I really want to come off my drugs and repair my brain but some articles sound like it doesnt.
Brain damage can be reversed. People used to think it was all permanent, but we now know otherwise. Check the date of the studies you were reading. They might be out of date.
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I think it’s more likely that psychosis damaged your brain than the meds.
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I dont knoe what it is. I dont know if its the drugs or the psychosis. I feel more mature now like a shift in my brain chemistry so im wondering if id be alright reducing
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Here is the link to the article https://www.medicinenet.com/can_you_heal_a_damaged_brain/article.htm#:~:text=No%2C%20you%20cannot%20heal%20a,heals%20wells%20without%20leaving%20scars.
Yes. I am only one person, but I have been getting MRIs once a year since I was 17. At the time of my diagnosis, my brain showed a larger than average loss of grey matter. That is a common finding in schizophrenia. After a decade of medicine, rehabilitation therapy, and cognitive therapy, my MRI started to show my brain as having an average amount of grey matter.
In my case, it seems that the psychosis caused brain damage, and the meds helped to fix it. Or, that the brain damage caused the psychosis, and the meds repaired the brain damage.
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Oh that is really interesting. I found cases of the opposite happening that antipsychotics reduced brain matter. Now that you have said that. Ill really have a think as to what i want to do. Im just not sure.
That article is a bit misleading. If you click on the sublink at the top, you get the actual answer. But this is a pop-science article more than a medical study. It was written to give a basic understanding, and the author seems to have missed some developments in research.
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That’s awesome @Ninjastar .
The brain can create new neuro pathways and heal and function that way. It’s called neuroplasticity. Very cool phenomenon
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Im wondering if the chronic stress for psychosis can cause thinning gray matter and the antipsychotics reduce the stress caused by that and there for your brain heals. Im not sure if it would be a good idea for me to reduce
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@doesthislookUNSUREtoyou I’m not sure. But I do think meds help our brains heal.
What dose of antipsychotics are you on and what one. I might see if i can go on to a more weight nutral one DEFINITELY NOT abilify though
I’m on 20 mg of olanzapine and 1 mg of risperidone
I can do well on low doses of drugs but im not sure. Did you keep coming on and off your drugs? I went psychotic 3 times off the drugs im just worried if i come off id have to go on a higher dose and that isnt what i want
That’s very interesting my therapist always said psychosis causes brain damage however my damage is mild compared to other people but I never got a MRI so Idk he said before that I have a chance to live a normal life its sad I don’t see him anymore I’m hoping he is the one they chose for me to talk too he was soooo reassuring also he recommended while I was having problems to join a virtual bipolar support group I hope I get him again I had a few therapists that didn’t do squat to help
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I stay on my medication and follow my doctor’s orders extremely strictly. Nothing can get in the way of me sticking to my treatment plan. @shutterbug was my role model for that, and I have to say, it worked out for me.
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there is a new drug coming to market soon for repair died braincells
No i meant in the past. Ws you on a low dose then came off and had to be on a higher dose
Wow hopefully it works for us!!
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Yes. I went off my medication under a doctor’s guidance, but then I had to go back on it. My previous dose was 40 mg of geodon. After, I needed 80 mg. That was frustrating.
I now take different medications, but still under the advice of my doctor. I have a brain tumor, so the new meds are meant to target that more directly.