Your thoughts here…
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Zap zap my brain is short circuiting. I have a friend with a brother who’s sz and takes no meds and is basically a vegetable. I don’t even think he’s healthy to eat. I mean come on, it’s like living with a glass of water in front of you and saying I’d rather eat sand.
Maybe I feel this way because of the severity of my condition. But given water vs sand I take water any day
Some say if you recover from sz and don’t need meds… that you were never sz in the first place
Thoughts?
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You are not alone brother
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i don’t like the idea of not taking meds, i hate it when i forget to take my meds. i respect others choices just don’t try to push me into not taking meds. i know i have problems with meds making me tired.
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I am on 5mg of Abilify…
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I was off meds for 2 years then ended up becoming psychotic and in hospital. Also I was barely coping during those 2 years.
You’ll always get replies from people who are off meds but those same people never come back to tell you about how it all went wrong.
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If I don’t take meds I get jumbled thoughts and mood swings and deadness and agitation and even worse lack of motivation so much that I can’t function and more voices.
That’s how it’s been for me. Meds have given me a better life.
I’ve stopped my meds before. It was awful. I had every symptom. Major mood changes. Visual and auditory hallucinations. Became completely useless. Wouldn’t speak. Became very dark. Ended up in the hospital for 7 weeks. Never again.
If I dont take meds, I end up on the streets or in jail.
If I am lucky Ill end up in the Hospital.
Its as simple as this.
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I feel good since 2010 but I still take meds and want too
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I skip once in a while like once every week or two. Then the pain of anxiety, nausea, headache go away and I can take a break from it…
I like to minimize my med intake. I know I need them. For awhile I’ve been taking two APs, trying to get down to one. I am sort of withdrawaling from abilify and that sucks but I take the minimum dose of geodon at night only. For me so far that has been helpful, I wake up with it in my system but the side effects of exhaustion and anxiety aren’t there. I don’t want to become too reliant on things that may not be there in the future. I have been failed by the system too many times. I may end up back in the hospital but I have to try, I feel the meds sort of dull me and I like to be sharp but it has its drawbacks. I only live once most likely so I have to make the most of it and for me that’s taking minimal pills.
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I don’t take medication,
But I know I need to.
I’ve never been totally med compliant,
My delusions are strong, and I’m attached,
When they’re gone, I don’t feel like myself,
Its hard to reach a balance with the medication,
Seems very all or nothing.
I just keep telling myself that the suffering is worth it to preserve the parts of the illness I need,
Oy vey,
Being crazy is tough.
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I tried to not take meds a few times.
Never works out well.
Routine has always been my problem… I suppose is good for SZA
When we’re looking at the data that suggests that it’s effective to take an antipsychotic they’re, without exception, short-term studies, like six to eight weeks, but people are taking these medications for months to years. If we look at outcomes in the long-term like “do you have a job?” / “do you have a friend network” / “are you a functional member of society?” - people do worse. That’s why we have more and more of the population collecting cheques from the government because they cannot function in society, even though they’re medicated to the hilt, you know, they’re “fully treated” so to speak.
The alternative to medication is a dark road my friend. Consider it as being given the latest technology and insisting on living in the Stone Age. I may be in employed and will be for the inevitable future but my quality of life with meds surpasses even my best day without. Being overcome by the symptoms of sz is no way to live a life when there are alternatives
I wonder if you’re right… that if you recover from schizophrenia you never had it in the first place. I honestly refused to believe my psychiatrist that I was mentally ill (schizophrenic) but, after some research I realized later that I was indeed psychotic… for about 6 months. After 6-9 months of treatment I felt like everything came back to normal… so I stopped the treatment.
The antipsychotic medication’s side effects were much worse than the paranoid sz’s symptoms if I remember correctly. You knew that ‘heart failure/heart attack/sudden death’ is one of antipsychotics side effects? I haven’t been psychotic in almost 9 years, but if I’d be again, I’d rather live with the symptoms (which are/were all positive in my case) than live with the side effects.
I went thru a paranoid / thought broadcasting phase with no meds. I was even having intermittent auditory hallucinations. And then it went away.
Later the voices came back full time and took over my life. You’re lucky it didn’t get worse.
I am still off APs. It’s been 4 months. Stable and getting better with CBT. Negatives are still a problem especially anhedonia but motivation is way better.
They say the sooner you get treated, the better. I was hospitalized a mere 7 weeks after the onset, maybe that is why I am faring better than others… 
Like I said I made it to the two year mark.