Is it true? Before I got on medicine, I was going to school and doing more activities. Now I don’t so I wonder if it’s a coincidence or if the medicine made it worse. What are your thoughts and experiences?
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Yes why dont u try to lower ur dose…!!!
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I want to change my medicine to Abilify. Did your medicine make your negatives worse?
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I changed but it did make me negative symptoms worse.
It gave me despair
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Sorry to hear that. I think it’s the same for me
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Don’t worry I know u mean well
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I think it’s possible that they’re more noticeable
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Maybe now that your positive symptoms have gone away they have ceased to distract you to a degree. I think it’s also true that some medications are sedating and can cause one to feel stiff or slow which can be interpreted as negative symptoms because they may cause a person to respond to questions more slowly etc which may mean they contribute less to conversation for example. I think the difference is that negative symptoms make you not want to express yourself and side affects make you unable to express yourself the way you want to so social interactions are avoided. Maybe the mind will adjust to the medication with time or maybe a slight slight decrease is needed? Thanks!!i
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I think it depends on the meds,
mine have deff made negative symptoms worse
Or at least made them more noticeable.
See if you can switch them up?
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I was on Abilify (high and low dose) and i cant it made my negative symptoms better.
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This idea is insightful. I have had a problem with needing 11 hours of sleep and then napping for a few hours on some days. It seems to be occurring at a time when I am on higher levels of meds. (Zyprexa and Neurontin).
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Personally, I relied on medication as my initial state of suffering was too great to bear. Then I definitely noticed the side effects; one especially was what I believed to be tardive dyskinesia, which induces jerky reactions of the body and eyes - the cause of risperdal usage. These side effects increased my social anxiety and provided new topics of discussion for the voices to criticize me on. Eventually, I went off of the meds when I felt that the voices were bearable. I’ve been off of them ever since, but the voices remain.
I believe there are many ways in combating the voices. Try different combinations of medications, be it anti-depressants and anti-psychotics, until you find one that works for you. Definitely be communicative with your psychiatrist so you can get better. They’re a tool and a resource that is available so that you can improve your condition. Use it wisely!
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Thanks for all your responses!
My symptoms are worse off meds. I’d be up and down like a yoyo but on meds I am doing better.
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Negative symptoms occurred when I was off my meds but a higher dose of an AP can also worsen the situation.
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The right medication can make negative symptoms better. However most will make them worse. So it is best to get use to them since being on the “wrong” med over time will allow you to do more as you get use to the new balance of chemicals in your brain. Compare that to spending years to decades trying to find the “right” med.
I spent decades waiting for the right meds to be invented. Namely SSRI’s and Atypical anti psychotics.
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Most antipsychotics are dopamine antagonists: positive symptoms are from too much dopamine, so they block it. However, negative symptoms may occur from too little dopamine, so it’s a sacrifice. Theoretically lowering the dose might help, and not sure but maybe a dopamine partial agonist AP might work too. Stimulants might work too, but there’s the risk of positive symptoms. Also try NAC+Sarcosine, it’s fairly innocuous
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