I was told prognosis depends on the individual. my old pdoc recommended I see a more experienced doctor since I wasn’t responding to the medication she put me on. most of the time i’m anxious or suicidal between those two I have schizoaffective disorder depressive type.
I was just added seroquel in addition to my invega to help manage voices. Also i take ativan when it gets rough. But truely avoiding the stress has the biggest impact for me when battling the voices. I meditate daily and try to be mindful to keep my head clear.
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I was told this too once, but also told otherwise.
When I’m off my meds I spend my days blinds closed, don’t eat, do push-ups all day, lose 50 pounds , paranoid, hearing voices, psuedohallucinations, pacing, mood out of whack, using drugs and alcohol, etc etc…
Now 2 1/2 years later since starting abilify, now I’m on three meds and have gone into remission and 35 days sober today
It’s a miracle I see
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