May have found my solution

Medications
1

So, I began my new treatment three months ago with new medication, Latuda, and old medication, Prolixin/ Fluphenazine, and meds alone were not enough to help with my symptoms. I have been tolerating my schizo affective depressive type disorder for 11 years now. I have tried multiple supplements, some helpful and some not, yet I came across this website two months ago to see what new information I could see. It took me about two months and a week to come with this topic; and surprisingly the inspiration to tell anyone on here what I am about to say. First off, I want to thank everyone who has expiremented with all the supplements available for researching on this site. Without any of you I would still become back-tracked with what I needed to know and try.
From when I was working as a licensed pharmacy technician I learned firstly about medication and then later supplements, but my mind was almost blown away with the information on this site. I never knew the building blocks of every protein in our DNA, amino acids, would be the major cursor to how to stabilize my disorder. So, I will show you what I was taking before here:

Fish Oil
Sam-e
Prevagen
Rhodiola Rosea
Medication prolixin/Fluphenazine
Berberine
Melatonin
And many more

As you can see there is much I have expiremented on and all of it was costly, being nearly 112 dollars in one month.
Yet after just these past two months I have discovered what has helped. These are:
L-theanine
Fish Oil
Medication (Latuda and Fluphenazine)
Sarcosine
Glycine

All of which reduced the cost to 50 dollars in one month.
The pinpoint as to how I see why any symptoms were almost unbearable is LACK OF SLEEP AND QUALITY OF SLEEP.
I only noticed this about 4 to 5 days ago that my lack of sleep and quality of sleep has always, ALWAYS been deficient. Now with l-theanine and glycine being taken at night I am able to fall asleep easier, stay asleep, go to REM sleep and dream, and wake up refreshed with only 2 to 3 cups of coffee in the morning to prep me up for the day.
So, again, I want to thank all patients and administrators on this site for helping me understand my disorder’s biology! Without any of you I would NOT have felt this better until many years later.
Now all I need to do is find a way to lose weight. I read on one person’s post that the right kind of sleep helped them lose weight easier. I will give this combo a few more weeks and see any other results.

4 Likes
2

How does fish oil help you ?

1 Like
3

Fish oil helps with multiple things from the side effects of medication. Not only for cholesterol, it helps protects neurons in the brain from being fried or pruned because of its anti-inflammatory effect. Also, fish oil coats the best one with a certain fat for prolonging their life span.

3 Likes
4

Ok, so after using these for a few days they weren’t working to par. Now I have changed a few things of what I’m taking.

Medication (Latuda and Fluphenazine)
Fish Oil
L-theanine
Gingko Biloba

So far this is better. I take fish oil and l-theanine at night and everything else in the morning. So far I learned from the last batch I was making too much glycine. Now that I know l-theanine also makes glycine among other amino acids I am sleeping somewhat better even though I wake up in the middle of the night. The Gingko biloba helps with my negative side effects and cognition. I’m seeing reality for what it truly is! That and I don’t have as much anxiety. I just wish I didnt wake up in the middle of the night… But this still beats what I was doing.

5

Alright! Here is another update to what’s going on. So… This is what I’m currently taking:

Latuda - 20mg
L-theanine with coffee - 100mg
Sam-e - 200mg
Phosphatydalserine - 100mg

I did take this combination with sarcosine but I got headaches and near seizures so I stopped it. So far with this combination I am slowly feeling better. I have quality sleep with a choice to go back to bed or stay awake without repercussions. I am able to identify things more clearly, my depression isn’t as bad and I’m able to remember things slightly better. Even old memories are coming back.

6

A bunch has happened since my last post, with great findings from this website and webmd. Unfortunately, my insurance wont cover my latuda, so i am still taking fluphenazine so i dont get another psychosis and go back to the hospital. Also, i am seeing a new psychiatrist and i am too scared to change my medications. Last time i saw them they increased my fluphenazine to 2.5 mg and the next morning i had to take my last sick day off because of extreme fatigue and tardive kinethisia. So, i split the tablet in half. As for the last post i made, i have been expirementing with more basic supplements that this site suggested and webmd suggested. I want to really thank everyone for their supplement experiences because it has helped greatly for my growth! Also, I looked at the first post I made and saw I was taking WAY too many supplements. I dont even know how I made it through daily life while taking them! But, I have learned a great deal from them, knowing which ones are more harmful than beneficial, and I am certain now that what I am taking with my medication is increasing my health worthful.
As to say now, I will explain what I have taken and what I am taking now.

What I have taken:
MELATONIN: made me too sleepy throughout the day but helped with my shakiness.

COQ10: helped slightly with energy but not swings of emotion and focus

PREGNENOLONE: helped for two days then felt sleepier afterward. Also, being a natural anabolic steroid it can have detrimental effects if taken in long term treatment. Much like ginseng, it will have hormone changing effects and can possibly lead to worse health be cause of that.

SAM-E: great for depression up to two weeks of taking it but afterward makes me agitated and forgetful.

PHOSPHATIDYLSERINE: was good for sleep and slightly helped with memory but taking too much phospholipids can be bad in long term treatment.

NIACIN: did nothing because I do not have niacin deficiency (I think). But be careful with this supplement because taking too much will make a person have increased risk of type 2 diabetes. I know this because I have done this before and after a blood test I was on the verge to having diabetes.

ASHWAGANDHA: Helped calm me but only for two hours. I took this a few weeks and it didnt have any effect for me after one week. BUT may be beneficial for other people. Just be warned that it does have anti inflamatory properties, so if you take anticoagulant medications then DO NOT TAKE IT. Also, dont take it with ibuprofen if you take ibuprofen for more than two days.

SARCOSINE: made me feel restless, irritable, and did not help my obsessive disorder. But, I am not condoning it because from the forums I have read on this site, it has helped many, many people.

CBD Oil: i took two sprays of this each morning which helped slightly with every symptome of my disorder but it made me sleepy and my delusions kept coming back without me thinking of it.

Biotin: great for skin and hair growth but not good for blood tests. Also, it didnt do anything for me. WARNING; this supplement WILL make blood tests false. When I had my blood test the doctor said it was as if i had three kidneys but my liver was aweful. The funny thing is I felt fine when I saw the doctor.

KRILL OIL: Best for absorbing dha and epa but has phospholipids. It doesnt have enough dha and epa to sustain my brain cells from pruning and being damaged. Yet, it is better for some people who can not tolerate fish oil alone.

OK! That is what I have taken from what I have remembered. I have learned a great deal from all of them, so I am glad it wasnt a total waste of money. As for now, this is what I am taking:

Medication: Fluphenazine 1mg
Theanine: 100 mg at night and 100 mg in the morning
Glycine: 500mg at bedtime
Fish Oil: 1000mg at bedtime and morning
Ginkgo biloba 120 mg: in the morning
Folic Acid: 800mg in the morning
Vitamin B12: 1000mg in the morning

Also, I just took d-serine today and I am feeling many levels better. Clear thoughts, remembering things and I am more interested in doing things than I have before. Now, this is only today so I am going to keep taking it only if it keeps doing this.
As for the vitamin b9 (folic acid), I have begun to express myself much more. It definitely helps with my depression so far. I have been taking it for two weeks now and I am hoping it will keep helping my health.
I am still on l-theanine because it does relax me without making me too tired throughout the day. It is because of this amino acid that I am able to concentrate a little better. Mostly, though, it helps my mood. I dont have extreme highs and extreme lows which I am very thankful for.
The Ginkgo Biloba is helping with my concentration and fatigue by a milestone. The only unfortunate thing about it is it increases blood pressure. For my age, being 29 (yay dirty thirties coming up!), I shouldnt have such a slight increase in blood pressure. But, I still take it because it helps my overall health.
Lastly, I am taking vitamin b12 in conjunction with the vitamin b9 and it helps with my energy as well.

So, for now I know I am on the right path to a much better recovery. I have taken a plethora of supplements AND medication and this, so far, is my best concoction. Still, I hate how I have to take medication and supplements to make me feel better and not lose reality (which is often), but at least I am knowledgable enough to know what best works for me.

As for those reading this, I thank you for taking the time to do so! Just take care of yourself and be mindful of what may happen to you. And if you arent entirely certain about these supplements then by ALL means ASK your doctor!

7

Alright, I am back. I hope this is the last post I make. Its been two days since I have tried this combination and I now can sleep normally without getting up in the middle of the night. My emotions aren’t all over the place and my auditory hallucinations are slowly diminishing. That and I am able to see reality, identify multiple actions and objects along with how to use them. Im also remembering a few things which I have forgotten long ago. So I will make this short. This is what I am taking:

Fluphenazine
L-serine
Phosphatidylserine
Folic Acid
Vitamin b12
Fish oil
Gingko Biloba

8

Have you ever considered going in for a sleep study to see if there is a physical reason you aren’t sleeping well at night?

9

Yes, please get a sleep study done, as not sleeping is a great way to end up psychotic. While for some of us, it may not exactly be simply insomnia, but part of the prodrome to schizophrenia, some people’s psychotic symptoms vanish once the doctors are able to solve the person’s issue with sleep. I pray that you are in the latter group. Good luck and get well soon!

1 Like
10

Honestly, I don’t have great insurance and I don’t get paid much to get a sleep study. Also, I have had schizophrenia for 11 years now and I’ve gotten use to a few things and know how to maintain it. One thing I do is if there are too many voices and I get aggrevated by them I will get my headphones and listen to really, really loud music (something I havent done in a few years now including to this day). I do this for a few days and the voices become much fewer and much less relentless. I am seeing a new psychiatrist and my DNA test still hasn’t come in yet, so I will wait.

11

Ok, so I got my DNA test in 3 weeks ago and many things have changed. I am not on any supplements nor am I drinking. I was first prescribed invega which I took for one week but the hallucinations came in droves and they were much clearer to hear. So I stopped taking that and took Abilify which gave me worsened side effects. So today is day one back on Fluphenazine. The major thing I liked about invega was I could see reality! Everything looked very real as if the fog I’ve had for 11 years was gone! But seeing this made me very depressed. It got so bad that I began to have the “flat effect” and it was either hard for me to display emotion or I didn’t notice. I have a doctors appointment today and I will ask her if I can be back on invega. Also, I have researched on here and the internet about sarcosine which I have taken on Fluphenazine but it had no affect… I am wondering, though, if it can help with the negative symptoms with invega, so I will ask my doctor about that too.
Koodos and ciao for now :wink: